Captivated by Her Innocence

‘Are you sure about this?’ If she said no he might have to spend the night in a cold shower.

Her lips almost brushed his skin as she reached up to whisper, ‘Totally.’

Her body still stretched in an arc towards him, she linked her slim arms around his strong neck. He slid his hands down her narrow back until he reached her waist, then, splaying his fingers he cupped her deliciously firm bottom, pressing a kiss to the exposed curve of her neck before he lifted her until she was on eye level with him.

Her breath was coming in fast, shallow, excited bursts as she wrapped her lovely long legs around his hips to secure her position. The casual display of male strength—he had lifted her as if she weighed nothing—was quite incredibly arousing.

‘Are you sure you’ve never done this before?’ he slurred.

The blue of her eyes was almost entirely obscured by the dilated pupils as she stared at him with the intensity of someone committing each feature, each angle and line of his face to memory.

He stared back, feeling his blood heat as he gazed at the pouty, pink outline of her lips.

‘I’m a bad case of arrested development.’

The barely leashed passion in his deep, drowning kiss made her moan, the sound lost in his mouth. Swept away by the dormant passion that stirred to life, she kissed him back, meeting his tongue with her own and feeling a dizzy rush as they connected. Deep in her belly, the ache intensified, the heat pooling in liquid warmth between her thighs, and her skin prickled with heat. She wanted him so much it hurt but a secret fear remained: the spectres of tall blonde goddesses still made her hold back.

‘I hope you’ll make some allowances, Cesare,’ she whispered into his mouth. ‘I’m not—’

The throaty whisper, the sultry, scared little smile obliterated the last shreds of rational thought. Still carrying her, he strode towards the door. ‘You are a sexy, crazy little red-headed witch. I haven’t known down from up since I saw you.’

‘I am?’

His reply was a drowning kiss that snapped her head back.

‘Can you taste how much I need you?’

If that was what need tasted like it might become her favourite food. ‘Delicious. You taste delicious.’ She squeezed her eyes tight closed as she punctuated each fervent word with a kiss pressed to his beautiful mouth.

It wasn’t until she opened her eyes that she realised they were no longer in the sitting room or the bedroom. ‘What, where...?’ she cried as he kicked the door open.

‘I’ve been seeing you in my bed since the moment I laid eyes on you.’

‘I’ve been seeing you naked.’

Her bold admission was rewarded with a sizzling look from his darkened spiky-lashed eyes. ‘Looks like this is the night we have our wishes come true, cara.’

He was her dream, Anna thought. She held tight as he carried her at breakneck speed up the same staircase she had taken very recently.

The door of his bedroom was already open. The room was lit by a single lamp that burned on a low table beside the window. The yellow light was supplanted by the moonlight that shone in through the mullioned windows.

Cesare took her directly to the big four-poster bed that dominated the massive but relatively sparsely furnished room. Anna had no eyes for the décor, just for the man who held her. Holding her eyes, he laid her on it, pushing a pile of cushions away with his hand as he came to kneel over her.

He stroked his fingers down her cheek, spread the shiny mass of curls around her face and very slowly bent his head and kissed her.

Her chest lifted with the fractured sigh that locked in her chest. She moaned when he lifted his head. She was literally burning up with lust. She had never imagined feeling this much...wanting this much.

‘This is why people who aren’t crazy get pregnant.’

She wasn’t aware of having voiced the discovery until he cupped her chin in his hand and said fiercely, ‘I won’t let that happen to you. Just relax. I’ll look after things.’

It required no effort to do as he suggested because crazily she trusted implicitly the man she had spent every waking moment hating since they had met. Somewhere in all that hating she had fallen in love.

The words that she knew she couldn’t speak were in her head. She grabbed his head, framing it between her hands and kissed him hard to stop herself. ‘I know you will, but I need...don’t stop touching me, Cesare,’ she begged thickly. ‘I really need...’

‘Tell me,’ he urged, watching his control leave the room. She was just too tempting, too gorgeous, too hot for him. His powerful chest lifted as her deep drowning blue eyes opened.