Page 28 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

My heart throbbed, a raw, heavy emotion gathering in my chest.

‘Val,’ I whispered, not even sure what I wanted to say to him, only that I felt something huge, something without a name, and it scared me. And it was because of him.

He said nothing, just watched me as I felt the heat of his bare skin shifting against me as he nudged between my thighs. His gaze burned, full of a raw heat that made my mouth go dry, and then I felt the head of his sex push against me, then into me.

I was so wet, there was no resistance and no pain. Only the intense sensation of my body stretching to accommodate his, clasping him tightly as if he was something I couldn’t bear to let go.

I gasped aloud because, even though it didn’t hurt, it was still a shock...and he was big. Were all men this big? I could hardly breathe for the pressure.

My fingertips dug into his powerful shoulders and I gasped again as he sank deeper, his free hand sliding under me, lifting me, tilting me so he could go even deeper.

‘Yes, Olivia...’ he growled, his voice rough and guttural, black eyes blazing down at me in triumph. ‘You’re mine now. You’reallmine.’

Then he bent and kissed me hard and deep, conquering me, mastering me so completely that all I could do was surrender.

But maybe that was always what I’d meant to do with Val. I’d always meant to surrender to him.

Then every thought in my head fractured and broke apart as he began to move, at first slow and easy, and then faster, harder. He was relentless and powerful and I tried to move with him, arching and straining against the hold he had on my wrists.

But he didn’t let me go, making me take whatever he gave until the sheer ecstasy of it consumed me whole.

I lost myself in the ferocity of his kiss. In the slide of him inside me, the exquisite friction of it driving me on past pleasure and into something deeper and more intense. Something that was made up of his kiss, his touch and the scent of salt and cinnamon. The heat of his body and the rough sound of his voice.

The beat of his heart and the way he said my name.

And then, at the end the sheer rush of pleasure that exploded inside me, he launched me off his shoulders and into the sky. Making me fly, the way he always had.

CHAPTER TEN

Valentin

IHEARDOLIVIAscream my name and felt her body convulse, her sex tightening around mine as the orgasm took her. And I let go of the leash I had on myself, moving inside her hard and deep, tasting her sweet mouth, covering myself in her passion, letting myself burn.

I couldn’t make it last, though. I’d wanted her too much and for too long, and the scent and feel of her, the sound of her husky voice pleading for me, just about made me lose my mind.

The orgasm came for me far too quickly, an intense rush of pleasure that shot up my spine and exploded in my brain like a firework. Then my head was full of stars and, looking down into her eyes, they were all I could see...all those stars glittering in her eyes.

For long moments we stared at each other and I was conscious of every little thing about her: the glow of perspiration on her forehead; the pout of her kiss-swollen lips; the damp strands of hair stuck to her forehead; the deep flush in her cheeks; the frantic beat of her pulse at her throat.

Finally, she was mine.

And I wasn’t letting her go.

A deep, intense satisfaction filled me, and I shifted, deciding that it was time we swapped the beach for somewhere more comfortable. She made a soft sound as I withdrew from her that sent a rush of yet more heat through me, but I restrained myself, settling for picking her up in my arms and carrying her down into the sea to wash the sand from us both.

She lay quietly against my chest, the warmth of her naked body making me hard again, staring up at me as if she’d never seen me before in her life.

I didn’t say anything and neither did she, the silence settling around us as the warm seawater got rid of the sand.

‘We shouldn’t have done that,’ she said at last, her voice slightly hoarse.

It might have annoyed me if I’d thought she meant it, but I knew she didn’t. Because of course we should have done that. It wasexactlywhat we should have done. It had been perfect—everything I’d dreamed about and more.

I glanced down at her. Her eyes had darkened and I could see that she wanted some confirmation from me, though why I wasn’t sure. No; perhaps I did know why.

She was afraid. Afraid of the intensity between us. It made me aware yet again of how she’d changed, of how cool and hard she’d become. She’d always embraced her passions as a girl, yet from my observations of her now, and over the past few years as I’d watched her, it was clear that she didn’t embrace them now.

Why? What had happened to make her so afraid? Was it her father? Managing that company she helmed?

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