Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Kara let Angelo lead her into his bedroom, her heart pounding out a mad rhythm. Was she really going to do this?
The lamp by the bed gave off a soft, golden glow touching gently on every surface of the otherwise dark room. The warm light played with the shadows on Angelo’s chest as he turned to face her.
“We’ll go slow, take our time. If you say stop, we stop.”
Kara nodded, taking in the sight of him in a towel and nothing else. She couldn’t imagine wanting to stop. Not now that she was so close to giving herself what she wanted.
He reached for the drawer by the bed, opening it and pulling out a condom in shiny gold foil.
“We don’t need that,” she said.
“No?”
“I get checked regularly at health clinics, and I have an IUD.” She tried to slow her racing heart.
She didn’t have to rush this like she had other times, during those hasty encounters she’d had when she’d been desperate for a human connection.
With those strangers she was always worried about protection, but with Angelo?
She knew she was safe. She had time to talk, to tell him about herself and her situation.
“It’s more dependable than the pill, fewer cramps and I barely have periods.
It makes it easier to be on the move. I’m less vulnerable. ”
She winced when she realized how that must have sounded.
She’d probably just killed the mood. But living the way she’d had, taking precautions about her health was important, especially when it came to her sex life.
However she didn’t want to keep anything from Angelo.
She could be honest with him. She could be herself.
“Tesoro mio, that makes a lot of sense for someone in your position.” Angelo cupped her face in his palms. His hands were so large and warm, and her face grew even hotter with a blush.
“I hope you feel you can always share those things with me. I want you to be safe here. I’m not afraid of knowing about your body, or your life. ”
“Most guys get weirded out by that stuff.”
“Guys maybe, but not men.” Angelo brushed his thumbs over the planes of her cheeks, and his eyes were filled with a warmth that made her lower belly quiver with excitement.
“A real man will not only see the beauty in a woman’s body, but see her strength as well.
Understand all that she goes through, whether its periods or childbirth.
Women are amazing. You, Kara, are amazing.
She curled her fingers around his wrists, feeling the heat of his skin and the strength of his muscles.
Her body flushed, a slow delicious heat rolling through her like magma beneath the surface of the earth.
What came next between them would change her life.
How she knew, she wasn’t sure, but she felt it deep within her, deeper than blood and bone.
It was a soul deep understanding that if she risked this night with him she would never be the same.
His warm brown eyes seemed to be searching for something, and she couldn’t stop the shiver she felt as she leaned closer to him.
“Tell me what you want, Kara.” He was so close, so deliciously, wonderfully close. His lips gently brushed her forehead before he pulled back to look at her.
Kara was used to quick encounters when her desire to feel close to someone was too strong to ignore. She was used to anonymity and few words exchanged, and she had had to take control to get what she needed out of the moment.
With Angelo, she felt his desire, but also his patience, and for the first time in her life she felt the tension within her uncoil before a man.
“I want you to take control,” she whispered.
His eyebrow lifted ever so slightly. “You mean you want me on top, or...?”
“In control of this… of us,” she repeated, then realized what she really meant. “I trust you to take control.” She hoped he understood that she wanted him to be in charge of their lovemaking so that she could just enjoy herself and finally be free in the moment.
For a heartbeat, he was silent. Then, “Okay. But you have to tell me to stop if I start doing something you don’t want to do.”
She nodded and her heart twinged. How could he make respect and consent sound so sexy?
Angelo lowered his head to hers. His soft, warm lips covered hers, and she was swept away on the dreamy intimacy of his kiss.
At that moment she could taste a future with him, could believe that she was truly his for more than a few nights.
With each kiss, his lips created a tantalizing menu of tastes.
Notes of sweet fire, flavors of passion, and the spice of being loved. That was her undoing.
She shuddered, letting go of his wrists to grip his shoulders. She leaned into him as his hands roved over her shoulders and swept down to grasp her by the waist. She loved how he made her feel so very small and feminine, yet never frightened her with his size and strength.
“You taste like sunshine.” He whispered the words against her mouth, then trailed kisses to her ear. His teeth sank into her earlobe ever so gently, and she whimpered at the electric spark that ignited her body. His teasing caresses and warm breath on her neck made her tremble.
“You like that?” he asked, feathering kisses on her neck just below her ear. Kara’s knees actually buckled at his teasing of such a sensitive spot on her body. She clutched at him, desperate to keep herself from falling.
“Oh God, I do!” she gasped. Her body responded with an instant rush of wetness between her thighs.
He turned her body into liquid fire with nothing more than kisses.
She’d never had that with anyone else. This was something so far beyond desire that she didn’t have the words to define it.
With a man who kissed her like this…she could forget who she was, what her life had been like all these years… and finally be someone else.
“Let me in, tesoro mio. Let me know you, let me love you…” His soft words were almost too sweet to be real, and Kara suddenly felt a need to pull back.
But it was too late for that. She wanted him so badly. Her body ached with need. But her heart ached with something more. It ached with feelings for a man that had risked his life once to help her, and was willing to do so again.
She clawed at his back and clung to him as his lips found that sweet spot on her throat again. Don’t think about love. Don’t think about falling in love with him. Think about his mouth… his hands…
“You have too many clothes on,” Angelo said playfully. “Let’s fix that.”
She nodded eagerly, equally desperate to be rid of them.
She pulled at her sweater so fast she got tangled up in it, which made Angelo laugh and gently catch her arms to help her get free of it.
She still wore a t-shirt underneath which Angelo lifted off her.
The moment he’d bared her shoulders, he dropped a kiss on her exposed collarbone.
She shivered, goosebumps forming on her arms. Angelo ran his fingers down the cups of her bra to the planes of her stomach until he got to the waist of her jeans.
His fingertips teased across her skin, until he found the button of her jeans and slipped it open.
She groaned as he pulled the zipper down, her hands following his, and together they pushed down her jeans.
He held her steady as she shimmied out of her jeans, socks, and shoes.
Naked now, except for her undergarments, she stood before him in the warm glow of the lamplight, watching him as he studied her body.
Kara felt so vulnerable right now. Exposed.
Part of her wanted to cover herself out of instinct, but she resisted.
More than anything, she wanted to trust him.
Not just with her body, but with everything.
The last person she’d trusted so completely had been her mother.
She wanted to trust Angelo with her life, her future.
She’d never imagined she’d be able to trust someone like that again.
Yet, Angelo made her want to believe she could.
His hungry gaze took in the sight of her. “You are truly exquisite, Kara.”
Her lips curved into a tremulous smile.
“Come here.” He pulled her into his arms, claiming her mouth.
She felt his arousal pressed against her belly right through his towel, and she delighted in the knowledge that he desired her so much yet could let her feel so safe.
She marveled at his innate ability to cocoon her in warmth and safety while his mouth seduced all the good sense out of her and sent her spiraling into fantasies.
She remembered how brave he’d been trying to protect her, and suddenly she gasped.
“What about your wound?” Kara’s gaze dropped to his abdomen. Her hand gently caressed the edges of his bandage. What if she reopened his stitches?
He gave her a sinful smile. “I will be fine, especially if you ride me, principessa.”
“Ride you?” Her womb clenched in excitement as she pictured herself straddling him.
“Yes, but first I want a taste of you.”
He lifted her up, spinning them both around as he planted her on the edge of his bed. She saw the briefest flinch of pain in his face as he picked her up, but it vanished the moment he’d set her on the bed.
“Lie back,” he urged.
Kara let herself lean back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling as Angelo slid her panties down her legs, then tossed them over his shoulder.
“Spread for me,” he said. His hands gently nudged her legs apart. She closed her eyes, this part had always embarrassed her.
“Eyes on me, Kara. Watch me enjoy the sight of you, the taste of you.” Angelo’s firm tone pulled her gaze down the length of her own body to see him as he bowed over her like a worshiper at the shrine of an ancient goddess.
His gaze locked with hers as he dropped a kiss to the inside of each knee.
For such a good man, a kind man, he had the most wicked look in his eyes just then.