When his hand slid into the back of her bikini bottom, branding her ass cheek with his hot palm, erotic sensations spiked directly into the notch of her thighs. Her nipples stung, urging her to press herself harder to the wall of his chest, seeking an easing of deliciously painful sensations.
The dampness of his bathing suit was no longer cold where it pressed against her stomach. She could feel the stiff shape of his erection and was intrigued by it, arching instinctively. Aching. Inviting.
With another animalistic sound, he lowered onto his lounger, dragging her atop him so she straddled his thighs.
She pressed his shoulders, pulling back enough to gasp for breath and take stock. His eyelids were heavy, his mouth lax. His hands skimmed her waist and his fingertips dug into the small of her back, inviting her to return to kissing him.
She did, leaning forward without overthinking it, staying in the moment. In the ease of it. She was only aware that this was what she wanted—the slow devouring of her mouth by his. The kneading movement of his hands over her waist and back and buttocks beneath the drape of the open robe. Her own hands were fascinated by the textures of him, from his damp hair to the grit coming in on his cheek. She trailed her fingertips against the warmth of his throat and the smooth satin across his upper chest and shoulder, then down to his biceps.
He planted both hands on her butt and slouched. The thick ridge of his erection arrived against the swollen, most tender part of her. A kick of surprise went through her, followed by a sensation of melting. Ofwant.
But she wasn’t so far gone she couldn’t whisper, “I can’t have sex in public.”
“We won’t.” The lips against hers stretched into a wicked smile. “But I would. That’s how much I want you right now.” His hands danced up her hips and rib cage, and his thumbs skimmed the bandeau of her bikini top, striking against her distended nipples.
Acute sensations shot into her loins. She gripped the top of his lounger and leaned down, kissing him with a wildness she had never imagined she would kiss anyone, offering her tongue and brushing it against his.
Me, too, she tried to convey. She wanted to have sex with him right here, right now. She let her weight press her deeper into that implacable column of flesh. Her robe was puddled around their legs and had tented around them. It would be so easy to pull that little band of black down. To push her suit to the side.
She drew back, panting as she admitted, “I’m afraid of how badly I want this.”
“Don’t be afraid.” His voice was pure velvet, skimming like a caress against her ears. Her whole body was shivery and glorious. “I won’t do anything you don’t want.” His restless hands explored her torso, and the ticklish small of her back, and clasped her hips. “But there’s no one here. Tell me what you need.” His thumbs slid to trace the tender creases at the tops of her thighs.
Wet heat flooded into her loins. She bit her lip, instantly tense with anticipation while melting in surrender, eyelids becoming too heavy to hold open.
He made a noise of pity and let his thumb skim across the strained placket of fabric to where her intimate flesh was taut and damp.
“This?” he asked gruffly as his touch slid beneath her bikini bottoms, grazing folds that unfurled eagerly, pleading for more.
Watching her beneath hooded eyelids, he caressed with more deliberation, sending so much pleasure through her that she shuddered. Her eyes fluttered fully closed. He brushed the fabric aside and his finger delved, sinking into the slick sheath that yearned for exactly this.
She groaned. So did he.
“So hot and wet,” he whispered. “Kiss me, tesoro mio.”
This was pure insanity, but when his thumb skimmed the swollen knot of nerves at the top of her sex, causing her entire body to feel strummed by magic, she clenched her inner muscles joyously and pressed her mouth to his.
For years, she had wondered what the attraction of sex was. Why did people behave so badly for it?
This was why. Because it was possible for the entire world to narrow to this pinpoint of concentrated sensation. In this moment, nothing mattered but the drag of his lips against hers and the feel of his hot skin under her splayed hands. She obeyed the pressure of his palm against her tailbone and began to rock against the hand so intimately buried between her thighs. She reveled in the pleasure he delivered until she could hardly breath. It was feral and glorious and maybe metaphysical, because she thought she might have foundhim. Her soul mate.
They were kissing deeply, barely moving, but she was climbing the scales of arousal, sensations condensing until she thought she would combust with tension. Burst into flames. Explode.
Then he licked into her mouth and it was happening. She was moaning into his kiss, shuddering under the waves of climax, dragging her mouth from his and burying her face in his throat, quaking and sobbing with joy.
Chapter Two
ASMIRA SHIVEREDand wilted against his chest, Rocco DeStefano drew his hand from between them, closed his arms around her thinking,What the hell am I doing?
This interlude had started innocently enough.
Well, that wasn’tcompletelytrue. He’d caught a glimpse of bare skin and long limbs while he’d been swimming laps and he’d been turned on by the fact she was watching him. By the time he’d stood up in the shallow end, his thoughts hadn’t been innocent at all. He’d been planning to blow off his afternoon by letting off steam with some feminine company.
Recognition had coldcocked him into sitting on the ledge of the pool. Remembering who she was cooled his ardor now.
Her open curiosity had told him she didn’t know he was her father’s chief competitor. Did she know whoshewas?
He had seen her image online, linked to Otto Braun, the man who had been the bane of his existence for years. But she was also the daughter of Rocco’s biggest investor and closest friend.
