Page 9 of The Wanted Prince

“Ticklish?”

“Mm-hm…”

Alessandro teased me, tickling, then kissing, making my skin rise in gooseflesh, then soothing it down. He worked his way higher, circling my breasts. My nipples stood so hard they almost hurt, and I grabbed hold of his hair and dragged him up. Alessandro winked up at me.

“Someone’s impatient.”

“Someone’s a tease.” I pushed him back down. He laughed, his breath hot on my skin. Then his tongue darted out, circling one nipple. It flicked back and forth, and I bit back a moan.

“Yes?”

“God, yes, don’t stop.” I looped my legs around him to hold him in place. He ground up against me, his cock on my thigh. I wanted him in me, and I couldn’t wait.

“Where do you keep?—”

He glanced up at me. “Hm?”

“You know, protection. Where are your?—”

“Here.” He reached for the nightstand and pulled out a condom. I snatched it from him and tore it open. He wouldn’t pause in his teasing, so I rolled it on blind, then he hissed and stiffened as I guided him inside.

“Fuck… fuck,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s right. Fuck me.”

And he did, and my fantasies all flew out the window. The real thing was so much more hot and more forceful. So all-consuming I couldn’t think. My world became his long thrusts and his skin next to mine, his breath on my neck. The scrape of his stubble. His kisses were fire on my throat, on my lips. They burned through me and burned me down. I lost myself in red waves of heat. Currents of pleasure like shocks through my limbs. My back arched, my toes curled, and I moaned his name. I realized I was begging him never to stop. To keep going forever, just like that, just like that.

I felt right away when his rhythm grew ragged. When his grip tightened on a hank of my hair. He tugged my head back and pressed his face to my neck. Covered me in kisses. Whispered my name. I could feel he was close, and I was as well, balanced on the precipice. About to tip over. I angled my hips up, and right there.

“Right there…”

He thrust hard three times and I tossed my head back. A harsh cry escaped me. My vision went white. Alessandro’s hips jerked as my nails dug in, and I knew the instant he followed me over. I heard his breath catch, felt his teeth graze my skin. Felt him throb inside of me, and then go still. He held me close as he shuddered, hot breath in my ear. I shivered with him, still riding the aftershocks.

“Laura…” His voice was half-snarl, half-sigh. We collapsed together, sweaty, entwined. I ran my hands down his bare back. He ruffled my hair. Another strand of pearls slid down the pillow. Alessandro caught it and flicked it aside. He kissed me, slow, lazy, and chuckled into my neck.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

His lips twitched. “You have sex hair.”

“So do you.” I curled into his warmth. “I can’t stay the night.”

“I know. I’ll call a car for you. My driver’s discreet.”

I closed my eyes then, just to bask in the afterglow. This would be it for us, and I wasn’t ready to go. For the sweetness we’d shared to be over and done. I wanted to lie with his arms around me and just for these moments, dream of what if. If I wasn’t a Cardona. If he wasn’t a prince. If we’d met in New York one day and wound up in my bed. In that world, maybe I’d sleep in his arms. Wake up the next morning to him cooking me breakfast. We’d date, fall in love, and maybe…

Maybe…

I don’t know whose fault it was, mine or his. But one of us let the other drift off, then closed our eyes and drifted off too.

CHAPTER 4

ALESSANDRO

Iwoke to the sense of something not right. The light was too bright slanting in through the windows, the morning air too cool on my skin. I’d thrown off my blankets some time in the night, and something hard was digging into the back of my leg.

I reached down, still fuzzy, and dug under my thigh. Pulled out a long strand of skin-warm pearls.

“Laura!” I jerked upright, and she did too. The covers slid off her and she pulled them up to her chest.

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