Italian Doctor, Sleigh-Bell Bride (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 6)

The fabulous silver dress still lay in a pool on the floor, a reminder that the magical night was well and truly over.

Willing him not to open his eyes, she turned her head to look at him. He was intensely masculine and for a moment her gaze lingered on the hard lines of his face and his firm, sensual mouth. His lashes were thick and dark and his jaw was blue with stubble. Even in sleep he was breathtakingly, impossibly handsome and her insides squirmed as she remembered the intimacies they’d shared the night before.

How could she have ever thought that one night with this man would be enough?

The trouble with discovering the existence of really, really good sex, she thought to herself, was that one didn’t want to give it up.

No wonder women were disgruntled when he ended a relationship. They knew that they’d just lost perfection.

And now she had to find a way of leaving the bed without disturbing him.

Gently and slowly she tried to ease away from him but he tightened his grip and pulled her back against him. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Agonisingly aware of the brush of his thigh against hers, she stilled. ‘I was going to get dressed.’

‘Don’t bother,’ he murmured softly, rolling her underneath him and combing her hair away from her face with a gentle hand. ‘We don’t have to collect Max until four o’clock. That gives us all day.’

Her heart thudding, she stared up at him. ‘I’m naked.’

‘I know, tesoro. And you are beautiful. Molto bella.’ With a sexy smile, he shifted his body subtly and she gasped as she felt the hard thrust of his arousal.

‘Stefano—’

He lowered his head and kissed her mouth, cutting her off before she could say what she wanted to say. ‘You have a glorious, fabulous body and to let you wear clothes would be criminally irresponsible.’

‘I was going to have a shower,’ she murmured, distracted by the touch of his mouth on her neck. How did he know exactly where to touch her?

‘Good idea. We’ll take one together.’ Delivering a last, lingering kiss on her mouth, Stefano sprang out of bed, gloriously naked and as confident and unselfconscious as ever.

Maybe if she looked as good as him, she’d be confident too, Liv thought and then gave a gasp of shock as he swung her into his arms.

Ignoring her muttered confession that she’d never showered with anyone before, he carried her into his enormous bathroom and lowered her gently to the floor. Then he hit a button on the wall and jets of deliciously warm water cascaded over both of them.

‘The great thing about showering with someone,’ he said, his Italian accent suddenly very pronounced, ‘is that they do all the work.’ Reaching for the soap, he gave a her a wicked smile and slid his hands slowly and deliberately over her body. ‘Tell me—what is it that you don’t like about your body?’

‘I don’t know, I can’t think when you’re doing that to me!’ She tilted her head back and then gasped as the water hit her full in the face. ‘I’m drowning…’

Laughing, he nudged her gently back against the wall of the shower, away from the direct flow of the jets of water. ‘Better?’

She opened her mouth to answer but then his hand slid between her thighs and the only sound she was capable of making was a low moan of pleasure and desperation. The water flowed over her but she was only aware of the expert slide of his fingers against her flesh. His touch was wickedly skilled and when he dropped to his knees in front of her, she gave a whimper of disbelief.

She had to stop him. She knew she had to stop him but then he parted her gently and the only sound that emerged was a low moan of pleasure.

The heated, moist sensation of his mouth drove the breath from her body and every rational thought from her head as he licked her with slow strokes of his tongue and then teasing flickers that drove her wild with desire.

Her pelvis ached and throbbed and she moved restlessly, overtaken by the heat that he was creating. The tremors started to engulf her and then he slid his fingers deep and she exploded into an orgasm so intense that for a moment the world went black and she forgot where she was and who she was with. She lost control totally and it felt like endless minutes before she was finally able to open her eyes and look at him.

Stefano rose to his feet, paused long enough to protect her and then he put his hands under her hips and lifted her, his eyes impossibly dark and slumberous as he held her gaze. ‘I think you are fabulous and beautiful, Liv—’ His voice was husky. ‘Are you getting the message yet?’ His arms and shoulders were thickened with muscle and he held her easily, his erection hot and heavy against her as he positioned her to his satisfaction. His strong fingers bit hard into her thighs and she cried out in ecstasy as he surged into her body with a single, decisive thrust. She felt the warmth and fullness of him deep, deep inside her and he paused for a moment as sexual chemistry threatened to devour them both. Stefano groaned something in Italian and withdrew slightly, only to thrust again, this time deeper than the last time. Holding her securely, he began a sensual, erotic rhythm that felt so agonisingly, impossibly good that Liv felt the immediate response of her body. She wanted to move her hips but he was the one in control, his body pressed hard against hers, his shoulders and arms taking her weight as he drove into her again and again. Ripples of exquisite excitement turned to an explosion of ecstasy and she felt him shudder against her as her own body was suddenly showered with sensation.

She clung to him, ignoring the drenching flow of the shower and the relentless patter of her heartbeat. It was only when he finally lowered her gently to the floor and smiled at her that she realised just how much trouble she was in.

Nothing was ever going to be the same again. How could it be after a night with this man? Before the previous night she’d managed to convince herself that she was happy being single, that her life with her little boy was enough. All her fulfilment and satisfaction had come from her role as a mother and she hadn’t dared explore the world beyond. She’d been too afraid. Jack’s cruel rejection had acted like chains, preventing her from exploring her needs as a woman.

But one night with Stefano had set her free from those restraints.

With soft words and skilled touch, he’d made her feel like a beautiful, confident woman and she knew that she’d never again be able to shut that part of herself down. She wanted to share her life with a man, but not just any man.

Stefano.