After a brief nod of approval, she rose. “Perfect. I shall fetch you linens to wear after you bathe.”
With that, she disappeared through the archway, leaving us alone.
The moment she was gone, Roman pulled me into his arms, crushing me against his chest.
I melted into him.
For a long moment, we stood there, our fingers tracing each other’s backs, silently reveling in the feel of one another.
Then, he eased back, his fingers moving to the delicate buttons on my bodice.
His lips curved in a wicked smile. “Allow me, my beautiful wife.”
A tendril of heat flared between us. His touch was infuriatingly slow as he freed each tiny button.
My blouse gaped open, and he swept it from my shoulders, his warm hands skimming my bare skin.
A shiver ran through me—not from the cold, but from the promise in his touch.
I slid my hands over his broad shoulders, my fingers digging into the hard muscle beneath as he pressed his lips to my collarbones, planting a reverent kiss.
His mouth trailed higher, along the curve of my throat, his breath warm against my skin.
My head fell back, surrendering to the soft kisses he traced along my jaw, my cheeks?—
Finally, his lips captured mine in a deep and utterly consuming kiss.
“I missed you more than the moon and stars combined, amore mio,” he murmured against my lips, his voice thick with hunger. “Each day without you was torture. At night, I dreamed of having you beneath me, tangled in my sheets, moaning my name. But waking up to an empty bed made me howl.”
I swayed against him, utterly intoxicated by his words, his touch, the sheer force of his desire.
His lips captured mine again, claiming, devouring, until I could barely breathe.
As he kissed me senselessly, his hands worked deftly, stripping away the barrier of fabric between us, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but bare skin and heat.
When I stood before him, naked, exposed to his gaze, Roman stepped back, his breath shuddering from his lips.
“Così fottutamente bello, amore mio.”
So fucking beautiful, my love.
His blue eyes darkened, turning into pools of liquid heat as deep as a cave’s forbidden inlet.
With a burned gaze, he stalked around me, his fingers trailing lightly over my bare skin, igniting a path of fire in their wake.
A heated shiver ripped through me at his touch.
My need coiled tight in my belly, a simmering ache.
Roman moved behind me, his chest pressing flush against my back, the heat of his body searing into mine.
His hands swept over my ribs, down my waist, tracing the dips and curves of my body with possession.
His breath was a whisper against my ear. “Would you deny me the press of your flesh to mine?”
My head fell back against his shoulder, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Never.”
