Page 205 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

The sledgehammer of guilt cut off his words as he was confronted by another of his inadequacies. The way he had shut her out.

He’d never liked talking about the past because experience had taught him that no good ever came from raking up dirt and searching for skeletons. And delving into emotional waters held no appeal, because his were cold and dark and he was scared of drowning in them. He’d blocked those conversations to protect himself, but he’d failed to consider how that would be perceived by Rae. How it would make her feel. How it would affect the rest of their relationship. But he could see it now. See the walls he’d erected, the doors he’d sealed shut, locking her out completely. Domenico knew how that felt, and that he had forced her to feel that same dismissal was agonising.

‘I never meant to shut you out, Rae. To shut down our conversations. But I’m not sure that I knew how to let you in either,’ he admitted with a wince of discomfort at such profound self-analysis. ‘When things have been hard, I think the way I’ve always dealt with them is by compressing my emotions into something small and manageable and locking them away. They’re not easy doors to unlock.’

‘I think I’ve started to understand that about you already. And the things you’ve told me... I understand why you would want to bury them, keep them out of sight and out of mind.’ She reached out to him, just a small touch of her fingertips against his bare knee, but he felt it everywhere. ‘You didn’t deserve to be left like that, to be burdened with those feelings. And you didn’t deserve to be left the way I left you either. If I caused you more pain, I’m sorry. But I appreciate everything you’ve chosen to tell me. I know it’s not easy for you.’

It wasn’t. It was like drawing poison from a wound, but if opening up earned him that soft and loving glow in her eyes, he’d gladly tell her more. Anything, to keep her staring at him in that way.

‘I’m sorry I let you down so badly.’

‘We let each other down,’ she said on a sigh and, as she looked across at him, Domenico could see a tempest of emotion swirling in her eyes, threatening at any second to spill over. She chewed at the inside of her lip, deliberating about something uneasily, hovering on the edge of speaking, of telling him something he sensed was important to her, but then she just shook her head, shaking the storm from her gaze. ‘We both made mistakes.’

He wanted to tell her that his mistakes were tearing him up inside, that he’d never wanted to lose her, that if he could go back and do it all over again, he would in a heartbeat. But he didn’t know how to get those words out, didn’t know if it would be wise to speak them aloud, so he just reached out, curling a hand around her cheek and drawing her face close to his. He touched his mouth to hers softly, a kiss that said everything he wanted to say but couldn’t. And then he let her go.

‘Did you think there was someone watching us?’

‘No,’ he said with a smile. ‘That kiss was just because I wanted to kiss you.’

Her breathing changed, quickened. Heat exploded in her eyes, as if he’d set something loose inside of her, and then she asked, ‘And if I wanted to kiss you back?’

‘I wouldn’t stop you.’

He wouldn’t be able to stop himself. He couldn’t tear his eyes from her, his hands were burning to feel her skin beneath his.

Rae moved at the same time he did, reaching out with as much urgency, so when their bodies collided and their lips fused together it was like a giant starburst, with pops of colour exploding behind his eyes and rivers of feeling pouring down his body as if a dam had broken.

CHAPTER NINE

THEPASSIONATECLAIMDomenico was staking on her lips was making Rae’s body tremble and her blood sing with delight. She’d missed this, she thought in the tiny part of her brain that was still capable of thought. Missed the masterly glide of his firm lips against hers, missed the bite of his hands into her tender flesh, and the feel of every line and contour of him pressed up against her. The moment was almost too overwhelming, every sensation fighting for dominance, and she couldn’t decide which to revel in first...the imprint of his firm, masculine form or the deepening probe of his tongue, turning the desire already racing through her into a swirling inferno that was so potent it had the power to burn her from the inside out.

The last place that she had expected to end the evening was in Domenico’s arms. And yet it felt right. More than right.Necessary.As he’d opened up, Rae had felt herself falling deeper and deeper into him, her body yearning to reach out to his and envelop him in her comfort. He had been so open and honest and she had wanted to be too, but when the moment for her transparency had arrived, Rae hadn’t been able to do it. She had kept her secret locked inside, and chosen not to feel bad about doing so because, whatever it was between her and Domenico, it wasn’t substantial enough to require the baring of her heart and soul. Their relationship was neither real nor lasting.

But then he abandoned the glorious assault on her mouth and feasted instead on the super-sensitive skin of her neck. As he scraped his teeth against the very spot he had just finished sucking on, Rae curled her fingers into his hair and snatched in a desperate lungful of cool air, needing that burst of oxygen because she was already drowning.

In him.

The feeling that speared through her seemed to be a direct and defiant repudiation to her stance that their relationship wasn’t real. With every swipe of his mouth and every sweep of his hands Domenico was taking her over, inch by inch, kiss by kiss, and as he did, the parts of Rae’s world that had felt out of sync for reasons she hadn’t been able to identify began to shift back into perfect alignment.

She had spent so much time and energy trying to convince herself that she was okay without Domenico, that there was nothing missing from her life, but in that moment, with the imprint of his hands all over her and the sharp masculine scent of him surrounding her, she had no choice but to abandon that lie. Because she was coming alive again under the possessive pressure of his fingers against her skin and the hungry scrape of his mouth, and something veryrealwas unfurling within her, something with a potent, glittering, unfamiliar power.

His hands moved to her blouse, reaching for the buttons, and as he did, he drew back enough so that he could stare at her. The look in his eyes was so hungry and yet so tender that Rae suddenly found it harder and harder to breathe. Because whilst they had done this many,manytimes before, for some reason it felt like the first time again. There was the remembered thrill and anticipation, but every other feeling spinning up inside her was so new, so profound and piercing, that she felt, just for a second, so wildly overwhelmed.

She could feel the thuds of her heart in her throat and they only grew heavier as he pushed the fabric of her blouse open and gazed down at her, hunger darkening the glow of his already dark eyes, turning them molten.

‘You’re so beautiful, Rae,’ he breathed, and the sentiment seemed infused with so much loving and open feeling that tears hit the backs of her eyes.

‘So are you.’ Lifting her hand, she stroked it across his face, caressing the strong jawline and noble chin, brushing a finger across his full lips. It was a face she knew well, a face she would be able to find even in the dark, but now, as she looked into his eyes, for the first time she felt as if she could see into him, into his heart and soul, and she trembled. Because she had always wanted all of him, and now he was giving her exactly that. Only there was danger in that as much as delight, because the connection crackling between them was now all the more poignant and powerful. And it would be so much harder to extract herself from.

However, there was no question in her mind about turning back now. She wanted this connection with him. She was craving it. She needed it.

‘Take me inside, Domenico,’ she commanded in a whisper, knowing they needed privacy for all that she wanted to unfold.

He inhaled a sharp breath as though he hadn’t dared imagine he’d hear those words, and then raised himself to his feet and carried her with him, her legs curled around his waist, her body cradled in his strong arms.

They didn’t look away from each other, but neither of them spoke. To do so would have interrupted the feeling flowing unspoken between them and, finding his way inside, Domenico set her down on the nearest flat surface.

The light in the room was dim, casting a dusky glow, and his mouth wasted no time in reuniting with hers, his lips asking questions that she answered with her own. Their kisses deepened, the effect sinking deep within her, making the honeyed river of lust flow with more speed, more ease. When he drew back to take a breath his chest moved up and down in an uneven rhythm and Rae’s heart and pulse were just as restless, running riot beneath her skin.

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