We stood outside the door. The guards were gone. I nodded at the questioning look in her eyes.
Yes, the rules had changed. Not much. But a little.
I closed the door and locked it, keeping her pressed against the door. I traced her face with my fingertips as her breathing started to quicken. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to reassure her that we could wait to have kids.
We couldn’t.
I couldn’t.
“Evie . . .” I murmured just before capturing her lips in a possessive kiss. I claimed her mouth with mine, leaning in close, shifting my body and lifting hers until we were pressed together.
We both moaned at the contact, but I didn’t stop kissing her. I couldn’t. So I didn’t even try.
I let my hands wander, more confident now, not so afraid that I would tip off her alarm bells. She knew this was happening now. We both did.
And we both wanted it. Badly.
Though I was pretty fucking sure no one ever wanted anything as badly as I did now.
We were both out of breath when I finally lifted my head to stare at her. I’d never felt anything like it. Kissing her before had been epic, but this time it was . . . earth-shattering. I was kissing my wife now. For the first time, our kisses wouldn’t end in frustration. This kiss would end with her underneath me, screaming my name.
I scraped my fingers over the front of her dress. I hooked my fingers underneath the lace, ready to tear it off her. But the sweet girl in front of me turned her back and offered me the row of pearl buttons that lined her beautiful back.
Yes, even the curved lines of her back made me want her. It wasn’t just want. I wanted to devour her. I wanted to inhale her. Absorb her into my bones.
I forced myself to go slow. She was completely innocent. But not innocent enough to think she could leave her clothes on another moment.
“Antonio . . .” she said softly as I unfastened what felt like the thousandth button. “You don’t really expect—”
I turned her sharply and took her mouth again, my hands gliding the dress over her shoulders to pool at her feet. I didn’t want to give her a chance to think. I didn’t want to give myself a chance to think, either.
To think about what I was about to do to the beautiful girl in my arms.
We were going to make a baby today. Or at least start trying. She had no access to birth control, or God forbid, the morning after pill.
I was a liar and a thief, and I was going to take advantage of her innocence. I hated myself for it already. But no amount of self-loathing was going to stop me.
I would take and take and take. Because I wanted to. Because it was the only way to keep her safe.
Because the caveman inside me demanded it.
I stepped back so I could look at her. She was beyond my expectations. Sweet curves that begged for my hands and silky skin that glowed from her head to her toes. Standing there in her dainty little white satin shoes and some of the laciest underthings I had seen in my life, Evangeline was breathtaking.
She was a cake covered in confectionary sugar and angel wings all wrapped up in one delectable package. And she was mine.
Without a word, I lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.
A bucket of champagne sat on the bedside table. There were rose petals on the bed and vases of decadent flowers everywhere. A plate of chocolate-covered strawberries sat next to the bed.
Don’t forget to thank Auntie. The woman thinks of everything.
It was all very nice. Very seductive. But it was just window dressing. It had nothing to do with the purely animal act that was about to take place on the bed. This wasn’t a man having sex with his wife. It wasn’t a hookup. It was pure animal instinct.
The nature shows you saw on TV were nothing compared to what was about to go down.
I set her on her feet, then backed her up until the back of her legs hit the bed. Her gorgeous eyes were wide. The human part of me hoped she didn’t get spooked. The animal part of me knew there was no stopping this.
My hands slid over her to get the best grip on all that creamy, delicious-looking flesh. I wanted to touch her, bite her, fucking inhale her. I positioned her on the bed quickly, climbing on top of her as I pulled my jacket and tie free and kicked off my shoes. I laid one thigh over hers as I started to explore her body with my hands and lips. I paused to unbutton the top few buttons on my shirt. I was so close to tearing my clothes off. But I couldn’t show her the beast inside me. Not yet.