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Ciro’s eyes were so dark they were fathomless. ‘Lara...’
Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth as she said, ‘Is this really a good idea?’
CHAPTER FIVE
A COOL BREEZE skated over Ciro’s skin and he felt a prickle of exposure. Lara looked utterly wanton with her tousled hair and flushed cheeks. Her too-big eyes. Her plump and swollen mouth.
‘Yes. We are consummating this marriage. You want me, Lara. You can’t deny it.’
She looked down for a moment and it incensed Ciro. He had seen the way she’d morphed into another person in front of him once before. He tipped her chin back up, expecting to see some measure of triumph or satisfaction because she knew he couldn’t hide how much he wanted her, but there was nothing in those huge blue eyes except an emotion he couldn’t define. An emotion that caught at his chest, making it tight.
‘Say it, Lara. Admit it.’
She bit her lip and looked at him searchingly, as if trying to find the answer to some riddle. Ciro was so used to women jumping into his arms at the slightest invitation that this was a wholly new experience.
Except it wasn’t. Lara had been like this before. Hesitant. Shy. Lying.
‘I do want you, Ciro. I always have.’
Ciro couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice when he replied. ‘That was one thing that was honest between us at least.’
Lara didn’t want to be reminded of the past. She wanted to stay in this moment. This moment, when she could almost pretend the previous two years hadn’t happened.
A sense of urgency gripped her and she pressed against Ciro, spreading her hands on his chest. ‘Please, make love to me.’
Ciro looked down at her for such a long moment that Lara instinctively started to pull back, suspecting that perhaps this was all part of his plan to humiliate her when she was at her most vulnerable, but then he made a small rough sound and grabbed her hand, entwining his fingers with hers to lead her back into the palazzo.
Her heart was thundering so loudly she was sure he must be able to hear it. There wasn’t any sign of Isabella or Roberto and Lara was glad. This moment was too raw to be witnessed. This was no benign wedding night consummation.
Lara’s hand felt tiny in Ciro’s and he instinctively tightened his grip, even as he rejected the notion that she was somehow vulnerable.
Disconcertingly, it reminded him of how fragile and delicate she’d felt during the kidnapping. How he’d been afraid he’d hurt her because he was holding her so tight. But they’d ripped her out of his arms anyway, and in that moment Ciro had known—
He shut his rogue thoughts down right there. Not now. Never would he think of that again.
He pushed open his bedroom door and looked at Lara. She met his gaze and there was something indecipherable in her expression. Determined.
She took her hand out of his and walked into the room and over to the bed, kicking off her sandals as she went. She had her back to him and he could see her hands move. The silk dress started to loosen around her body.
She made a movement and he watched her shrug the dress from her shoulders so that it landed in a silken ripple by her feet. He was frozen to the spot, taking in the naked contours of her body covered only by the tiniest wisps of lace across her back and bottom. Nothing—no amount of anticipation—could have prepared him for this moment.
Ciro was glad she was facing away from him because he was convulsed with need and desire. Once again she was reaching inside him and turning his guts inside out—except this time he would slay the dragon, and once he’d had her she would lose the hold she’d had over him since they’d met.
Lara was practically naked, dressed only in her panties and a flimsy lace bra. She could sense Ciro behind her. Looking at her. She wasn’t sure what had possessed her. A moment ago she’d been filled with a sense of bravado, but now little tremors were going through her body at the thought of facing Ciro like this.
And then she heard a rough-sounding, ‘Lara...’
Swallowing her fear, she slowly turned around and Ciro filled her vision. She could see the tension in his body, making him loom even larger than he normally did. Suddenly self-conscious, she crossed one arm over her breasts and covered herself between her legs with the other hand.
Ciro shook his head. ‘No...let me see you. I’ve waited for this for so long.’
After a moment Lara did as he asked, dropping her hands to her sides, clenching them into fists. In the dim light of the room she couldn’t see where Ciro’s dark gaze touched her. But she could feel it. On her breasts, her belly, waist, thighs...between her legs.
Her skin broke into goosebumps.
Ciro walked towards her, his usual grace absent. When he stood in front of her she could see the stark expression of pure need on his face. His eyes were blazing.
‘You are more beautiful than I ever imagined.’
