her.
He was close … too close, and she was conscious of the black T-shirt moulding his muscular frame, the jeans he’d quickly dragged on at the sound of Nicki’s first cry.
Did he still sleep naked between the sheets?
Shannay tried to ignore the image that rose too readily to mind … and failed miserably.
How was it possible to crave the touch of a man she professed to hate?
It didn’t make sense to be so drawn, to want to lean in against him, lift her mouth to his and savour all he chose to gift her.
Marcello caught the darkness in her eyes, the way her lower lip trembled a little … and lowered his head to her own, tasting the sweetness that was hers alone, heard the soft sigh whisper in her throat, and chose a gentle exploration that teased and tantalised, until she reached for him, holding his head fast as she angled her mouth into his own.
It felt good. He felt so good. The way his hands slid over her shoulders to rest at her waist as he drew her slender frame in against him, and she sensed his hunger, knew it met and matched her own.
His mouth became flagrantly sensual, deepening with devastating effect as he swept her steadily beyond rational thought to a place where nothing else mattered … except the need for more, so much more.
The long oversized T-shirt she wore proved no barrier to his questing hands as they sought the hemline and settled on silken flesh.
One hand cupped her bottom while the other slid to caress her breast, shaping the soft fullness as he brushed a thumb back and forth across the tender peak, feeling it swell and harden beneath his touch.
He eased his mouth free from her own and traced a path down the arched line of her throat to settle in the hollow at its base, before seeking the sensitive curve at the edge of her neck.
An open-mouthed kiss there sent a shivery sensation arching through her body, and her fingers sought and freed the snap fastening of his jeans in the need to explore warm muscle and sinew.
With one quick movement she tugged his T-shirt high and slid tactile fingers over the hard musculature beneath his ribcage, then slipped to trace his navel, before easing low over his arousal to cup his scrotum … and squeeze a little.
A husky growl sounded close to her ear, and strong hands slid beneath her knees as he carried her down to the master suite and used the heel of one foot to close the door before easing her down the hard length of his body to her feet.
Feverish hands rapidly dispensed with what clothes remained, and Shannay uttered a sharp cry as Marcello lifted her high and wrapped her thighs round his waist before lowering his mouth to her breast.
Sensation radiated from her central core, and she gasped out loud as he took the tender peak between his teeth and rolled it gently, taking her from intense pleasure almost to the edge of pain.
It was she who sought the curve at the edge of his neck … and suckled there, deliberately marking him before soothing the bite with the tip of her tongue.
He shifted slightly, and slowly lowered the most vulnerable and sensitive part of her anatomy over his swollen arousal, held her there, then gently rocked her until she groaned out loud in frustration.
‘Now.’ It was a muttered agonised plea he refused to heed, and she dug her fingers in his hair and tugged a little.
‘Please.’
In one smooth movement he slid her down and onto him, then inch by tortuous inch until he filled her.
Oh, dear heaven, it felt so good. Joined with him, awash with coalescing sensation as passion escalated and demanded more.
It was then he moved to the bed and carefully eased her down onto the sheets, and she tossed her head in abject denial as he withdrew, then began a tracery of feather-light kisses over each breast in turn, pausing to savour there before moving lower over her abdomen.
She wanted his mouth on hers … except he had a different destination in mind, and she cried out as he sought the moist heat, laving the clitoris into vibrant, erotic life, sending her high with sensual spasms so intense she cried out as each wave consumed her body and reached right down to her soul.
Then, and only then did he enter her again, surging to the hilt in one powerful thrust, and she became boneless, so caught up with witching abandon she no longer knew who she was … only aware she never wanted this shameless rapture to end as she arched her body and took him again and again until they reached the brink, then soared together in glorious ecstasy.
It took a while for her rapid breathing to slow and return to something resembling normal, and she held on as he carefully rolled onto his back and took her with him, cradling her close, his lips buried against her temple.
It was then he felt the moistness on her cheek, and he smoothed a gentle hand over her hair, tucking some of it behind her ear as he searched her tear-filled eyes.
‘I hurt you?’
She didn’t trust herself to speak, and she simply shook her head.
He lifted a hand and brushed her cheek with his thumb, then he caressed her lips with his own, softly and with such tenderness fresh tears spilled and ran down each cheek in warm rivulets to pause at the edges of her mouth.
Light fingers traced her spine, soothing her as she buried her face into the curve of his neck.
She didn’t want to move. Didn’t feel as if she could.
Soon, she silently vowed, she’d disentangle herself from his arms, catch up her abandoned T-shirt, then quietly retreat to her room.
But for now she’d simply enjoy the aftermath of good sex. Very good sex, she amended silently, and felt the faint pull of unused muscles, the sheer euphoria of sensual fulfilment.
There was a part of her which yearned to be held through the night, to be comforted by the beat of Marcello’s heart beneath her hand, her cheek. To move in the night and be gathered in close against him.
She must have dozed, for she drifted awake to the realisation of a warm body curved round her own, a steady heartbeat against her back … and memory surfaced in a slow, unfolding image.
No. It was a dream, surely? Like one of many which haunted her mind in the dark hours of night.
Yet this was no dream. The arms which held her were real. And she froze for a few interminable seconds, then carefully, slowly, she began to ease herself free. Only to feel those arms tighten as warm breath teased her hair.
‘You’re not going anywhere.’
‘Please.’ Her voice was a strangled whisper of sound, and she felt the press of his mouth against her nape.
‘What if—?’
‘Nicki?’
Ohmigod, Nicki. What was she thinking?
Be honest, a wicked voice taunted. You weren’t thinking at all. ‘If she wakes and I’m not there.’ The words tumbled out in a rush, only to come
