After the Storm (All I've Ever Needed)(24)

“You do it, sweetheart.”

“Do what?”

“Join us,” he answered.

He held her gaze as she sat up and reached downwards, grasped hold of him and placed him at her entrance. Holding her hips firmly he guided her softly down onto him.

She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip as he filled her.

“Do you want me to stop, cara?”

She opened her eyes and found him looking up at her in concern.

“No,” she replied hastily. “It feels good!”

With a triumphant laugh, Stephano held her against him and quickly reversed their positions. He clasped her hands and held them against the bed above her head as he surged inside her. He watched her eyes widen first in surprise and then pleasure as he started to thrust.

He leaned down and kissed her deeply as she brought her long legs up and wrapped them around his hips. He kept his pace even, not going as hard or as deep as he would have liked. But this was just the beginning of a night of lovemaking he hoped.

He bent his head and took Natalie’s left nipple between his lips and she suddenly started circling her waist, moving her groin in counterpoint to his.

Stephano felt his control instantly slip. He gritted his teeth and tried to hold his orgasm back, but let go when he realized that Natalie was there before him, gasping his name and arching under him. With two fast, deep thrusts, he spilled himself into the condom.

***

A tiny sliver of sunlight filtered through a gap in her heavy bedroom drapes as Natalie woke up spooned by Stephano. His arm was heavy around her waist and she felt so happy it brought instant tears to her eyes. She had never woken up with Michael in bed with her. He’d said that he wasn’t used to sharing a bed and couldn’t sleep with someone next to him. She’d believed him and hadn’t known what she’d missed until this moment.

Sex with Michael had been okay, with nothing to compare to; with Stephano it had felt the way it was described in romance novels. Stephano had acted as though his only thought was pleasing her.

She and Stephano had talked and made love, talked some more and then made love again before he’d fallen asleep.

She had wanted to ask him about the other woman a thousand times, but hadn’t wanted the perfection of the night of happiness she’d decided to grab for herself. If he told her the truth about the woman, it would hurt too much. If he lied, it would hurt even more.

Long after he had fallen asleep, she had lain in the darkness, wrapped in his muscular arms, breathing in his familiar scent, listening to the sound of his breathing and crying because her heart was breaking.

She wished she could accept what he was able to offer her.

She had tried to hold something back—not give too much of herself as they’d made love, but her love had been like a river bursting its banks, unstoppable.

Women shared men all the time, she knew, but she was greedy—she wanted all of him, or none at all. She couldn’t share him. Tonight as he touched her, reverently like she was a fragile piece of glass, all she could think of was him touching that other woman in the same way. She wondered if the other woman’s scent was more intoxicating, if she was tastier on his tongue. Stephano didn’t seem to notice or mind that she hadn’t gone down on him. She couldn’t help thinking that the other woman was probably miles better at it than she would ever be.

“Do you know a few of the guys would kill to be where I am right now?” Stephano breathed in her ear, his arm tightening possessively around her waist.

“Eh?” She was so surprised she let out the inelegant sound her mother detested. She and Nathan took great pleasure in saying it to each other in private, but occasionally it slipped out unconsciously. “I mean, pardon?”

“None of them ever asked you on a date because they were scared you would refuse and then it would be awkward to work together afterwards.”

“I hope you guys don’t have some kind of bet going!” The disquieting thought sudden reared its ugly head.

“What?” Stephano sat up and stared down at her, looking so offended, she instantly regretted the words.

“Sorry!” She tried to pull him down for a kiss, but he resisted, his eyes narrowed and his square jaw clenched tightly.

“Natalie, we’ve worked together for fifteen months. You should know me better than that by now.”

Natalie took a deep breath and tried to contain her surprise. He had been with the agency for four years, but she had started fifteen months ago. Did the date she’d started have some significance for him?

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, taking his hand and kissing his palm as she lay it against the side of her face. “I’ve been hurt in the past and it’s hard for me to trust easily.”