‘Then don’t doubt my ability to make this decision.’
‘And it’s not a rash decision in the heat of the moment?’
‘Of course it is.’ She couldn’t help but laugh. ‘But what’s wrong with that? I’m actually feeling a moment and that’s a good thing and, no, I’m not going to regret it.’
She shifted a little beneath him, unable to resist the urge to move. He was still with her. Still touching her. She could feel the tension within him—he was so very strong, so very skilled. And she had nothing left to lose.
‘You’re a good kisser,’ she said dreamily. I think you’ll make it good for me. I deserve good when I’ve waited so long.’
He rubbed his hand across his jaw but failed to hide his smile. ‘I’m a good kisser?’
‘Really good.’ She nodded.
Despite his obvious arousal, he was still resisting. Her frustration rose.
‘It’s just lust, right? And doesn’t lust fade once you’ve done it?’ she asked. ‘Isn’t it all in the anticipation? The unknown? And once you’ve had it, you know, and so it’s less of a need. Like my most indulgent pastries. People don’t come back for seconds. They’re a treat you try just the once.’
He shook his head slowly, not lifting his gaze from hers. ‘I saw the queue in your shop today. People do come back for seconds.’
‘Okay, maybe seconds.’ She giggled. ‘But not tenths.’
‘You’re saying I’m your treat?’
‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘Life is precious, right? It’s quick. You can lose whole chunks without realising. It should have moments of wild amazingness. Isn’t this one of those moments?’
‘Wild amazingness?’
‘And freedom.’ She nodded defiantly. ‘Yes. Why don’t you be honest about why you’re hesitating? If you don’t want to, you don’t want to. Don’t soften the blow, just say no.’ She pushed him but he didn’t move.
He ground closer and she inhaled sharply.
‘Isn’t the virgin thing every man’s fantasy?’ She grumbled her last-ditch argument.
‘You are absolutely every man’s fantasy, “virgin thing” or not. And I do want to,’ he growled back. ‘Just you. Just now.’
‘Why?’ She suddenly challenged him, her heart thudding. ‘You wanted honesty from me, I demand the same.’
He looked her in the eye. ‘You make me laugh.’
‘Really?’ She tried to wriggle away from under him. ‘I’m your jester?’
To her annoyance he actually laughed, but then rolled and held her tightly so she couldn’t escape. ‘I enjoy spending time with you. I enjoy looking at you. You feel amazing in my arms and I know I’ll love making you feel pleasure. I won’t stop until you do.’
A wave of heat rolled over her—pure anticipation.
‘That’s what I want most of all,’ he added gruffly, grinding down and making her innards quake. ‘I know I can. I already have.’ He groaned and leant close so his lips brushed hers as he spoke. ‘I can’t hold off any longer anyway.’
Her lips parted and he plundered. Sensation overwhelmed her. Relieved at his agreement and relishing what was to come, she kissed him back as passionately as she knew how. But to her dismay he suddenly tore away from her.
‘Stop playing with me,’ she muttered harshly, hurt that she’d thought he’d said yes and was now kneeling three feet away.
‘I should.’ He sent her a look. ‘But I can’t.’ He dug into his pocket with a vicious movement. ‘You hadn’t thought about this?’ He held up the square foil package. ‘We can be wild, but we’re not going to be stupid.’
She stared at it, confused.
‘I saw you from the villa and brought it with me,’ he explained, misconstruing her nonplussed look.
A split second later she realised what it actually was. ‘Were you determined or hopeful?’ she asked with a smile as she watched him shuck the rest of his clothes and tear open the condom packet.
‘Both. Same as you.’
His growl made her giggle—that and her nerves. ‘You made me answer all those questions when you had already decided?’ she asked with mock-outrage.
‘I was decided up until you dropped the V-bomb on me,’ he muttered.
She didn’t answer because now he was naked and she was speechless. He was magnificent—broad-shouldered and slim-hipped with muscles everywhere in between, and at the apex of his athletic legs?
Awestruck, she watched, stilled and silenced, as he sheathed himself.
Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, my.
He glanced up and caught her staring with her mouth ajar. A shamelessly wicked grin curved his mouth. A split second later he pounced, tumbling her back onto the grass. She welcomed his dominance, needing his expertise and guidance. Frankly she just needed his touch. He wasn’t arguing any more. He was all action and it was exactly what she’d not known she needed until now.
He kissed her until she was breathless and writhing—it took mere moments. Her legs naturally splayed that bit further, her hips restless under his. He laughed as he kissed his way down her body. ‘You’re not getting it that quickly, Gracie. I intend to take my time with you.’
She didn’t want him to take his time—they’d wasted enough of that talking. She just wanted him. He kissed her—long and hard—and she hurtled into that hedonistic heat once more. He was so clever with his touches—hot and skilled and certain. He peeled her skirt and panties down together with torturously slow hands, baring her completely to his gaze, to his touch, to his tongue. He made good use of the access she granted him. She ran her fingers through his hair, holding him closer, savouring the sensations he sparked with every swoop and swish of his fingers... Oh, his fingers.
‘Rafe...’ She gasped as he pressed the tip of one of those wickedly skilLful fingers into her tight channel. But before she could say more, he slid his tongue across her tiny sensitive nub. Again and again as his finger slipped deeper. It was so sudden. So intense. So fantastic.
She started to shake. ‘Rafe... I’m going to—’
‘I know.’ He rose up. ‘You’re so damn hot, I can’t—’ He quit talking and kissed her. His tongue plundered her mouth, mimicking the more intimate invasion that she really craved—completely capturing her soul. He kept his hand between her legs, learning her secrets, slipping that one finger in and out, and then two fingers, and now she was so close again her muscles tightened in readiness for impending orgasm.
As she desperately moaned into his mouth, he nudged her legs that bit further apart with his and settled his hips closer. Hot, all-consuming desire fogged everything... She wanted...she didn’t know what any more... She wanted him to stop teasing, for him to get closer still. But he kept kissing her, kept touching, flicking his thumb fast and light across her sensitive, slick bud, but he kept that one part of himself she wanted most just out of her reach.
She tore her mouth from his. ‘Rafe... Rafe...’
Just as that searing tension forced her hips high, he moved his hand to hold her butt and thrust. Hard.
She cried out, shock knocking the breath from her lungs. She heard his growl—a low sound of pure masculine pleasure.
He was inside her. He was inside her and he was huge and it was so hot.
‘Oh...oh...’ Her breath shuddered as she curled up tight—her fi
ngers into his back, her toes, locking her feminine muscles on him—every bit as hard as she could. He was really there—with her, in her—and it was intense.
His mouth hovered only an inch above hers, but he didn’t kiss her. Like her, he was suddenly still. But right where she’d wanted him most.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked almost feverishly when the silence stretched. She was desperate for him to move, for him to kiss her again, to touch her because she was still so close—
‘I think I’m supposed to ask you that.’ His smile was tight.
‘You’re not breathing.’ But, then, neither was she. She was suspended in a moment of stilled sensation and all she wanted was to tip over into the goodness she knew he had waiting for her.
‘I’m trying to stay in control.’ He smiled but his teeth were gritted.
‘What’ll happen if you don’t?’
‘This’ll be over too soon and you won’t get the experience you deserve.’ He groaned and leaned in to offer a full, carnal kiss. ‘The trouble is you feel far, far too good.’
‘Yes. I feel good. So good.’ She nodded, lifting to catch his lips. ‘Yes.’
He gave in to her request and kissed her again, taking his time to explore her thoroughly. Yes. That was what she’d wanted. Kisses. Caresses. And as he stroked, her body softened and somehow he slid deeper into her. She gasped again. But now he wasn’t still. Now he was moving—his hand cupped her breast, his thumb teased her tight nipple, his lips now nibbled at that tender, sensitive side of her neck, and his hips moved in a sure, slow rhythm—back and forth and back and forth, and her body heated, slickened, adjusting to his even more, and it was so very hot she felt incandescent with need.
He rose up, securing himself with one hand on the grass, while he swept the other along her hip and then inwards. His unerring fingers found their quarry, stroking between them, to tease where he’d teased before—right where she needed it. She breathed in sharply, catching the warm scent of crushed roses and cut grass. The blue skies and sunshine were brilliant but her vision was blinkered—she could see only him, feel only him. The best sensation of all was the one inside her.