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‘Why not?’ she cried. She wanted him to carry on kissing her, to keep kissing her forever.
‘Issy, go away.’ The anger sounded almost weary now. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing. I’m not some kid you can practise your kissing technique on. And I don’t take little girls to bed.’
‘I’m not a little girl. I’m a woman, with a woman’s desires,’ she added, hoping the line she’d read in one of her romance novels didn’t sound too cheesy.
‘Yeah, right.’ Her confidence deflated at the doubtful tone. ‘How old are you?’
‘I’m nearly eighteen,’ she said with bravado. Or rather she would be in six months’ time. ‘And I do know what I’m doing.’ Or at least she was trying her best to know. Surely he could teach her the rest?
The silence seemed to spread out between them, the only noise the pummelling of her own heartbeat and the hushed sound of their breathing.
He reached out and traced his thumb down her cheek. ‘For God’s sake, Issy, don’t tempt me,’ he murmured. ‘Not unless you’re sure.’
‘I am sure. I have been for a long time,’ she replied. He needed her. She hadn’t imagined it. The thought was so thrilling she locked her knees to stay upright.
He cradled her cheek. She leant into his palm.
‘I want you, Gio,’ she whispered, covering his hand with hers. ‘Don’t you want me?’
It was the hardest question she’d ever had to ask. If he said no now she would be devastated. She caught her breath and held it.
He pushed his fingers into her hair, rubbed his thumb against the strands. ‘Yeah, I want you, Isadora. Too damn much.’
Her breath released in a rush as he pulled her close and his lips slanted across hers. The kiss was sensual, seeking this time, his tongue tracing the contours of her mouth with a tenderness and care that had her shuddering.
He leaned back. ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ he said, searching her face, his hands framing her cheeks. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
‘You won’t hurt me. You couldn’t.’
Dropping his hands, he linked his fingers through hers. ‘Let’s take this inside.’
Nervous anticipation made her stumble as he led her through the moonlit gardens and the gloomy shadows of the house’s back staircase, his strides long and assured and full of purpose. She took the stairs two at a time, the first tremors of doubt making her legs shake. When he shoved open the door to his room on the second floor her heart beat so hard she was convinced he would hear it too.
He reached to switch on the light and she grasped his wrist.
‘Could you leave the light off?’ she blurted. She let go of his arm, desperate to disguise the quiver in her voice.
‘Why?’ he asked.
She scoured her mind for a viable excuse. If he knew how inexperienced she was he might stop, and she couldn’t bear that. ‘It’s…it’s more romantic,’ she said.
He seemed to study her in the darkness for an eternity before he crossed the room and opened the drapes, letting the moonlight flood in.
‘Issy, I don’t do permanent,’ he said as he came back to her. He b
rushed a kiss on her forehead. ‘You know that, right?’
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. That would change, she was sure of it, once he had the proof of how much she loved him. She draped her arms over his shoulders, calling on every ounce of her fledgling skills as an actress. She’d told him she wasn’t a little girl. It was time to stop behaving like one.
‘Yes, I know.’ Driving her fingers into the short hair at his nape, she took a deep breath of his scent, revelled in the feel of him as he pressed her back against the door, captured her waist in hot palms.
‘Good,’ he muttered, as his teeth bit into her earlobe.
She shuddered, letting the delicious shiver race down her spine as his lips feasted on the pulse-point in her neck. The hot, vicious ache at her core throbbed in time with her deafening heartbeat. She reminded herself to breathe as he drew the zipper on her dress down, tugged her arms free. The shimmering silk puddled at her feet. She clung to his neck, the heady thrill making her dizzy as he bent and lifted her easily into his arms.
This was really happening at last. After years of fantasising, her dreams were coming true.
Silvery light gilded his chest as he cast off his T-shirt. He unfastened his belt and she looked away, suddenly overwhelmed. He looked so powerful, so strong, so completely male. The mattress dipped as he joined her on the bed. His hand settled on her midriff, drew her towards him. She felt the heat of his big body, the thick outline prodding her thigh.
