Page 48 of Bride of Betrayal
Angelica let him lead her out, grateful for the chance to get herself back under control, and hopefully stay that way for a few more hours.One more night.
They were in a water-taxi on the Grand Canal within minutes. The night air was crisp and cool and Angelica huddled into her faux-fur wrap. Leo put his arm around her and pulled her into his side, and guiltily, storing up every little moment, Angelica revelled in it.
Far too soon they were back at the palazzo housing Leo’s apartment. They walked up the jetty and Angelica’s dress swirled around her legs in the breeze.
When they were back in the apartment, Leo pulled off his bow tie and opened a top button. ‘Would you like a nightcap?’
Angelica never really drank much but for once she fancied something. ‘Sure, maybe a little watered-down whiskey?’
Leo raised a brow. ‘Going straight for the hard stuff?’
‘Why not?’ she said lightly, shucking off the faux fur and pulling off the mask, laying them on a nearby chair.
Leo came back with two glasses and handed her one. He’d taken off his mask too. They clinked glasses and Angelica took a sip. She wandered over to the windows that looked out onto the canal and opened them, standing out on the small balcony.
Water taxis caused waves down below and a couple of gondolas meandered in their wake, couples ensconced in the back, snuggled into one another. Just as she and Leo had been. How many of these couples were on the verge of ending? She felt incredibly melancholic for a moment.
From behind her Leo said, ‘Angel…’
She turned around and Leo was across the room. He put down his glass and said, ‘Come here.’
A spurt of rebelliousness made her say, ‘Please.’
His mouth quirked. ‘Please.’
It was as if an invisible wire connected them. She was no more capable of disobeying his command than she was of denying herself breath. She lifted one foot at a time and picked off the high-heels sandals and dropped them to the floor.
As she walked towards him she reached behind her and found the zip, pulling it down. The dress loosened around her chest and when she got to within a couple of feet of Leo she pulled the small cap sleeves off her shoulders and down her arms, and then the front of the dress, revealing her breasts.
She watched his eyes widen and flare as she tugged the dress over her hips and down her legs, stepping out of the mound of gold silk and lace. Now she wore only her underpants. She reached up to her hair and pulled out the pin holding it in place so it fell down around her shoulders, almost touching her breasts.
She felt something very primal about coming to stand before him like this. As if she was presenting herself for his final delectation. She hadn’t told him that she knew this was the last time they’d ever be together. Her conscience pricked but she pushed it down. They didn’t owe each other anything after tonight.
Leo stepped forward and thrust his hands into her hair, tipping her face up to his. ‘You are…everything,’ he breathed.
Angelica smiled tremulously. ‘Kiss me, Leo.’
He did, covering her mouth with his and sending her thoughts scattering.Good.She didn’t want to think any more, she wanted to indulge in this night and savour every second.
Leo picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. Under the shaft of moonlight shining through the window, he stripped off his own clothes until he was naked. Angelica ogled him shamelessly, coming up on one elbow, her gaze travelling over his chest, abdominals, to his narrow waist and to where the thrusting power of him made her mouth water.
‘Lie back.’
She did, and he hooked his fingers into her underwear and pulled it down and off. Leo put his hands on her legs and smoothed his way up, to her thighs and higher, pushing her legs apart as he did, exposing her to his dark golden gaze.
He came down on his knees on the floor at the end of the bed and then he proceeded to press his mouth against the inside of her legs as he came closer and closer to the juncture where her legs met.
Angelica’s hands were clutching at the sheets, trying to find something to hold onto as Leo’s warm breath against her sensitive skin made her skin break into goosebumps.
He pushed her legs even further apart and Angelica’s breath came fast and shallow. She felt utterly exposed and yet unconcerned. She could feel the delicious abrasion of Leo’s stubble against her inner thigh.
And then his mouth was there. On her. His tongue exploring her with a thoroughness that made her back arch off the bed. He reached up a hand as if to soothe her, passing over her midriff and finding a breast, squeezing the firm flesh and trapping a nipple between two fingers and squeezing, causing a sharp burst of pleasure to arrow all the way down to his wicked tongue.
The man was remorseless, ignoring Angelica’s breathless pleas for mercy, until she felt herself tightening all over, hovering on the precipice before hurtling over the edge into wave after wave of pleasure so intense, she tried to put her legs together, but Leo wouldn’t let her, keeping his mouth on her until she was spent and silent, breathing as if she’d just done a marathon.
She hadn’t even realised her hands were in his hair and she was gripping his head. She took them away. ‘I’m sorry…’
He came up over her body, grinning. ‘Don’t be.’
