Her sweet taste and the sultry hint of her natural fragrance wrapped around his senses like a magic spell. He groaned and cupped her bottom, rubbing her against the hardened part of him that desperately wanted to be buried deep within her. It was as if his body recognized that she was his mate, his partner, his wife. It was just the two of them. Nothing but breathing and heartbeats as he lost himself in her kiss. He couldn’t have ended the kiss if he’d tried.
When one of her dainty hands skimmed down his chest, fingers trailing over his stomach until they wrapped around the rigid length of him, Dante forgot everything. At Abby’s moan, Dante deepened the kiss. He moved them purposely through the water until they found the steps, and then he lifted her away from him and out of the water until she lay partway out of the pool, her legs trailing in the water on the steps.
He movedbetween her parted thighs and his strong fingers pulled free the tie of her bikini top. She tried to reach for him but he pushed her hands away. One of his large hands palmed her breast, pushing the material aside. She gasped as his fingers gently teased the soft peak, the gasp turning into a moan when he dragged his lips from hers and licked where his fingers had been. He bent over her and dragged her hardened nipple into his hot, wet mouth. She lay back, allowing him his way. He, the skilled master, stroking her pleasure,unable to be denied. When he spread her thighs with determined hands she didn’t resist.
His fingers were less patient as the scrap of bikini bottom was torn from her body. His lack of control thrilled her. He was not as immune to her as he’d tried to make out these last ten days. She felt his warm breath tantalizingly close, and then there was only pleasure. The unerring accuracy of his tongue and each skilled stroke was so good that Abby almost exploded. Her hands found his hair, gripping hard. Dante’s grip on her thighs tightened, as if he could not get enough of her. It felt so good, too good. It was too much. Abby called his name as her body was rocked by wave after wave of sensation after delicious sensation. Then he was above her again, lifting her back into the water. Pulling her deep into the pool where her feet couldn’t touch the ground. She clung to him with her arms wound around his neck and her heart still pounding in her chest. The tepid water felt luscious against her naked skin.
“I’ve missed the taste of you. I’ve been hungry for it, and I’ve only just whetted my appetite.” His husky confession penetrated the sensual fog that surrounded her brain and her eyes flew to his.
She remembered what the heat in his eyes meant. He would spend hours this afternoon pleasuring her until his fire was spent. Her body, attuned to his urgent need, began to burn once more. Still holding his gaze, Abby moved closer and kissed him gently on the mouth. She felt his heart beating so fast under the palm of her hand.
“Your heart recognizes me. I can feel it pounding in your chest.” Abby greedily stared at his bronzed shoulders and powerful chest, too afraid to see the response to her words in his eyes.
“Abby…” He reached out a hand and lifted her chin so her eyes met his. They seemed to be saying all that he could not. For a moment neither of them spoke.
“I should have let you go.” His voice was rough and his beautiful mouth curved into a cynical smile.
His words made her breath hitch. “I’m glad you didn’t. You have made me face things about myself and our marriage.”
“Like what?”
She trailed her hand in the water and looked away. “I should never have married you. I was too young and inexperienced, not worldly enough for a man of your standing. No wonder you never loved me. I was too immature to know what love was. I confused desire with love, and when I realized I loved you, I ran. I didn’t think a man like you would ever come to love the girl I was.”
She felt one shoulder under her hand tighten.
“I wasn’t looking for love. And I did—do desire you. Isn’t that enough? Love is too painful. It makes loss unbearable…”
“Loss is part of life.” She cupped his face in her palm. “No. Why should I settle for less than your heart? A man like you could have any woman he wanted. Why marry a young, naive woman who didn’t know what love truly was? I was infatuated, swept away by all this.” She waved her hand over the pool, house, and then Dante. He tried to speak but she placed a finger over his lips. “You married me because you wanted children. I know, you’ve told me. But why me in particular? It could have been any woman.”
She watched Dante’s internal struggle. He knew the reason, but would he admit it?
“Want me to tell you why?”
He shook his head, his eyes narrowing, but before he could respond, she leaned close and whispered in his ear, “Because your heart and body recognized something in me. Your brain might try to deny it, but there is an overwhelming, chemical attraction between us. You can try as much as you like to keep me at arm’s length, but you’re fighting alosing battle.”
“You’re wrong. This is purely physical. You’re a beautiful, vibrant woman. Any man would want you.”
She pushed her breasts against his chest and watched the flare of need in his eyes. “I’m not nineteen anymore. I know the difference between desire and love. The other afternoon, before Nana’s operation, what we shared was so far from just sex. It was lovemaking at its most exhilarating. You—made—love—to—me.” She emphasized each word by poking him with her finger. She let go of his neck and lay back in the water. “Let’s see if you’re man enough to own up to it.”
She watched the proud man before her fight against himself. She knew she could win.
What a prize Dante’s heart would be. Dante was the only man she would ever love. She knew with certainty that this was where she belonged. She was done fighting against her fear that he would never love her. At nineteen, Abby hadn’t known how to handle Dante, the rich, experienced, worldly Italian conte. Now she saw through his outer armor to the man underneath. Dante was a man like any other, with his own fears and limitations.
He was her man, and he loved her, no matter what he said—or didn’t say. A woman knows. She would do anything and everything to make him admit what she was sure was in his heart.
He loved her. It’s why he’d never pushed for a divorce. Of course! True, he hadn’t come to find her, but she was positive that her leaving had shocked him to his core. He’d been afraid to come for her. Afraid to love her. She would show him love was nothing to be afraid of.
She relished her newfound power over her husband and watched his eyes flare with heated longing as she ran her hands over her breasts and lower toward her hips.
“Stop fighting yourself and come love me,” she said.
“I never could resist you, mio fiore.”
“I’m not asking you to resist me.”
Dante’s eyes darkened as they drifted over her, and his hands tightened on her thighs. His gaze was penetrating and her entire body was on fire. The contrast of cool water against her heated skin, the sun baking overhead, intensified the whole experience. He finally pulled her back into his arms and took her mouth in a kiss as scorching as the sun above them.
“My Abby. Resisting is impossible…”
