Was she tiring of him?
Gio anchored his hands on her hips and thrust hard, burying deep, as if by possessing her to the fullest he could obliterate the anxiety teasing him.
‘Yes, give me more.’ Stella’s throaty demand almost ignited the conflagration. Except he needed something else too.
He needed to look in her eyes as they came together. He needed, desperately, that connection, the wondrous sense of union that was more even than spectacular sex.
He needed Stella, soul and body. Needed the balm of a communion that felt more than physical.
Sliding back and gritting his teeth against the friction, he straightened away, growling, ‘On your back.’Pleasehovered on his lips but his larynx stopped working as Stella twisted up, looking over her shoulder with a knowing gleam in slumbrous eyes that felt like her hand squeezing his erection.
Gio lost his breath on a shuddering sigh as she turned to lie on her back, legs splayed and hands high on the pillows. She should look defenceless. Instead, she radiated a sexual power that had him in thrall.
With her plump breasts and rounded belly, the rich scent of aroused female, and her beckoning, confident smile, she was as powerful as any earth goddess. The miracle of life quickening inside her only added to her allure.
He knelt between her legs, taking his weight on his arms as he guided himself to her entrance. He sucked in air as their gazes locked. For hers was so tender it made him hope the hints of distance he’d felt lately were imagination.
He palmed her cheek and when she turned her face into his hand, something in the vicinity of his heart melted.
His. She was his. For now at least.
Urgency returned and with one swift thrust he drove home, deep and sure. Her eyes widened and for the longest moment the world stopped in wonder.
‘Kiss me, Gio. Please.’
He covered her body, careful not to put too much weight on her abdomen even as she hauled him closer. Then he kissed her, closing his eyes, the better to absorb her rich flavour and the feel of their bodies moving as one. His hand was in her satiny hair, his mouth whispering praise against her lips as he took up the rhythm, deep and fast. She rose to meet him as her tongue caressed his and she lifted one leg over his hip, pulling him in hard.
He lifted his head, meeting her eyes as the tremors began, quickly becoming shudders. In him or her? It didn’t matter where it started for it encompassed them both. Flame ignited in his groin and his blood. A second later the world exploded.
Gio saw Stella’s eyes blaze with delight, felt her wonder, and rode the waves of ecstasy with her tight in his arms. Where he needed her.
Finally, spent, he rolled onto his back and fell into sleep, his arms lashing her close.
Gio ended the conference call and sat back in his office chair. There was a glitch in his plan to acquire the Malaysian property. Normally he’d devote all his energy to solving the problem. Today he couldn’t focus.
He was too obsessed with Stella and the possibility she planned to leave. Once that would have been good news because long-term relationships were dangerous. Now…
She hadn’t spoken of leaving, hadn’t said anything definite. Yet he’d sensed withdrawal. Sometimes she retreated into herself and he couldn’t follow. When he asked what was wrong she denied any problem.
He’d become used to her confidences. Over the last month they’d talked about all sorts of things, important and trivial, serious and amusing. With every day he understood her better, liked her more.
But today she’d been distracted and edgy.
Gio opened a desk drawer and withdrew some folded paper as a knock sounded and his study door opened.
‘Excuse me,signor, but will thesignora’s guest stay for lunch? I forgot to ask. I didn’t like to interrupt them and thought you—’
‘Guest?’ He lurched to his feet, shoving the paper in his pocket. Stella hadn’t mentioned a visitor. Had her father come unannounced? Or someone she didn’t want Gio to know about?
‘The man who arrived an hour ago. Ah, there he goes now.’ The sound of an accelerating vehicle broke the quiet. ‘Sorry for bothering you. That answers my…’
Gio didn’t hear more. He was loping out of the room and through the villa. The front doors were closed and there was no sign of Stella.
His lungs cramped as his breathing stalled. He lunged for the doors and pulled them open. No Stella.
Something plummeted inside him, like a lead weight falling from a great height. He couldn’t breathe. The cramp in his chest worsened.
Had she gone? Had her family abducted her? They wouldn’t dare. She’d have called for help.
