Chapter Three #3
Then, with little more than a brush of his fingertips joining the play of his tongue, climax detonated in a rush of pulsating clenches, making her shudder and sob and nearly weep at how sweet it was to be given such a gift.
This is how love starts, she thought in euphoric fog as he soothed her through the tail of the orgasm. Generosity like this broke down defenses. Then, when she least expected it, she would be cut loose, heart flayed into pieces.
She snapped her eyes open, but that future anguish faded as quickly as it coalesced, kissed away by the soft bite of his teeth scraping her inner thighs and the heat in his gaze as he rose to look at her languid splay before him.
She started to sit up, wanting to give him the same pleasure, but he pressed gently against her breastbone, urging her to stay where she was. His fingers strayed to brush the other strap of her dress down.
She cooperated by lifting her shoulder, arching her bared breasts to please his hungry gaze, shyly proud when his attention fixated on the swells.
He bent to lick at her nipples while he tantalized where she was damp and vulnerable. He took his time exploring with light teases that grew more intent until she was twisting in fresh arousal, panting.
“There,” she groaned as his long fingers slid and retreated. “Please don’t stop.”
He did, though. He lifted his head and she saw his lips twist in satisfaction at making her beg. His thumb continued toying with her, avoiding where she longed for it most, caressing in a way that kept her on edge, desperate for the orgasm he was denying her.
“Are you ready, cara?” He picked up the condom. His eyes glittered, smug and possessive as he took in her abandoned sprawl, one leg dangling over his arm.
His voice wound around her like a silken cord that was so weightless and smooth and pleasurable, she succumbed to the way it trailed over her skin, not caring that it had the power to tangle her up irrevocably.
“Yes.”
He bit the packet to tear it.
She had a dim thought that he wasn’t supposed to do that. That’s how a rubber got damaged.
Then the sound of his zip rasped. His belt buckle jangled and he glanced down. His smooth shape searched, parting her nether lips, pressed, entering her without hindrance because she was drenched in arousal.
She released a moan of pure gratification. He grunted out his own base noise of hunger and hugged her thighs, burying himself to his root.
He pulled her a fraction more to the edge of the desk and bent to suck her nipple—
The car braked as they came into London’s traffic, slamming her mind back to the man sitting beside her.
The one who had made love to her and made a baby with her.
The one who had stopped her wedding and was now looking at her as though he could read what was behind her ferocious blush: blatant sexual memories.
“Are you all right?” he asked with a penetrating look.
“Fine,” she lied, feeling as defenseless and exposed and dazed as he’d left her that night.
After rocking her world with another powerful orgasm, one they had arrived at together in an exquisite clash of hips and timing and abandon, she’d barely been able to pull herself back together. She had felt altered. No longer belonging to herself.
While he had taken a steadying breath and withdrawn, barely looking at her. She was certain he’d discarded the condom before he had closed his trousers, but of course doubts had crept in after she learned she was pregnant.
As she had threaded her knickers up her legs and slid off the desk to pull them into place, knees wobbling, he had knocked back what remained of his drink, then checked his phone.
My car is here, he’d said.
I need my bag, she’d said.
Meet me outside. He’d kissed her once, briefly, adding, Grazie, bella. He had caressed her cheek with one bent finger.
It had felt…nice. Real. As though he had enjoyed their interlude as much as she had and wanted to spend more time with her.
She had begun to have cold feet the minute she was scurrying through the shadows to Giselle’s room, though.
Doing what she wanted had almost always gotten her into trouble.
At the same time, she had felt exhilarated.
She’d been filled with anticipation and something that went even deeper.
A kind of flattered pride that such an incredibly compelling man was waiting for her.
That he didn’t regard her as an anathema that ought to be looked down on.
She had collected her things, then slipped down the back stairs to avoid being pulled into the chaos of the party again. By the time she’d made her way to the front door, he was gone.
Then she had felt like an absolute sucker for thinking she’d been anything but the easiest of casual lays.
She was still a fool, she thought caustically as they arrived at a town house. She ought to be signing contracts that would have paved a smooth future for her mother, herself and her baby.
Instead, she was in a wedding gown, accepting the hand of this inimical man as he helped her from the car, earning a bemused “Congratulations!” from a passerby.