Tearing his mouth from hers, he held her as he dipped his head to lay down a pathway of kisses along her throat and lower, onto the curve of her collarbone and the vee of flesh that had tantalized him from the minute he’d arrived tonight.
“Oh, Nick,” she whispered, and let her head fall back as she swayed in his arms.
“More,” he muttered thickly, moving one hand up and around, to cup and fondle one of her breasts. She arched into him, gasping his name, and he looked into her face, reveling in the flush of color sweeping her cheeks and the glazed shine in her eyes.
His fingers slid beneath the edge of her collar and dipped low, pulling at the stretchy fabric until he had access to the small, perfect breast hidden from him by a pale-lavender lace bra. Nick smiled to himself as his thumb and forefinger tweaked her hardened nipple through the fragile barrier separating him from her flesh. Her nipple peaked at his attentions, and Gina groaned again, deeper this time as she tightened her grip on his shoulders.
“I want to see you,” he whispered. “I want to taste you. All of you.”
“Oh, my,” she said on a throaty breath, then added, “I want…I want…”
He knew what she wanted. The same thing he did.
Nick bent his head and kissed the top of her breast and felt the shiver that wracked her body. He smiled against her skin and tugged back the edge of her bra just far enough to allow him to draw his tongue across her breast and close—so close—to her nipple that she shuddered violently and clutched at his shoulders in anticipation.
“Nick,” she whispered, and paused only long enough to lick her lips. “Nick, kiss me. Kiss me there.”
He grinned and admitted, “I’m tryin’, honey, but all this material’s in the way.”
Nodding, she straightened up and took a shaky step backward. Then she yanked at the hem of her shirt and tugged it up and over her head. In the next instant Nick shrugged out of his windbreaker, then tore off his T-shirt and tossed it to the floor.
Their gazes locked, Gina reached for the front clasp of her bra. Nick stopped her by covering her hands with his own.
“Let me,” he said softly.
A moment passed, then she swallowed hard and gave him a jerky nod.
He moved in close again, sliding his fingers up and under the clasp. Gina swayed a little, and when he unsnapped her bra, she grabbed at him, her fingers digging into his upper arms.
Smiling, Nick slowly skimmed his palms up, along her rib cage and under the wispy lace that lay open to his touch. He sighed in satisfaction as he cupped her breasts in his palms, his thumbs caressing the hardened tips of her nipples. Gina moaned and closed her eyes, but kept her iron-like grip on his arms.
Again and again, his fingers toyed with her sensitive skin. She twisted in his grasp, her hips arching toward him as she instinctively gave herself over to the building need.
Perfect, he thought, admiring her small, full breasts even as he slowly bent down to take first one nipple and then the other into his mouth. He tasted her, running the tip of his tongue across the pebbly surface. He teased her, never letting the sensations end, keeping his fingers busy on one breast while his mouth devoured the other. He suckled her, pulling at her flesh with lips and the edges of his teeth until both he and Gina trembled from the pounding need thrumming inside.
And still it wasn’t enough. He wanted it all. He wanted to know all of her. Intimately. He wanted to touch and explore every inch of her body, and even that wouldn’t be enough.
Slowly he sank to his knees in front of her, and Gina’s hands slid from his upper arms to his shoulders, her grasp still strong. Her fingers digging into his flesh.
“What are you—”
“Shhh,” he whispered, and let his hands drop to the button of her jeans. When it was undone, he pulled down the zipper.
“Nick…”
He didn’t talk. Couldn’t have, even if he’d tried. His throat tight, his mouth dry, he knew only need and the driving force to meet it.
Sliding his hands beneath the waistband of her jeans, he pushed them down, over her hips, along her thighs until they were puddled at her feet. Then he reached back up to her panties, the tiny swatch of lavender lace fabric that was all that lay between him and what he craved so desperately.
“Nick,” Gina said, her voice hardly more than a whispered gasp. “I need you to—”
“I know, baby,” he assured her and heard the tight gravelly sound of his own voice. “I know just what you need.”
His fingers slid beneath the tiny strip of elastic on her panties, and in an instant they, too, were lying at her feet. She stepped out of her clothes and sighed as Nick ran his palms up the length of her legs, skimming across her skin with a heated, gentle touch that torched the flames burning within them both.
He leaned forward then and kissed her flat abdomen, letting his tongue slide across her flesh until her hips moved in his grasp and he felt her short fingernails digging into his shoulders. Dipping his head, he went lower, skimming his mouth along her body, trailing warm, damp kisses across the tops of her thighs, then stopping just at the edge of the triangle of dark-brown curls guarding her center.
Her knees buckled, and Nick instantly cupped her bottom in his palms, steadying her even as his fingers kneaded her tender flesh. “I’ve got you, princess.”
“Nick,” she said softly, “the bedroom, let’s go into the bedroom.”
“Not yet,” he said, and brushed another kiss against her abdomen.
She shivered. “If I don’t lie down, I’m gonna fall down,” she told him on a choked-off laugh.
“Not yet you’re not,” he assured her, “but soon.”
Then he dipped his head and claimed a different kiss.
Gina cried out his name and clutched at him frantically.
Holding her tightly, he opened his mouth and took her, his tongue exploring the intimate details of her body while she shuddered in his grasp.
Gina’s world rocked around her. Sensation after sensation rippled up and through her body, and her mind rushed to try to keep up. But it was too much. Too much of everything. Brain reeling, body burning, she simply held on to him as if he were the only stable point in a suddenly shaky universe.
He swiped his tongue across her flesh, and Gina instinctively opened her legs wider for him. Again and again, he tasted her, his tongue doing things to her body she never would have dreamed possible. Gently but determinedly he pushed her along the edge of madness. Driving her up and up and up until she felt as though without his hold on her she might float straight through the roof and into the night sky.
It felt so good, so…unbelievable, she never wanted him to stop. Her blood seemed to be sparkling in her veins. Her vision blurred, and when she at last bent her head to watch him take her, a new and stronger tremor started within.
She couldn’t take her gaze off him. This man, this Marine, kneeling in front of her, holding her, exploring her body with his so-talented mouth. A groan built inside her and slowly escaped her throat. She gave herself over to the coiling tension tightening within. She felt as though she was about to spiral out of control. Her body hummed. Her brain spun, and still she strained to reach what was dangling just out of her grasp. Her hips rocked as she moved into him, wanting more, needing more.
Almost there. Instinctively she knew it and braced for whatever was coming. Calling out his name, Gina tightened her hold on his shoulders. Which kept her from falling off the edge of the world when the coil within her exploded suddenly, leaving her trembling and gasping for air that wouldn’t come.
She swayed into him and, her body still pulsing, Nick stood and swept her up into his arms. Carrying her across the room in a few hurried strides, he stopped at the closed door and waited while she reached down to turn the knob. Walking into her bedroom, he laid her down on the bed, then stepped back to tear off the rest of his clothes.
Gina hardly had a moment to admire the hard, muscled strength of him before he was there, besi
de her, over her.
“I need you, Gina,” he muttered.
She looked up into his clear blue eyes and read the frenzied desire written there. She felt it, too. Even though she’d just experienced an actual earth-shaking moment, the need was there again. Urgent. Desperate. “I need you, too,” she whispered.
And in the next instant he pushed himself home.
She gasped, arching high off the bed even as she lifted her legs to lock them around his hips, holding him tightly inside her. Her mind worked to catalog this new sensation. This unbelievable feeling of having Nick Paretti inside her body.
Gina shifted, rocking her hips a bit, and he groaned tightly at the movement.
“Damn it, Gina,” he murmured, looking down at her.
“What?” she asked. “What is it?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Too late now, anyway.” Then he bent to take her mouth in a kiss that rocked her to her soul. And after a long moment he moved his hips, sliding in and out of her warmth with a rhythm far more compelling than any piece of music.
Lost in the magic of it, Gina’s hands skimmed over his back, up and down his spine, loving the feel of him pressed to her, reveling in the heavy, solid weight of him atop her.
In just seconds, though, the tightening began again. She felt it, and this time she knew what to expect, so she eagerly raced to meet it. Lifting her hips into his, she met him stroke for stroke, taking him inside her, deeper, deeper, until she wasn’t sure where his body ended and hers began.
And just when she thought she couldn’t bear the tension building within a moment longer, that glorious explosion overtook her again. She muffled a scream against his shoulder. Nick groaned out her name as he gave one last hard thrust into her depths, and they held each other tightly as they soared and then slowly floated back to reality.
And the last Santini virgin bites the dust, Gina thought with a smile as Nick rolled to one side of her.
“This is perfect,” he muttered, and threw his forearm across his eyes.
“Thanks,” Gina said softly. “I thought so, too.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, and levered himself up on one elbow to look down at her.
And such a look, she thought. All traces of passion and desire were gone from those incredibly blue eyes of his. Instead she saw a distrustful, wary gleam as he watched her.
“Well, what did you mean, then?” she asked, disgusted that her happy little glow was fast disintegrating.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?” he demanded.
That’s what this was about? For Pete’s sake, what did her virginity or lack thereof have to do with him?
“Why would I?” she asked, meeting that accusing gaze of his squarely.
“Gee, I don’t know,” he said, and waved one hand in the air. “Because it would have been fair to warn me?”
“Warn you?” she repeated, as a flicker of anger erupted in the pit of her stomach. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her tone letting him know that she wasn’t sorry one damn bit. “I had no idea there were rules to be followed.”
“Of course there are rules,” he snapped. “There’s rules to everything or there’d be chaos.”
“I get it,” Gina said, and rolled off the edge of the bed. She thought better on her feet. “So you were expecting me to maybe wear a sign around my neck? Something in the nature of Watch for Falling Rocks? Or maybe Dangerous When Wet?”
When he only scowled at her, she continued.
“Oh! I know,” she said, stomping to the closet and throwing the double doors wide. Gina snatched up the short, emerald-green silk robe hanging on the back of the door, slipped it on and turned to face him while she was knotting the belt. “How about— Virgin…Deflowering Required—would that have been enough?”
“Very funny,” he muttered and got up, reaching for his pants.
“Oh, you want funny, too.” She shook her head and planted both fists on her hips. For goodness’ sake, only a few minutes ago she’d been feeling downright fond of this man. Now she wished she were strong enough to pick him up and pitch him through the window. “You should really write down all the rules for me, Nick. That way we won’t have any more mistakes.”
“You should have told me,” he said simply, shooting her an icy glance.
She would not feel guilty about this, she told herself. Every woman had the right to choose when and where and with whom she lost her virginity. She’d made the choice. Why should he have gotten a vote? It wasn’t as though she’d asked him for a complete list of his previous lovers before they did the deed.
Ohhh! She thought. Good point.
“Why should I tell you I’ve never been with a man? You didn’t tell me how many women you’ve been with.”
“That’s different,” he snapped.
“How is that different?” she asked, and threw both hands high in the air before letting them fall to her sides again.
He zipped and buttoned his jeans before answering her, and when he did, he looked directly into her eyes. “Because if I’d known, nothing would have happened here tonight.”
“Then I’m glad I didn’t tell.” Because no matter how things were going now, the actual sex part of the evening had been spectacular.
She’d never expected to feel so much. To experience so many varied emotions and sensations. For a few brief, wonderful moments, she’d actually felt connected to this big ape. And damn it, he was trying to ruin the whole thing.
“Swell,” he said, nodding his head as he reached down to snatch up his shoes and socks. “Then let me ask you this…”
“What?”
He paused for effect, then asked quietly, “What happens when two people make love and don’t take precautions?”
“Precautions,” she repeated, then said the word again as reality started to worm its way through what was left of her happy little glow. A small curl of worry began to twist in the pit of her stomach. “Oh.”
“Yeah, princess,” Nick said. “Oh.”
Gina folded her arms across her middle and held on tight. The one time in her life she’d gone with her feelings, given in to temptation and surrendered to what she was feeling. Oh, Lord, she wouldn’t really go from virgin to pregnant in one easy step, would she? No. That couldn’t happen, could it?
“I’d say we’re looking’ at a real problem here,” Nick said, “unless of course, you happen to be taking the Pill.”
A lot of twenty-four-year-olds probably were on the Pill, she thought. But then, a lot of twenty-four-year-olds weren’t virgins, either. She’d always thought that when the time came, she would be prepared. She’d know in advance. But nothing could have prepared her for tonight. Or Nick.
“And in a perfect world,” Gina said, walking to her bed and dropping onto the edge of the mattress.
He sat down beside her, tugged on his socks, then shoved his feet into his shoes. After they were laced, he turned to look at her. “Whatever happens, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Pointless to worry until we know for sure, anyway.”
She nodded. Sounded reasonable. And cold. And so distant, coming from a man who only moments before had been closer to her than anyone ever had before.
“How long till we know?”
“The longest three weeks of my life,” she said, wondering if there was an extra cell or two in her body already. And what in heaven she would do about it if there were.
Three weeks to get to know him and three weeks to find out if they’d made a child together. Would the rest of her life be measured in three-week clumps?
“Okay.” He stood up and looked down at her. “Three weeks it is. But no matter what happens, princess,” he said, and waited until she was looking at him to continue. “I’m not marrying you. And you should know that right from the start.”
Nick felt like a damned louse, but blast it, this was the only way. He wasn’t going to be shotgunned into getting married. Especially because he’d been stupid enough and ca
reless enough to bed a virgin. It didn’t matter that making love to Gina had been the closest thing to a religious experience he’d had in years. It didn’t matter that what he’d found in her arms was like nothing he’d ever known before.
He wouldn’t be trapped or tricked or conned into getting married. Not again.
“Well who asked you to?” she said, and stood up to face him.
All right, maybe he should have phrased that a bit better. “No one,” he said, “I just…”
“Wanted to ruin things a bit more completely?”
He heard a quick, rhythmic tapping and glanced down to see her right foot beating a fast pattern against the hardwood floor. Every inch of her compact body seemed to be quivering with anger.
“Forget it,” he said, holding up both hands. “We’ll talk about this another time.”
“Don’t look so worried, General,” she told him. “No one’s dragging you to an altar.”
“Look, I didn’t want to start a fight, I just thought you should know how I feel about this.”
“Well, thank you so much.” She stood up and faced him, and Nick almost backed up from the rocket bursts flaring in her eyes. “I never asked you to marry me,” she reminded him. “In fact, I just made a point of telling you I don’t want to get married.”
“That was before there was a chance you might be pregnant.” There. He couldn’t say it any plainer than that.
Clearly horrified, she drew her head back and sucked in a gulp of air. “You think—you’re saying you think I—”
“What?”
Snarling at him, she planted both hands on his bare chest and shoved. As she pushed him backward through the doorway and into the living room, she kept right on talking. “You think I planned this? Hoping to get pregnant so you’d have to marry me?”
“I never said that.” He tried to stop long enough to grab up his shirt and jacket, but Gina was on a mission now. And that mission was to get him out of her house.
The Last Santini Virgin Page 6
