Page 5 of Crowned For The King's Secret

For tonight, she’d trust that he would. Victoria dropped her head back as he kissed and nipped at her neck, a free hand snaking round her body to undo the clip at the back of her skirt, slowly bringing down the zip, brushing his hand under the waistband so that the fabric slid down her legs to the ground. He cupped her backside, drew her hard against him, his arousal bold and obvious through his trousers.

‘What you do to me.’ His voice was thick with so much unsaid. The wonder of it. Then he stood back, his vivid blue gaze fixed on her thighs where the lace of her stocking tops encircled them. ‘Perfection.’

‘Careful,’ she said, trying to regain some equilibrium. ‘Your words might go to my head.’

‘Who wouldn’t tell you constantly that you’re beautiful? You’re a goddess who deserves to be worshipped.’

Sandro walked forward and began backing her into the bed. She stepped out of her skirt, propelled in a slow dance with him till she couldn’t go any further. He slid his hands into her underwear and began slowly slipping her panties over her hips. Down, down until he was on the floor, looking up. It was an intoxicating thing because she believed him in this moment. How could she not when such a powerful man was kneeling on the carpet before her?

‘I can’t wait till these magnificent legs are wrapped round my waist.’ She began to lift her foot from her shoe to step out of it. Sandro gently gripped her ankle and she stilled. ‘No. Leave them. I want those heels digging into my back as I thrust into you.’

Her body went up in flames, insecurities forgotten. He made her feel like an immortal with the way he treated her with such reverence.

‘I seem to be at a disadvantage,’ she said, her voice unlike her own. Lower, huskier. Provocative. ‘I’m wearing far fewer clothes than you.’

His pupils dilated wide and dark as he shut his eyes and brought his lips to the skin of her stomach. Kissing. Inhaling her. Goose-pimples peppered her skin. He pulled back.

‘You haveallthe advantages over me. Lie back and let me show you.’

Victoria smiled, the power of that statement coursing through her veins like wildfire. She turned round, wanting to be bold. Crawled up the bed on her hands and knees. Sandro’s heavy exhale as she did was a reward of itself. As she reached the head of the bed she stretched out on the luxurious coverlet. Lay her head down on the plump, down pillows and rolled over onto her back, arching like a cat in the sunshine. She smiled at the hiss leaving Sandro’s lips.

Sandro began unbuttoning his shirt, exposing the slice of tanned skin on his chest. Then he shrugged the fabric from his broad shoulders and her mouth dried. His body was the stuff of midnight fantasies. The defined muscles of his chest, the ripples of his abdomen, the shadows heightened in the low light of the room. His narrow waist, the curve of his biceps. She didn’t know where to rest her gaze, until it snagged on the tempting vee running from his hip bones beneath the waistband of his trousers. He stood there with one eyebrow raised, an element of cockiness she couldn’t help but admire because he was entitled to it.

‘Like what you see?’ His voice was a low rasp choked with need.

‘I’d like to see more.’

He chuckled deep and low. The sound like a threat and a promise. ‘You’ll have everything of me tonight,bella. It’s all yours.’

Sandro loosened the belt of his trousers, slid it through the loops and tossed it onto the floor. Kicked off his shoes, socks. Undid the top of his waistband and pushed down his trousers and underwear.

He might have claimed she was a goddess, but naked, he was a god. Every part of him perfect. Large in a way that made her mouth water and her body soften.

‘Oh.’

The breath rushed out of her with an audible exhale. Sandro’s vivid blue gaze turned dark, like hectic storm clouds over an afternoon sky. He knelt on the bed and it dipped under his weight.

‘Open your legs.’ His voice was a command that she couldn’t disobey. ‘Now say my name.’

‘Sandro.’

He put his hands on the bed and moved forward towards her. ‘By the end of tonight I’ll ensure you never forget it. I’ll have you chanting it like a prayer by the time I’ve finished with you.’

He was so close. His lips caressed the tops of her thighs, her stomach, his breath gusting over her skin, his tongue licking and tasting her. Then lower, and lower till his breath caressed between her open legs and she moaned. His tongue gently traced her flesh as the burn built inside her, his touch light, teasing till she was writhing and panting under his ministrations. Never giving her enough to tip her over the edge.

This man would be her end, but she craved to be the end of him as well, for just tonight. And she vowed that she would be. They’d end each other and wipe their slates clean. Starting anew.

‘Sandro.’

Her voice came out as a whine, a plea. She propped herself on her forearms so she could watch him, on the bed, between her legs. He looked up at her with a wicked grin. He knew what he was doing and she loved and loathed him for it. How he could play her body with such finesse.

‘Goddess, lie back and let me worship you.’

He dropped his head again and she collapsed on the bed once more. This time there was no teasing—he was relentless till she broke and flew, as he turned her into the goddess he’d promised.

CHAPTER ONE

Twenty-one months later

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