Shadow Reaper (Shadow #2)(112)

"Amore, tell me."



His palm curled around her throat and then moved down her chest to cover her right breast. She was acutely aware of his heat. Her nipple pushed right into the center of his palm, just as her heart had beat into it. She couldn't tell him she knew he was going to have a night with her and, as with all the rest of his women, that would be enough for him. It would never be enough for her.



"Mariko." His voice was gentle. Tender even. "You have to talk to me. You promised you would."



She had, but in the ropes. Not lying under his gorgeous body without a clue what she was doing, but wanting it desperately. Wanting him desperately. She had to think of something fast if she was going to keep one shred of dignity.



"I've never done this," she blurted. "I've never kissed anyone else or touched anyone else. I don't have a clue what I'm doing." That was the strict truth. She was terrified she'd do something wrong and he wouldn't want to be with her. She hadn't wanted him to know ahead of time. She'd read extensively, but no man would court her, not with their mothers being friends with Osamu. No one wanted to incur her wrath and her never-ending revenge.



She held her breath. Anxious. Waiting.



His smile was slow in coming, but when it did, it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. He stroked his finger from the base of her throat down to her belly button. "I know what I'm doing, farfallina mia. Have no worries in that department. I swear I'll be gentle with you."



Ricco had never felt possessive of a woman in his life. He'd never wanted to belong to a woman or have one belong to him. He didn't remember being innocent or vulnerable. He'd worked too hard to shed both after the experience in Japan. He needed to be tough and scary. He went through women, not because he needed variety but because he'd never found the one that he needed. He hadn't found Mariko. She was everything he wasn't. Vulnerable. Delicate. Innocent. She had the heart of a warrior and could dispense justice as easily as he could, but her heart had not been hardened by the harsh experiences of her life.



He cupped her face in his hand  – that beloved face. He wanted to wake up every morning to her face, to the gentleness in her eyes. That soft, sweet voice. Her body. All his. He bent his head to take her mouth. Her lips trembled under his. He loved the shape and feel of them. He teased her lower lip with his teeth, nipping and easing the sting with his tongue. He traced the seam, waiting for her to part her lips so he could be inside. 



Kissing Mariko was like transporting himself into an erotic world of feeling, of heat and fire. Once he'd kissed her, he knew he could never rid himself of the obsession  – and he didn't want to. He'd surrendered himself before he'd known he was in any kind of danger. He kissed her over and over until he felt her body relax beneath his.



He breathed her name, his own personal magic, and kissed his way down her throat. One knee slipped between her legs, nudging them apart. He felt her tense, and he murmured to her softly against her bare skin. "Relax for me, amore. Trust me to keep you safe."



"I feel like I'm flying again," she whispered, her voice shocked. "How can you do that when you're just kissing my skin?"



"You do that for me." He gave her the truth when he never would have told another soul.



"I do?"



Her hands were on his shoulders, fingernails digging into his skin, flares of heat shooting down his spine at the streaks of fire the action produced. Dio, he loved her hands on him. He loved the evidence of her wildcat, the one that emerged when she wasn't thinking too hard.



"You do," he assured, taking the opportunity to slide his other knee between her legs, wedging them open so he could sweep his hand from her belly button to her mound. He went up on his knees so that he was kneeling.



She gasped. Her gaze jumped from his face to his hand.



"What does that feel like?"



Her eyes went back to his face, her gaze searching his. He waited patiently, his hand gently moving, fingers finding her damp and ready. He didn't take his gaze from hers. He watched her take a breath, her breasts moving with the air in her lungs.



"Fire. A trail of fire."



"What does this make you feel?"



He pushed his finger into her, stretching her slowly, forcing his way through the tight folds. His cock throbbed and jerked, so in need. So ready to feel her sheath surrounding him. He felt like he'd waited his entire life for this moment, this woman.



Her gaze dropped to his cock as he circled it with his free hand. Her eyes widened. She looked a little frightened, but her slick cream coated his finger, allowing him to slip a little deeper.