on, and so he made himself stop thinking about it. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that she was with him now.
‘Well?’ He arched an eyebrow, his mouth curving in a salacious smile. ‘I’m not naked yet.’
‘I know.’ She laughed again, a soft, breathy sound, and then tugged his trousers down. Marco kicked them off his feet, and followed with his shoes and socks. Now all he wore was a pair of navy silk boxers and his arousal was all too evident.
Sierra’s gaze darted up to him and she licked her lips. Marco groaned. Then she reached out a hand and touched his shaft through his boxers, her fingers questing uncertainly and then wrapping more firmly around him.
Marco clenched his jaw against the almost painful wave of pleasure that crashed over him. ‘Sierra...’
‘Is this okay?’ She jerked her hand back as if she’d hurt him and he laughed, albeit shakily.
‘More than okay. What you do to me... But I need to do some things to you.’ He reached for her then, because he needed her next to him. The feel of their naked bodies colliding made them both gasp aloud, her breasts against his chest, their legs tangled.
Marco kissed her deeply and she responded with all of her clumsy ardour, tangling her hands in his hair as he fitted her body more closely to his. Marco backed her towards the wall, pressing her against the sheet of glass as Sierra let out a soft laugh.
‘Half the world now has a glimpse of my backside.’
‘No one can see you from up here,’ he promised her, ‘but, if they could, it would be the most splendid view. Not,’ he added in a growl as his mouth moved down her body, ‘that I want anyone to see you but me.’ Ever, he silently added, and then pushed the thought away as he turned his attention to her breasts. Her skin was pale and gleaming in the moonlight; she looked like a statue of Athena or Artemis, naked and proud.
Sierra’s head came back against the glass, her hair tumbling about her shoulders, and her legs buckled as Marco lavished his attention on each breast in turn and then moved lower.
She gasped, a ragged pant, as he parted her thighs. ‘Marco...’
‘I want to taste you.’ Was she thinking of before, in the villa, when he’d touched her like this? Then it had been confused, born of both need and anger, a twisted revenge he hadn’t wanted to articulate even to himself. Now he felt nothing but this deep physical and emotional connection he needed to act on. To show her how important she was to him. ‘I want to feel you come apart beneath me,’ he muttered against her. ‘I want you to give me everything, Sierra.’ For ever.
* * *
Sierra sagged against the window, Marco supporting her with one arm, as he plundered her centre. She didn’t know how she could have, but she’d forgotten how intense and exquisite and intimate this was. Marco’s hands were cupping her bottom as pleasure spiralled inside her, up and up, tighter and tighter until she felt as if she were apart from her body even as she dwelt so intensely in it. When she came, she cried out, Marco holding her to him as she slid into boneless pleasure.
A few moments passed while he cradled her and her breathing slowed and then he scooped her up in his arms and took her up the spiral staircase to his bed.
He deposited her on the navy silk sheets tenderly, like a treasure, and Sierra lay there, gazing up at him with pleasure-dazed eyes as he stripped the boxers from his body and then stretched out next to her.
Completely naked, he was magnificent, every muscle perfectly sculpted, the hard ridge of his abdomen begging for her touch. She slid her hand down his toned stomach, a thrill of wonder and pleasure shooting through her at Marco’s ragged gasp. It amazed her that she affected him so much. That she had that much power. It was a heady feeling but a serious one, too, because she knew all about the abuse of power.
‘You’re amazing,’ she whispered, and wrapped her fingers around his shaft. His skin was smooth and hot, and it thrilled her.
‘You’re amazing,’ he muttered and pulled her to him, sliding a hand between her thighs, where she was still damp from his touch. ‘I want you now, Sierra. I want to be inside you.’
‘I want you inside me.’
He rolled on top of her, poised at her entrance as a frown furrowed his forehead. ‘Birth control...’
She blushed even as she opened herself to him. ‘I don’t... That is, I’m not on anything.’
In one swift movement Marco rolled off her. Sierra felt the loss of him keenly. ‘Marco...’
‘I’m sorry. I should have thought of it sooner. I was so wrapped up in you...’
Disappointment made her feel as if she’d swallowed a stone. ‘But don’t you have anything?’
He arched an eyebrow, a wry smile twisting his lips. ‘I wasn’t expecting to need anything on this trip.’
‘You didn’t think you’d get lucky?’ she teased and his expression turned serious.
‘I didn’t dare hope, Sierra.’
‘Even so...’
‘I’m not quite,’ he said, ‘the super stud you seem to think I am. But thanks, anyway.’
She laughed softly. ‘But you must have had plenty of women...’ Even if she felt like scratching their eyes out just then.
Marco’s expression closed and he shook his head. ‘Let’s not talk about that. The past is in the past, for both of us.’
She nodded and Marco left the room. He came back seconds later, condom in hand. ‘Fortunately, the penthouse is admirably stocked. Now, where were we?’
She arched her body against the sheets, eyebrows raised as a provocative smile curved her mouth. ‘Right about here?’
His gaze darkened with desire as he watched her move. ‘Yes, I think so. But I’d better check.’
He rolled on the condom and Sierra watched, transfixed by the sight, by the sheer beauty of him. Now would probably be a good time to tell him that she hadn’t actually done any of this before. The feel of him in her hand had caused her a twinge of alarm, wondering how he was going to fit inside her. Wondering how the mechanics of this actually worked.
But she didn’t want to break the moment, and she knew any explanation she gave would be clumsy and awkward. Marco had said the past was in the past. Better to leave it there.
He lay down next to her again, stirring up the embers of need into roaring flame with just a few touches, his mouth on hers, his hand between her thighs. She arched against him, a sound like a kitten’s mewl emerging from her lips.
He laughed softly and then rolled on top of her, braced on his forearms as he nudged at her entrance. ‘Are you ready...?’
‘Yes,’ she panted. ‘Yes.’
He moved inside her and Sierra stiffened instinctively at the entirely unexpected feeling. Her gaze widened and her mouth parted on a soundless gasp. She felt so...full. Invaded, yet in an exciting way. He moved again
