‘Do you blame me?’ she asked. ‘You ask me to admit things when you rejected me so harshly. You wouldn’t let me near you. You made me—’ She broke off. ‘And then you left. You couldn’t get away quickly enough.’
His smile faded. ‘I apologise. You took me by surprise. You were right and I was wrong. I shouldn’t have walked out and I have regretted it every second since.’
‘You’re the Penitent Prince?’ She couldn’t breathe.
‘I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. I wouldn’t be here now if I didn’t.’
At his words that last little knot of anger disintegrated within her.
‘Nor would I.’ But she shivered because somehow his admission made her feel vulnerable.
He slid his hand beneath the hem of her thin tee, tracing his fingers up her spine. His touch warm and firm.
‘Chemistry like this... I didn’t think it happened,’ she confessed.
‘Nor did I.’
It was just physical, right?
‘You don’t like it,’ she muttered, her thoughts derailed by the swirling pattern he was drawing over her skin with his fingertips.
‘It’s a distraction,’ he answered evasively. He slid his hand up to cup the nape of her neck and pushed her back over his arm so her shirt pulled taut. He gazed down at the way the fabric rubbed against her nipples, emphasising their hard outline.
‘So you think if we have what we want, then we’ll no longer want it?’ She arched uncontrollably against him as he sucked one tight nipple into his mouth, bra and tee and all.
‘Yes.’ He bent to give her other breast the same sinfully good treatment. ‘This cannot be anything more than here and now. You wouldn’t want it to be anything more.’
She arched against him again, unable to resist rocking her hips against his hard pelvis. He was right. She didn’t want any of what would come with this if it became public. ‘Will you allow me to touch you this time?’
‘I don’t know how I got the strength to stop you. I don’t know how I walked away,’ he muttered. ‘I want to see you naked.’ His glittering gaze raked down her body, felt like a force—drawing heat from her, making her want to move in a way she’d never wanted before.
‘We each take off one layer at a time,’ she suggested. ‘It’s only fair.’
‘Life isn’t fair.’ He smiled wolfishly and pushed her tee shirt up.
‘This time, it is going to be fair.’ She demanded it.
He didn’t answer, but there was a glint in his eye as he straightened her up, stood back and held out his arms, letting her peel the perfectly tailored jacket from his shoulders. Slowly, savouring the moment, she tugged his tie free, then unbuttoned the pearl buttons of his starched white shirt.
‘That’s more than one layer already,’ he noted, his breath stirring her hair as she moved in close.
She didn’t care. She was too busy exposing his chest. Heat balled low in her belly. He was gorgeous. Nothing but lean muscle and bronzed skin and a faint line of dark hair arrowing down the centre of his rigid abs to his belt. For the first time she took real pleasure in just looking. And then kissing. Then touching.
She traced over his ridged muscles. ‘You’re beautiful.’
‘That’s a word to describe you, not me.’
‘You exercise.’ She unfastened his belt and fumbled with his fly.
He moved to help her, toeing out of his shoes before shoving down both his dress pants, his briefs and socks until he straightened and stood utterly bared before her. ‘Every morning.’
She stared, her mouth dry as she gazed on his honed, immaculate body. His regime had to be intense to be this fit—as if he ran or swam for long periods at a time. ‘You’re disciplined.’
‘I have to be. I have a lot to do.’
And he was going to use that discipline and self-control with her now; she could see the intent in his eyes.
‘You keep everything contained in its place,’ she muttered. Work, exercise, sleep. She was in the sex box for him. And that was just fine.
So fine.
Except her heart was thudding and there was an ache within her that had never been there before.
‘You’re the same.’ He lifted her tee, and she wriggled to help him. He unclasped her bra and briefly cupped her full breasts in his hands before moving to tug her trousers down. ‘You’re sleek, strong.’
‘It makes me feel better if I’ve moved.’ She nodded, lifting one leg, then the other, so he could take her panties off too.
In that they were a match—both physically driven, both worked hard. Both couldn’t afford this messiness, but now they were both naked.
She licked her lips. She wanted everything all at once, but she didn’t know where to start.
‘Bella.’ He muttered her name harshly and stepped forward, pulling her into his arms to French-kiss her senseless.
They kissed, touched, kissed again until she was all but delirious and weak-kneed. But then he dropped to his knees and pressed his mouth to her there.
She gasped his name.
‘I can’t wait to hear you,’ he muttered approvingly. ‘Again and again.’
Oh, no, this wasn’t happening that way. Not again. She pulled back and fell to her knees too. ‘I want to hear you,’ she said.
But he was stronger. He lifted and laid her down on her back and moved between her splayed thighs. ‘I can’t keep my hands off you. Or my mouth.’ He moved down her body, trapping her hands at her sides as he licked and kissed from her navel, to her most intimate curve where she was embarrassingly wet already. Then he rose onto his knees to study how he’d spread her beneath him. ‘I want to taste you as you come again. Now.’
That devilishly sexy look in his eyes almost sent her over the edge then and there. But she didn’t want to come before him. Not this time.
‘I want you to enjoy it,’ she moaned as he ran his hand over her breasts, gently cupping, then teasing.
‘You think I didn’t?’ He shook his head and stroked her again with his skilful fingers. ‘There’s no greater feeling than knowing I’ve pleased you.’
‘It’s the same for me.’ She arched uncontrollably as his hands worked further south. ‘Can’t you understand that?’
‘I do.’ He bent to her again and kissed her most sensitive nub. ‘You can please me, right now. Come for me, Bella. Let me taste it.’
His tongue was so wicked there was no way she couldn’t. Groaning, she ran her hands through his thick hair, holding him to her as he pleasured her with his mouth and hands. She rocked as she rode the crest of her orgasm, no longer embarrassed about how wet she must be, because the way his fingers were thrusting was so divine and the words of approval and pleasure tumbling from his wicked mouth were making her orgasm last longer than she’d have thought possible.
He cradled her as she recovered, small aftershocks making her quiver every so often. The pleased expression in his eyes called forth her own competitive spirit.
‘My turn.’ Suddenly energised, she rolled and moved onto all fours.
‘Turn?’
‘To taste.’ She slapped her hand in the centre of his chest and pushed, making him stay where he was, flat on the floor.
‘Bella—’
‘Don’t argue with me,’ she said fiercely. ‘Don’t deny me. Not this time.’
But he cupped the nape of her neck and drew her down to him, kissing her deeply. Almost she submitted completely to the desire to simply roll back and let him do whatever he wished with her. But she needed this. Wanted it.
She pulled away and looked into his eyes. ‘I’m going to kiss you,’ she said. ‘Everywhere.’
He didn’t answer, but nor did he stop her. She took her time discovering his body. He was strong, but sensitive too and she took pleasure in teasing out those secret spots. What he liked. Where he liked. His neck. His nipples. His thighs.
And slowly she honed in on his enormous erection. Licking her lips, she glanced up at him to gauge his
reaction as she moved, curling her hand around the thick base of him.
‘Bella...’
She utterly disobeyed the implicit order and opened her mouth to draw him in.
‘Bella.’
There was no ignoring him that time.
She released him to glance up into his stormy eyes. ‘Please.’
For a long moment he held her gaze, his expression strained. She realised he was holding his breath.
Then he sighed and an almost tender light entered his eyes. ‘I’m the one who should be saying please.’
Almost shyly she smiled at him. Then she looked back down at his straining erection. The single, glossy bead at the tip of his shaft told her he was close. Feminine pleasure flooded her. She wanted to taste all of it.
She heard his long hiss as she took him as deep as she could into her mouth. She sucked hard as she pulled back, and she rubbed and took him deep again. Oh, she loved to rub him. Loved to lick and suck and feel every powerful tremble she could pull from him.
She didn’t stop. Rubbing, kissing, sucking, she lost herself in her rhythm, in the pleasure of touching him. His hips bucked, bumping her as she straddled his thighs. She shivered at the power beneath her. His legs were so strong, she couldn’t wait to feel the full force of his lovemaking.
As his breathing grew harsher, she gazed up the length of his body. His skin gleamed from a sheen of sweat. His arms were outstretched to the sides; she could see the veins popping as he grasped at the plush carpet beneath him. Every muscle in his body was strained as he tried to hold back. She didn’t want him to hold back.
‘I’m going to drink every last drop.’ She smiled with carnal promise. ‘I’m going to watch and taste and feel you as I make you come.’
His muttered oath was mostly indecipherable but it made her smile deepen. Then she returned to him. He was so beautiful and all she wanted was to make him—
‘Bella!’
His shout echoed in her ears, so filled with raw relief that she felt as if she were riding that crest with him. As the spasms eased she kept sucking him as deep as she could, holding true to her words and loving it as he shook beneath her.
‘Bella.’ He released a long breath and his body went lax. ‘Bella, Bella, Bella.’
Still astride him, she sat up and looked down his length to his handsome face, tracing her fingers down her neck, between her breasts and to her belly, following the heated path of his seed within her. She felt so femininely sensual. And so aroused.
With shadowed eyes he stared back up at her.
Undaunted, knowing he too was finally sated, she smiled.
Swiftly he sat up and flipped her. She was flat on her back and he was pressing her hard into the plush carpet, kissing her breathless before she could blink. His fingers were between her legs and he made a guttural sound in the back of his throat as he felt how wet and ready she was. She writhed, riding his hand for a moment, so unbelievably pleased.
‘Temptress,’ he muttered and nipped her lips with his teeth.
He shifted onto his knees, reaching beyond for his trousers on the floor near them. In a second he was ripping open the foil package and rolling the condom on.
She lifted up onto her elbows, in awe of his already rigid erection. He glanced over and caught her staring. He smiled, but she read the determination in his eyes, felt the dynamism in his tense body as he covered her, and knew her moment of dominance was past. He was back in control. He was going to make her pay and it was going to be a heavenly price.
‘I don’t know how gentle I can keep this,’ he muttered, stroking her intimately again. His eyes widened as he felt her body’s reaction to his words. ‘You don’t want gentle?’
‘I just want you in me,’ she muttered low and harsh and hungry, unable to hold back her darkest desires. She wanted him too much. Only he had made her feel this way. And if she only had him this once, then she was holding nothing back. ‘As deep and as hard as you can.’
He kissed her. His tongue lashed the cavern of her mouth with exactly the kind of fierce strokes she was aching for.
For the first time in her life she truly wanted passion.
‘You have a hot, sweet mouth and a hot, sweet body.’ He looked into her eyes as his fingers probed her wet arousal. ‘But you don’t want it all that sweet.’
She whimpered at his tormenting rubbing. But he was right.
‘Answer me,’ he commanded, pushing fractionally deeper and then pulling out.
She moaned in disappointment. ‘Yes,’ she admitted, aching for his return. For all of him.
‘You want it hard.’
‘Yes.’
‘Fast.’
‘Yes.’
‘Now.’
‘Yes.’ Her head fell back as her blood burned. She writhed under him, desperate to assuage the ache so deep within her. ‘I want you in me. Please.’
He nudged her thighs further apart with his knee and settled over her. He was so hard, so masculine and he smelt so good and she could feel him, almost there.
Never had she wanted a man like this.
She held her breath as she stared into his gorgeous pale blue eyes. She saw the determined fire in them and wanted to be consumed in it. She saw his jaw lock. Then he pushed forward.
‘Oh, yes.’ She tensed, locking him in as an orgasm rolled over her in a sharp burst of ecstasy. ‘Oh, yesssssss.’
Her breath shuddered in the shock of it. He was finally there and he felt so good. She moaned again, convulsing in pleasure.
‘What are you doing coming so quick?’ He smiled tightly down at her as she gasped for breath. His expression was teasing. But strained too.
She didn’t know. She’d never come during penetration before, let alone that quickly. But the amazing thing was, she wasn’t far off coming again.
‘What are you doing not moving?’ she moaned breathlessly, stunned that she was on the edge again. If only he’d move. If only he’d give her everything. Oh, God, she never wanted this to end.
‘Enjoying the view. You’re so beautiful like this. I could watch you come all day.’
She shifted, wrapping her leg around his lower back, trying to pull him deeper.
‘Don’t tease.’ She stroked his face and whispered what she wanted most of all. ‘I want you to come with me. In me.’
‘Oh, hell. Bella,’ he muttered hoarsely. His wicked smile faded as he gazed at her. ‘Then you might want to hold on, sweetheart.’
But he held onto her, sliding his hands under her back and gripping her shoulders to keep her with him as he pressed forward, deepening his possession of her.
Her breath hissed as he pushed to the hilt. She met his gaze and knew she was in the eye of the storm. Hurricane Antonio was about to hit.
‘Please,’ she asked one more time. She wanted it all.
At last he moved, pulling back only to grind into her. Hard and deep he drilled into her, again and again and again. And it was so good. She met him thrust for thrust. Energy sizzled between them; their ride suddenly became frantic and wild. Their sweat-slicked bodies banged faster and faster.
‘So good, so good,’ she muttered over and over and over.
But then she could only moan in mindless pleasure each time he drove deeper. It was so carnal and so physical and so good. She kissed him everywhere she could with honest, unchecked abandonment. This wasn’t sweet, this was decadently sensual and she had to curl her fingers into his muscled flesh to hang on as he forced his pace faster still.
‘Come with me, Bella,’ he commanded harshly, then kissed her.
His kiss held so much passion, it felt as if he were pouring his very soul into her. She felt him shaking against her even as he drove deeper still.
She arched, every muscle in her body straining. Her breaths were high-pitched moans as he pushed her nearer and nearer to that peak. She heard his breathing roughen, felt the rigidity in his whole body and revelled in it.
‘Yes!’ She managed to lock her arms ar
ound his back, fiercely holding him to her as she shattered beneath and about him, her screams unchecked and raw as that intense sensual tension exploded.
She heard him groan her name, then his hoarse growl of intense pleasure as he thrust one last time, releasing long and hard into her.
When she could think again, she found he’d eased off her and was lying on his side facing her. Her heart thudded.
This time when he grabbed her wrist it was not to reject her. It was not to push her away. It was to demand the exact opposite.
‘More,’ he grated, his expression untamed. ‘More now.’ His passion was utterly off the leash now. ‘You should have come as soon as you got my card.’
‘I couldn’t.’ And she couldn’t be more sorry about it.
‘There is not enough time.’ He moved over her, his body hard again. ‘We didn’t even make it to the damned bed.’
‘This is all the time there is.’ She parted her legs wider to accommodate his muscular strength. ‘This is all there can be.’
She saw his reaction at the remembrance. Duty before desire.
‘Then we’d better make the most of it,’ he said, his jaw tight, his eyes savage.
His determination made her hot. His intensity made her tremble.
It was slower that time. And silent. There were not the hot, wickedly teasing words to start. He was careful not to bruise where she was most tender. But his gentleness was such exquisite torture. He made her feel so good tears welled in her eyes as she squeezed her muscles tight to lock him in place. She didn’t want this to end. She didn’t want him to stop holding her, looking at her. Didn’t want him to stop ensuring she was out of her mind with pleasure. He could make her feel such unutterable, exquisite pleasure. She embraced him with all the fervour she could, yearning to return that favour. That was when it grew wild again. Loud and physical and fast.
But finally they lay slumped together, utterly spent. Silent again.
This time he was the first to move. This time he didn’t meet her gaze. This time really was the end.
Quietly, carefully he left her, disappearing into another room. She sat up, curling her legs up and wrapping her arm around her knees. Dazed, she took in the discarded mess of clothing. He was right, they hadn’t even made it from the lounge floor they’d been so eager and hurried. And it was all over already. Bittersweet melancholy filled her.
The Mistress That Tamed De Santis Page 7