CHAPTER NINE
BEFOREMARIANNAHADfully registered his words, Simon was rolling her under him, shifting her to the middle of the bed. He let her go and sat back on his knees. Simon, naked, his skin bronzed, dusted with hair, his muscles hardened from years of physical work. He sat back on his powerful thighs and one hand closed around his full erection. His gaze traveled slowly up her body. He held back nothing, let her see the endless want in his eyes.
“This is what you want, isn’t it?” he said, stroking his cock. “You want to make me feel, make me need you.”
She blinked up at him. Was he taunting her? It didn’t feel like that, not really. The frustration that had radiated from him last night and even this morning was gone.
“Yes,” she said, her voice breathless.
“You can do that to me, Marianna. Still, after all these years.”
“Good.” Because that was what she wanted, wasn’t it? Except today, his confession felt different. It came freely. His voice was soft, almost gentle. Where was this going?
He leaned over her, pressing his erection against her. He was warm, so deliciously warm in the cool ocean air that blew through the room. He thrust against her, dragging his cock over her clit.
“You know how to get to me,” he whispered.
Where was thebutin all this? She heard it was there, in the way he was looking down at her, covering her with his body. She waited for it, but he seemed to be done talking for now.
Instead, he leaned down to kiss her. Lick her. Suck on her. Oh, the exquisite pleasure of his mouth. She wrapped her legs around him, and with each movement of her hips, with every moan, every reaction, he let out soft groans of his own pleasure.
“Oh, Simon,” she whispered. “You taste so good.” A simple truth. The words slipped out of her mouth before she could weigh whether they would work to her advantage.
The erotic scrape of his stubble moved silently over tender skin before his mouth returned. Hungry, searching.
Years disappeared. Time disappeared. All that was left was Simon, each kiss making way for the next and the next. She shivered as he blew out a warm breath over her neck. And then it began. Smooth, so luxuriously soft, until her body was drifting, with Simon as her anchor. He explored deeper, each stroke fueling the next. More. He held her down as each hungry swipe of his tongue wound her tighter. He sucked harder, and her hips jolted.
Simon swore under his breath. He rose up on his hands, and his breaths were ragged. He kissed her collarbone, her neck.
“I want you, Marianna,” he said, his voice rough, low. “Every night you can make me want more and more. We both know that now. And part of me wants to run like hell from it.”
He pulled back and positioned his cock so his tip was just inside, ready. But he was waiting.
Finally, he spoke again. “But I’m not. Because I can’t believe that this doesn’t affect you. I want to see how far you can take this before you start wanting, too. Needing. Begging. You’ve never had to beg for anything, have you,Princesa?”
His body was fully taut, hard, glistening over her. He looked so far beyond his breaking point, and still he waited. For her. Her breaths were coming in little puffs. Oh, God. Before she could weigh the risks of her words, they spilled out.
“I want you, Simon.Just you.”
He said her name through gritted teeth and he sank deep, all the way in. Then, he let go of his tight control and fucked her. Over and over, he thrust, burying his face in her neck, growling in her ear as she cried his name. The white-hot pulse of her orgasm came quickly, and she shook with a jolt of ecstasy. She arched her back as the pleasure spread through her body. Fierce waves rolled through her, and she twisted, cried out, over and over. She tightened and clenched and bit down on his shoulder as she came, and he followed her, letting himself go, roaring, heaving, coming deep inside her.
Slowly, the room came back into focus. The crash of the waves. The salty air. Simon’s soft breaths and his slick, heavy body.
What the hell had just happened between them?
Before she could come up with an answer, Simon climbed off her. His hand ghosted over her cheek, his eyes dark. Then he turned away.
“I think our food is ready,” he grumbled, reaching for his pants. “We need to leave soon.”
She propped herself up on her elbow. Wait—that was what was on his mind? Their schedule? Meanwhile, her brain still didn’t seem to be ready to form sentences.
He stood up and pulled on his clothes in sharp moves. Then, as he walked away, he muttered under his breath.“Fuck.”
And not in a good way. In a what-the-hell-did-I-just-do way.
Marianna flopped onto her back and let out a sigh.Welcome to the club, Simon.
Because that was exactly what she was thinking right now. Regardless of what she tried to tell herself, this did affect her.
She shouldn’t be surprised. There was a reason she had fallen for Simon when they were eighteen, and it wasn’t just rebellion. There was something else between them. But somehow, over the last eleven years, with her carefully culled boyfriends and then William, she had forgotten that it could be this way between two people. What did she want from Simon?
Marianna rubbed her eyes and shook her head. Her brain still wasn’t fully functioning after that orgasm. She sat up and searched the floor for her clothes. Shaking out each crumpled piece, she headed for the bathroom.
Probably better not to analyze something that would be over so soon. She was here in Australia to take back control of her father’s company. To find out the truth about her father’s past. To free herself from William’s reins.
Not to get tangled up with this man.
