It had been so long since she had kissed anyone she was afraid she’d forgotten how to do it. Maybe it was best to treat it as a task. She never went into tasks unprepared. She would treat it like pulling off a sticking plaster. Quick and painless. After all, the fear of the unknown was usually worse than the act itself.
When they entered the apartment Leo pulled off his bow tie in one movement, throwing it on a side table and moving towards the door of his bedroom.
‘Wait.’ She spoke as confidently as she could muster. ‘I just want to try something first.’
On steady feet she walked to him, seeing his eyes widen as she stepped close. Her lips touched his—hesitantly at first, then fully. He smelled amazing this close, and his lips were hard and hot under hers. She stepped back before she could get too comfortable, feeling her legs tremble just a little bit as she put some distance between them once more.
‘There—that’s the awkward first kiss over and done with.’ She smiled, proud of herself for finding a logical way to deal with an uncomfortable situation.
Leo stayed silent for a moment, his expression entirely unreadable. Then he took a step, closing the space between them. ‘If you wanted to try it out, all you had to do was ask, Dara.’
‘It was just a practice run. For tomorrow.’ She felt her body react as he closed in once more. As if her skin remembered him, was begging him to step closer again. What on earth had come over her?
‘In that case I think we need another try.’
His lips were on hers before she could formulate a reply. But this kiss was not simple and exploratory, as hers had been. His mouth was hard on hers, his lips pressing with an urgency she had never felt before. She felt it too. It was as though the entire world had fallen away and all that mattered was this. Feeling his mouth on hers, his hands wrapping around her waist.
His wicked tongue traced a trail of fire across her lips, demanding access. She tried to think straight. This was all wrong. It had started as a simple kiss and now suddenly she was being ravished.
She tilted her head back and he took advantage. His hands moved from her waist down to her bottom, holding her to him. She had never felt awareness like this before. The feel of his hard chest against her own made her nipples peak with need. Her breasts felt heavy, aching with the demand to be in the open air. She felt wanton and free and prayed her sanity wouldn’t return any time soon. She let her own tongue move against his, following the rhythm and feeling the hard weight of his arousal press against her.
He began kissing a passionate trail of fire down the soft skin of her neck. Dara moaned at the sensation, shocked at the sensation of molten heat building between her thighs.
She wanted him more than she had ever wanted any man before. His smell, his touch was driving her so wild she could barely think. All she could hear was the sound of her heart beating loud in her ears. His breath was equally as ragged as he nibbled her earlobe and pulled the neckline of her dress down so that it rested high on her waist.
Dara felt her body react reflexively, softening to him, unconsciously offering more. Cohesive thought left her as she gave in to the warmth of his hard muscular body surrounding her. He pushed against her shoulders until she was lying on the plush sofa in the living room. His mouth lowered to the sensitive skin of her breasts and the last remnant of her resolve seemed to melt away. All she could feel was him and the wild, primal movements of his lips and teeth as they tasted and teased her.
His tongue circled one tip as his thumb and forefinger slowly tortured the other. She writhed under his touch, her hips arching up to meet the hard ridge below his abdomen.
He raised his head to kiss her once more, his lips softer this time as he continued to tease one nipple with his fingers. His hand moved lower, tracing a path down her stomach to her lower thigh. He pulled the silken material of her dress up so that it bunched around her hips. His fingers were stroking up the skin of her thigh as his lips continued to demand brutal response from her own. She grabbed a fistful of thick dark hair, feeling a wave of triumph as he growled and kissed her harder.
His hand caressed her, higher still, cupping her over the thin lace of her underwear. She felt her stomach clench in response and raised her hips to meet him, feeling his fingers press against that sensitive part of her through the gauzy material. She needed his skin on hers—needed the release that she could feel building.
He growled low in his throat as she put her hand over his, guiding him towards the edge of the french lace, begging him to reach inside. His hands were everywhere...his lips were in her ear murmuring something incomprehensible in Italian.