The Italian's Final Redemption - Jackie Ashenden Page 0,34
think I’m more afraid of that than I am of you.’
Tension was gathering in him, but his hold on her hand remained gentle. She could pull away at any moment. ‘And what is it that you want, civetta?’
He knew, she could see it in his eyes. But he wanted her to say it.
You can’t be so afraid all the time. You only have a week. You only have now. Tell him and let him give it to you. This chance won’t come again.
And he would give it to her. He wanted to.
Lucy took a slow, silent breath and made herself hold his gaze. ‘You were wrong last night.’ Her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper in the night. ‘I do want you. And I spent all today exploring the villa, but I think...I wasn’t exploring. I was searching.’ She tried to moisten her dry mouth. ‘I was searching for you and I couldn’t find you.’
The moon was behind him, glossing his black hair and throwing his face into shadow. But that shadow couldn’t hide the flare of heat that leapt in his eyes. ‘Well,’ he murmured, and this time his voice wasn’t cold or casual, ‘you have found me.’
The tremble became deeper, wider, the tremor turning into an earthquake. ‘Yes,’ she said, unable to think of anything else to say.
His thumb moved on the back of her hand again. ‘And now you have found me, what are you going to do with me?’
‘I don’t know.’ Her pulse was getting louder and louder in her ears. ‘I don’t know anything. I’ve never... I haven’t...’ The hunger inside her felt too big to contain and she knew if it got any bigger it would shatter her. But she had no experience of this, had no idea what she should be doing. She could hide millions of dollars in offshore tax havens, make them disappear completely, but she had no idea how to touch a man. ‘Please...’ That one word was a request, a plea, an order. Encompassing everything she didn’t know how to say.
An expression she couldn’t read rippled over his face, then it was gone, and he was looking at her, the blackness of his eyes becoming the entire world. He raised her hand from his chest and brought her palm to his mouth, pressing a kiss to it.
She gasped, the feeling of his lips against her skin like a hot coal being held there.
Then, keeping her hand in his, he reached out with the other and slowly threaded his fingers in her hair, cradling the back of her head, drawing her closer. She was shivering now, but she didn’t pull away; she didn’t think she could even move.
And when he lowered his head and that burning mouth covered hers all thoughts of moving vanished entirely. Every thought vanished entirely.
His kiss had taken them all, including her fear.
Something opened inside her like a flower opening for the sun, a knowledge that had been sitting in her soul all this time. That she’d been waiting for this moment her entire life. Waiting for him. She was Sleeping Beauty and he was the prince waking her from sleep, and now he was here there was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.
The trembling took over as he kissed her and so did her need, and her mouth was opening beneath his as if she knew what to do already, letting in his taste and his heat. It felt as if the kiss was a match, igniting her, and now she was burning so hot it felt as though the flame would never go out.
She hadn’t meant to deepen the kiss, because he’d started off so gentle, but now his tongue was exploring the inside of her mouth, tasting her with more demand, and she didn’t know how to hold back. She followed his lead, tasting him in return, taking in the rich, spicy flavour of him and letting it settle down into her bones. Into her heart.
One of her hands was still held in his, pressed hard to his chest, but she wanted more than that. More than his beautiful mouth talking to her in a language made of teasing kisses, gentle nips, and coaxing licks. She wanted the heat of that powerful body against hers, wanted to press herself to his velvet skin, explore what he felt like, because she didn’t know and the lack of that knowledge was an ache inside her.
She moved closer, put her other hand