Twenty minutes later, having tucked Zia into bed and read her a story, Darcy walked into their bedroom. Only his jacket and tie removed, Luca was in the act of putting down his mobile phone.
'You look fantastic in that dress...you know why?' A wolfish grin slashed his lean, strong face. 'It fits. It isn't two sizes too large or a foot too long!'
'Margo always helped me to choose my clothes,' Darcy confided.
'She said that I had to dress to hide my deficien¬cies.'
'You have none. You're in perfect proportion for your size.'
But Darcy's diminutive curves and lack of height had been deficiencies to a stepmother who was both tall and lushly female in shape. Margo had loathed red hair as well, insisting that Darcy could only wear dull colours. Growing up with Margo's constant criticism, and Nina's pitying su¬periority, Darcy had learned only to measure her looks against theirs. That unwise comparison had wrecked her confidence in her own appearance.
But now she gazed back at Luca and could not fail to recognise his sincerity. He'd told her she looked fantastic. And sensual appreciation radiated from the lingering appraisal in those intent dark eyes. If she didn't yet quite credit that she could look fantastic, she certainly realised with a surge of gratified wonder that Luca genuinely be¬lieved she did.
Her softened gaze ran with abstracted admiration over his long, lean, powerful physique. She was shaken to note the earthy and defiantly male thrust of arousal that the close fit of his well-cut trousers couldn't conceal. She reddened hotly, but she also felt empowered and outrageously fem¬inine.
'Luca...' she whispered shakily.
Later, she couldn't recall who had reached out first. She remembered the way his gaze narrowed, the blaze of golden intent between black spiky lashes, and then suddenly she was crushed in his arms and clinging to him to stay upright.
He parted her lips to invade her tender mouth with his thrusting tongue, dipping, twirling, tasting her with fierce, impatient need. He cut right through her every defence with that blunt, honest admission of desire. She trembled vio¬lently beneath that devouring kiss. He made her feel pos¬sessed, dominated, and utterly weak with hunger.
'I should never have left you...I've been in a filthy tem¬per all day,'
Luca confided raggedly, slumberous eyes scan¬ning her lovely face with very male satisfaction, a febrile flush on his taut cheekbones.
'I want you so much...'
'Yes...' Darcy acknowledged a truth too obvious to be denied. She felt the same. Her heart was pounding, her whole body throbbing with intense arousal. It was like be¬ing in pain; it made her crave him like a drug.
'I can't wait until later...I'm in agony,' Luca gritted roughly.
Hard fingers splayed across her spine to press her into direct contact with his hard thighs. He shuddered against her with a stifled groan, kissing her temples, the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair and then bringing her mouth back hungrily under his again. She couldn't get close enough to him. He slid one hand beneath her skirt, skimming up a slender thigh to the very heart of her. The damp swollen heat of her beneath the thin barrier of her panties betrayed her response. Excitement made her squirm and moan against that skilled touch.
'Luca...please,' she gasped urgently. He backed her down on the side of the bed. He leant over her, hands braced on either side of her head, and plunged deep into her mouth again, eliciting a low cry of surrender from her. Tugging down the zip on her dress, he removed it, skimming off her remaining garments with deft, impatient hands. He stilled for a second, reverent eyes scan¬ning the pouting curves of her breasts and the silky dark red hair at the apex of her slender thighs.
'You are gorgeous, bella mia...how can you ever have doubted that?' Luca demanded as he stood over her, peeling off his own clothing at speed.
He came down to her, gloriously aroused. Cupping her breasts, he caressed the sensitive buds with his lips and his tongue, and then he kissed a slow tantalising trail down over the flexing muscles of her stomach, pushing her quiv¬ering thighs apart to conduct a more intimate exploration. She was shocked, but too tormented by her own aching need for his caresses to stop him. He controlled her utterly, pushed her to such a pitch of writhing, desperate excitement she was helpless.
He rose over her again, his breathing fractured. He dipped his tongue between her reddened lips in a sexy flick as he tipped back her thighs with almost clumsy hands, his own excitement palpable. Burnished golden eyes assailed hers. He hesitated at the crucial moment when she was braced for the hot, hard invasion of his body into hers.
'Luca!'
‘Dio mio..I don't know myself like this’ he groaned ruefully. 'I feel wild...but I don't want to hurt you.'
'You won't...'