the butterflies in her stomach fluttering too madly to let anything else in. With every passing minute of their shared meal she’d expected Gabriele to take charge, declare their meal over, and lead her into the bedroom. That he had been happy to linger had only added to the fear and anticipation rioting together in her. It had been like a ticking clock, the pendulum swinging louder and louder with every beat until it had become too much to bear.
She hadn’t been able to take the suspense a moment longer.
Being the one to vocalise it had felt, strangely, empowering. She had made the first move. She’d taken the power out of his hands and claimed it for herself.
And now the butterflies had gone berserk, the fear being crowded out.
God forgive her, she wanted him. She wanted this to happen.
But she would only give him her body. Her head and emotions belonged only to her and she would keep them firmly detached. Men did it all the time so why should she be any different?
All the same, it took a few moments to get her feet moving out of the bathroom.
Gabriele was already propped up in bed, waiting for her, his broad chest bare.
His eyes shimmered to see her. He turned the sheets over beside him.
Under those same sheets she knew the rest of him was naked too. Just as she was naked beneath her silk robe.
The summer sun was still making its late descent, casting the room with a dusky hue. She wished it were fully dark; was certain it would make her feel a little less vulnerable.
She got under the sheets and lay on her back, pulling the sheets up to her shoulders.
Gabriele propped himself on an elbow and stared down at her. Unable to help herself, she gazed back.
Those soulful dark eyes swirled as if magma had been poured into them, an intensity there that made her heart skip and her nerves tauten painfully. Excitement and fear collided but she couldn’t look away.
A large, warm hand rested on her collarbone, fingers tracing across to dip under her robe and begin the trail down to her belly, peeling the fabric back until he reached the knotted sash.
His eyes holding hers, still propped up on his elbow, he untied it.
Elena’s heart hammered so hard its beats echoed in her ears. Breathing had become difficult, the air sticking in her throat. The line on her skin where his fingers had traced had been marked by his touch, the tingles spreading out through her flesh.
When Gabriele dipped his head and moved his mouth to hers, she only just turned her head away in time.
He stilled and gazed at her with questioning eyes before a half smile formed on his face.
‘Ah,’ he murmured softly, kissing her neck. ‘This is where you make a show of doing your duty and nothing more.’ He caught her earlobe in his teeth while he pulled her robe apart, exposing her breasts to him.
He gazed at them then looked back in her eyes, the magma in his pulsing. Gently he cupped her breast and stroked the puckered nipple with his thumb.
She closed her eyes as sensation rippled through her.
‘We both know your desire for me is as strong as my desire for you,’ he whispered, his mouth back at her ear, more sweet, sweet sensation skittering on her skin, under her skin, everywhere...
Gabriele shifted off his elbow and raised himself to kneel over her thigh. The movement shrugged the sheets off him, exposing more of the dark hair that covered his chest, down to his abdomen, thickening at his groin, where...
She blinked in shock.
She might have zero experience in this but even she could tell he was fully erect and hugely so.
A dull throb set off low within her, becoming altogether heavier and more heated when he pressed another kiss into her neck. And another. And another, drifting lower, down the valley of her breasts and over to capture a nipple in his mouth.
She couldn’t contain the gasp that flew from her mouth.
The urge to touch him back grew from nowhere, and she grabbed at the ends of her pillow, clumping them in her fists.
This was too much. And yet, not enough.
Lightly, he traced his fingers over her skin, making swirls over her belly, his movement unhurried; lazy. Sensation was everywhere.
When he trailed a hand down her body and dipped a finger into her most intimate area, she clenched her teeth, still determined not to react. But this...in a place she’d never even touched herself...
Now he was the one to groan, a deep sound that came from the base of his throat, more like a growl from a wild animal than anything human.
‘You really are exquisite.’ He rested the palm of his hand so it covered the heart of her pleasure and slid another finger inside her.
Her breaths shortened.
The friction of his palm on her and the wholly unknown sensations being set off by the magic of his fingers...the battle to keep her head was being lost and she held the pillow even more tightly lest she give in and flatten her hands onto his back and feel the skin for herself and see if it felt as smooth beneath her fingertips as it seemed to her eye.
She would not give in. No matter how desperate a fight it would be.
But she was helpless to prevent the moan that left her mouth like a whimper.
‘Admit that you want me,’ Gabriele said hoarsely into her throat, his breath sending more sensation over her skin. ‘I need to hear it.’
How could she deny it? Her body betrayed how much she desired him, reacting to his touch as if it were heaven-sent.
‘Yes, I want you,’ she whispered fiercely.
He groaned at her whispered admittance and moved fully between her thighs and took hold of himself, guiding himself to the place he’d just been touching her.
His erection pressed into her opening and then there was a sharp lance of pain as he drove inside her with one long, determined thrust.
Elena sucked in air and froze, so stunned at the sudden feel of him inside—fully, massively inside her—that she couldn’t move.
Gabriele stopped moving too.
‘Elena?’
His eyes, which hadn’t left her face, now reflected stark shock.
After long moments passed in which nothing more was said but understanding flowed, he lowered himself to rest his weight on her, not enough to crush but enough that his entire upper body rested upon her, the darks hairs on his chest bristling against her breasts, his groin now resting against hers.
And, God, he was still inside her.
He was a part of her.
‘Put your arms around me,’ he said
