Page 34 of His Innocent's Passionate Awakening

‘Relax, mia piccola. Don’t fight it.’ Luca slipped a hand between their bodies and stroked the swollen heart of her flesh, sending her over the edge into a cataclysmic orgasm that surpassed everything she had enjoyed so far. Starlight burst behind her eyelids, fireworks exploded in her body, heat pouring like liquid flames all through her pelvis and down her legs to curl her toes.

‘Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,’ she panted, like she had run a marathon, her heart pounding, her flesh tinglingly alive with mind-smashing ecstasy.

Luca’s release followed hers and swept her up in its power and intensity. His entire body seemed to tighten as if he were poised on the edge of a vertiginous cliff. And then he gave an agonised groan and shuddered as if consumed with a rabid fever, his essence spilling, his body finally relaxing against hers.

Artie stroked her hands down his back where his firm flesh was still peppered with goosebumps. The in and out of his breath tickled the side of her neck but she didn’t want to move in case it broke the magical spell washing over her, binding her to him in a way no words could possibly describe. There was a rightness about their union—a sense of belonging together for all time.

But you’ve only got six months, remember?

The prod of her conscience froze her breath and stopped her heart for a moment. It wasn’t long enough. Six months was a joke. She wanted for ever. She wanted to be in his arms like this for the rest of her life. How could she ever move on from her relationship with him? Who would ever measure up? How could she love anyone else when he had stolen her heart from the first time he kissed her?

She didn’t want to love anyone else. Her heart belonged to him and only him.

Luca must have sensed the subtle change in her mood, and quickly disposed of the condom, and then leaned up on one elbow to look at her, his hand idly brushing her wild hair out of her face. ‘What’s wrong?’ His tone and gaze were gently probing.

Artie painted a smile on her lips. ‘Nothing.’

His eyes moved between each of hers like a powerful searchlight looking for something hidden in the shadows. His thumb began to stroke the pillow of her lower lip in slow movements that sent hot tingles through every corridor of her flesh. ‘I’ve been around long enough to know that “nothing” usually means “something”. Talk to me, cara. Tell me what’s worrying you.’

She aimed her gaze at his Adam’s apple, her heart skipping rope in her chest. How could she be honest with him without relaying how she felt? He might call an end to their physical relationship and go back to the paper marriage he’d first insisted on. ‘I’m just wondering how I will ever find another lover who makes me feel the way you do. I mean, in the future, when we’re done.’

There was a beat or two of thick silence.

Then Luca’s hand fell away from her face and he released a heavy sigh and rolled onto his back, one arm flung over the edge of the bed, the other coming up to cover his eyes. ‘The last thing I want to think about right now is you with someone else.’ There was a rough quality to his voice that hinted at a fine thread of anger running under the surface.

‘But it’s going to happen one day,’ Artie said. ‘We’re both going to move on with our lives. Isn’t that what you planned? What you insisted on?’

He removed his arm from across his face and sat upright, the muscles of his abdomen rippling like coils of steel. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his hands resting on either side of his thighs, his back towards her, his head and shoulders hunched forward as if he was fighting to control his emotions.

There was another tight silence.

Artie swallowed, wondering if she had pushed him too far. ‘Luca?’ She reached out and stroked her hand down between his tense shoulder blades, and he flinched as if her touch burned him. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’ The word was bitten out. Hard. Blunt. Keep-away curt.

She had a strange desire to smile—her lips twitched as she tried to control it. What was sauce for the goose and all that. ‘You know, someone told me recently that “nothing” usually means “something”.’

Luca let out a gush of air and gave a deep, self-deprecating chuckle. He turned back to face her. ‘Touché.’ He took her nearest hand and brought it up to his mouth, locking his gaze with hers. He bit down gently on the end of her index finger and then drew it into his mouth, sucking on it erotically. She shivered and a wave of heat passed through her body, simmering, smouldering like hot coals in her core.

He released her finger from his mouth and returned to holding her hand in his. ‘Sometimes I wonder if I need my head read for allowing this to go this far between us.’ His thumb stroked over the fleshy part of her thumb, the back-and-forth motion making her stomach do a flip turn. ‘But I can’t seem to stop myself from wanting you.’

Artie leaned closer, placing her free hand on the rock-hard wall of his chest, her mouth just below his. ‘Want me all you like.’ She pressed her lips to his in a barely-there kiss, pulling back to gaze into his eyes. ‘We’ve got six months.’

She kept her tone light. I’m-totally-cool-with-having-a-time-limit-on-our-relationship light.

He held her gaze for a long moment, shadows shifting in his eyes like filtered sunlight moving across a forest floor. Then his eyes lowered to her mouth, a muscle in his cheek pulsing as if something wasn’t quite at peace within him. ‘Then let’s make the most of it,’ he said and covered her mouth with his.

* * *

The following evening, after spending some time visiting Nonno, Luca took Artie out for dinner at a restaurant in San Gimignano with a spectacular view over the region. She sat opposite him at a table at the window at the front of the restaurant, feeling both nervous and excited about her first meal out at a restaurant since she was a teenager.

Artie took a sip of the crisp white wine Luca had ordered, and then surveyed the menu. ‘So much to choose from...’

‘Take your time.’ His tone was indulgent, as if he sensed how overawed she was feeling.

Once their orders were taken by the waiter, Artie glanced up at Luca with a rueful expression. ‘I’m frightened I might use the wrong cutlery or something. It’s been so long since I’ve eaten in public. I’m glad the restaurant isn’t busy tonight.’

He reached for her hand across the table, holding it gently in the cradle of his. ‘I made sure it wasn’t busy. I know the owner. I asked him to keep this part of the restaurant clear for us.’

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