Later, Gio could only be thankful there’d been no speed checks on the road back to the villa. As it was, they didn’t venture out again for days.
CHAPTER NINE
Stella held tightas Gio surged forward, hips bucking between her raised thighs. With each thrust he found the perfect spot, nudging her ever higher in a spiral of delight.
Every time she thought it would be different, that the wonderment would have worn off. Instead the enchantment deepened. Both the pleasure and the hunger.
She locked her ankles around his back, glorying in the slide of his flesh against hers and the potency of that most masculine part of him, joined now with her.
It was a cliché yet she couldn’t help feeling that together they created something greater, more profound than the sum of the pair of them. That what they shared went far beyond the physical.
He whispered in her ear, his rich voice thick with desire, saying wicked things that notched her excitement higher, turned every tingle of delight into sensations so intense she couldn’t bear it. When he sucked at her breast the jolt of ecstasy almost lifted her off the bed.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders, nails raking as she tried to hold him closer.
‘Let go, Stella.’ His lips brushed her ear as he surged with perfect precision against the spot that sent her wild. She was losing control. In another second she’d be lost. Slitted eyes met hers, burning with the same fire that raged within her. ‘I’ll catch you,cara mia. Trust me.’
Still she held on, hoping they could meet that peak together. But it was impossible. Tendrils of fire raced through her, drawing her body taut.
Stella gave into the convulsions of pleasure, burrowing her head against his neck, pressing her lips to his skin and drawing in the taste of him.
Gio shouted, a raw sound that came from deep inside. She felt the tendons in his neck stand proud and realised she’d scraped her teeth across his flesh. He jerked in her arms, pounding into her in a desperate drive that only fuelled her orgasm. The feel of him spilling himself in a frenetic pulse of pleasure made the whirling ecstasy perfect.
Later, when she was capable of thought, she recognised that while Gio was an expert lover, the supreme joy came from experiencing his delight too.
Each time it melted more of the emotional barricades that protected her. Barricades she’d clumsily erected after she lost her mother and her world changed.
‘Stella.’ She blinked and met his sultry gaze as Gio rolled onto his back and took her with him, so she lay sprawled across his heaving chest. ‘What you do to me.’
‘You don’t like it?’
Despite his impeccable manners and his consideration, his passion and generosity, Gio liked to be in charge when it came to sex. That worked for her. In fact it excited her. But she was still finding her way in this intense, physical relationship. He had so much more experience and she was working on intuition alone.
‘Like it? You must be kidding.Likeis for gelato or music. This is far, far more thanlike.’
His words wound their way inside, a balm and a glorious affirmation of her own feelings.
He slid his palms down the curve of her back to cup her buttocks then flirted his fingers around her upper thighs, making her breath snag. Sated as she was, Stella felt the tiniest tickle of arousal at his touch. He lifted his pelvis. Even spent, he was a big man and she loved the feel of him.
Yet her stamina was fading and she stifled a yawn that came out of nowhere. They’d been making love since dawn and the sun was high in the sky. Yesterday they’d barely made it out of bed.
He shouldn’t be able to read her thoughts yet she watched Gio’s gaze sharpen then he shifted, holding her close as he rolled her onto her side.
‘You need rest.’ His concerned expression and the tenderness in his tone wrapped around her like the softest blanket. Even so when he drew away from her she was about to protest, but his finger on her lips stopped her.
‘Why don’t you stay here while I have a shower? Then I’ll bring us up some breakfast.’
‘Breakfast together sounds wonderful. Thanks.’
Gio kissed her lingeringly and his gentleness was as compelling as his passion had been. She’d experienced both in the week they’d been here. Glorious, satisfying days. Was it any wonder her feelings for him eclipsed anything she’d known?
Finally he pulled away and took a deep breath, brushing the hair back from her face. He looked like a man who wanted to stay just as much as she wanted him to.
Then he got to his feet, drawing the crumpled sheet up over her nakedness and smoothing it before heading to the bathroom.
Exhausted though she was, her avid gaze ate him up. The play of muscles across his back. The easy swing of his arms and shoulders as he walked. The tight bunch and release of round buttocks and the strength of those long legs. Even the rumpled splendour of his dark hair made her want.
Stella was so needy. For his body obviously, his sublime lovemaking. But for far more. She craved his company. It was rare to feel so completely at ease with anyone else, so accepted.
