A Facade to Shatter(11)

She knew she shouldn’t be doing this with him. Wanting this. But she did.

Oh, how she did.

To hell with what she was supposed to do. To hell with feeling unwanted and unloved and unattractive. What was she waiting for? Who was she waiting for?

Zach made her feel beautiful, desirable. She wanted to keep feeling that way.

When Zach loosened the robe, her heartbeat spiked. But she didn’t stop him. She had no intention of stopping him. When would she ever get another chance to feel this way? Eligible men weren’t exactly thick on the ground in her grandparents’ village.

And even if they were, they’d have been unlikely to risk Salvatore Corretti’s wrath by sleeping with his granddaughter out of wedlock.

Zach’s warm hand slid along her bare thigh, up beneath the T-shirt he’d loaned her. His touch felt like silk and heat and she only wanted more. She shifted against him, felt the evidence of his arousal. He was hard, thick, and her body reacted with a surge of moisture between her thighs.

A sliver of fear wormed its way through her happiness. Was she really going to do this? Was she really going to have sex for the first time with an American whose last name she didn’t even know? Was she going to keep pretending like she knew what she was doing even though she didn’t?

Yes.

Yes, most definitely. Today was a new day for Lia Corretti. She was finally going to be brave and decisive and in control of her own destiny. No one would force her to wear an ugly pink dress—or call her fat, mousy and weak—in front of hundreds of people ever again.

The robe fell from her shoulders and then Zach swept her up into his arms. She gasped at his strength as he put a knee on the bed and laid her back on the mattress. And then she froze as he came down on top of her, his jeans-clad body so much bigger than hers.

He must have felt her hesitation because he lifted his head, his dark eyes searching hers. “If you don’t want this, Lia—”

She put her fingers over his mouth to stop him from uttering another word. “I do,” she said. And then she told a lie. “But it’s been a long time and I—I …”

The words died on her lips. Surely he would see right through her, see to the heart of her deception. She had no experience at all, and he would be angry when he figured that out. And then he would send her away.

He pulled her hand from his mouth and pressed a kiss to her palm. “It’s been a long time for me, as well.” She must have looked doubtful, because he laughed softly. “Cross my heart, Lia. It’s the truth.”

She lifted a trembling hand to trace her fingers over his firm, sensuous lips. She barely knew him, and yet she felt as if she’d known him forever. But what if she disappointed him somehow? What if this was nothing like she’d read in novels?

“But you are so beautiful,” she said.

He laughed, and she realized she’d spoken aloud. Heat flooded her. Oh, how simple she was sometimes!

“And so are you,” he said, dipping his head to drop kisses along the column of her throat.

“You don’t have to say that.” She gasped as his tongue swirled in the hollow at the base of her throat. “I’m already in your bed.”

“I never say things I don’t mean.” He lifted his head, his mouth curling in a wicked grin. “Besides, you’re forgetting that I’ve already seen everything. And I approve, Lia. I definitely approve.”

She didn’t get a chance to reply because his hands spanned her hips and pushed the T-shirt upward, over her breasts, baring her to his sight.

“Still perfect,” he said, and then he took one of her nipples in his mouth, his tongue swirling around the hard little point while she worked so hard not to scream.

She’d had no idea it would feel like this. No idea that a man’s mouth on her breast could send such sweet, aching pleasure shooting into her core. Her sex throbbed with heat and want, and her hands clutched his head, held him to her when she feared he would leave.

He did not. He only moved his attentions to her other breast, and Lia thought she would die from the sensations streaking through her. How had she missed out on this for so many years? How had she missed so much living?

Zach’s tongue traced the underside of her breast, and then he was moving down, kissing a hot trail over her stomach. She was torn between anticipation and embarrassment that he could see the soft jiggle of her flesh. Why hadn’t she insisted on turning out the light?

But then his tongue slid along the seam of her sex and she forgot everything but him. Lia cried out, unable to help herself. Never had she imagined how good this could feel, how perfect.