After the Storm (All I've Ever Needed)(31)

“Please,” she begged. He was driving her out of her mind.

Stephano obeyed her request but did so slowly, pausing fractions of an inch away from her quivering flesh and breathing her unique perfume before letting his exhaled breath waft teasingly over her.

“Stop! Stop!” she pleaded.

“I haven’t yet started, cara,” he told her and repeated the action, holding her in place as she wriggle to escape.

“Aaaah!,” she faked a scream and tried to pull him upwards. “There I’ve screamed. You’ve won.”

“Not…until…you’ve…come,” he replied, punctuating each word with a flick of his tongue before getting down to the serious business of pleasuring her.

“Stephano,” she gasped seconds later as the sensations quickly built to beyond bearing, grasping his head and trying to pull him away.

“Do I tie those hands together, or to the bed, cara?” he demanded, looking up at her sternly.

The twinkle in his eyes ruined the effect of the growling threat and instead of fear she felt a thrill of anticipation.

“I’ll behave,” she promised meekly.

But as he lowered his head again, she cupped his head and guided his movements.

Stephano let her direct him, slowing or quickening the caressing movement of his tongue as she indicated with the lessening or increase of pressure of her hand. She made barely audible hissing sounds as her hips circled rhythmically against his mouth. He slid a teasing finger inside her moist heat and far quicker than he had planned, she stiffened and came.

“The next time, I will tie those hand, cara mia,” he warned as he moved up to bed and held her close. “And tease you for at least an hour.”

She shivered at his diabolic promise—surely she would die of pleasure.

His erection pressed against her hip, heavy and hard and bursting with unfulfilled need. Suddenly she made a decision—Stephano didn’t deserve to pay for Michael’s sins. She had to give herself to him freely, or not at all.

He deserved to be loved unreservedly, totally.

She pressed against his shoulder as he reached over to grab the box of condoms on the bedside table. His eyes were questioning as she got off the bed and headed to the door.

“Are you…?” His words trailed off as she adjusted the dimmer switch to soften the light in the room.

She held out a hand to him as she approached the bed and he sat up and took it, swinging his legs off the bed and getting to his feet as she stepped backwards.

She heard the sound of the air leaving his lungs sharply as she knelt in front of him and took his erection into her hand.

“You don’t have to do this, cara.” His voice was filled with anticipation and excitement, and with the worry that she wasn’t ready for the step she was about to take.

“I know I don’t have to…I want to.”

She could have chosen to do it on the bed or in a different position to the one Michael had forced her into, but this was about confronting the last of her fears—about making it her choice and not someone else’s twisted idea of control.

She closed her eyes, took him into her mouth and heard him gasp. The salty drop that coated her tongue evoked a brief reminiscence of another time, but there was no merciless hand in her hair or cruel voice calling her foul names. There was no feeling of humiliation—only the need to give him pleasure as he had given her.

As it had done earlier in the evening, the darkness cocooned her, taking her outside herself and her inhibitions, and yet keeping her in the moment. She was doing it as much for herself as she was for Stephano. Lovemaking had to be free and joyous, with both parties giving pleasure in any form as long as it didn’t cause harm, or lasting physical or psychological damage.

“This is pure torture, my sweet.” Stephano finally groaned and pulled her gently to her feet. He cupped her face and kissed her softly, his smile a little rueful. “I can’t wait another minute to be inside you.”

She knew what it had cost him to let her fumble her way and it made her heart expand with love for him.

“If you think that was torture, mio amore.” She taunted as he tore a condom open and quickly sheathed himself. “Just wait and see.”

Before he had a chance to react to her use of the badly-pronounced Italian endearment, she pushed against his broad chest. He let her propel him backwards, falling across the bed with his hands up beside his head and his feet on the floor.

“Perfect.” She laughed with glee and climbed on top of him, holding his hands down against the bed. “Don’t move these. Now I’m going to pleasure you until you scream.”

“I’m yours, cara. Do what you will.” Stephano chuckled.