‘Oh!’ Lily cried out. Either pregnancy had made her breasts even more sensitive than usual, or her body had gone too long without Vito’s exquisite attention. But, whatever the case, wonderful sensations swirled out from her breasts, filling her body with a mounting, shuddering— need for more.
As if he sensed her need—which of course he did, Vito always seemed to know exactly what her body craved—he pressed in further between her legs, and lifted the skirt of her dress up over her hips.
His tongue was still moving deliciously against one hard nipple, filling her with wonder at the incredible feelings he was creating. She hardly noticed when, without breaking away, he tugged her briefs down and tossed them to one side.
A second later he released her nipple and dropped down between her legs.
‘Vito!’ Lily gasped as she realised what he was doing, but at that moment his mouth came into contact with her most intimate feminine flesh.
It wasn’t the first time he had kissed her there, had worked his tongue so expertly against the tingling epicentre— of her desire. But her body had never responded with such an instant maelstrom of overwhelming sensation.
Her breath was suddenly coming in short, panting gasps and every conscious thought was driven from her mind. All she was aware of was a building crescendo of hot, demanding passion. It was almost too much to bear—but— at the same time she couldn’t get enough of it.
She writhed beneath his mouth, trying to lift her hands to hold onto his head, but her arms were caught up in a tangle of fabric, still trapped in the sleeves of her dress. There was nothing she could do but lose herself on the spiralling rush of sensation that was surging through her.
Vito lifted his hands to cup her breasts and she cried out again, letting herself fall backwards onto the bed, as wave after wave of pure bliss crashed over her and through her, carrying her on and on in an orgasm that was more powerful than any she had experienced before.
But it wasn’t over yet. She had barely floated down from the pinnacle when Vito was moving over her. Somehow he had divested himself of his clothes and he lifted her further up the bed, freeing her arms in the process.
He positioned himself above her, then without hesitation— he plunged deep into her already quivering body.
A sound she didn’t recognise moaned from her lips, and she gave herself over once again to a miracle of extraordinary— pleasure. She lifted her knees and tilted her hips, desperate to feel his hard flesh filling her to capacity. She clung onto him, his muscled shoulders bunching beneath her fingers as he rocked backwards and forwards.
Vito’s head dipped against her neck, and she could feel his breath coming in hot, harsh bursts in time with every powerful thrust. Her own breathing was also keeping time with his strong rhythm—high, panting moans that revealed just how lost she was on the rush of uninhibited passion that was storming her body.
Her inner muscles were clenching hard around him, sensation was bursting through her, and once again she felt herself tipping over the edge of utter, all-consuming— pleasure.
‘Vito!’ She cried out his name, then she felt her breath catch in her throat and she was sobbing, saying his name over and over again.
Her head was thrown back against the pillow and her eyes were squeezed shut, but tears were flowing freely down her face as her body trembled in the throes of another orgasm that seemed to go on for ever.
Then suddenly she heard a shout as Vito came to his climax. He reared up above her, his body stopping still for a long moment. Then he shuddered mightily as he reached his own release.
It took a long time for Lily to come back down to earth. She had never experienced anything so intense before, or responded so quickly and wildly to Vito’s love-making.
There’d been hardly any foreplay. She hadn’t needed it—or even wanted it. With just one touch she had been ready for him, bursting with desire, desperate for him to make her his again.
He was lying next to her quietly, and as she turned her head she saw he was looking at her. His blue eyes caught hers, and an instant shiver ran through her.
‘Was that too rough?’ he asked, rolling onto his side and placing his hand gently on her stomach.
Lily frowned, startled when she realised what he meant, and instinctively lifted herself up onto her elbows to look down at her own body. It was a surprise to see the ruin of her dress bunched up and crushed around her waist. It wasn’t doing anything to cover her and, in a strange sort of way, it made her naked breasts and the exposed apex at the top of her legs appear even more wanton.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Lily said. Her eyes were fixed on his large bronzed hand resting lightly on her small, neat bump. She couldn’t see his fingers properly as the crumpled dress was obscuring them, but she could feel the heat of his palm against her skin, and it was reawakening— her sensual response to him.
‘Are you all right?’ Vito brought his gaze back up to her face, and he lifted his hand to brush her tear-stained cheek.
‘Yes,’ Lily said stiffly. She suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable in front of Vito. Of course he knew how powerfully she had responded to his love-making, and she was all too aware of how her body was already starting to sing again with renewed desire for him.
‘You never cried before,’ he said, smoothing her hair back from her damp face.
She stared at him with wide eyes, suddenly realising a momentous truth. She had tried to shut her heart to him—but— her body had always remained true to her deeper feelings. It had opened to him, yearned to be one with him.
Because she loved him.
Despite everything, she had never stopped loving him. And if she didn’t do something to hide it from him Vito would soon realise the humiliating truth as well.
‘Maybe I missed sex,’ she quipped, trying to keep her voice as light as her words. ‘Or maybe it’s pregnancy. They say pregnancy makes you hot.’
Her flippant response was out of character, and she tensed up inside, waiting to see if Vito would challenge her. But how well could he really know her, if he still believed she had been unfaithful to him?
‘You were always hot.’ In a flash he was kneeling over her, taking hold of her crushed dress and pulling it down over her hips. ‘That’s better—this is how I like you best. Totally naked, apart from your glorious curly hair.’
‘I thought you liked it straightened.’ Lily forced herself to reply even though she was crying inside. All he saw was a naked woman to share his bed. All she saw was the man who would never return her love. ‘I always straightened it for you.’
‘Why?’ Vito asked. He rolled onto his back and lifted her astride him so that her long, loose hair tumbled down over her shoulders and pooled on his broad chest. ‘What made you think that?’
‘Something you said—a compliment you paid me,’ Lily replied, remembering one of their early dates when, despite his reluctance to behave like a tourist in his own city, he had taken her on a gondola. He had pulled her into his arms and run his hands through her hair, saying it was as smooth as spun gold and looked like a liquid sunrise reflected in the lagoon on a glorious winter dawn.
‘I don’t remember.’ Vito’s dismissive words cut into her like a knife. She had made a habit of straightening her hair based on cherished words of flattery he had spoken to her. But it had all been meaningless to him. ‘This is how I like it now,’ he continued. ‘Wild and wanton, like you.’
Lily looked down, letting her hair fall forward to shield her expression.
She’d just realised the most monumental fact—she loved Vito. And yet at every turn she saw again and again just how little she meant to him.
‘We have a lot of time to make up for.’ The words caught in Lily’s throat, but she hoped he’d mistake her shaky tone for rising passion. If she was going to survive in this marriage she had to find a way to shield her heart and her true feelings from him.
‘What do you want to do now?’ Vito asked, running his hands over the curve of her hips and snuggling her closer to his erection.
‘No more talking,’ Lily said, dipping her body forward— to run her tongue over the sensitive skin of his throat. Her nipples tightened as they brushed against his chest, and desire was already building within her, mercifully blotting out the pain in her heart.
She couldn’t bear to hear any more words that made her realise how little she’d meant to him, even back when she’d thought they were happy. Before he believed she’d betrayed him.
He had been everything to her. He still was.
CHAPTER NINE
LILY was still asleep the following morning as Vito dressed for work. He moved quietly around the room so that he didn’t disturb her. It was the first time since he’d brought her back to Venice that he’d seen her in a really deep sleep. Most mornings when he’d got ready for work she’d already been up. And most evenings, even if she’d been in bed pretending to be asleep, she’d been restless.
She made a small sound and rolled over, reaching above her head to flip the pillow over, then snuggled back down, surrounded by a wild mass of long blonde curls.
Vito smiled, recognising the action. Even in her sleep she liked the cold side of the pillow. She was such a warm-blooded creature that she always liked cool things. Iced water, ice cream. And now that she was pregnant it was like a tiny furnace was glowing inside her. He wondered how she would cope as the summer heated up. He’d take her away to his estate on the Veneto plain. Or even up to his retreat in the Dolomite mountains. But he’d need to keep her medical care in mind—he— couldn’t allow anything to happen to her or the baby.