Besides, I doubt I could sleep peacefully with Tristano nearby. Something about him makes me alert, making me equal parts wary and energized.
His frown deepens at my non-committal response. “Then what do you want?”
Instinct is supposed to save a person’s life by pushing them to do things that’ll either protect them or remove them from danger. However, my gut reaction is to pin my gaze on his mouth, because that’s what I want.
To experience my first kiss.
With someone I’m attracted to and who knows what they’re doing.
Tristano’s thumb halts in the middle of caressing my face and his entire body stills above me. I jerk my gaze back to his and the gray of his eyes is darker, looking devilish due to the absence of light in the room. The Silvestri men are supposedly descendants of angels, but right now Tristano is closer to sin.
“I could be misinterpreting things,” he says slowly, almost carefully, “but I’ll know soon enough.”
My heart stutters the moment he presses his lips against mine. I blink rapidly, unsure of what to do with myself. It doesn’t matter, because he takes control.
Of my senses, my body, and me.
He tightens his hold on the back of my head and adjusts it so he can slant his mouth over mine at angle, allowing him greater access. I don’t move. I wouldn’t know whether or not I’m still breathing if my lungs weren’t burning from lack of oxygen. However, I gasp as Tristano swipes the seam of my lips with his tongue and that eases the self-imposed asphyxia. Then I suck in another breath when he palms my breast.
My nipples pebble, now straining against my bra, and I almost groan at the thought of him touching my bare skin. He tweaks one sensitive peak and I do more than gasp by emitting a tiny sound that’s a cross between a moan and shriek. My eyes widen at the fissures of arousal that streak through me, which enables me to see the way Tristano’s mouth tilts up on one side.
Right before he spears my lips with his tongue.
Once his touches mine, I clench my fists to grip his shirt tighter. It’s almost as if I’m worried about falling, although I’m already lying in a bed. Tristano’s muscled body presses me further into it, the mattress absorbing our weight, and my outer thigh feeling the hardness of him.
As if he knows what I’m thinking, he shifts so his cock is nestled between my legs and the sensation of having him there, along with his hands and mouth on me, is mind-blowing. My head spins and my arousal gains strength in this passionate storm that’s ravaging me in a variety of ways.
He pulls back just a bit to growl against my lips. “Kiss me or you suck my cock instead.”
This time when he lowers his head and dips his tongue into my mouth, I’m ready. I circle his tongue with mine and he groans deep in his throat, his cock twitching against my clit. My sex clenches, as does my core, wanting and seeking fulfillment. I haven't thought too much about what penetration would feel like.
Now my body, along with my curiosity, is begging me to find out.
I slide my hands up his chest, enjoying the definition of muscles, and then lace my fingers at the back of his neck. In response, he explores the recess of my mouth and the kiss between us explodes with a ravenous hunger.
Tristano devours me.
Not knowing what else to do, I cling to him and let him lead me through this maze of euphoria that I may never find my way out of. I’m bombarded with sensation and it brings awareness to things I’m just noticing. My breaths are nothing more than sharp inhales whenever he allows me the chance to suck in a tiny bit of air. And soon I’m panting. The blood in my body rushes through me like a current, bringing a scorching heat to every part of me. And the sensitivity to my breasts, clit, and sex makes me want to scream in frustration.
And sigh from pleasure.
Tristano tears his mouth from mine and trails it down the side of my neck. He nips at the skin and I jolt in his arms from the flare of pain. In response, he does it again. When he reaches the sensitive part at the base of my neck and places an openmouthed kiss there, I melt. But the second he grinds his cock onto my clit while squeezing my nipple, I liquify. My sex dampens in invitation and my lips part to offer him a verbal one.
I moan.
The noise hovers above us before disappearing, a wraith of my former ignorance. Hearing myself, hearing that small cry of desperation, is unlike anything I’ve ever emitted, even in the privacy of my room. How is this man coaxing me to produce sound and words? Why is he masterful with every touch and sweep of his mouth over mine?
He’s bringing me to life, in more ways than one.
It’s terrifying and exhilarating.
Tristano’s labored breath skims against my fluttering pulse. Is he affected by me as well? It would explain his accelerated breathing, but it’s nothing compared to mine.
“I’ve been thinking about fucking you since the moment you stepped intomyhouse and looked at me as if you’d kill me for speaking harshly to your sister,” he says, his lips skimming my neck while he speaks. “That simmering rage in your eyes was a direct challenge, one that I wanted to fuck out of you. Then I saw the way you reacted when I threatened to spank you…I swear my cock has never been so hard.”
He blows out a forceful breath against the column of my throat and lifts his head. The tortured expression on his face squeezes my heart. “But I gave your sister my word to protect you and that means I can’t fuck you like I want. It’s not safe for you, or me for that matter.”
Every part of me begs to be touched, for him to stoke the flames burning inside me until they’re blazing. I want to experience that scorching heat, instead of being dead inside and colder than a glacier that’s sedentary and lifeless. I’ve been that way for most of my life, but even more so since that awful night two years ago.
