Gino glanced down at Zara’s face as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the edge of the pool where he’d put the cushion for her to sit on. “You want to go in, you let me take you in. Don’t just drop down. The floor of the pool is hard rock.”
She was so beautiful, she took his breath away. He didn’t understand how she could be looking at a man like him, not when she was intelligent, gorgeous, sweet beyond imagining and so perfect, but he wasn’t about to throw away his one chance at happiness.
“Will do. It’s stunning out here.” A slight breeze had kicked up, just enough to fan her face when the humidity threatened to keep her from breathing.
“Listen to it,” Gino said and dragged off his boots and then his jeans. “The swamp has its own sound. Its own rhythm.” He was going to let her see what she did to him, get used to the idea of his naked body. He’d seen hers a hundred times, tempting him. Looking at her now, he had no idea how he managed to resist her.
He wasn’t wearing a stitch by the time she stopped looking around at the scenery. She nearly squeaked but managed to suppress the sound before it got loose. Her eyes dropped to his cock and went wide with shock. Then her mouth opened. He very casually tossed a towel beside her on the rock and after throwing his shirt to one side, sank down beside her.
He threaded his fingers in her hair. “Haven’t you ever seen a man’s body before?”
She swallowed and nodded. Kept staring. “You’re absolutely beautiful. Your body.” Her tone was almost reverent.
It was the last thing he expected her to say. He had scars. More than a few. Muscles. Clothes hid his strength, but he knew his body could be intimidating.
“I grew up in Whitney’s compound. He didn’t believe in a woman being modest. We were put on earth to serve a man. We were used for experiments. Emotions didn’t matter to him, in fact, they only got in the way.”
“Women serving men. Don’t know about that. I got myself a beautiful princess. If anyone is serving anyone, it would be the other way around.” He massaged her scalp, loving the feel of all that hair, like silk. It gleamed red in the sun. The gold was there, like the sun’s rays. His heart threatened to beat out of his chest, which shocked the holy hell out of him. He was a man always in control and yet, with Zara, that control seemed to go right out the window.
“Gino.” She took a deep breath. “I really want this. I do, but you’re never going to fit.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll fit, baby. You’ll be ready for me by the time we get there, I promise. Keep breathing. Listen to the music around us. I want you to relax, not be afraid of anything. We don’t have to do a single thing until you’re ready. If that means a month from now, or two months from now, I’m okay with that.”
“You are?”
“I’m not going to lie, Zara. I want you with every cell in my body, and I think you can see that.” His cock was harder than he ever remembered it and he hadn’t touched her yet. Just looking at her in that sheer top, her breasts teasing the hell out of him was enough to make his blood thunder in his ears.
He circled his shaft with his fist, wishing it was her hand, but knowing he had to take it slow with her. Sweat dotted his forehead. More trickled down his chest. His gaze jumped to her breasts where a small bead ran down that intriguing valley. Her nipples were taut, not flat. She was aroused, he could tell by the change in her breathing. The last thing he wanted was for her to be scared of his body.
Gino cupped the side of her face, turned her toward him and took her mouth. He forced himself to be gentle, coaxing her response, not taking it. One hand slipped over her breast, over her heart to feel it flutter. Her lips were cool, her mouth hot. She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer. He didn’t move into her, controlling her body the way he controlled the kiss.
Heat rushed through his veins, a silken fire that moved through every cell, infusing him with her, so much hotter and stronger than he expected with his gentle, very tender kiss. He fought himself, as need pulsed through him and hunger coiled deep. Her mouth was addicting, her taste elusive, like some fine wine he couldn’t quite catch all the various subtle flavors of. He needed more. So much more.
She dug her fingers into his shoulders, kissing him back, her mouth soft, chasing his, wanting more. Frantic for more. He liked that. He even needed it from her. Forcing himself to stop, he lifted his head and smiled at her. “You’re not going to get your way yet, princess.” Because God help them, if she pressed her body against his right now, his control would go up in flames.
Little beads of sweat dotted her skin and he wanted to lick every one of them off. Trace the ones running between her breasts and find the tight buds that pushed against the sheer material. He was torturing himself by getting her that cover-up.
She looked up at him, those long lashes fluttering, sending little flames burning through his belly. “Why?”
He slipped off the rock into the pool and reached for her. Hands around her waist, he pulled her into the cooler water. He needed it more than she did. It didn’t help. Nothing was going to help. He’d been obsessed with her from the moment he’d read the file they had on her. The moment someone had said her name.
Living with her these weeks, lying on the floor beside the bed, or in it with her, inhaling her scent, feeling her soft skin, looking at all those curves, had made that obsession grow until he could barely stand being away from her. He wanted to know where she was and what she was doing, if she was happy, if she was upset. He told himself it was insanity, but it didn’t matter, intellect didn’t take way the intense emotion he was feeling for her.
The water felt good on his hot skin. Even better, it soaked through the thin material of her sarong and blouse until it was so transparent, she might as well not have been wearing a stitch. He didn’t let her feet take all her weight, but allowed her to stand, the water and his hands holding her.
“Why?” she repeated, a little more demanding.
He laughed softly. “You’re going to be a handful.”
“You’re not answering me,” she pointed out.
He took her hand and guided it to his cock. She closed her fingers around the hard shaft and looked up at him shyly. Expectantly. Lust swept through him. His cock felt like a steel spike, and in her hand, it grew even more, hardened even more until she looked intimidated, but excited all the same. He could see desire growing in her eyes. Her breasts moved temptingly with every ragged breath she took.
“That’s why, Zara. I’m not having your first time with me be out here, and I’m not nearly as in control as I thought I could be. Playing is one thing, but we’re going to have to be careful.”
Zara scowled up at him and turned her face against his bare chest and tasted his skin. He tasted the way she expected—amazing. Perfect. All Gino. She had read countless books on sex. She’d read the Kama Sutra, and just about everything else she could get her hands on. She was, after all, very good at research. Nothing prepared her for the real thing. The way she would feel with her body so close to his. With his cock, thick and hard, in her fist.
She pumped that hot, rigid part of his anatomy, feeling that silken glide. The water wasn’t nearly as cold as it needed to be to keep her from feeling like she might go up in flames. He might think he was going to control every situation, but Zara wasn’t about to let him. Not when it came to having sex with him. She knew all about temptation, and she was determined to drive him to the very brink of his control—and beyond.
Her mouth traveled over his chest, her tongue finding every defined muscle, tasting, sucking, using her teeth very gently to nip him and then her tongue to ease the sting. Every time she did it, his breath hitched in his lungs and his cock jerked in her hand. She kept the pumping up, her fist lazily gliding, while her mouth moved over his chest. If it wasn’t driving him crazy, it certainly was taking her close to the edge and she loved the feeling of wanting him. He was becoming a need, not a want, his body hot, hard and all hers. Tension coiled hot inside her, drawing tighter and tighter. All the while her clit pulsed and throbbed in need.
Her tongue flicked his nipple and then she suckled there, her tongue dancing over him. She lifted her head and looked up at him from under her long lashes. “Does playing include me doing this to your cock?”
His shaft, enclosed in her hand, thickened, widening in spite of her tight fist, heating until she thought he would scorch her palm. He felt like a combination of silk and steel.
“If you want it to.” His voice was husky.
“I want,” she said, and pushed her body closer to his while her hand left his shaft and dropped lower to caress the velvet texture of his sac. His balls were tight and hard, just like his cock. She rolled them gently, exploring with her fingers and palm while she kissed her way up his throat. She moved one leg so she was straddling his thigh, pushing against him with her nearly naked body. That thin strip between her lips didn’t do a thing to stop her from feeling his bare thigh against her clit. She rubbed back and forth.
“Zara.” There was warning in his voice.
She ignored it and kissed his throat, then his jaw, before pulling back to look up at him. She knew he’d look down and see that transparent material over her breasts, her nipples erect, every breath rising and falling for him. His dark gaze left her face and she heard his breath rush from his lungs. Her hand found his cock again just as his hands both came up to cup her breasts, pushing them together and right out of the open edges of the cover-up. Then his mouth was on her breast and her world went up in flames.
She cried out, shocking herself with the intensity of feeling. She had no idea her body could feel so good, so needy and so desperate all at one time. His hand was on one breast, kneading and massaging, his mouth on the other, sucking, his tongue and teeth alternating, doing something delicious that sent spikes of electricity straight to her sex.
“Wrap your legs around my waist.” He hissed the command against her nipple as he caught both of her arms, tugged them up and put them around his neck.
She felt the heat of his breath against her skin. Obediently she lifted her legs around his waist, ankles hooking behind him.
“Are you all right, Zara? I need to hear you say it.”
She was nodding, but she managed to get out a verbal answer. “Yes. Absolutely.” And she was, there wasn’t even a twinge of pain on her breasts. Only pleasure. And she wanted more.
She leaned back, throwing her head back as he latched on to her breasts once again. She pressed her mound tight against his abdomen, wishing it was his cock. Her hips bucked when his teeth pulled at her nipple. There had to be a straight line to her sex, because every time he did it, a lash of sizzling heat struck her clit and then continued deep into her core. That stroke set flames roaring through her until she was nearly writhing in his arms.
He cursed, and set her up on the edge of the pool again, prying her hands from around his neck. Pulling himself out of the water, he caught her up and took her to the blanket before she had time to get out a word. “You’d better tell me if anything hurts, Zara.”
The warning in his voice should have scared her, but instead, that firestorm in her got loose and swept through her body until she couldn’t breathe or think. She just needed. His voice was sexy, nearly hoarse with a desire so dark it seemed like pure lust. She wanted that. Wanted him to feel the way she did—desperate.
“I will, just do something. I need you right now, Gino.”
“Baby, we haven’t even gotten started.” His hands were at the knot below her breasts. He dragged the cover-up from around her, wrung it out and laid it on a rock in the sun. He pulled off the sarong and did the same thing. The tiny thong was gone with a quick jerk of his hand, leaving her body bare to him. “You are so fuckin’ beautiful, woman. Just looking at you gets me hard.”
“I want you in my mouth,” she said. “Please, Gino. I’ve thought about it a lot and want to learn exactly what you like. Let me try. You can tell me what to do. I like when you do that because then I feel as if I’m not going to do anything wrong.”
All those books had given her tricks to try, and she and her sisters had laughingly practiced on bananas, but it wasn’t the same as the real thing. He was much bigger and harder than anything she’d tried practicing on. She also hadn’t counted on the fact that she was really desperate for him. She craved the taste of him, the hot feel of him in her mouth. She hadn’t expected that.
“You sure, princess? I’m not small.”
She wasn’t blind. She shifted to her knees and circled his hips with one arm.
Gino thought his head was going to explode the moment her hand slid around the base of his cock. Her body was beautiful, the lacerations had faded other than two places that were still raw and red looking. He would have to be careful when he touched her, to make certain he didn’t get carried away when he caught her hips in his hands.
His fingers bunched in the silky hair she’d fastened on top of her head. “All right, Zara, just do a little exploring. Don’t use your teeth, but everything else is going to feel good.”
Her eyes came to his and all air blasted out of his lungs at the look she gave him. Not shy, not even innocent. She looked sexy as hell, a teasing temptress bent on his destruction. And damn him to hell, he was okay with that. He was willing to be destroyed by her.
She opened her mouth and let him guide his cock right in. He watched the head disappear and then another inch. His girth stretched her lips around him, and reality was far better than any fantasy he’d had over that bow of a mouth. That hot, moist cavern was tight, and he pumped, thrust his hips deeper while her tongue did some crazy twisted dance over his shaft. He’d thought he was going to have to go with extreme care, but she was already taking over, sucking at him until he thought the world was going to come apart before they even got started.
“I thought you didn’t know what you were doing.” He had to grit his teeth and struggle for control. She was that good. She looked sexy as hell with his cock sliding in and out of her mouth, her lips stretched so wide and her eyes on his. Her breasts were perfect, nipples tight buds, and between her legs, moisture gleamed in her red curls, showing him she was definitely into what she was doing. He wanted that picture etched in his mind forever.
She slid her tongue up his shaft and smiled at him with the crown right against her lips. “I read a lot and then I practiced.”
“Who the fuck did you practice on?” He knew better than ask. He’d want to hunt them down and cut out their hearts.
She licked him like he was a fucking ice-cream cone while he waited heartbeat after heartbeat. His hand fisted tighter in her hair, a little warning. He always knew he’d be a jealous man, but he wasn’t prepared for the monster in him rising, right then, adding to that roaring of his blood in his cock and the thunder of chaos in his mind.
“Silly man. Not who. What. Bananas and cucumbers are the only thing I had, so I made do. Hopefully I learned. I was all about learning to please my man.”
She was going to kill him. He wasn’t surviving this woman. He caught the back of her head and guided her once more onto his cock. “Need more, baby.” His princess looked more than royal, with her hot little body and a mouth full of his cock. She was the kind of woman a man wanted to keep in his life and if he didn’t, he was just plain fucked-up. Gino knew her worth and he wasn’t about to ever be that fuckup. He was going to make certain she came first for him.
Then he couldn’t think any more. Every altruistic thought left his head as she began to move on him, her mouth so hot and tight that he swore streaks of fire were running from his groin to his spine, racing up to his brain and down to his toes. His fingers gripped her hair harder, fisting there, guiding her now, his hand working with hers.
He could feel her fingers digging into the muscles of his butt, pulling him into her, while her mouth tightened and her tongue stroked and danced. Then he was there, hitting the back of her throat, and she fought to control her gag reflex. She managed and he didn’t pull her off as he held himself in paradise for a few heartbeats longer before he let her have air.
“What kind of book taught you this? And don’t fuckin’ try to answer.” He was already making it impossible, pushing deep into that hot, wet world of pure pleasure. He loved watching himself disappear into her mouth, watching her wet lips stretch and her eyes widen as he fed his cock to her.
She was doing things he’d never experienced, things no doubt she’d read in books, but they were driving him right out of his mind. He’d had blowjobs, many of them, but nothing like this. He had no idea if it was because he was already so far gone on her or because she really was that good. And it was that fucking good. Any more and he was going to blow.
“Have to stop, baby, or you’re going to be swallowing, and most women aren’t down for that.” He couldn’t quite pull her off him. He should. He knew he should, but he couldn’t.
She didn’t stop, and all that pent-up seed, despite the many times he’d relieved himself in the shower, came boiling up like a fucking volcano and he blew big. Blasted like rockets. She did her best as he pumped long ropes in her mouth. She took it too, his woman, swallowing him down as if he was feeding her candy. It was sexy as hell to him, seeing his seed sliding out of her mouth and down her chin.
“Gentle,” he cautioned when her mouth still suckled. He was more sensitive than he’d ever been.
She followed his warning carefully, her mouth gliding over him as his cock relaxed, although he wasn’t as sated as he thought he’d be. She was too damned sexy, and what she’d just done for him was the most amazing gift she could have given him. He was going to find that book, frame it and put it on the wall.
He eased his hands out of her hair. “You okay?” His fingers found his seed on her mouth and chin, scooped it up and fed it to her. She obeyed his silent command and licked his fingers clean. “Need to know, princess, are you okay?”
She nodded, her gaze still on his. “Was it good for you?” There was anxiety in her eyes, in her voice. She didn’t have a clue.
“Holy fucking mother, woman, what do you think? I’ve never had anything so good, and it was your first time.”
She smirked. “I practiced a lot.”
“What else did you practice?”
“I tried to smuggle all of us toys, you know, vibrators so we could feel what it was like, but I got caught. I spent two weeks in solitary for that one.”
“That man was a bastard.” He handed her a bottle of water and watched her throat work. “You ever try to deep throat one of your substitutes? Relax your throat and swallow it? Hold it there for a minute or so?”
She nodded. “It’s harder than you think it might be. I practiced that a lot too. Bellisa or Shylah would convince my guard I needed bananas when I was in solitary to keep my blood sugar up. I was there quite often until I got better at smuggling contraband, so I didn’t have a lot of other things to do.”
He let out a groan. “Woman, you’re killing me. We’re going to get some contraband and I’ll show you all kinds of things we can do with it. I like the idea of watching you get yourself off with a vibrator. Or me getting you off with one while you practice that deep-throating technique. The images you’re putting in my head are never going to go away.”
“Good images, I hope.” There was that smirk again, but she deserved to smirk.
“Better than good. I’m going to do something with you that I bet you haven’t tried.” He waited until she drank the full bottle of water. “Lie on your back. If anything hurts, you tell me immediately, understand, baby? We’ll find another position, we won’t stop, so don’t think that and be stoic. This isn’t about pain, it’s all about pleasure.”
Zara swallowed hard, her heart accelerating out of control. He looked so powerful. All those muscles. Without clothes, she could see every muscle in his body—and he had a lot of them. Part of her was excited to see what was going to happen, and another part of her was filled with trepidation. She lay back slowly and found she had to shade her eyes against the sun when she tried to look at him. That gave her the impression of the mask, his face dark, the shadow on his jaw pronounced, his eyes so black they gleamed at her like a marauder’s.
He pulled her thighs apart, fingers tight on her skin, not letting her move once he created space for his body. When he slipped between her legs, he lay on his belly and used his shoulders as a wedge to keep her thighs apart. Her breath caught in her throat. She wasn’t certain she could actually pull air into her lungs.
“Gino?” She needed reassurance. Fear skittered down her spine. She loved doing things to him, but wasn’t so certain how she was supposed to react when he did things to her. She’d read about that too, but even when she touched herself, nothing huge had happened. Now she felt totally vulnerable.
“Trust me, Zara. Just give yourself to me and relax. Let me show you how good this can be.”
His tone was that strange dark one that both mesmerized and compelled her to do whatever he asked. She took a deep breath and allowed herself to sink into a place where she felt free to turn everything over to him. It was such a dichotomy, the fact that she could be afraid and yet feel safe with him. Maybe fear wasn’t the right word; maybe it was trepidation, because she didn’t know what was coming.
Her sex clenched the moment his gaze went from her eyes to her body. Just the expression on his face sent liquid heat moving inside her. He looked feral, more savage than human. She loved that particular expression, especially since his features were stamped with pure possession. The lines in his face were sensual, purely carnal, lust mingling with hunger and need. She liked that she was his and that he thought of her that way.
She felt his breath first and her entire body jumped. Air rushed from her lungs. She felt the hard bristles along his jaw move up her thigh, first one side and then the other until desire danced up her legs and filled her core. Soft kisses on the insides of her thighs drove her wild. Stinging nips, soothed by his tongue sent jagged shock waves whipping through her body. Then his mouth was on her and he was devouring her, as if she was the finest, most exotic candy in his world.
Zara was unprepared for the sheer feelings overwhelming her. She had no idea her body was even capable of reacting with such fire and sensitivity. Every stroke of his tongue, the raking of his teeth, the greedy way he attacked was overpowering. Her body took on a life of its own, winding tighter and tighter until she thought she might lose her mind. She had no idea she was chanting his name until her lungs were burning for air and she had to stop to inhale.
Lightning seemed to strike through her body as that tension coiled and her body burned. Panic set in, but there was his voice talking to her in that whisper of dark, intimate velvet, commanding her to relax and let go for him. She’d do just about anything for him and her body always seemed to obey him, relaxing into the heat of his mouth and the stroke of his tongue. Fire raced, a million colors burst behind her eyes and she was thrown into the sky, soaring with constellations she didn’t even know the name of.
Heart pounding like wild, eyes on his, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. He grinned at her, shamelessly smug.
“Let’s see if you can do that again,” he said.
She shook her head, her gaze dropping to his body. So hard. So perfect. He’d come up on his knees, and she could see the heavy erection. Evidently, he’d enjoyed what he’d been doing to her almost as much, or more than she had. She couldn’t imagine more, but that wasn’t what she wanted.
“Not again?”
Did he look disappointed? “I want you inside me, Gino.” She tried to sound assertive and firm.
“Baby.” He let out another soft groan. “Don’t tempt the devil. I’m trying to do right by you. The surface is hard. A mattress would feel a whole hell of a lot better. As it is, twice I nearly caught at your hips and I would have touched those lacerations that aren’t quite healed. I don’t want any pain for you when we come together.”
“I know what I want, and I’m not feeling pain at all. Just the opposite.” She kept her gaze fixed on his so he could see she meant it. She knew him well enough now to know if he decided against it, there would be no changing his mind, not even if she pulled out some of her seduction tricks she’d read about.
“Princess.” His voice had gone husky. Sexy. Hypnotic. “You have to be certain. I planned this out in the bedroom where you’d be comfortable, not here where the ground is hard.”
“I want here. I love being here with you, and this place is magic to me. I’m not hurting at all. I swear, I would tell you immediately.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and she thought she’d lost. Her heart pounded. She counted her breaths, her heartbeats. She moved her body subtly, widening her legs, arching just a little so it drew attention to her breasts. He groaned, and she knew she won.
“All right, baby. I’ve got a couple of condoms in my wallet and we’re going to protect you.” He reached for his jeans, dragged them to him and pulled out his wallet and then a foil packet. “I’ve got two in here. That’s the limit, Zara.”
One of his hands rubbed her thigh, the other cupped the slickness between her legs. She gasped as he pushed a finger into her. It was slow, but she felt every inch.
“You’re tight, princess, and I’m …” He broke off, shaking his head. “Your first time is going to hurt. There’s no getting around that. I can be careful and make it as good as I can, but it can hurt.”
He looked around at their surroundings and then back down to her body, laid out in front of him like a feast. She wasn’t afraid and, although the pain part didn’t sound great, she’d read about that too and knew what to expect. From that first moment of partial freedom, when she’d attended school outside the compound, she had realized that men and women gravitated toward one another. She’d wanted what others had. A man. A home. Children. She had been determined to be ready in case the opportunity was ever given to her. She had been unwavering in her desire to be the best partner for her man she could be.
She stretched her arms above her head, and lifted her hips, rocking a little. “I want you right now, Gino. I want to know I’m your woman. If it’s going to hurt here, it’s going to hurt in the bedroom.”
His hand fisted his cock absently, doing several lazy pumps while he looked at her body lying there. A faint sheen covered her skin where tiny drops of water remained from the pool.
“Cup your breasts, baby. Remember what I did to your nipples? Do the same thing for me. I want to watch you.”
She didn’t know if that meant yes, but she followed his instructions exactly. Her body was already in a heightened state and just the brush of her fingers on her nipples sent streaks of fire straight to her clit. She gasped, and rocked her hips more, trying to assuage the terrible need building in her just from watching Gino’s fist sliding on his cock and that one long finger pumping in and out of her. It wasn’t nearly enough, and her breath came out in ragged little pants she couldn’t control.
He pushed a second finger into her along with the first. It felt … too much. Too tight. Burning. Just the way he said. She gasped and pinched and rolled and tugged more. Harder. Needing the fire to overcome the burn.
“Relax, princess. The more you relax, the easier this is going to be.”
Her body was already listening to him, the tension going out of her muscles and almost immediately, the two fingers fit. She took another deep breath and let it out as he scissored them, stretching her even more. It felt unexpectedly sexy. Maybe it was the way he looked, kneeling over her like a conquering warrior.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Zara. I love that you do exactly what I ask of you, that you trust me that much.”
Just the way he looked at her was a turn-on. Every sense she had was heightened, so acute, her skin was sensitive to the slightest brush of her fingers. His eyes were so black, so feral, the lines in his face carved deep with lust. There was that mixture of lust and some deep emotion she wanted to call love because that was the accepted word. Whatever it was, it was all for her and she gave herself completely to him.
Gino pulled his two fingers away from her and her body tried to follow them. He brought them to his mouth and licked them clean. “I love the way you taste. All mine. No one else is ever going to have that.”
She liked that too. Watching him roll on the condom was hot. She didn’t know why, but she just seeing the glove come over his cock was exciting—although she was greedy enough to want to know how he felt inside her without it.
He caught her bottom in his hands and pressed the broad head of his cock to her entrance. He felt a lot bigger than his two fingers had.
“Just relax, Zara. You’re giving yourself to me. Your body is a gift I’ll always treasure. You’ll never have to worry that I’ll forget about taking care of it or you. Even now, this first time when we both know it’s going to be a little uncomfortable, I’ll make certain you feel pleasure.”
His voice was so gravelly it was almost harsh, but it moved over her skin like the touch of fingers. Eyes on his, she nodded as he pushed steadily through her tight folds. She did her best not to tense up, but the burn wasn’t a good one. She felt stretched beyond what she could handle. She shook her head. “I don’t think this is going to work.” She wanted it to, but it really did sting. Okay—hurt.
“I’ll fit, princess. You were made for me. It’s just difficult at first.”
He retreated and then pushed in a second time. Slowly. Steadily. She couldn’t decide if the sting was better or worse. The third time, he pulled out, replaced his cock with his mouth, and she nearly came apart again. Liquid heat nearly dripped like honey. Then his cock was back, and this time it was easier with her sheath slick.
He caught her buttocks in his hands, pausing. “Keep your eyes on mine. I want you to pinch your nipples hard. Right now.”
She obeyed and he surged forward. Fire flashed straight to her sex, mixing with the blast of pain as he took her innocence. Then he was all the way in, buried deep, and she surrounded him. She felt every inch of him. His girth stretching her madly. The long thick vein. The way his cock pulsed with energy and hunger. Every one of his heartbeats. She didn’t take her eyes from his, but she breathed deeply, trying to decide if she wanted to cry or beg him to move.
He remained very still, her muscles clutching him tightly, holding him in a vise. She didn’t look away from his eyes, obeying his directive, feeling held by him, feeling soothed by the way his gaze held hers. The stinging and burning subsided slowly and her muscles began to ease their panicked grip on him.
“Feel better?”
There was pure gravel in his voice. The sound moved over her, stroking her skin, bringing her body to a fever pitch. His eyes were so intense for a moment she couldn’t find her own voice to answer him. He looked like sin incarnate. If he was the devil, and she knew he wasn’t from heaven, she wanted to burn in hell with him.
She nodded.
“Baby, I want to hold you, but if I lie on you, my hips are going to be cradled in yours and those lacerations might tear open even more. Just keep looking at me.” Now his voice slid over her like velvet. She shivered. Trembled. Was desperate for something out of reach that only he could provide.
She nodded again, moving her hips experimentally. That got her a smile from him and it took what remained of her breath away. She noticed he didn’t do it that often around anyone else, and that made it all the more sensual and intimate.
Gino stared down at the woman who had somehow wrapped herself around his heart. He didn’t know how it had happened or even when, only that he couldn’t do without her. She was beautiful to him, physically astoundingly gorgeous, but more than her looks, she was everything he wanted in a woman. He’d never considered that his dream woman really existed, or that if she did, he would find her.
Gino had no real respect for authority. He was the authority. Arrogant, yeah. Completely confident. Absolutely. Dominant. No question. He could be as cold as ice, not feeling a thing. He didn’t mind what others thought of him and he didn’t mind fucking someone up.
Zara was intelligent and had a sense of humor. She was soft inside. Empathetic. Sweet as candy. She followed his lead without hesitation. She never wanted to hurt a single soul. He was the complete opposite of her. She was quiet and soothed the demon in him, when he wanted to do violence to the world in general.
He wanted his woman to be his. He didn’t want to share her with the rest of the world. Not in the sense that Zara couldn’t go out and share her work, he’d be proud of her for that. It was about her focus. Her center. He needed to be that for her—and he was. He needed to be able to tell her what to do at times and have her do it just because she wanted to please him. He needed her trust in him. It was a lot to ask of a woman and he knew that. In return, he would give her anything and everything. He had the means and the desire. He needed to know he was her obsession, just as she was his. Maybe it was a fucked-up way to love, but it was his way.
He waited until he felt the viselike grip of her tight inner muscles relax their hold on his cock. Taking a breath, watching her closely, he withdrew slowly, feeling the friction around his shaft. The pleasure/pain was almost too much. It felt like a thousand fingers gripped him tightly and massaged. Her eyes widened, and he surged forward. Her mouth opened in shock. Her breasts gave a sexy jolt, jiggling for him, drawing his attention so he wanted to fill his mouth with her.
Moving in her body was paradise. Fire radiated from his groin, spreading out of control down his thighs and up to his belly. Flames rolled there, hotter than hell, hotter than anything he’d ever experienced. He knew she would be like this—surrounding him with that silken fist that was so tight he thought his head might explode.
Every time he withdrew to thrust forward, he wasn’t certain if his cock could make its way through her sheath until he was buried deep. He was as gentle as possible, when he wanted to throw caution to the wind and drive home over and over, as hard and fast and as deep as possible. This was all for her. He tried to make it that way, but it was almost impossible when she was practically strangling his shaft. The head of his cock felt like it might explode. He could feel each surge of hot liquid as he pushed deep.
Her face and body flushed. Her eyes had gone wide with a kind of shock. Her hair had come loose, or maybe he’d pulled it free, and it was all around her, spread on the blanket like red flames glinting at him in the sun. Her body nearly glowed from the water, humidity and beads of sweat. Every hard thrust had her breasts jolting, the action drawing his attention to the curves of her body and the way his cock disappeared into her. Was swallowed whole. He fucking loved that. He felt every breath she took right through his cock. Every movement of her body, that was how tightly she gripped him.
Lightning streaked through his body, lashing his cock. He’d never been restrained. Not ever. When he took a woman, he took her hard. He satisfied the needs of his body, the violence that was always with him and always would be. He would take her the way he needed, he knew that, but not until she was ready. Right now, with his body a firestorm burning through him, he fought to make it right for her. To make it good for her. She mattered to him, and he was determined to stay in control to give her this.
Zara was the one woman who could bring him to his knees, figuratively and literally. His body trembled, trying to hold back. Looking at her spread out before him, the trust in her eyes, the rising pleasure, feeling those tight muscles begin to clamp down harder, more urgently, sent a firestorm sweeping over his cock and up through his body.
A shiver of awareness crept down his spine. He loved her. He was so in love with this woman. Zara Hightower. It hadn’t been instant, even though they’d been together a few short weeks, but they’d spent just about every minute of every day together. Ordinarily, that would have driven him crazy. Now, he couldn’t imagine being without her and when he was away, he thought about her all time. She would always be his obsession, his one and only love.
Her breath hitched. She was close. “Keep looking at me, baby. When I tell you, let go. Not before. Hold on until I say.”
He wanted to watch her give that to him, see the beauty on her face. He wanted to know she’d hold on, even as inexperienced as she was just, because he asked. He wanted to feel her body take his, sweep him up in the sensual, overwhelming tsunami overtaking her.
Her fists clenched in the ground blankets, fingers dragging the material into her palm. Her head thrashed from side to side and little chanting sobs—his name and “please” escaped—but through it all, she never once took her gaze from his. Fuck. He loved her all the more for that. There was power and a feeling of humbleness. She was his, but it was her choice. Always her choice. This incredible woman had chosen him.
“Now, baby. Let go for me.”
Her breath hissed out of her lungs in a rush along with a small scream that stilled the insects droning around them. Her sheath bit down hard on his cock, the hot, silken muscles milking him, forcing his seed to erupt like a volcano, bursting from him in powerful jets. Lights played behind his eyes and pure, fiery, pleasure danced down his spine, up his legs and through his chest while her body drained him dry. It was an unexpectedly explosive reaction for him when he’d been so careful to be gentle, even tender with her.
He fought to get his breathing back as the fire subsided, the flames receding from his spine, dancing their way back to his roaring cock. He waited until the last possible aftershock of her body, wanting to experience all of it with her. Every second he could get. Every tiny feeling. All the while he watched her face for signs of discomfort.
Very slowly, he pulled out, seeing the evidence of her innocence staining the condom. He knotted it and set it aside to take away. He didn’t believe in ever leaving indication of his passing out in the swamp. Stretching out next to her, he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her. God, he loved kissing her.
“You all right, princess?” He lifted his head to look at her.
She bit her lip and nodded, but her gaze slipped away from his. He didn’t like that, but he didn’t call her on it.
“I had no idea it would feel like that. That was more than amazing, it was beautiful. Once I got used to your size, it didn’t hurt at all. I had no idea what I was missing.”
She sat up slowly, and he let her. Let her scoot a little distance from him. She was still within arm’s length so he wasn’t concerned; he knew he could get to her if she tried to escape. He just waited until she let him know what was bothering her, and something clearly was.
“You’re very good at this, aren’t you?” she finally ventured.
He knew immediately he had to be careful. He promised himself he would always give her honesty, even if it meant they’d have to work through scary issues. He didn’t make the mistake of giving her a smug grin or one hint of cockiness. To her, this wasn’t humorous. “What are you getting at, baby?”
“That you’ve had a lot of experience.”
“I’m not going to lie to you, Zara, I’ve certainly had my share of women. For one thing, I’ve got money. Women like money, and the thought of marrying it spread a lot of legs.”
She winced and drew her knees up tight to her chest. “That doesn’t sound very nice.”
“I told you, I’m not a nice man. Yeah, I definitely went through a lot of women. It was easy. Eventually, it got old, so there weren’t so many lately, just enough to give me relief when I needed it.” He cupped the side of her face, his thumb sliding over her lower lip. “I don’t cheat. I’m not a cheater, and I wouldn’t do that to you. There’s no divorce unless I’m physically or mentally abusive, in which case you take your ass straight to the men in my unit and let them know what’s going on. Or if I cheat. I do that baby, and you’re welcome to take me to the cleaners.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you’ll be set for life. I may have had a lot of experience, Zara, but there aren’t going to be other women for me. I swear that to you. I don’t need variety, that was never the reason I screwed around a lot.”
She moistened her lips. “I don’t have any experience. You’re really good at this, Gino, but you have to tell me what to do half the time. You’re the first man I ever kissed.”
Gino leaned closer, this time brushing his mouth gently over hers. He told her the strict truth and hoped she could hear the honesty in his voice. “No other man ever gets your taste in his mouth. He never gets your kisses. He doesn’t get any part of your body. I fucking love that, baby. Never thought in those terms before, but realize that you’re only mine. No one else came before me and no one is coming after me. You’re a gift, Zara, an unexpected treasure. A man like me likes to give instructions to his woman. I like to tell you what to do and watch you do it. It’s hotter than hell.”
“It is?”
If his woman needed reassurance then he was giving it to her. “Absolutely. I know that makes me kind of a prick, when I’ve had other women, but I love that you’re mine alone. I love that I have something that is all mine. Just mine. I get off on telling you what to do in the bedroom, princess. It makes me hard as a rock. Just thinking about telling you what to do, teaching you things that will blow your mind makes me harder than I’ve ever been. You’re perfect for me.”
She gave him a tentative smile. “I think you’re perfect for me.” She looked up at him, suddenly shy. “When I’m with you, Gino, I feel so much more than I ever have been or thought I could be.”
He caught her face in his hands. Looked into her eyes. Wanting her to see him. To know he spoke the absolute truth. “When I’m with you, Zara, I’m so much better. I’ve got things inside me, dark places, cold places, demons screaming to be let loose, but when I’m close to you, they’re asleep. You have magic and you give it all to me. Thank you for that. Thank you for giving yourself to me. I know it has to be scary, so just know I appreciate it.”
He took her mouth. That sweet curve that left him needing to kiss her every time he saw it. Or needing to feel her lips wrapped around his cock whenever he thought of them.
They spent the next few hours making out, talking, laughing, eating, cooling off in the pool and using the last condom in his wallet. He was even more careful, not wanting her to get sore. By the time the sun had set, he was ready to get her home and into a bathtub. He wasn’t in the least bit sated. The more he took her, the more he knew he had to have her. Loving her and obsessing over her were intertwined until he wasn’t certain where one started and the other left off. He only knew he was a lucky man and he didn’t intend to blow it.