Light Me Up

by McKenna, Shannon

  “That’s ridiculous,” she told him.

  “Sure it is, but what can you do. I’m hardwired to defend my turf. It’s a reflex. Mine-mine-mine-mine. That’s the refrain that plays in my head.”

  She giggled at his nonsense, but the fierce intensity in his eyes was very real.

  “What is it?” she asked him. “What are you thinking about right now?”

  He hesitated for a moment before he replied. “I’m not sure how to say this,” he said. “But you would never scare me. You’d never freak me out with your visions. I wish I could see them myself. If you really want to know.”

  “You can’t. Mine-mine-mine,” she teased. But she was touched.

  “I’m in awe of your beautiful secret superpower,” Noah went on. “Fascinated by it. Don’t ever try to hide it from me.”

  She swallowed over a sudden lump in her throat.

  Noah always seemed to know what she needed to hear before she even knew she was hungering for it. She’d been craving those words since she was a teenager. To be wanted, loved, desired, not in spite of who and what she truly was—but because of it.

  The fog in her eyes almost overflowed into tears. She brushed it away.

  “I’m really confused,” she said. “I didn’t get the feeling you were having a good enough time here to want to stay in Italy. I was actually thinking that maybe we should call it quits and head home.”

  “I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet,” he said. “I know I’m fucking things up between us by being so tense. I don’t want that for us.”

  “You’re not,” she assured him. “Please don’t think that way.”

  “It’s just a feeling that I can’t shake,” he said. “That something is dogging us. Maybe I’m imagining it, but that’s worse, you know? If it’s outside my head, I can chase it down and beat it to death. But inside…” He shook his head.

  “Nothing is fucked up,” she said. “It’s wonderful here. You’re wonderful. I just want you to be able to enjoy it more. I want you to…to suffer less. That’s all.”

  “I try.” His voice was stark. “Every day.”

  She put her hand over his. “That’s more than enough.”

  His fingers tightened over hers, and her perceptions seamlessly shifted with the contact. The air between them charged with energy, emotion.

  She was so conscious of the power of his big, scarred body. The blast force of his intense personality. Together, it was almost too much to take. But paradoxically, she loved it. It lit her up like a bonfire.

  Noah slid off his chair. Tossed his towel away and sank down on his knees in front of her. He put both of his big, warm hands on her knees.

  The slippery silk of her robe opened more at the touch of his hand, sliding wide open to either side of her naked body. Leaving just the silken tie loosely knotted over her belly, the long ends dangling down between her legs. It wasn’t the first time he’d played with the ties of her extensive collection of silk, satin, and lace boudoir robes. Noah’s erotic imagination knew no bounds. He loved to push her to places she’d never been, or even dreamed that she might want to go.

  But she’d go anywhere with Noah. With him, all roads led to explosive erotic bliss.

  He looked her over, that urgent heat in his eyes. His cock jutted out, thick and stiff and reddened. He stroked his hands down the tops of her thighs. Shivers rippled deliciously down her legs with each caress.

  His relentless patience was so seductive. He just petted her, kissed and stroked and smoldered at her until that hot ache of anticipation down low in her body made her squirming and damp and desperate. Wild for more of him.

  She scooted forward a little before she knew what she was doing. Thighs widening of their own accord. Showing him everything.

  He stroked the two silk ties down over her labia, then pulled them tight. Just a little pressure on her sensitive folds. Rubbing delicately against her clit. Her breath shuddered in her chest.

  He put a fingertip between the silk ties, and stroked her pussy lips, very lightly. Up and down…and up and down. Barely touching her damp slit.

  She spread her legs wider, her breath catching. “Noah,” she whispered.

  Noah increased the pressure of the strips of silk. “You like that?”

  “You’re driving me nuts.”

  “Absolutely.” He traced his fingertip along her slick folds. Up…down. Then sliding delicately inside. A shudder rippled through her body, and Noah stopped. He drew his finger out and licked it. “Oh yeah,” he muttered. “I need to taste you.”

  She dragged in a shaky breath. “Go for it.”

  He arranged the silk ties so that the folds of her labia poked through them, shiny and glistening with her intense arousal. She clenched around his slowly thrusting, caressing fingers, breathing hard.

  “You’re so hot.” His rumbling voice vibrated through her, making her whimper and squirm. “Like a sexy flower. Beautiful.”

  “It’s yours,” she said. “Take it.”

  Chapter 6

  Noah made that deep growl of appreciation in his throat as he slid his tongue tenderly up and down her pussy lips. It felt so good. That deep vibration, the confusion of caressing, luscious licking and kissing, the tender thrust of his tongue.

  She moved restlessly, shifting around on the chair, and Noah responded by grabbing one of her legs and draping it over his massive shoulder. He held her firmly with one arm, using the other to tease and toy with her as he tongued her sensitive clit. He licked and suckled, ravenous for her. Like he did every single morning.

  “So sweet,” he mumbled. “It’s magic.”

  Whatever Caro was going to reply broke off into a gasp as he thrust his finger inside her. Finding out exactly where it felt the best. Steadying her with his other hand as she moved her hips to take him deeper.

  He took his time. An artist of pleasure. Whenever she edged too close to climax, he eased off and let it subside…and then renewed the onslaught. He knew just where she needed the slow thrust of his fingers. Just how to time the flicks of his tongue on her clit, then the deep suckling pulls. All so perfect. She arched, shuddering. Helpless.

  “Stop teasing, damn it,” she said breathlessly. “Give up the goods. Now.”

  “Not done yet,” he rumbled. “I could come right now without you even touching me. From fingerfucking you. But I’d rather be inside.”

  She laughed, breathlessly. “You’ve got me right where you want me. I can’t take anymore.”

  “Wrong.” She heard the smile in his voice, though he was nuzzling her pussy. He nipped her clit gently between his teeth, circling his finger inside her pussy hole until she gasped with pleasure. “Don’t worry. I got you,” he murmured. “Hang on. Almost there.”

  Caro moaned under her breath, her voice shaky. “I think I’m falling apart.”

  “I’ll catch you.” He looked up, locking eyes with her. “Don’t you trust me?”

  She sensed that he wanted to be still deeper inside her. Wanted more, always more. Body, mind, soul, everything.

  Her heart opened to him before she spoke in a soft rush of surrender. “I trust you,” she whispered.

  A flood of release made her cry out, as wave after wave of wild pleasure broke over her.

  She rocked on his hand, riding the sensation for its whole lovely length, then collapsed against his chest, shimmering with the beautiful little aftershocks.

  Finally, she leaned back, letting Noah kiss and nuzzle her thighs.

  She stroked his chin when he lifted his face.

  “Ready for round two?” He glanced over at the breakfast tray. “There’s honey on the tray for the yogurt, right? I loved painting your clit with that orange flower honey the other day. Took forever to lick it off. Three orgasms worth of sweet goo.”

  “Um, four. I’m pretty sure that it
was four orgasms, the time with the honey.”

  “OK, great. So let’s go for five.”

  “Wait. Hold on, you.” She forced a commanding ring into her voice, and grabbed his arm as he reached over for the honey bowl. “Stand up.”

  He rose to his feet obediently, and stood there, his erection jutting out front of him, right at the level of her face. Thick and hard, the tip gleaming wet with precome.

  She reached up, gripping his beautiful cock. It was so hot. So smooth. Stone hard.

  She twisted her hand tightly around that thick, pulsing joystick. “You’re too bossy,” she informed him coolly. “It’s my turn. You just be good.”

  He stared down at her. “Ah…OK,” he said cautiously.

  She gripped him from the base as she leaned forward and licked the tip of his cock, a flirtatious circular fluttering. Then a wet, luxurious ice-cream-cone style round-and-round licking. Sensuous, brazen. She took him deep in her mouth, treating him to long, luscious strokes.

  The silence was broken only by his ragged breathing and the wet sounds she made with her mouth. His hands wound into her hair, not pulling, just holding.

  She glanced up, and saw the raw need in his amber eyes. She pulled away, cupping his balls and milking him with her hand. “You have to trust me, too.”

  “I do.” His hands clenched as he fought for control. “I really do.”

  “Good.”

  Tension gripped the thick muscles in his rock-hard ass as she licked the gleaming drops off his broad cockhead. His heartbeat throbbed against her tongue. It excited her when the tendons in his neck stood out, the way his eyes glowed with feverish heat.

  She could drive him crazy. Two could play that game.

  She swayed before him, pulling him deeper with every stroke. Charged with power. A divine goddess bestowing her favors. That was the way he made her feel.

  More. Bigger. Brighter. It was irresistible.

  And he could see it all. Every emotion, painted out in full color and hanging in a cloud around her body. It made him crazy with lust. Playing with his thick, hot cock made her breathless with excitement, and he could see that, too. She squirmed, squeezing her thighs together. Letting the robe slip off onto the floor around her, utterly forgotten.

  He tugged her head back until their eyes met. “I want to come inside you,” he said.

  She smiled up at him. “Not yet,” she murmured sweetly.

  “The fuck,” he moaned as she sucked him into her mouth again.

  She dug her nails into his steely ass and gave herself up to it. The hunger, the need, the ebb and flow of sexual power. Waves of overwhelming emotion, sensation. The game was to drive the other to madness. The prize was explosive release. And they could play it forever.

  Almost there. She felt him start to shake, the pulse against her tongue, his metallic taste, the grip of his powerful hands. Closer…and closer…

  She stopped, and rose to her feet. Bare-ass naked, standing on the silken folds of the fallen robe. She gave his broad chest an imperious push. “Sit.”

  Noah had that lit-coal golden glow in his eyes, his face flushed with heat. “Huh?”

  “In the chair, Noah. Sit down.”

  Noah sank down, eyes fixed on her in wary fascination. She approached him. Swung her leg over his, straddling him. Her hair swayed, the locks brushing his chest, his face. She danced over him, cupping her breasts, sliding her hands down between her legs. Undulating over him as she pleasured herself, teasing her clit with her head flung back. “You make me feel so good,” she whispered.

  “Let me make you feel better.”

  She smiled at him. “In my own good time,” she whispered. “Just wait. You’ll live.”

  He reached up to stroke her slick, soft pussy folds. “Not without this, babe. Don’t be cruel.”

  “Stop your bitching. Hold up your cock for me.”

  He did, quickly. Caro sighed in delight as she lowered herself, nudging his thick cockhead inside. Just far enough to envelop the tip.

  “Go for it,” he gasped out. “Just do it. Please, Caro.”

  She sank down. Taking him slowly in, with a long sensual sigh that turned into a moan at the slow, marvelous intrusion, stroking and caressing her.

  She could barely move once he was inside her, but at that point, he grasped her hips and took over, lifting her with ease and rocking her rhythmically on top of him.

  She gripped his shoulders and rode him, head flung back. Lit up like neon. Every slick, caressing stroke was a jolt of nearly unbearable pleasure. His fingers bit into her hips as she writhed on top of him, arching back with a choked cry. Noah let out a hoarse shout, hands gripping her waist as his own pleasure jolted heavily through him.

  When she drifted softly back, she was safely clasped in Noah’s strong arms, head draped on his shoulder, clutching his broad back. She lifted her head, eyes heavy-lidded.

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  He nuzzled her hair, and didn’t answer. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.

  There it was again. That tension that sometimes came over him after sex. She wished she could just chase it away. But fear didn’t work that way.

  It was never so simple.

  She gave him a hot, lingering kiss. “Hey,” she whispered. “You OK?”

  “Fine.” He turned his face away again. “It’s so good with you, it almost kills me. That’s all.”

  She hugged him close.

  He felt her question in the silence. “I can’t risk losing you,” he said suddenly. “And if I let down my guard for one second and you got hurt…aw fuck, Caro.”

  “Don’t talk like that.” She kissed his cheek, murmuring the words into his ear. “We can do what we just did anywhere. Even in Seattle. Let’s go back home—”

  “Hell no,” Noah said. “We’re going to see this goddamn cross.”

  “Ah…ah…we’re doing what?”

  “I called Morelli this morning. Before you woke up. It’s all set up.”

  “But Noah…why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I wanted to find out as much as I could first,” he said. “I meant to tell you at breakfast. Not my fault if you sashay around in that silky thing and distract me.”

  She wriggled out of his arms and got up, grabbing the robe from the floor. “I want an explanation.”

  Noah rose and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his big hot body before she had a chance to put the robe on. “The short version or the long one?”

  She sighed with pleasure. His heat felt so good against her skin. “The highlights.”

  “For starters, I now know everything that can be found online about Gianfranco Folti and his hedge fund.”

  “OK,” she said. “What’s he worth?”

  “A lot. He’s unbelievably fucking wealthy.”

  She nodded. “Anything else?”

  “I also studied the layout of the Palazzo Bellocchio and its surrounding grounds.” He smiled down at her. “In case we need to make an emergency getaway.”

  “You’re paranoid,” she informed him. “But I love you. And for some reason, I married you.”

  “Because you knew I’d always have your back.” He turned her inside his embrace and pressed a hot kiss against the nape of her neck. “It’s a really beautiful back. Like all the rest of you.”

  Caro shivered with pleasure as she cuddled against him, then eased away with a smile. She shrugged on the robe. “Tell me more,” she told him. “I mean, about the Palazzo.”

  Noah looked disappointed as she tied the silken sash. “If you insist.”

  “I do.”

  “Oh, I love it when you talk wedding to me.”

  She gave him a mock slap. “Get to the point.”

  “Well, did you know the Palazzo Bellocchio is riddled with secret passageways?”


  “Of course it would be,” she said. “Castles and palaces always have a few. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? From your point of view, I mean.”

  “It’s an interesting thing,” he said. “And possibly useful. I read a thing about this count who lived there in the sixteen hundreds. He built a special passageway to a secret room in the Palazzo to smuggle in his mistresses, right under his wife’s nose.”

  “That bad dog.”

  “Pretty much,” he agreed. “Anyhow. I intend to make this event happen for you. But I want to make sure you’re onboard with a few obvious precautions.”

  “Ah…OK. But unless you’re more specific about them, I reserve the right to change my mind. Or to have my own strong opinions about them.”

  His mouth tightened. “Caro—”

  “And if we’re going to do this, we have to get moving, because I have urgent things to do,” she continued, crisply. “Like figuring out what I’m going to wear.”

  “How long will that take?” There was a note of exasperation in his voice.

  “As long as it takes,” she replied coolly. “Maybe all day.”

  He threw up his hands, not quite ready to concede. “We need to be there by late afternoon so Morelli can vet us first,” he said. “It’s about an hour outside Rome.”

  “OK, then.” Her voice was brisk. “Another shower, some fresh coffee, and then I need to go shopping.”

  He shook his head, uncomprehending. “For what?”

  “I’m thinking a floor-length gown,” Caro mused. “One that goes with the rubies you got me the other day. Something slinky, in a sexy dark red. Silk, maybe.”

  He shook his head again. “You’re too damn beautiful,” he complained. “You don’t blend in when you dress up. It’s not safe.”

  “Oh dear,” she murmured. “So sorry. My bad.”

  He shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll be the one sweating bullets. But the other women will probably go floor-length, from the looks of this thing. So what the fuck. You should wear whatever kind of dress the other women will be wearing.”

  She looked at him suspiciously. “Wait. Why are you agreeing with me all of a sudden? It’s disorienting.”