She looked toward the window. High clouds floated across the blue of the sky. She gave a deep sigh. “It’s magic. Which is real, the caves or this?”
“Both.” He took her hand and kissed the fingers. “Both are reality in this world.” For a moment a shadow flitted across his face, but then he smiled at her again. “A bath, food, bed,” he said. “I think the doctor prescribes them in that order.”
“I can’t walk,” she reminded him unnecessarily.
“I know.” His grin was wicked. “You are at my mercy.”
He poured her a crystal goblet of white wine from the carafe by the bed, handing it to her by the stem. She leaned on one elbow and inhaled the aroma of apricots and peaches.
“It is wine from our own grapes,” Marco said, pouring another glass. “We call it
She nodded. “And to home. May everyone reach there safely.” She raised her glass and placed her lips to the cool liquid. The first sip slid down her dusty throat like nectar. It tasted of honey and spice.
He nodded as he watched her savor the wine. “My father spent years perfecting it. Now we sell all over Italy and abroad. This wine was one reason the
She drained her glass. “I can understand why. It’s like heaven. Is that all it took to get it back? Finding the documents?”
Marco took her empty goblet. “Maybe a little more than that, but the deeds are nine-tenths of the law. I know what I have to do. I am back in possession and the
A dark expression she couldn’t quite read flickered across his face as he said the last words. He set the glasses down on the little table and turned to her again. The wine had sent tendrils of awareness coiling through her, and she felt at once drowsy and yet completely alive.
Her lethargy forbade her to move, but her nerve endings were alert, expecting his touch. She lay still, watching and waiting, anticipating the feel of his hand on her bare skin.
He ran his hand up her leg, under her skirt, and despite her anticipation, she jumped. Immediately she felt the wetness between her legs and her nipples began to ache.
“
The melting sensation in the pit of her stomach made it difficult to catch her breath. She had a flash of memory of her fears of pregnancy, but that was all it was-a flash that came and went in an instant. Right now she ached for him, yearned to pull him inside her.
He placed one hand flat on her breast. The nipple stood to attention, and the dart of fire streaked down between her legs. “Just thinking about your body excites me,” he murmured. “I want us to make love again. I want it very badly, right now. Anywhere and anyhow. Up against the wall, on the floor, in the bed-” The other hand rose higher on her leg, and he touched the dampness on her inner thighs. He gave a deep sigh. “I promised myself I would wait-”
“There is no need to wait.”
She hitched her skirts up around her waist, exposing herself to him. Whether it was the wine, the relief of tension, the sensual feel of the room, or a combination of all three, she wanted it as much as he did. Wanted it hard and fast this time.
He nodded. They understood each other perfectly. Her fingers found the damp folds of her cunt and she pulled them apart, giving him a glimpse of the petals waiting for him. She stroked her clitoris with one exploring finger, encouraging it to swell, relishing the sensations that pulsed through her.
His eyes on her caressing fingers, he opened his trousers to free his cock. It stood ready for her, too thick to encircle with her curved fingers, too long to slip easily into her expectant sheath. She shivered a little at the thought of how he would have to ram it into her to fit inside. He stroked her slowly, kissing her, drawing the tension taut, bringing her need to a peak until she trembled beneath him. He slid his mouth down her body, throat and breasts and belly, dipping his head briefly, firing her with tormenting flickers of his tongue, coming back to skim her lips.
“Now,” she pleaded against his mouth. “Now, please.”
“Soon,” he said. “No need to hurry.”
He took one of the big pillows and placed it under her hips. Then he grasped the hem of her tunic in both hands and ripped it in two, spreading the two halves to bare her breasts. For a long moment he gazed at her naked torso and her waiting cunt, and his breathing grew more shallow. His cock quivered and rose higher, seeking its destination.
Before he mounted her he climbed with slow deliberation onto the bed and opened her legs wider. He took hold of her hands and removed them from between her legs and spread her arms at her sides. A pearly drop of liquid fell like a tear from the tip of his penis onto her thigh. Her nerves were so exquisitely on edge that the light touch made her quiver. As if this tiny movement broke his control he descended onto her, impaling her with his rock-hard cock, driving it deep, making her cry out. The tilt of her hips on the thick pillow forced him up against the far wall of her vagina, nudging the mouth of her womb, caressing a secret spot that spurted in rhythm with his thrusts.
She wound her legs around his waist and clasped him to her. It was hard and it was fast. She felt his teeth on her shoulder as the wave began inside her. Their cry of release came at the same instant.
Chapter Ten
When Emma woke, Marco’s arms were still around her, his leg draped over hers. The sun had dropped lower, creating lavender shadows in the room. The light from outside was more golden, as if filtered through silk. She stirred and Marco was immediately alert. He sat up and looked around, then relaxed.
“It will take a while to forget the habits of the cave,” he said. He rolled off her and bent his head to take her nipple between his teeth. He teased it with his tongue and she murmured, stretching her heavy limbs. He looked at her with his dark eyes, a flicker of laughter mingled with desire in their depths.
Bedroom eyes, they said in the magazines. His look told her he could make her come anywhere, anytime, and she couldn’t do a thing about it. He was absolutely right.
“Just looking at you makes me hard,” he said, “but I must remember my promise.”
He stood in a lithe movement and adjusted his clothing.
“You will have your bath,” he said. “But I have one wish.”
“What?” She didn’t care what his wish was. She would dance naked on the tabletop if he asked. And if her ankle would hold.
“I want to see you naked when I return.” He kissed her lips. “Will you do that?”
“That’s easy.” She pulled his head to her mouth again.
Marco tore himself away from her with a groan and opened the door. He called out something in the hallway and she heard a woman’s answering voice. She supposed there had to be servants in the house. Someone had prepared this lovely room. Marco’s footsteps faded and she began to remove her tunic and skirt.
She lay naked, drowsing against the soft bedding, waiting for her lover, watching the shadows lengthen and the outline of the furniture grow blurred. She let her hands drift over her body. She had never felt like this, as sensitive as a bare nerve, as sensuous as a cat. Her body had grown conditioned to respond to the slightest touch, to react to every lustful thought. At last she heard his footsteps outside. He came back into the room and her heartbeat notched up a fraction as it did every time she saw him.
He closed the door behind him and stood looking at her, taking in her nakedness. She wanted to stretch under the caress of his hot eyes, displaying her body for his approval. He nodded in satisfaction, moistened his lips and began to tug his shirt over his head. His eyes returned to her as he undid his trousers and let them fall, and she felt the familiar shiver start between her legs and creep to her belly, her breasts.
He took two strides to the bed and she rolled toward him, taking his cock gently in one hand. She touched her lips to it, delighting in the soft velvet of the skin, tracing the large, pulsing vein with the very tip of her tongue. It
