‘Si, and I think you know, Faye. You know that I can’t seem to fight this need to taste you again since I discovered once wasn’t enough,’ he said, aware that his voice was almost accusatory.
His candour seemed to disarm her, if only for a moment. But he gloried in that second when her skin flushed and her lips parted. When her breathing grew rapid and beneath the satin sheen of her nightgown her nipples pebbled.
‘And I think you want to taste me too.’
‘What do you want me to say to that?’ she asked.
Her eyes grew heavy as he stepped into the room, but she didn’t retreat. Her fire only beckoned him, pulled him to his doom.
‘Deny me, Faye,’ he growled, lowering his head because he couldn’t not draw closer to the perfection of her lips. Couldn’t not inhale the sweet scent of cherry blossom and arousal blooming from her. ‘Perhaps it’s best for both of us if you do.’
He had no intention of indulging in immersion therapy, but perhaps sensory deprivation was what he needed. All the same he held his breath, his insides churning with something close to trepidation. Because suddenly a no seemed like the worst possible declaration.
Fire sparked from her eyes. ‘You’ve decided I’m to be your next plaything when you don’t even like me. Why should I make this game easy for you?’
He bit back a grim smile, stroked his fingers over the soft skin at her throat, revelling in the rush of her pulse beneath his touch.
‘You’re mistaken about a few things. For starters, playing is the last thing on my mind, arcobaleno. Secondly, there are a great many things two people can indulge in without the prerequisite to like each other.’
A shocked little laugh left her lips. ‘Are you serious?’
He looked her square in the eyes, tempted to show her the demons he was ignoring for this stolen moment. ‘Exceedingly. You want me to prove it? Tell me right now, Faye. Do you like me?’
Her lashes swept down for a moment, then her eyes clashed with his once more. ‘Answering that one way or another will give you an unfair advantage.’
He laughed, to his own surprise registering that he was enjoying this exchange. Perhaps immersion therapy was exactly what he needed. Because holding back from devouring her was crucifying him.
‘The only one with an unfair advantage is you,’ he said.
‘Why is that?’
‘Because right in this moment you hold all the damn power. Take it, Faye, if you dare,’ he taunted.
Her eyes narrowed. Then, with an aggrieved hiss, she launched herself at him.
Maceo speared his fingers into her soft, silky hair, tugging her none too gently that last vital inch into his body. Then he walked her back soundlessly across the carpet towards the wide, inviting expanse of her rumpled bed.
With a groan torn from his soul he devoured her, teeth, tongue and lips sampling every inch of her mouth. Giddily, he felt her hands on him, equally exploring, equally urgent. Demanding everything he wanted to give.
Absently, he heard a tiny affronted yelp, then a thump as Pico relocated himself to the floor.
Maceo’s smile of triumph was lost somewhere in the deep kiss he demanded from the warm, tempting woman beneath him. The woman whose secrets and shadows should repel him, whose very presence in his life should reinforce his pledge but instead was shattering it.
Besides his vow, the other reason for his turbulent emotions rammed home.
Diavolo, he didn’t like to think of himself as special, but he knew that, despite the circumstances, his situation was unique. A thirty-year-old male without a single true sexual experience belonged in a museum. Or in the depths of some faith-based tome. Not strutting about wearing Italian silk and juggling the challenges of a billion-euro business.
The more reality trickled in, the more the possibility of Faye cracking the titanium shell of his vow grew. Until experiencing his first...experiencing her...was all that occupied his mind.
Another thing he was discovering was that when Faye was in his arms the demons quietened. He wasn’t idiotic enough to believe they would recede indefinitely. But the temporary respite was...intoxicating. Enough to make him yearn for it.
He would pay the price for his selfishness later, when the true depths of his desolation came crashing in. But for now...
‘For what it’s worth, cara, my coming here wasn’t an easy decision,’ he drawled against her swollen lips.
She stiffened instantly, and he wanted to curse himself to the darkest depths of hell.
‘Thank you for that. But—’