A Legacy of Secrets(14)
Just when she should leave, when she should stop this, just as her face went to move back, Santo read it. He chased her with his mouth, reached now for her hips and guided her to a stand, a stand where she was bending and kissing him. When she stopped, he did not let her retreat, because the magic of his mouth had her kneeling on the bed and the implicit message from his hands had her lying on top of him, looking down at him.
‘Where were we?’ He smiled. ‘Oh, that’s right...’ and he got back to kissing. And even though it was Ella dressed and on top, she felt as if she were naked beneath, for he had completely taken her over, his hands sliding over her bottom, pressing her in. Then he moved her a fraction, till she was perfectly poised, and he lifted his hips as his hands shifted her.
It was supposed to be a kiss, but he was filthy and indecent and just so good. It really was supposed to have been just a kiss except his fingers had undone her skirt and his hands now slid in and cupped her bottom and still he moved her.
‘Santo.’ She tried to halt him, had no idea the fire she’d been playing with. She’d known he’d be good, but Ella just hadn’t been prepared for how good he was. In just a few minutes her body felt scalded, and in no time at all she wanted to tear at her clothes just for the relief of being naked. She was grappling for control here and fast realising that with Santo she had none.
‘Come on, Ella...’ He was hurrying her for a reason. He wanted her to come so that two minutes later he could, because Santo knew the second he was inside he’d explode. His hand was working the curves that had taunted him for months now and he wanted to spend the day making up for lost time. Finally there was one good thing to hold on to and hold on to it he did, squeezing and digging his fingers into her buttocks, grinding his hips up to hers. He was just lost in the reprieve from the hell she had given him, so lost that it took a second to realise that she had stopped kissing him He looked up to Ella as she lifted her head, his hands stilling as the once-mutual rhythm stopped.
‘Get some sleep.’ She was as breathless as he.
‘Don’t do that to me.’ Santo grinned and pressed into her again.
‘I am doing that.’
‘Ella!’
‘It’s a kiss, Santo...’ she attempted, because it had been so very much more. ‘It doesn’t always have to lead to something.’ Except her body said otherwise, but she was not going to lose her head to him. She reminded herself why—he was a rake, and an unrepentant rake at that. ‘Have you seen the state of your neck?’ she sweetly said. ‘I find it a bit off-putting.’
‘Nothing happened last night.’
He felt her disbelieving half-laugh, felt it reverberate through him as her breasts lay heavy and warm on his chest. ‘Actually, it’s true. I got so bored kissing her, midway my mind wandered.’ It was terrible that he could make her laugh. ‘Next thing I knew she was leeched onto my neck.’
‘You should pay more attention.’
She was reminded of the placement of his hands as his fingers stroked her buttocks gently and then ventured just a little further to her centre. ‘Oh, I’ll pay attention, miss.’
So tempting was that thought she almost conceded, but no, it was supposed to have been just a kiss and Ella needed her head, needed to think, and with Santo lying naked beneath her, it wasn’t a very doable ask.
‘Go to sleep.’ She gave him a light kiss on the lips but did not linger. She prised her body from his and stood, did up her skirt with hands that were shaking and made no effort to tuck her blouse in, just collected the phone. But as she reached the door his voice caught her.
‘Could you pass me the tissues?’
‘You know what, Santo?’ Ella was at the door. ‘You just take things too far sometimes.’
‘Sorry?’ She heard the question in his voice and then he laughed. ‘I want to blow my nose. It’s a curious thing this crying. I’ve never done it before. I feel like I have a cold.’
‘Liar!’ Ella said, and threw him the box.
He caught it and then his words caught her again at the door. ‘But if you change your mind...’
CHAPTER FOUR
SHE WOULD NOT be changing her mind, so instead Ella headed out of the bedroom and, closing the door, poured herself a glass of grapefruit juice. She liked the tart taste on her tongue but it did not quench her, because her mouth still thrummed from his attention. The skin on her face was still alive from the drag of his jaw and there was a triangle of ache from her nipples that pointed down. The heavy bedroom door might just as well be made of paper, because it would be so easy to walk through it.