She looked down and touched him, almost reverently. He was so hard, so fully aroused. She wanted to reach down and taste him, to feel him move within the moistness of her mouth, to feel his control straining at the leash as she subjected him to one of the most intimate acts of all between lovers.
‘If you want me to stop then you had better tell me now,’ he said, even as he separated her tender folds in preparation for his entry.
She answered by kissing him on the mouth, her tongue meeting his in a dance of mutual desire that left words totally unnecessary. She felt him surge fully into her warmth, the thickness of him after so long making her wince slightly as her slim body accommodated him.
He pulled back and looked down at her in concern. ‘Am I hurting you?’
‘No…’
‘Am I going too fast for you?’
She shook her head, unable to speak for the emotion clogging her throat. It felt so good to have him so deep and warm and hard inside her. Her body had missed him so much; for nearly four years she had lain awake at night, aching for exactly this, feeling his flesh on her flesh, his skin on hers.
He brushed her mouth with his in a kiss that was as light as air but as hot as fire. ‘I have been going mad with the need to do this,’ he groaned, easing himself inside her gently. ‘You feel so perfect.’
Scarlett let out a breathless gasp of pleasure as he filled her completely, his slow, gently rocking motion making her want him harder and faster. She clutched at his buttocks with her fingers, and he responded by upping his pace until she was writhing against him uninhibitedly, her legs like jelly as she felt each hard thrust bring her closer and closer to the release she craved with all her being.
Suddenly she was there, her body exploding with an orgasm so intense she felt as if she had momentarily lost consciousness. Wave after wave of pleasure swamped her being, her nerves twitching and jumping with the aftershocks of such a cataclysmic response to his love-making.
She felt him prepare for his final plunge into oblivion, the tension in his muscles building and building, before he thrust forward with a groan of pure ecstasy.
The silence pulsed for a moment or two as Scarlett tried to get her breathing back under control.
‘Scarlett…’Alessandro said, lifting her chin with the pad of his index finger, his hazel eyes taking in the creeping colour staining her cheeks. ‘Do not be ashamed of what just happened between us.’
Her teeth began to savage her lip. ‘It shouldn’t have happened. I can’t believe I let things go that far…’
His hands came down on the tops of her shoulders. ‘Listen to me, cara,’ he said. ‘I wanted that to happen. We both did. We are both consenting adults who have a fierce attraction for each other. Why not enjoy it while it lasts?’
She slipped from beneath his hold and, scooping up her dress, fumbled her way back into it. ‘I-I can’t do this, Alessandro…’ she said, her voice catching over the words. ‘It’s not what I want for my life.’
‘What do you want for your life?’ he asked after a beat or two of heavy silence.
She turned to look at him again, her expression so sad it pained him to see it. ‘I want to get married to a man who loves and adores me,’ she said. ‘I want a normal life. I don’t want a short-term affair with someone I no longer…’ she hesitated for a fraction of a second ‘…love.’
‘You might not love me, but you certainly desire me,’ he said. ‘Or are you going to deny that after what we just shared?’
‘No…of course I’m not going to deny it,’ she said, shifting her eyes from the determined probe of his. ‘I am still attracted to you…’ She bit her lip again before adding, ‘Much more than I realized.’
He stepped towards her again and captured her waist with his hands. ‘I want you back in my life, Scarlett,’ he said with an implacable edge to his voice. ‘I want you like I’ve wanted no other woman.’
She lifted her gaze to meet his. ‘But for how long? You’re well known for your fly-by-night relationships, Alessandro. I can’t do that, living holding my breath as if each day could be the last we have together.’
‘I cannot answer precisely,’ he said, dropping his hands from her waist. ‘It depends on how things go with the Arlington redevelopment…and other things.’
‘I suppose by other things you mean your current mistress, Velika Vanovic?’ Scarlett asked with a scathing set to her mouth.
He gave her a level look. ‘I am no longer involved with Velika Vanovic. You are the person I am now involved with, and after what just happened here I am not going to give you up without a fight.’
‘But you said you weren’t going to blackmail me any more,’ she said as the pit of her stomach began to quake in alarm in case he changed his mind. ‘Surely it is up to me whether this goes any further?’
His expression communicated nothing but iron-clad determination as he reached for her again. ‘I do not need to blackmail you. I can see how much you want me. You have already proven it.’
‘No,’ she said, making a vain effort to push him away—but somehow her hands wouldn’t cooperate, instead clutching at him with clawing need. ‘I don’t want to be involved with you again.’
‘Yes you do, Scarlett,’ he said, beginning to nibble on her earlobe in the way that made her spine instantly turn to liquid. ‘You want me again. Once is never enough for you, or for me. I am already hard again.’ He captured one of her hands and placed it on the hard ridge between his legs. ‘Do not leave me in this state, tesore mio,’ he groaned. ‘I want you right now.’
Scarlett’s fingers began stroking him almost of their own volition, the temptation of his body too much to withstand. How could she possibly deny herself the magic of his love-making? It was all she had ever wanted from the moment she had met him—to be in his arms, spinning out of control with the passion that constantly smouldered between them.
He groaned again. His teeth gritted as he fought for control, his head thrown back as she sank to her knees in front of him, her soft breath wafting over him tantalizingly, before she began stroking him with the tip of her tongue. His hands went to her head, his fingers delving into her hair as she slowly tortured him, each moist glide of her tongue taking him that much closer to the point of no return. She felt the power she had over him and it excited her, just as much if not more than it had done in the past.
His fingers dug deeper into her scalp. ‘No, cara, I cannot take any more,’ he said, breathing heavily.
Scarlett kept on caressing him, stroking then sucking in turn, until he exploded with a muttered curse, his body sagging against her once it was over.
She straightened, and was about to step backwards when he stalled her by encircling one of her wrists with his hand. ‘No,’ he said. ‘This is a two-way street, Scarlett, remember? Just like in the past, you do not get to do that to me unless I am allowed to return the favour.’
Scarlett pulled ineffectually at his hold but her heart wasn’t in it, and she could tell he knew it. She drew in a gasping little breath as he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom she had designed only months ago, her excitement building as his eyes burned into hers with sensual promise.
‘You are so very sensual, Scarlett,’ he said as he joined her on the bed, his weight pressing her into the mattress. ‘I cannot get enough of you. I have craved this for so long—to see you again, to feel you again, to make love to you again as we used to do. I have missed what we had so much.’
‘I’ve missed it too,’ she said in a soft whisper as she stroked the lean