Jess trembled as Drago continued his intimate exploration. She had never experienced such intense pleasure as he was eliciting, with his wickedly inventive fingers and with his mouth as he bent his head to her breasts and lashed her swollen nipples with his tongue. Sex with Seb had been very different, she thought ruefully. The few times she had slept with him he had seemed far more intent on his own pleasure than hers, but she had been so besotted with him that she’d felt grateful for any small sign of affection from him.
She was jolted from her thoughts of the past when Drago stood up from the bed and stripped off the rest of his clothes. Black silk boxers followed his trousers to the floor, and the sight of his naked, hugely aroused body stole her breath.
Feeling a little nervous now, she circled her lips with the tip of her tongue in an unknowingly provocative gesture and blurted out, ‘Oh, heavens.’
Drago gave a ragged laugh. ‘Cara, if you continue to look at me like you are doing I think I’ll explode.’ His voice thickened. ‘It has to be now, mia bella. I can’t wait any longer.’
As he knelt above her, his dark eyes glittering with the intensity of his desire, Jess’s heart rate quickened and the slight fear she’d felt that he was too big and powerful for her to cope with faded. She had never been so aroused, so desperate to ease the aching need that throbbed in every pore of her body.
His skin felt warm beneath her palms as she slid her hands over his chest and felt the faint abrasion of his chest hair. She loved the feeling of closeness to another human being. It was something she had rarely experienced. She did not remember her father ever hugging her as a child, and at the children’s home the staff had been kind but never affectionate.
All Drago was offering was sex, she reminded herself. And that was all she wanted too—the satiation of this feverish yearning that blotted out all other thoughts and left her mindless with desire. Her heart thudded when he pulled her knickers down her legs and pushed her thighs apart. The deliberation of his actions increased her excitement and she whimpered when he touched her intimately again, the sensations he aroused as he found the most sensitive part of her making her arch her hips in urgent invitation.
The solid ridge of his erection jabbed her belly, but when she curled her fingers around his swollen manhood he made a harsh sound.
‘Not this time, cara,’ he growled as he pressed forward and entered her with a deep thrust that drove the breath from her lungs. Feeling her sudden tension, he stilled and stared into her eyes, a look of puzzlement in his. ‘Did I hurt you?’ His voice was rough with concern. ‘I did not expect you to be so tight.’
She flushed. ‘It’s been a while,’ she admitted, suddenly fearful that he would be disappointed by her.
‘If it is uncomfortable for you we’ll stop.’
‘No!’ Feeling him begin to withdraw, she clutched hold of him and wrapped her legs around his hips. ‘I don’t want to stop.’
Drago closed his eyes, struggling for control as his body reacted to the mind-blowing delight of feeling her vaginal muscles grip him in a velvet embrace. As Jess slowly relaxed he could not resist sinking deeper into her, and his buttocks clenched as he fought against the hot tide of pleasure that was threatening to overwhelm him.
‘I’m not going to stop,’ he assured her as he withdrew a little and she made a husky protest. If he was honest he did not think he could stop when his body was so tight and hot and hard, he acknowledged ruefully. ‘See?’ He thrust into her again—once, twice—each stroke harder and faster than the last as he set a rhythm that drove them both higher.
‘Oh…’ Jess gasped as he slid his hands beneath her bottom and tilted her so that the tip of his steel-hard arousal hit an especially sensitive spot deep within her. Waves of pleasure ripped through her as he plunged between her trembling thighs with an urgency that told her his control was close to breaking. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps, and she gripped the silk sheet beneath her, her fingers clawing at it as her excitement built to an intolerable level.
Nothing had prepared her for the ecstasy of her first ever orgasm. It overwhelmed her. Shock waves of incredible sensation pounded her and she shuddered with convulsive pleasure. Almost simultaneously she felt a tremor run through Drago’s big body and he gave a harsh groan. The sound of it was somehow more shocking than anything that had gone before. The fact that this powerful man had come apart in her arms filled Jess with fierce tenderness, so that she curled her arms around his neck and stroked his hair as he laid his head on her breasts.
In the lull after the storm only the sound of their breathing gradually slowing broke the intense quiet, and in those moments when they were still joined it seemed to Jess that they were the only two people in a private, magical world.
Early next morning—so early that the light filtering through the crack in the curtains was a pale, iridescent glimmer—Jess lay still, pretending to be asleep, although in fact she was studying Drago from beneath her lashes.
He was lying on his back, staring up at the drapes of the four-poster bed. His hard-as-granite profile was not encouraging and her heart sank. Of course she had not expected to wake in his arms, or for him to kiss her tenderly as the new day dawned. She was stupid—falling into his bed last night had proved that—but she harboured no illusions that the passion they’d shared had been anything more than mind-blowing sex.
So why were tears blurring her vision? Why was she wishing with all her heart that he would pull her close and stroke her hair? She had been starved of affection all her life, so why did his indifference hurt so much?
Perhaps he sensed that she was awake, because he turned his head on the pillows. She blinked hard to dispel her tears. Pride was her faithful ally. No way was she going to act like a whipped puppy.
‘Before you say anything, I’d like to agree. Last night was a mistake that should not have happened,’ she said quickly. ‘And it would definitely be best to forget about it.’
He frowned. ‘How can you agree with me when I haven’t made a comment? Can you read my mind?’
‘I don’t need to. You look…’ Her heart lurched as she stared at his face. He looked gorgeous and incredibly sexy, with his silky hair falling onto his brow and dark stubble shading his jaw. She could not prevent the slight catch in her voice as she muttered, ‘You look angry.’
Drago gave her a quizzical look. ‘Well, it’s true that I am angry—with myself. And I admit I did make a mistake last night. But I don’t regret what happened between us and I definitely won’t forget making love to you any time soon.’
The sultry gleam in his eyes sent a quiver of response through Jess. ‘Then what mistake did you make?’ she asked uncertainly.
‘I forgot to use a condom.’ His jaw tightened. ‘I have no excuse other than that you have such an effect on me that I temporarily lost my sanity. I wanted you so badly I simply didn’t think about protection. It was crass and irresponsible of me, and I apologise. I also want to assure you that I am healthy. I don’t make a habit of having unprotected sex,’ he said roughly.
Drago’s self-respect had taken a hard knock when he had realised how stupid he had been. He had broken one of his golden rules. Dio, after what had happened with Vittoria he had always been so careful to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. He hoped that Jess took care of herself and used some method of contraception, but the knowledge that he had failed to act responsibly was a matter of bitter regret.
His frown deepened when he noticed how pale she looked this morning. In contrast to her white