Forgiven but Not Forgotten?

Andreas put his hand to the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair, and urged her closer. And then his mouth was on hers, hot and urgent. She could feel him hardening against her belly and she groaned. She couldn’t deny this either—not when every cell in her body was rejoicing.

She lifted her arms and fisted her hands in Andreas’s hair, bolder than she’d been before, arching herself into him. The knowledge resounded in her head. He knew everything but he still wanted her. She’d believed his desire had died a death the night he’d let her go. A fierce exultation made her blood surge, and her heart soared when he pulled back and looked at her for an incendiary moment. She felt him picking her up and quickly covering the distance back to the bedroom.

As he was lying her on the bed Andreas was already opening the buttons of her shirt, and Siena’s hands were mirroring his. She almost wept when her fingers were too clumsy. Andreas took her hands away and ripped it open, buttons popping everywhere.

An urgency that Siena hadn’t experienced before infused the air around them. Her shirt was open and Andreas pulled the cups of her bra down so that her breasts spilled free. He bent his head to pay homage to the puckered peaks, making Siena cry out at the exquisite sensation.

Siena barely noticed that Andreas was arching her into him so that he could undo her skirt at the back, but then his mouth was gone and he was lying her down again so that he could pull her skirt over her hips and thighs and off.

It was hard to breathe. Especially when she saw his hands go to his belt and he made quick work of taking off his trousers and boxers. And then he was naked. And aroused. Siena’s heart-rate increased when she saw the telltale moisture bead at the tip of his erection, and a gush of heat made her even wetter between her legs.

Andreas came down on the bed beside her, the rising sun outside making his body gleam. With deft hands her shirt and bra followed her clothes and his to the floor and soon they were both naked.

A surge of something scarily tender gripped Siena. She raised a hand and touched Andreas’s jaw, relishing the stubble prickling against her palm.

He took her hand and brought it down, curling her fingers around him. Her eyes widened when she felt the solid strength of him, how he twitched and seemed to swell even more. Her hand moved up and down in an instinctive rhythm and Siena watched Andreas’s cheeks flush with blood, his eyes grow even darker.

Stretching up, she pressed her mouth to his, open, her tongue seeking and finding his, sucking it deep. Her breasts were full and tight, and Andreas’s hand moved down her body until he pushed between her legs, making them fall apart. His fingers found the moist evidence of her arousal and stroked with a rhythm that made her curve into him, pull her mouth from his so she could suck in oxygen.

And then his fingers thrust into her, and Siena’s body spasmed with pre-orgasmic pleasure.

Andreas’s voice was guttural, rough. ‘You’re so ready for me. I want you now. I’ve missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you.’ Siena’s heart stopped for a long second and she searched Andreas’s face. He looked as if he was in a fever. She slammed down on the momentary joy his words had provoked. He was talking in the heat of the moment, that was all.

Her whole body seemed to be poised on the brink. She felt Andreas take her hand from him and heard the ripping of foil, and then he was back, the blunt head of his erection pressing against her body, teasing.

Siena opened her legs wider, bit her lip and arched upwards, forcing Andreas to impale her. The pleasure was like nothing she’d experienced yet with this man. It was more intense than anything before.

Andreas slid deep into her body before pulling out again, and then moved back in. Siena’s head went back and she looked up at him, her chest feeling so full that she could only gasp when he slid so deep that it felt as if he touched her heart…and in that moment the knowledge burst into Siena’s consciousness.

She loved this man. She loved him as she’d never loved another being—not even her sister.

But she couldn’t fully absorb it. Andreas was wresting away her ability to think as his powerful body surged, robbing her of breath and speech.

The intense dance between their bodies became all she could focus on. She was willing herself not to tip over the edge too soon, revelling in Andreas’s power and control. But then it became too much. She couldn’t hang on. Not when she wrapped her legs around Andreas’s hips and their chests were crushed together. And not when he bent his head and found one taut peak, sucked it deep.

Siena cried out as emotion soared and realisation struck her: she’d thought she’d never experience this again.

Her body tightened on that delicious plateau just a second before she fell and fell, her body clenching tight around Andreas’s shaft, urging him on until he too fell and their bodies were just a sweaty tangle of limbs on the tousled covers of the bed.

* * *

When Siena woke again she was disorientated once more, but this time because Andreas was in bed with her, his head resting on one hand as he looked at her. She blushed, and he smiled, and her heart palpitated. So much had happened in the space of twenty-four hours.

His smile faded. ‘I want you to come home with me.’

Those words caused a lurch in Siena’s chest. ‘Home? To your apartment?’

Andreas nodded, and then said with familiar intractability, ‘I’m not going to take no for an answer. You’re coming with me, Siena.’

She looked at him for a long moment. His jaw was more stubbled now. He had that look she recognized. Slightly stern. Determined.

Feeling claustrophobic under his dark blue gaze, Siena looked away and saw the bathroom robe at the end of the bed, where she’d thrown it earlier. Moving before she could lose her nerve, she sat up and reached for it, pulling it around her and awkwardly feeding her arms into the sleeves. She got out of the bed to stand apart from him, belting the robe tightly and trying not to think of how dishevelled she felt. How deliciously sated.

‘Andreas…’ she began, not really knowing what to say.

He lay back against the pillows, arms behind his head, broad chest swelling with the movement, and Siena was hopelessly distracted for a moment.