“Right.” She removed the ointment and spread some on a cleaned cotton swab, then gently dotted it along the incision line. Then she opened an island dressing package and gently pressed it against his lower abdomen. She ran her slender fingertips over the bandage, making sure it was pressed tightly to his skin. It was almost exactly what the nurse had done earlier that day, but with Kara the experience was entirely different, and far more welcome. He imagined her fingertips exploring even lower, caressing other parts of him, ones that ached for her. He held his breath… counting to ten in Italian which forced him to focus on something other than her touching him.
When she was done, her hand trailed up his chest to his pectoral muscles, and lay flat against them.
It took every ounce of Angelo’s self-control to not reach for her then, to curl his arms around her lower back and bring her into his embrace completely.
Her face was still warm with a blush, and she didn’t immediately meet his eyes. “Does it hurt?” she asked, then swallowed and her eyes lifted to his.
Lightning… Every time her eyes met his it was a lightning strike of awareness like he’d never felt before. But he was lost in the feel of her warm fingertips moving over to one of his nipples. She circled it teasingly, tortuously. He almost forgot that she’d asked a question. “Hmmm?”
“The wound,” she said slowly. “Does it hurt?”
Not as much as the rest of me does for wanting you, he thought. His cock strained against the tight towel. Kara glanced down, noticing the movement, then licked her lips and looked back up at him with a hint of a smile. Good, his arousal hadn’t scared her. He wasn’t sure he could be a gentleman much longer.
“I thought you’d feel smaller without your clothes,” she said, as if talking herself. “Somehow you feelbigger.”
Part of him was bigger right now, certainly. She stared into his eyes, then down at his mouth.
“What if…?” she began.
“What if?” He echoed, breathless.Please say you want me… please, principessa.
He could see clarity threatening to ruin the moment so he covered her hand with his over his heart.
“We…um… I mean, I know we can’t… be together for real, but we could…”
She was killing him. Absolutely killing him.
“I mean, we are both adults… And adults, they can… you know, it’s reasonable for two healthy adults… Adults with appetites… I mean—” Her stammering was adorable, and yet never got any closer to what he knew she actually wanted to say.
“Kara, do you want me to make love to you?” he asked. “With no strings attached, just sex?”
“You don’t think that will complicate things?”
“Kara, as much as I want to see where things can go between us, I understand your hesitation. So maybe we shouldn’tovercomplicate things. Maybe we should just enjoy the moment while we can.”
He saw a flash of sweet fire in her eyes. “You’re okay with just…sex?”
He was, for now. He wasn’t going to tell her that he would fight for more later when she was ready. When she wouldn’t run from him.
“I am okay with whatever you’re okay with,” he assured her.
She studied him carefully. Uncertain, tempted, but saying nothing.
“I need the words, Kara. If you want me, say yes.”
“Yes.” That single whispered word now opened the door to a thousand possible futures
He cupped the back of her neck. She fell into him as he pulled her close, leaning down to kiss her. He wanted there to be no question just how much he wanted her.
His mouth danced with hers, learning the shape of her, the taste of her. She made a soft, purring sound at the back of her throat when his free hand slid down her back to cup her bottom.
She was still fully dressed, but that could be remedied soon enough. He pulled her gently by the hand in his bedroom.
“Come with me.”
His heart was racing. Was he really going to do this? He knew how he felt, deep down inside, and because of that, tonight would change everything. But would he be able to handle what came next?
Despite the hope he’d tried to give her, Kara had lived her wandering life too long to truly believe she could ever stop running. But he didn’t want her to leave, not until they could explore what lay between them, and see if there was a foundation for something more, something greater than either of them ever experienced.
