Angelo wasn’t, either.
CHAPTER NINE
TARA was as nervous as a virgin when Angelo carried her into their honeymoon suite, his midnight gaze burning hotter than any blue flame. The sexual energy emanating off him had been growing all night until she fairly sizzled from the impact.
Despite the elegance of their surroundings, she felt like she was about to be devoured by a mountain lion. A very hungry, powerful lion with sharp teeth and claws that could tear through the barriers she had erected around her emotions.
That shouldn’t frighten her.
She’d married him, after all.
But it did.
He stopped on the other side of the threshold, kicked the door shut and then looked down at her, predatory intent and primitive satisfaction exuding from his every pore. “You are mine now, Mrs. Gordon.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.” Then he kissed her.
It was hot; it was carnal; it was a statement of intent to possess.
His hot mouth molded hers, letting her taste the essence of this man she’d married. Could determination have a flavor? Strength? Desire? Intelligence? Masculine dominance? She could taste all of that and the spiciness of his need in his kiss. They’d never shared a kiss like this and yet her soul responded to it on a level of recognition she could not begin to dismiss.
Swirling sensation spiraled to the core of her and then outward in radiating waves of delight until it was all she could do not to cry out.
He carried her to the bed and stood her on her feet at the end of it and then gave her a once-over that left her trembling. “You are incredibly beautiful, my wife.”
“Thank you. You clean up nice in a tux yourself.”
His smile slashed through her with heat, leaving her stomach quivering in a way she’d only ever experienced with him.
He reached around her, enveloping her in his warmth and teasing her with his nearness. He started tugging her zipper down. His fingertips played along her spine as each new inch of flesh was revealed.
“Angelo?” Was that hesitant, high-pitched voice hers?
“Yes?”
“Other than the other night, it’s been two years and then we didn’t…you know.”
“Make love?”
“Right.”
“You are telling me it has been a long time for you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
“Um…that’s nice, but I wanted…”
How did she tell her new husband—a man who had married her for the sole purpose of bedding her, or close to it anyway—that she needed him to go slowly? It was so obvious that was not what he wanted to hear at that very moment.
“What did you want, cara, this?” He leaned down and kissed her shoulder, nibbling at the sensitive area above her collarbone, before lifting his head. “Or this?” His mouth closed over hers again while his hands slipped down inside her dress and cupped her backside with sensual mastery.
He caressed and squeezed her, his fingers dipping dangerously close to the warm, humid spot between her thighs. Memories surged through her from their time at the beach. Jolts of pleasure zinged through her sweetest spot and her entire woman’s flesh. He teased her with his touch, making her want more, making her arch her spine, pushing her bottom back, trying to increase the depth of his penetration between her thighs.
But his hand moved with her, stopping her from achieving the intimate caressing she craved. She moaned against his lips and tried a new tactic, widening her stance so she was open completely to him. He rewarded her with a risqué massage on the highly sensitive flesh of her inner thighs and outer perimeter of her delta.
She groaned at the throbbing pleasure that grew with every tiny caress.
Maybe slow wasn’t what she wanted after all. She broke her mouth away, letting her head fall back in abandon. “Angelo, please…touch me.”
“I am touching you.” His voice was laced with masculine amusement and dark gratification.
He liked driving her crazy. He started kissing her again, but this time, he touched everywhere, but her mouth with his talented lips.
How could she have wanted slow? She was ready to expire and she still had her panties on.
It took him forever to get her dress off, every bit of new flesh revealed had to be kissed, tasted and nibbled until the silky white fabric lay in a puddle around her feet and she stood shivering violently from her need. She wanted to be more active in their lovemaking, but she couldn’t make her body cooperate. She was too shaken by the feelings roiling through her with the surging power of an electric blast.
“Angelo, I want you.”
“Remember what I told you the other night?”