Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Angelo’s heart tightened with a swell of joy as his little Irish siren swam right into his arms. She didn’t know it yet, but she was natural swimmer. She would only improve with a few more lessons, but by the look on her face, lessons were over for tonight.
They stood in the middle of the pool together as Angelo.
He wound one arm around her waist as he pulled her flush against his body.
His other hand came up to brush the backs of his knuckles across her cheek as he fell into the ocean of her gaze.
She had such Irish eyes. With a depth of feeling and waves of sorrow that crested with a brilliant blue when she experienced moments of glorious joy.
Never in his life could he have imagined a night like this.
That he would be holding a woman like Kara in his arms and feeling such a mixture of tender joy and desperate longing all at once.
It was overpowering. Was this what his friends felt like?
If so, he could understand. It was everything he’d wanted his whole life and now… now he had it.
“Kara…I lov—”
She covered his lips with a fingertip, silencing him.
“Don’t say it, not yet,” she whispered, those blue eyes of hers full of inner storms. “Please, Angelo. Let’s just have tonight. Don’t make me leave knowing I am turning my back on love. If it goes unsaid I can pretend.”
His ribs constricted with the pain of holding in those words of love but he nodded in understanding. If he was in her position, he wasn’t sure he could have left either. But that didn’t change that he’d promised her she would never have to leave him.
“I won’t stop fighting to keep you… and I meant what I said. If you run, I run. You won’t be leaving me behind.” It was going to take time to convince her of that, but she would never have to be alone again.
“Hush, just kiss me,” Kara demanded, her voice breathless as her gaze dropped to his mouth. Angelo would never deny her a kiss.
Angelo cupped the back of her head as he leaned down. His mouth paused a mere inch from hers as he held her gaze. She was as spellbound as he was in that moment. He closed his eyes then his lips slanted over hers. He told her with his kiss what he couldn’t say with words.
I love you, Kara, tesoro mio. I love you… have loved you since the moment I saw you. You are mine… I am yours. Always.
She shivered in his arms as he deepened the kiss, urging her to open her mouth even further so he could taste her.
He moved slightly, dipping a little in the water so that he could lift her up into his arms. Her legs parted and she wrapped her thighs around his waist, raising her body higher in his hold so their faces were more aligned.
She clung to his shoulders. Her ass filled his hands as he held onto her, his body turning taut with desire.
He found the edges of her bikini with his fingers, slipping the golden rings out of place so the bikini bottoms drifted off her.
She gasped against his lips in shock, and he smiled wickedly between kisses.
“Take your top off,” he ordered between more hot, lingering kisses.
Kara obeyed him, her fingers undoing the top and it drifted away.
Now she was gloriously naked, her full breasts pale and softly illuminated in the pool lights.
Angelo shifted her even higher, raising her enough so that her breasts were level with his mouth so he could suckle them.
Each little bud was tight and hungry for his mouth as he nipped at the tips.
Kara’s hands clenched tight in his hair, the bite of pain sending more blood surging south to his aching, hard, cock.
Not yet ... he reminded himself. He wanted to savor this, save her for her as long as possible.
Her breathing changed, turning shallow as he continued to savor and linger on her breasts. Her skin was as smooth as satin beneath his mouth as he pressed kisses to the swell of each breast and then nibbled up to her collarbone making her giggle.
She yanked on his hair, drawing his face back up to hers as their mouths met again.
Angelo wanted to see her mouth swollen with his kisses, to feel her breasts pinkening from the attentions of his mouth.
He wanted her neck dotted with love bites and her bottom to bear the marks of his hands from holding onto her.
He wanted to leave his claim on her so that she would never forget she was his.
That she was well loved and safe with him.
Her hands dug into his shoulders as he broke the kiss and bite her bottom lip.
Her pupils were large as she panted and gazed at him.
Unable to deny what they both so clearly needed, he reached under the water to jerk his swim trunks down.
When he grasped his shaft and she lifted up letting him slide into place.
He entered her slowly, watching her eyes, the way her lashes fluttered as she stretched to take him at this angle.
Kara’s mouth parted on a little cry as he sank the last few inches in, their hips pressed tight against each other. He was so fucking deep, her body hot and tight around him. Her inner muscles suddenly clenched down around his cock and his eyes rolled back in his head and he groaned.
“Fuck… that feels amazing,” he rasped. “Do that again.”
Kara clenched again and he moved at the same time, dragging his cock out before thrusting back in, all the while feeling that clamping sensation that added another level of building pleasure.
He cupped her ass again, lifting her up and down on his cock, impaling her as the water rippled around them.
Their mouths met again, tongues dueling and thrusting in a softer, sweeter imitation of the way their bodies were moving out.
The sharp need that demanded he pound into her was gentle for the moment by the kisses they shared beneath the New Year’s sky.
The sudden boom—boom—boom, then the pop and sparkle of fireworks above only distracted them a brief second.
“Happy New Year’s, Kara,” he murmured, and she smiled dreamily before gasping as he thrust into her tight sheath again.
Then his mouth possessed her so ravenously that words were not possible.
He speared into her over and over, seeking that connection which went beyond sweet promises.
It was primal, ancient, a bond of their bodies and souls.
He needed to be inside her, to fill her with his release and give her all that he was.
He was so glad they’d had the safe sex talk the first time they’d made love.
Because being able to take her like this, to follow his heart and body and know she was okay with that, felt so damn good.
She rode him through it all, the pleasure and ecstasy of her body tensing before she finally cried out against his mouth. He drank in her cry, not stopping his claiming of her as she completely surrendered to the orgasm he knew was sweeping through her.
“Yes, baby, that’s it,” he crooned raggedly.
“Take me all the way, let me fill you.” She thrashed her head, then nodded, digging her nails into his shoulders as he took her, using his cock to draw endless aftershocks.
All the while he watched her face, drinking in the sight of Kara with all of her walls down.
No more hiding, no more running. She was his now, forever, and he took care of what was his.
She whimpered his name as he slammed into her, his own breath rough, his shoulders shaking. His balls drew up tight as he shouted with the pleasure of his own climax which shot from his heart down to his shaft as he let go and came inside her.
Angelo held onto Kara, his world spinning out in a cascade of fireworks both within him and above him in the night sky. Tonight was the start of something real, something true.
Kara buried her face in his neck, her arms tight around him. He didn’t let go, didn’t move. He wanted to stay right there in the middle of the pool with Kara in his arms, their bodies one.
“Are you cold?” He finally broke the pleasant, easy silence. It was natural for their bodies which had been burning up with lust a moment ago to cool down in the water.
“A little,” she whispered, her lips tickling his throat.
“Hold on to me.” He carried her to the shallows when they reached the stairs he set her down. “I’ll be right back.” He swam back to their swimsuits and retrieved them. When he got back to the steps, he placed the suits on the deck to dry and held out his hands to her.
“We’re naked!” She gasped as she hunkered down the water her arms wrapped around her breasts.
“Yes, but no will see us.” He kept his hands outstretched, and she placed her palm in his and stood.
Naked, laughing, they rushed from the pool deck to grab two huge beach towels that were rolled up on a rack nearby. They bundled up in the softness of the towels and headed inside to shower.
They took advantage of the large shower in the penthouse and made love again until they were exhausted. Angelo stroked his hands over Kara’s soapy body, and he relished the caressing touch of her hands on him in return.
“You really are beautiful,” Kara said almost shyly as her admiring gaze raked over his body.
Angelo knew he was handsome, but he’d never let that knowledge go to his head until Kara said it. He was glad his looks pleased her. That was all he wanted, to make her happy, to give her all that she desired, especially if what she desired was him.
They found their way to the king bed, and they watched the fireworks still flaring in the sky through the tall windows on the opposite wall.
Angelo wrapped his arms around Kara, those three words “I love you” still burning within him like a newborn star, so full of heat and light that he could barely contain them.
He vowed he would speak them someday when she was truly safe, and he could prove that to her.
As they lay together in the quiet and the dark, she suddenly spoke to him.
“Angelo…”
“Hmm?” he stroked his fingertips down her arm and her lashes fluttered as she cuddled closer.