Page 25 of His Innocent's Passionate Awakening

His mouth twisted into a rueful grimace. ‘A bit.’

‘Don’t be.’ She pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. ‘I want you to make love to me. I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment.’

Luca brought his mouth back to hers in a kiss that drugged her senses and ramped up her desire for him until she was arching her back and whimpering. His hands explored her breasts in soft strokes, his lips and tongue caressing her until she was breathless with longing. The ache between her legs intensified, a hot, throbbing ache that travelled through her pelvis like the spread of fire.

He moved down her body with a series of kisses from her breasts to her belly and then to the heart of her femininity. Artie drew in a breath, tense with excitement as his fingers spread her, his lips and tongue exploring her, teasing a response from her that shook her body into a cataclysmic orgasm. It swept her up in its rolling waves, the pulsations carrying her into a place beyond the reach of thought or even full consciousness. Blissful sensations washed over her, peace flooding her being—the quiet after the storm.

‘I had no idea it could be like...like that...’ Artie could barely get her voice to work and a sudden shyness swept over her.

Luca moved back up her body to plant a kiss to her lips. She could taste herself on his lips and it added a whole new layer of disturbing but delightful intimacy. ‘It will only get better.’ He brushed his knuckles over her warm cheeks. ‘Don’t be shy, cara.’

Artie bit her lip. ‘Easy for you to say. You’ve probably done this a hundred times, possibly more. I’m a complete novice.’

He smoothed her hair back from her face, his expression suddenly serious. ‘The press makes a big thing out of my lifestyle but I haven’t been as profligate as they make out. Unfortunately, my grandfather believes what he reads in the press.’ His mouth twisted ruefully. ‘I’ve had relationships—fleeting ones that were entirely transactional. And I’ve always tried not to deliberately hurt anyone. But of course, it still does happen occasionally.’

I hope I don’t get hurt.

The potential to get hurt once their relationship came to its inevitable end was a real and present worry, but even so, Artie couldn’t bring herself to stop things before they got any more complicated. He had revealed things about himself that made her hungry to learn more about him. His workaholism, his carefully guarded heart, his history of short-term, going-nowhere relationships. He was imprisoned by his lifestyle in the same way she was imprisoned by the castello. Would he go back to his playboy existence once they parted?

Artie lifted her hand and stroked his stubbly jaw. ‘I want you to make love to me. I want you to experience pleasure too.’

Luca’s eyes were dark and hooded as he gazed at her mouth. ‘Everything about you brings me pleasure, cara. Absolutely everything.’ And his mouth came down and sealed hers.

The kiss was long and intense and Artie could feel the tension rising in his body as well as her own. His legs were entangled with hers, his aroused body pressing urgently against her, his breathing as ragged as hers. His mouth moved down to her breasts, subjecting them to a passionate exploration that left her squirming and whimpering with need. She slid her hand down from his chest to his taut abdomen, desperate to explore the hard contours of his body. He drew in a quick breath when her hand encountered his erection and it made her all the bolder in her caresses. He was velvet-wrapped steel, so exotically, erotically different from her, and she couldn’t wait to experience those differences inside her body.

Luca eased back and reached for a condom, swiftly applying it before coming back to her, his gaze meshing with hers. ‘I’ll go slowly but please tell me if you want to stop at any point. I don’t want to hurt you.’

Artie brushed his hair back from his forehead, her lower body so aware of his thick male presence at her entrance. ‘You won’t hurt me.’ Her tone was breathless with anticipation, her body aching for his possession.

He gently nudged apart her feminine folds, allowing her time to get used to him as he progressed. Slow, shallow, sensual. Her body welcomed him, wrapping around him without pain, without resistance.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, pausing in his movements.

‘More than okay.’ Artie sighed with pure pleasure, her hands going to his taut buttocks to hold him to her.

He thrust a little deeper, still keeping his movements slow and measured. She arched her hips to take more of him in, her body tingling with darts and arrows of pleasure as his body moved within hers. His breathing rate changed, becoming more laboured as his pace increased. She was swept up into his rhythm, her senses reeling as the tension built to an exquisite crescendo. She was almost at the pinnacle, hovering in the infinitesimal moment before total fulfilment. Wanting, aching, needing to fly but not sure how to do it.

Luca reached down between their bodies and coaxed her swollen feminine flesh into an earth-shattering orgasm. Spirals of intense pleasure burst through her body, ripples and waves and darts of bliss, throwing her senses into a tailspin and her mind into disarray.

Luca reached his release soon after, an agonised groan escaping his lips as his body convulsed and spilled. Artie held him close, breathing in the scent of their lovemaking, thrilled to have brought him to a place of blissful satiation.

Artie lay with him in the peaceful aftermath, her thoughts drifting... The boundaries between the physical and the emotional were becoming increasingly blurred. She knew she would always remember this moment as a pivotal one in her life as a woman.

Luca Ferrantelli. Her husband. Her first lover.

The presence of his body, the desire that drew them together bonded her to him in a way that was beyond the physical. The chemistry between her and Luca was so powerful, so magical it had produced a cataclysmic reaction. An explosion of pleasure she could still feel reverberating throughout her body.

How could she have thought he was arrogant and unyielding? He had taken such respectful care of her every step of the way. He had held back his own release in order to make sure she was satisfied first. She couldn’t have asked for a more considerate and generous lover.

But it didn’t mean she was falling in love with him.

Artie knew the rules and had accepted them. She could be modern and hip about their arrangement. Sure she could. This was about a physical connection so intense, so rapturous she wanted to make the most of it.

Luca leaned up on one elbow and slowly withdrew from her body, carefully disposing of the condom. He rolled back to cradle one side of her face with his hand, his eyes searching hers. ‘How do you feel?’ His voice had a husky edge, his expression tender in a way she hadn’t been expecting. Had he too been affected by her first time and their first time together?

‘I’m fine.’

A frown pulled at his brow. ‘I didn’t hurt you?’

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