The Price of Scandal (8 page)

Is that me?

‘I’ve thought,’ she croaked, still staring. ‘And, all right, you have a pretty amazing mouth, though I’m sure you’ve heard that before.’

‘I like your mouth too.’

His deep voice had a tactile quality. A little of the cry locked in her throat escaped as a small mewling sound; she felt the beads of sweat break out across her skin as he bent his head closer.

She wanted to move but none of her muscles responded to the desperate commands being issued a secret part of her didn’t want them to.

Her eyes stayed wide and she didn’t move an inch as he fitted his mouth to her own.

His lips were cool and firm, the pressure light.

The contact only lasted a moment before he broke it, lifting his face but staying close enough for her to see the gold tips on his eyelashes and the fine lines radiating from the corners of his eyes.

Breathing hard, each breath a conscious effort, Neve just carried on staring at him. Everything seemed to have slowed—the thud of her heart, the hissing sound of her breath—as she struggled to drag air into her lungs.

‘Think of my lips.’

His voice, dark and textured like bitter chocolate, seemed to come from a long way off.

His head dipped. ‘My tongue,’ he rasped, beginning to trace the trembling outline of her full upper lip, leaving a tingling damp trail and his taste.

Neve’s hands tightened into fists as a whimper was dragged from somewhere deep inside her.

‘Nothing else exists,’ he whispered in the same insidiously seductive whisper. ‘Just taste and texture, heat and moisture.’

‘Oh, God!’ she moaned as his teeth tugged gently at the curve of her lower lip. His breath was warm on her face. She struggled to gather her scattered wits. ‘I think—’

He pressed a finger to her lips and shook his head. ‘No, do not think, just feel, taste and enjoy. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it—all you need is practice.’

Staring into his dark eyes and feeling dizzy, she swallowed. ‘This is silly.’ Surreal, silly and probably dangerous; she felt as if she might have a heart attack at any moment. The pounding in her chest was deafening and she could hardly breathe.

She shuddered as he kissed the corner of her mouth, then he moved along the curve nipping and tasting, tracing it with his tongue.

She stood there, her eyes half closed, her lashes brushing against the feverish flush along the crest of her cheekbones, feeling the warm currents of sensation sliding through her body growing until the warmth tipped over into a flash fire that made her heat; she was burning up!

It was dark, delicious torture.

Chapter Eight

‘D
ON
’
T
stop,’ Neve gasped against his mouth and was rewarded with a hard kiss.

Supporting her head with his hand, Severo applied the sweet crushing pressure that made bright lights explode behind Neve’s closed eyelids.

She felt him pull away, but she could still hear him breathing hard; it was difficult to separate the sound from the pounding rush of blood in her ears.

She shuddered and forced her heavy eyelids open, fighting the enervating weakness that made every movement an effort.

‘Well, that was nice while it lasted, but you can’t kiss me all night.’ The glitter of his smoky eyes made her head spin; she shivered as he ran a finger down her cheek and slurred her name.

Appearing to like the sound of it, he said it again, rolling it over his tongue, making it sound like a caress. There was a fascinated expression on his face as he smoothed back the bright hair from her brow.

‘
Dio mio,’
he rasped, ‘you have no idea what I can do,
cara
.’

Neve shivered, believing implicitly the unspoken promise in his arrogant claim.

‘Am I going to find out?’ she whispered, amazed at her own recklessness. A sense of freedom she had never experienced before surged through Neve’s veins. He was right—this wasn’t hurting anyone.

‘Would you like to?’

‘Do you do everything else as well as you kiss?’

He laughed, throwing back his head and revealing the strong brown column of his throat. ‘I haven’t kissed you yet. I’ve not even tasted you.’ But he was going to and the anticipation of sliding his tongue into that soft sweet heat sent a hard shudder through his body.

She gazed at his dark face with an expression of rapt fascination—how could any man be that utterly gorgeous? How could any man make her bones ache with need?

Maybe it was just this one?

Her heart was thudding so loud that she could hardly hear herself as she whispered, ‘What was that if it wasn’t a kiss?’

He smiled against her mouth, rubbing the side of his nose against hers as he tugged at her full pink under lip with his teeth. ‘Foreplay.’

A gush of molten anticipation slid through Neve’s body as his dark head dipped. Her lips parted; the submissive symbolism of the gesture drew a deep feral groan from Severo.

‘
Dio
, but you taste so good…’

Neve did not understand the rest of his husky words as he slid seamlessly into his native tongue, but the repetitive stabbing incursion of his tongue as he explored the warm recesses of her mouth needed no translation.

She kissed him back with a blind desperation that was beyond anything she had imagined. Incapable of resisting and not wanting to, she gave into the primal heat coursing through her blood and met his tongue with her own.

Then, when it wasn’t enough, with a driven moan she grabbed his head, sliding her fingers into the thick lush pelt of his hair.

He responded, kissing her with bruising pressure that arched her spine backwards. The heat flared white-hot between them as they kissed, not gently, but with a mutual desperation that left no room for conscious thought.

When they finally broke apart they were both gasping for air.

If he let her go Neve was sure she would slide to the floor. ‘Don’t let me go. I don’t think I can stand up.’

He gave a smile that made her heart flip, trailed a kiss with slow, sensuous deliberation down the curve of her graceful neck and promised, ‘I’m not going to let you go. Just hold on tight.’

Their eyes clashed luminous blue on hot black and she nodded, wanting him so badly that she couldn’t articulate the need that flowed through her and made her throat ache with emotion.

There were bands of dark colour etched along the angles of his razor-edged cheekbones as he picked her up and kicked the half-open door with his foot as he strode into the moonlit room beyond.

He pushed aside a pile of cushions, pointless furnishing at any time and right now a damned obstacle, and laid her down on a sofa.

Shining hair spread out around her face, the invitation shining in her luminous eyes, she took his breath away. He wanted her so much that the ache went bone deep, yet still he didn’t respond to that invitation. He sat there on the edge of the sofa anticipating but wanting to stretch this moment, glutting his senses on the visual feast.

She looked like every impossible fantasy he had ever had made flesh—warm, soft, inviting flesh.

She shifted, a sinuous feline wriggle of her hips that made the blanket ride higher, revealing another inch of thigh as she held out a hand to him.

He took it and she drew him to her until he lay curved over her, one foot braced on the floor, the other beside her. One hand on the arm rest above her head, the other beside her face, he lowered himself slowly, experiencing a fresh kick of lust as she gasped, her eyes flying wide.

‘That is how much I want you.’

The intimate pressure in the soft flesh of her belly, the smouldering intensity in his face sent a rush of scalding heat through her body. ‘I want you too.’ She did, with a desperation that bordered physical pain.

This was THE MOMENT, the one she had imagined half her life. The one she had begun to think might never arrive, or, worse, might arrive and she might not notice.

Her fears now seemed foolish; this was not something a person could miss.

She was unable to hide her need; her hunger shone in her eyes as she kept her steady gaze trained on his face. Holding his eyes with her own, she reached for the hem of the blanket, arching her body into his as she peeled the blanket from the sofa before lying back down.

Whenever she had imagined this moment Neve had thought she would feel self-conscious, but now it had arrived she felt anything but. The expression of driven need stamped on his dark features as his glance glided slowly down her body did not make her feel insecure, it made her feel gloriously self-assured and womanly.

‘
Bellezza mia
, you are…’ Severo shook his head; words failing, he stared down at the slim body beneath him. ‘You are ravishing,’ he said, peeling her light top over her head before thickly reaching for the peak of one breast that strained against her bra.

‘I think you’re beautiful, the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.’

His laugh momentarily eased the tension that drew his strong patrician features taut.

‘But you probably already knew that—you seem to know what I’m thinking before I do.’

‘I know what you want before you do too,
cara
.’ His lean dark face was intent as he peeled back the lacy covering to reveal the smooth curve crowned by a sensitive straining rosy peak.

With a groan he lowered his head and pulled it into his mouth, unclipping the front catch as he did so.

The sensation of his mouth and hands on her, teasing her, stroking her, was indescribable. Grabbing his head, sinking her fingers into his silky black hair, she held him there against her breast.

She writhed beneath him, totally giving herself to the exquisite pleasure of his caresses.

Her hands slid under his robe. She felt him gasp and her hands moved slowly down the strong, powerful, muscled curve of his back. She stroked his skin, marvelling at the satiny texture, revelling at the extraordinary power and strength of his incredible body until he flinched.

Gasping a breathless apology, she belatedly recalled his injury. The thought of his pain made her stomach muscles clench.

‘I’m sorry. I hurt you.’

His smoky gaze swept her face. ‘If you stop it will hurt more.’

Inside her she felt a deep pulse awake, throbbing with a rhythm that vibrated through her body as she arched her back as he began to tease her sensitised nipples, his hands kneading each breast in turn until finally she begged him to stop.

Severo lifted his head.
‘Too much?’
His eyes slid over the sleek supple curves of her delicious body. He did not think he could ever have too much of her.

Her nipples, still damp from his ministrations, tingled as the air hit them. He slid her pants down over her thighs and she lifted her legs and kicked them away, wanting no barriers between them. Without warning he lowered his body onto hers until they lay flesh on flesh.

When she replayed it in her head later Neve identified this as the moment her brain switched off and her instincts kicked in, the moment when everything that was not Severo ceased to exist. For a heartbeat everything stopped, time was suspended, and when it started again she was on fire.

She surrendered totally to the hunger in her veins, hunger that roared like dry tinder caught in the path of a forest fire—Neve was on fire. She gave herself up completely to the heat, responding instinctively to every touch, every caress, kissing him back, touching him.

When he pushed into her with his body she pushed back, nipping at his neck while she reached with shaking hands for the belt of his robe.

Breathing hard, dark bands of colour highlighting the high patrician contours of his cheekbones, Severo rolled onto his back to give her access. Neve, panting as if she had been running, fumbled, her trembling eagerness making her clumsy. Dark features taut with driving need, Severo removed her hand from the folds of his robe and then, holding her gaze took her small hand, separating her fingers and curling them over his erection.

He sucked in a breath hard and gave a hissing sigh as her grip tightened. Then, crushing her to him, trapping her hand between them, he bent his head and kissed her on the lips with hard, bruising pressure, kissing her as if he’d drain her.

She could feel the tremors that shook his powerful body as he continued to kiss her while his own hand moved over her slender curves, caressing her everywhere, making her ache.

It was terrifying and it was marvelous. She was shaking with need as his hand skated across her stomach, then his lips were there, his tongue tracing a wet line over her aching flesh. She twisted sinuously under him, her hands sliding down his sides and along the quivering flanks of his powerful thighs.

He kissed his way back up her body; the leashed power in his body acted like a narcotic on her senses. She couldn’t get enough of him. She pushed her face into his neck, tangled her fingers in his hair and pressed her curves into the hard angles of his body as she greedily breathed in the warm male scent of his skin.

As he settled over her she slid her hands over the stubble on the sides of his face and gazed into his eyes, seeing reflected in the dark depths the same hunger that was driving her.

‘This feels perfect.’

‘It will be,’ he promised thickly.

Severo was struggling to retain control; it was a struggle he was losing. He slid his hand between her legs, his fingers touching her hot slickness making her cry out and move restlessly against his hand.

‘Please, I can’t…this…it’s too much…’

His glance travelled from her heaving breasts to her flushed face and without a word he reached for the robe on the floor and pulled a foil packet from the pocket. Then he parted her thighs and, still without a single word, he slid between them.

‘Look at me, Neve.’

She did.

He smiled down at her, a fierce smile that made her heart thump. ‘Just relax. Remember, just think of me, of this.’ Misinterpreting her sudden tension he promised, ‘I can make it good for you.’

And he did. He slid into her before she could tense, wrenching a shocked gasp from her parted lips. The pain was fleeting and she was far more focused on the incredible sensation of having him hard and hot inside her, of being filled and stretched by him.

‘Per amor di Dio,
he breathed, his eyes glittering black as he gazed down into her face. ‘You’re so hot and incredibly tight.’

When he began to move her dormant instincts that had been waiting for this moment kicked in and she rose to meet him, her back arching, her hands grabbing his sweat-slick shoulders for support as they moved together in perfect harmony, all the time their eyes sealed electric blue on black.

There were no words. Their bodies were communicating on a primal level that eliminated the need for speech. There were sighs and gasps, keening moans of need, but no words, not until the last moment when the explosion inside was peaking and Neve closed her eyes.

‘Look at me,
cara.
I want to see. I want to see it in your eyes when you come.’

She responded to the raw urgency in his voice and opened her eyes at the climactic moment of release. Swept away on a tidal wave of throbbing sensation, she was aware of Severo crying her name out as he drove into her hard one last time and then, shuddering, he lay on top of her breathing heavily.

When he rolled off her Neve stared at the ceiling with shining eyes.

She turned her head. ‘That was utterly incredible.’ She framed his face between her hands and Severo opened his eyes. ‘I suppose you know that you’re incredibly good at that.’ Without waiting for him to reply, she shook her head. ‘Of course you do.’ She let go of his face and put her head on his chest.

‘A man always likes to hear these things.’

‘So does a girl. Not that I expect you to tell me I’m the best sex you’ve ever had, but a well done might be nice.’

This made him laugh until he realised that she was the best sex he had ever had. ‘I had no idea I was meant to grade you…next time I will remember.’

She angled a shy look at his face. ‘There’s going to be a next time?’

‘Oh, I think so, don’t you?’