He rises from his crouch to his full height, all lithe, muscled grace. ‘Perhaps I won’t,’ he agrees. ‘I don’t chase women as a rule and I never chase them in a pool.’
But he’s not going to leave and a deep, feminine part of me knows that. It’s his turn to exert his power, and I’m not immune to it. But it’s my move now, and I want him to come to me. I want him to chase me. So I do the most logical thing I can think of, and pull the sports bra off over the top of my head, throwing it over the side of the pool where it lands with a wet slap against the stones.
‘Suit yourself.’ I reach down and slide my purple knickers off, too. ‘Because I’m not getting out.’ I lift the bundle of wet fabric and send them over to join the bra. ‘And I like privacy when I’m swimming naked.’
The water moves like cool silk over my bare skin, but his gaze is hot and getting hotter as he sees all of me beneath the water. I can see him too, or rather the effect I’m having on him, the long, thick outline of his cock pressing against the fly of his trousers. He’s not bothering to hide it either.
‘Are you sure you want to keep playing this game?’ he asks softly. ‘Because I’m considering taking my wedding night right now, right here.’
My mouth is dry and for a moment all I can see is him diving into the pool and catching me in his arms, pushing me against the rough stone side, his mouth on mine as he pushes the hard length of his cock into me.
Desire catches me by the throat and I’m breathless. I want that. I want thatnow.
‘What’s stopping you then?’ I ask, my voice only shaking a little. ‘Can’t swim?’
He doesn’t speak, staring at me. Then, pausing only a moment to get rid of his shoes and socks, he dives headfirst into the pool.
Triumph surges through me. I made him come to me. I made him chase me. But it lasts only a second, because he’s surfacing right in front of me, his palms already on my bare hips as he pulls me against him. His hands are hot even under the water, but not as hot as his mouth as it descends on mine.
I tremble as his tongue sweeps inside my mouth, kissing me like he owns me, and in that second he does. He owns me completely. His kiss tastes of darkness and brandy, and it’s demanding. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I don’t know what I’m doing, but something inside me is rising, something hungry and hot, and before I understand what it is, I’m kissing him back, just as demanding as he is. He adjusts his grip, one hand on my hip, the other pushing into my hair and closing his fingers into a fist, pulling my head back so he can deepen the kiss. He gives no quarter, no mercy, ravaging me like the wolf he is.
I love the dark alcoholic taste of him, along with something rich and masculine that is all his own. It makes me feel like a starving animal, and I’m pressing myself against his hard, hot body before I know what I’m doing.
He growls deep in his throat and all at once, rough stone is at my back as he pushes me against the side of the pool. Then just as I imagined it, he lifts me, wrapping my legs around his waist. I’m panting, my fingers digging into his shoulders as he feasts on my mouth, one hand beneath the water as he jerks at the buttons of his trousers.
There’s nothing but demand in both of us, but even so, when the blunt head of his cock pushes into me, I have to bite down on a cry of pain. He’s big, much bigger than I thought a man would be, and he’s pushing relentlessly inside me. His kiss is all heat and hunger and teeth, and I’m shivering as I take him. It hurts, but I don’t want him to stop, so I curl my legs tighter around him, my nails digging into the wet cotton of his shirt.
Then he’s moving and the pain fades, something else replaces it. Hot, liquid pleasure. I shake even harder as he thrusts, deeper, harder, and it’s not enough. I want more. I want to take him the way he’s taking me, rough and hard. I want to sink my nails into his back, leave scratches on him the way I know I’ll have scratches on my back from the stone side of the pool.
I growl into his mouth and he laughs, then his teeth are sinking into my bottom lip, the sharp pain adding to the building pleasure.
‘Little wolf,’ he murmurs against my throat, his breath warm on my skin. ‘That’s what you are. Not a cat. A wolf.’ Then his teeth close on the delicate cords of my neck in a sharp nip, and I jerk in his grip. He thrusts deep at the same time, and I feel myself begin to come apart.
He snakes one hand down between us, to my clit and then he brushes it lightly and I scream against his mouth as the tight knot of pleasure explodes, making me fall apart completely in his arms. Barely aware of his rough growl as he follows me.
Chapter Twelve
Vincenzo
THE ORGASM THAThits me is the most intense I’ve experienced in years—if ever—and for long moments afterwards, all I can do is simply hold Caterina against the side of the pool, my mind blank, mainly with astonishment at myself.
I was supposed to seduce her slowly and with patience, not dive into the water because I couldn’t wait, not to mention shoving her up against the side of the pool and taking her roughly. I’ve never lost control with a woman. Not ever.
But…the way she knew I was there, watching her, even though I was sure I hadn’t betrayed myself, had delighted me. She drew me irresistibly to her like a siren on a rock. Pale and lovely in the water with her hair smooth and silky and wet down her back. Her thick black lashes were jewelled with water drops that made her eyes look like sea emeralds, and even though I should have walked away, I didn’t. I couldn’t.
I wanted to confront her with the reason she left our dinner, to make sure she knew that our attraction was mutual, and when she swam to the side of the pool, her green eyes dark and challenging, I’d only intended to give her a brief kiss, the start of my seduction. Yet I hadn’t expected her to be the one to kiss me then swim away, as if this was a game we were playing.
I don’t chase women, but I ended up chasing her, because that kiss lit a spark inside me and that spark became a blaze that threatened to consume me whole. I almost dove into the water there and then, but I managed to restrain myself. I wasn’t going to dive fully dressed into a pool simply because I wanted one pretty woman.
You goaded her into taking her underwear off.
Yes, I did. But my conscience wasn’t working all that well and I wanted to see how far I could push her. How far she would let herself be pushed. She wanted me, I knew that, and it became obvious the moment she took off her bra and knickers, her pale body completely naked beneath the water.
So fucking beautiful. I should have needed more of a push than what she gave me, daring me to swim after her, but it turned out that I didn’t. I was barely conscious of anything beyond my own need as I dove into the water, reaching for her and pulling her into my arms. Then she was wet and slippery and her mouth was hot and sweet, and I lost all sense of myself.
There was only her, the soft press of her breasts against my chest and the silk of her hair in my fist, her sweetness on my tongue. I’d had her up against the side of the pool before I knew what I was doing and then the first press inside her… She was hot and tight, and the movement of her hips against mine drove me mad. Then the taste of her as she came, her little screams and growls, the pressure of her thighs clenching around my waist…
You hurt her.
