All of the reservations he had about this woman – this young, innocent woman – were dwarfed by his need for her.
He moved his hands slowly, rhythmically, massaging her shoulders and moving his hips gently, showing her that he was aroused by her. She felt his hardness and moaned; Benedetto brought his lips to her shoulders and kissed her gently, then nipped her with his teeth. He ran his mouth down her back, pausing when he felt with his tongue asmall crenulation in her otherwise flawless flesh.
“What is this?” He rotated his hips, wanting to take her, but prolonging his pleasure by delaying his possession.
Kate stilled beneath him for the smallest of moments – such an infinitesimal reaction that he had no chance of noting it.
“A scar,” she murmured, pushing the memories of that day far down into the dark recesses of her mind she never prodded.
“I can see that.” He ran his finger over it, a frown on his lips. “What from?”
It had been a horrible day. Her sixteenth birthday, a time most other teenagers enjoy being made to feel special and on the cusp of adulthood, had been marred for Katherine Beauchamp by her father. As always, his rage had burst out of nowhere, and as always it had been blindingly ferocious. In fact, that had been one of his worst.
“An accident,” she demurred.
“You are evading the question.”
He was heavy, and when she tried to swivel beneath him, so that she could lie on her back and look up at him, she realized she was trapped.
“No,” she said with a shrug designed to mislead. “I just don’t even really remember.”
Benedetto couldn’t have said how he knew she was lying, but some kind of ancient instinct was flaring to life. Kate, though, had shut him down, and he knew her well enough to know that words alone would not convince her to drop her guard.
He kissed the scar once more and then resumed his sensual exploration of her body.
“I want to take you like this,” he murmured, easing his weight from her just enough to guide her onto her knees. Kate was putty in his hands; he could have modelled her into any shape and she would have complied. Her trust in him was complete.
She heard him unbuckle his jeans and smiled.
“I want you to, too.”
He pushed his pants off impatiently, sliding protection on to his arousal with a sense of desperation.
She stayed where she was, propped on her knees and elbows, her body perfectly poised to take him. It was too much; something grated across his chest, flexing inhis heart.
He ignored it. This wasn’t about feeling anything but pleasure. And pleasure, with Kate, was guaranteed.
His fingers were firm on her hips as he held her still, and his erection, as he plunged into her, was hard as steel. She made a groaning sound of completion as he thrust into her again, his hands reaching around to cup her breasts as again and again he took her, sending shockwaves of delight spasming through her.
His body taunted hers, bringing her to the precipice of orgasm before slowing down again, building the waves bigger and bigger until she couldn’t bear it. “Benedetto,” she flattened her face into her pillow, her moans increasing in intensity until she could barely breathe.
And this time, he pressed into her and held her tight as she came crashing back to earth; her body shook with the force of the sensation and he held her and caressed her, all the while he moved gently in time with her pleasure.
“It’s too much,” she whispered, the words strangely haunted.
Love was an ache in her chest, and Kate had never known love. Not really in any form. She felt vulnerable and powerful, all at the same time.
Her smile was slow-spreading. How could it get better each time they slept together?
“You are mine,” he said simply, pulling out of her. “Turn over.”
He was demanding and commanding, and she loved him all the more for it. She did as he said, dropping to the bed and rolling to her back. His hands captured her wrists and pinned them above her head; now he thrust into her again and his eyes held hers.
Kate let hers fan shut, to allow the renewed pleasure to engulf her, but Benedetto stopped moving. “Look at me,” he murmured. “I want you to keep your eyes on me.”
She swallowed, but blinked up at him.
“Why?”
