Page 42 of 2 Books in One Bundle
He held his out. Another choice between yes and no. There was only one answer tonight. Yes, always yes. She slipped her own hand into his without hesitation. Greedy for his touch. His grip as he curled his fingers round hers firm but gentle.
Matteo led her back the way they’d come. Through the doors from the balcony overlooking the lake, inside. Her legs barely carried her, weak with need. Time slowed, as if she moved through syrup. Such sweet anticipation with the spicy thrill of something else.
Desire.
Then Matteo stopped. Was he having second thoughts? Instead, he turned to her. ‘This isn’t fast enough.’
He swung her into his arms as if she weighed nothing. The sensation of being cradled, held in his strong arms, an overwhelming one. Like the night he carried her out of Easton Hall. Saving her. Yet this night, there was none of the fear. Only anticipation. In that moment as he strode through the villa, it was as if she was the most precious, cherished being on earth.
They crossed the threshold to a room she presumed was his bedroom, light to semi-darkness. Only illuminated by the moonlight through the windows and a glow from his en suite bathroom. He set her feet on the floor but he didn’t let her go, as if knowing that she needed to be held, or she might sink into the carpet in a puddle of desire.
Whilst she could combust from thewanting, Louisa had to tell him. That no matter what those drawings might have implied, she was a virgin. Yet what if he hadn’t realised, didn’t want her?
Be brave.
‘I’ve never done this before,’ she whispered.
His arms tightened around her for a moment, as if to comfort.
‘I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.’
His words made her feel somehow...lacking. She wasn’t some porcelain doll that could be broken easily. ‘I—I don’t want careful.’
She wanted...wild. Unfettered. Untamed. Something that took her out and away from herself. Made her feel like a woman.
‘Then I’ll take care. Do you want more lights on?’
She hadn’t thought of that. She wanted to see him with his shirt off. His muscles, his own desire as he looked at her. But something else made her hesitate. Would he judge her, her body? No doubt he was experienced. Would he find her in some way lacking?
Her mind raced.
‘I can hear you thinking, Lulu. So I’ll take it the answer is negative. How about you relax and I make the decisions for a while? If there’s anything you don’t like, you can say no, and we stop.’
She nodded, her heart a pounding ache in her chest. Not of fear, but of anticipation. He took his jacket from her shoulders and tossed it onto a chair. Unhitched the chain belt from round her waist and dropped it to the floor. Grabbed the sides of her dress and pulled it, ever so slowly, over her head where it followed her belt. Then he unclipped her bra, eased the straps over her shoulders and cast it aside. She hesitated, wanting to raise her arms. Cover herself.
‘No. Never hide your beauty. Stand proud. Let me look at you.’
She did. Arms by her side as he stood back and simply stared.
‘You’re magnificent,’ he said, his voice rough with promise and desire. ‘Lie on the bed.’
She did as he asked. Stepping out of her shoes and pulling back the soft covers. Climbing onto a bed that felt like lying on a cloud. But she didn’t know how to lie there, in a way that seemed bold. On her back? On her side? Then Matteo pulled off his shirt and any logical thought fled.
The moonlight streaming through the windows illuminated his magnificent torso that looked as if it had been cut out of marble in the cool light. Almost like the statue of David, she’d drawn in her sketch book. Broad shoulders, generous muscles. So magnificent that if he had been a sculpture, the artist would have wept upon its completion. He was every midnight fantasy as he strode to his side of the bed and came to her.
‘Your trousers?’
‘They’ll come off soon enough. For now, it’s about you.’
He crawled over the bed like some stalking animal. Kneeled between her thighs. Dropped his head and feathered kisses over her stomach.
‘Tonight, I’ll kiss every freckle I can see.’
She trembled with need as his kisses drifted lower, till his lips were on her underwear. His breath hot. Breathing her in. He hooked his fingers into her panties. Drew them down her body as goosebumps peppered her skin. Every part of her over-sensitised, as if all of her shimmered with delight at his reverent touch.
‘Open your legs.’
His voice was a command she obeyed immediately. Never a question she was going to do what he asked of her.
