Desire's Edge (32 page)
Dante smiled at her then. “Good. Good for you, Kara. Because if he’s judging you for who you are, for the things you desire, then his opinion is worth nothing. And if he wasn’t able to see you for the amazing woman you are, then his opinions are worth even less. He’s an idiot. But I’ve been an idiot, too. And I don’t want to be anymore. You’re a lot wiser than I am, Kara. You’re right about everything you’ve said. About you. About me. All of it. Because I love you, Kara. You’re right.”
Her pulse went into overdrive. “Did you just tell me you love me?”
“I did. I do love you. And I’ll tell you again. And again. Until you believe me.” His eyes were shining. “I realize I may have to say it a few hundred times to redeem myself. I’m willing to do it.”
“God, Dante . . .” Joy flooded her. An absolute flood of emotion that made her legs weak. It was a good thing he had such a tight clasp on her arms. And she needed the contact, the heat of his touch. “Tell me again. I need to hear it.”
“I love you, Kara. That’s what I came here to tell you.” He leaned in and brushed his mouth across hers. She had never felt anything so sweet. “I love you,” he whispered again against her lips. “I love you, I love you . . .”
He really kissed her then, his mouth as demanding as it had ever been. But what it was asking of her this time—what he was asking—was for her to love him.
She pulled away. “Tell me again, Dante,” she said, laughing through the tears hazing her vision.
He looked into her eyes, his a soft, gleaming brown, like golden smoke. There was more emotion there than she’d ever seen in him. He cupped her cheeks in his warm palms, and she felt his love in that motion alone.
“I love you, Kara. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone.”
This time when he kissed her, there was more than the heat of desire. There was a passion so deep and true, she could feel it in her soul. He pulled her tighter, their bodies coming together. For the first time, she knew love. And even as it thrilled her, it scared her. She couldn’t not be afraid. She didn’t know how.
For now, she would melt into him. Just let it be. For the moment, she was done asking questions, demanding answers. Of Dante. Of herself. For once, she was really going to revel in this feeling that made her senses soar in a way they never had before.
He loves me.
She swallowed down the fear. And loved him back.
seventeen
Dante held her close, so close he could feel her heart beating against his. Her mouth was so damn sweet. Knowing she loved him was sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted. Miraculous.
He pulled her closer, needing to crush her against him. To
feel
her . . . He wasn’t even sure what he meant by that. All he knew was that he couldn’t get close enough.
feel
her . . . He wasn’t even sure what he meant by that. All he knew was that he couldn’t get close enough.
“Dante,” she murmured against his mouth, her tongue moving slowly over his lips, a slow, sensual touch that made his body go wild with need.
Have to have her. Naked. Open
.
.
He lifted her and carried her to her bedroom, setting her down on the bed. Standing there, he simply stared at her for several moments. He was blown away by her beauty. By her porcelain skin. Her long hair lying wild against the pale green sheets that made her metallic gaze gleam with bits of emerald and moss.
There was that innocent seductress about her still, that look in her eyes that told him she needed him as much as he needed her. That her desire burned every bit as bright. Such a contrast against the long lashes.
He could see the fevered, pink flush on her cheeks, between her breasts where her white robe parted.
He leaned over her, one knee on the edge of the bed, and untied the robe. Spread the white cotton with his hand until it fell open, revealing her naked body underneath. Her nipples were hard and dark, impossibly succulent. When she licked her lips, they were just as lush. He didn’t know where to start. Where to end.
“Kara,” he said, his voice a raw whisper, “Tell me we have all day, all night. Tell me we’re not going anywhere. I need to . . . have you all to myself.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she told him. “I don’t want to be anywhere but here with you.”
It made his heart surge to hear her say it. It made him rock-hard.
He bent and brushed a kiss across her lips, then bent lower to kiss her breasts, that gentle rise of soft, fragrant flesh. She sighed, just a soft sound of pleasure, but it went through him like an electric current.
“Jesus, Kara . . .”
She reached up and held his face between her hands, her palms gentle on his cheeks as she held his head to her breasts. He obeyed her silent command, taking one nipple into his mouth to suck.
“Ah, Dante . . .”
He held her rigid flesh in his mouth, swirling his tongue over the tip. She moaned, held him closer, and he sensed her shifting to arch her hips. The idea of her wet, wanting sex was almost too tempting. But he wanted to draw this out. To make it last. To make it good for her.
He lifted his head, looked into her eyes. “Tell me what you want, my baby. Tell me what you need.”
“I need you. I just . . . need you to touch me. To be with me. I need . . . everything.”
He smiled, his body surging with desire, like heat in his veins.
“I need you, too, my beautiful girl. I had no idea I could need anyone like this.”
“Take your clothes off for me, Dante,” she demanded quietly.
He smiled as he stood to comply. There was a small grin on her face, and he knew what she was thinking. That this was a small turning of the tables. Yet there was no power play involved right now. It was just them. Love was the equalizer. And that was what this moment was all about. Not that the role play wouldn’t happen again. It would. It was in both of them to want it, to need it. But right now, it was about the things they’d just said to each other. The naked selves they had just revealed.
He realized as he took off his jacket, his shirt, his slacks, that this had been happening for weeks. That he hadn’t
required
the more extreme sex with Kara that he’d used to distance himself from other women. All he required was
her
.
required
the more extreme sex with Kara that he’d used to distance himself from other women. All he required was
her
.
When he was naked, Kara smiled her approval. And he went even harder, seeing the look in her eyes. Lust. Love. He bent over her once more, taking the other nipple into his mouth, making her gasp. Her fingers were threaded through his hair, hanging on tight. And the scent of her desire was rising, surrounding him, seeping into his system so that it merged with his own. They were one thrumming pulse. His. Hers. Together.
He kept sweeping his tongue over her rigid flesh, his hands cupping the fullness of her breasts, his thumb teasing the other nipple. He stopped now and then to look at her, at her half-closed eyes. Her teeth coming down to bite the lush pink of her lower lip. The darkening red of her nipples. Then he’d go back to his task. He wanted to tease her, excite her, as much as he could simply doing this: sucking her nipples, licking, kneading her breasts.
“God, Dante . . . this is . . . Oh . . .”
He smiled as he kept sucking, licking, stroking. When she arched hard, her hips coming off the bed, her thigh brushing the tip of his cock, he groaned. But he would not give in to his own need. Not until he’d satisfied hers.
He sucked in a breath, taking in her scent, that scent of flowers and female desire. Grew dizzy with it.
Kara
.
.
She was his, finally. Truly his.
Kara was writhing beneath him, out of her head. With the desire burning like molten heat through her body. Centered on her aching breasts as Dante tortured them deliciously with his clever mouth. But sending arcs of pleasure to her sex. Making a strong, rhythmic pulse beat there. Pure desire.
Want
like a humming in her flesh. And all of it about him. Dante.
Want
like a humming in her flesh. And all of it about him. Dante.
Hers
.
.
His hair was like silk beneath her palms. His mouth on her like liquid fire. His love like the wildest aphrodisiac she could ever have imagined.
She wrapped her leg around his, pulling him closer, needing more. And as his thigh settled between hers, it was like a shock of pleasure. And with nothing more than that, his muscular thigh pressed to her wet cleft, his mouth and his hand on her breast, she came, crying out.
“Dante! Ah God . . .”
She bucked against him. She was shivering with wave after wave of pleasure, like fireworks going off behind her closed eyelids.
When Dante groaned and pressed his engorged cock against her belly, it was like coming all over again, to feel his excitement. She spread her thighs, her hands sliding down to his strong buttocks to pull him in.
“Ah, Jesus, my girl, you are going to kill me. Give me a moment.”
“Now, Dante. Now.”
He laughed. “We need a condom, baby. Hang on.”
It would take only a few seconds, but it was too long for her.
“Come on, Dante. I can’t wait. Really, I can’t.”
He was smiling as he held himself over her. His eyes were glowing gold in the afternoon light. So beautiful. And as she watched, his features softened, the smile fading. And his expression turned to one of wonder as he slid inside her.
“Baby,” he murmured. “I love you, Kara. Love you, my beautiful girl. You are mine.”
Her head was spinning, her body consumed by sensations: pleasure, a need for him that went beyond any physical sensation.
“I love you, too, Dante. I love you.”
He wrapped her in his arms. Pulling her almost upright, holding her close as he moved deeper.
“Ah, Kara . . .” He slid out, thrust again, driving pleasure into her in shuddering waves. “You feel so good, baby. Better than anything I’ve felt in my life.”
His hips moved, pressing hard into her, then back. She was filled, over and over, his flesh hard inside her. Heavy. Hot. She ground against him, wanting him deeper. And all the while, pleasure built once more, spiraled, crested.
“Kara,” he gasped against her hair. “I need to come. Inside you . . .”
He tensed, surged into her over and over, gasping, crying her name.
“Kara, baby . . . Kara!”
She felt him coming, felt the heat of it inside her, felt his pleasure as though it were her own. And she came with him, a million lights exploding in her body, her mind. Dazzling her. Blinding her.
They held each other close. She was shivering with pleasure, with the wonder of what she was feeling. Of what Dante felt for her. She knew it in every caress, every whispered murmur.
The fear wanted to creep back in, but she wouldn’t let it. Not now. Now she let herself glory in the first real sense of safety she’d ever felt with a man—with anyone—in her life. She let herself relax in Dante’s embrace, closed her eyes, and slept.
They woke in the afternoon, coming together again. This time there was no preamble, just Dante turning to face her and lifting her leg over his side, sliding inside her. It was a gentle motion, their hips meeting, his rigid flesh clasped inside her. And a slow, aching heat built, a little at a time.
This time sensation was a lovely undulation. The lateafternoon sun slanted through the curtains, casting light and shadow on naked skin. Heat. His body was so beautiful to her, his face as he watched her come once more. Then as he came himself, an expression of exquisite agony making his eyes go dark.
After, he remained inside her, kissed her face, her lips. But she was anxious, suddenly.
“Dante, tell me we don’t have to stop.”
He chuckled. “I may need a few minutes rest, my eager girl.”
“No, I meant this. Being together.”
He stared at her, kissed her again. “This is what I want, Kara.
You’re
what I want.”
You’re
what I want.”
His arms went around her, held her close, and she pressed her cheek to his chest, let his heartbeat soothe her.
When she woke again it was dark outside, other than the faint glow from the streetlamps outside her window. Dante still slept beside her; she could feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
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