Perhaps he sensed her shyness, for he took one of her hands and brought it down between their bodies. ‘You can touch me.’ His voice was so deep and husky it made her skin tingle to think she was having such an effect on him.
Sabrina stroked him with her fingers, enjoying the satin-wrapped steel of his male flesh. He drew in a sharp breath as if her touch thrilled him as much as his thrilled her. ‘Am I doing it right?’
‘Everything you’re doing is perfect.’ His breathing increased its pace, his eyes dark and glittering with need.
She moved her hand up and down his shaft, enjoying the feel of him without the barrier of a condom. Skin on skin. The smoothness and strength of him making everything that was female in her do cartwheels of delight.
After a moment, he removed her hand and pressed her down so he was balanced above her on his elbows. ‘I don’t want to rush you.’
‘Rush me?’ Sabrina gave a soft laugh. ‘I’m practically dying here I want you so much.’
His slow smile made her heart trip and kick. ‘Slow is better. It makes it more enjoyable for both of us.’
She reached down to stroke him again. ‘Isn’t it killing you to hold on so long?’
His jaw worked as if he was reining in his response to her touch. ‘I want this to be good for you. Better than good.’
Sabrina’s heart was asking for more room inside her chest. He was the dream lover, the lover she had fantasised about for most of her adult life. A lover who put her needs ahead of his own. A lover who respected her and made sure she enjoyed every second of their lovemaking.
But she wanted more. More of him. All of him. He moved over her, gathering her close, nudging her entrance with his erection, taking his time to move, waiting for her to get used to him before going further.
It was so different from her first time as a teenager. So very different it made her chest tighten with emotion. If only he had been her first lover. Her body responded to him like fuel to fire. It erupted into sensations, fiery, pulsating sensations that rippled through her entire body. She welcomed him into her with a breathless gasp of pleasure, her inner muscles wrapping tightly around him, moving with him as he began to slowly thrust. Her need built and built within her, his rhythmic movements triggering electrifying sensations that made every cell of her body vibrate. Tension gathered again in her core, a teasing tantalising tension that was more powerful than before. It was taking over her body, taking over her mind, pulling her into one point of exquisite feeling...
But she couldn’t quite complete the journey. Her body was poised on a vertiginous precipice, needing, aching to fall but unable to fly.
Max brought his hand down to her tender flesh, caressing, providing that blessed friction she needed to finally break free. And fly she did, in waves and ripples and pulses that left no part of her body unaffected. It was like being tossed into a whirlpool, her senses scattering as shockwave after shockwave rocketed through her. Sabrina heard someone gasping and crying in a breathless voice and realised with a jolt that those primal and earthy sounds had come from her.
Max waited until her storm had eased before he increased his pace, bringing himself to his own release with a series of shuddering movements that made her wonder if he had been as affected by their lovemaking as she. Or was this normal for him? Was sex simply sex for him and nothing else? The physical satiation of primal needs that could be met with any willing female? Or had he been as moved as she had been by the flow and ebb of sensations that were still lingering in her body like waves gently washing against a shore?
He began to play with her hair, running his fingers through the tousled strands, the slight pull on her scalp sending a frisson down her spine. How could one person’s touch be so powerful? Evoke such incredible sensations in her body?
After a long moment, he raised his head to look down at her, his hand now cradling the back of her head. His expression was confusing to read, it was as if he had pulled down an emotional screen on his face but it hadn’t gone all the way down, leaving a gap where a narrow beam of light shone through. The contours of his mouth that hinted at a smile, the smoky grey-blue of his eyes, the pleated brow that wasn’t quite a frown made her wonder if he—like her—was privately a little shocked at how good they were together. ‘You were wonderful.’ His voice had that gravel and honey thing going on. ‘Truly wonderful.’
Sabrina let out a shuddery sigh—just thinking about the sensations he had caused made her shiver in delight. ‘Is it like that for you all the time?’
He didn’t answer for a moment and she wished she hadn’t gone fishing for compliments. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Of course it wasn’t different for him. Of course it wasn’t special. Of course it wasn’t unique.
She wasn’t special.
She wasn’t unique.
Max’s hand cupped the side of her face, his gaze more blue than grey—a dark, intense blue that made her think of a midnight sky. ‘It’s not often as good as that. Rarely, in fact.’
Sabrina’s heart lifted like it was attached to helium balloons. ‘But it sometimes is?’ Why couldn’t she just let it drop? But she had to know. She longed to know if he felt even a portion of what she’d felt. Her body would never be the same. How could it? It had experienced a maelstrom of sensations that even now were lingering in her flesh in tiny tingles and fizzes.
A small frown appeared on his brow and his eyes moved between each of hers in a back and forth motion as if he were searching for something he didn’t really want to find. ‘Sabrina...’ He released a short sigh. ‘Let’s not make this any more complicated than it already is.’
Sabrina knew she was wading into the deep end but couldn’t seem to stop herself. ‘What’s complicated about asking you if the sex we just had was run-of-the-mill for you?’
He held her gaze for a beat and then pushed himself away. He got off the bed and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, tilting his head from side to side as if to ease a knot of tension.
He let out another sigh and turned back to face her, a twisted smile ghosting his mouth. ‘Okay, you win. It was great sex. Awesome. The best I’ve had in years, which was why I was going to offer you a longer fling yesterday at my mother’s party.’
Sabrina searched his expression, wondering whether to believe him or not. How silly was she to push for a confession from him only to doubt it when he gave it to her? ‘Do you mean it?’ Her voice was as soft as a whispered secret, uncertain and desperately seeking reassurance.
Max came back to sit on the bed beside her. He took one of her hands and brought it up to his mouth, kissing each of her fingertips in turn, his eyes holding hers. ‘You’re a beautiful and sexy woman. I can’t remember a time when I’ve enjoyed sex more.’ He gave another rueful twist of his mouth. ‘Maybe I’ve been dating the wrong type of woman.’
Sabrina lowered her gaze and chewed one side of her mouth. ‘Better than not dating at all, I suppose...’ She didn’t want to think about him dating other women. Now that they’d made love again, it made her sick to think of him kissing and caressing someone else. Thank God he hadn’t been with anyone since their night in Venice, but how would she feel if he had? But if she didn’t marry him, he would be at liberty to sleep with whomever he wished.
It was her call.
Max tipped up her chin with his finger, meshing his gaze with hers. ‘What happened to you when you were eighteen would be enough to put most people off dating for a decade. But you have no need to feel insecure. You’re one hell of a sexy partner, sweetheart. That night we first kissed? I wanted you so badly it was all I could do to tear myself away.’
‘Really?’
His smile made something in her chest ping. He leaned down to press a soft kiss to her mouth. ‘Couldn’t you tell?’
Sabrina smiled against his mouth. ‘It was kind of an enthusiastic kiss now that I think about it.’
He
kissed her again, a longer kiss this time, the movement of his lips stirring her senses into overdrive. He lifted his mouth just above hers, his eyes sexily hooded. ‘Is that enthusiastic enough for you?’
She traced the line of his mouth with her finger, her body tingling with excitement at the way his hard body was pressing against her. ‘Getting there.’
He captured her finger with his teeth, holding it in a soft bite, his eyes pulsating with lust. ‘I want you.’
Sabrina shivered in anticipation and looped her arms around his neck. ‘I want you too.’
He brought his mouth back down to hers, kissing her long and deep, his tongue gliding into her mouth with a slow thrust that made her body tremble. His hands cradled her face, his upper body pressing down on her breasts, the skin-on-skin contact thrilling her senses all over again. She could feel the swollen ridge of his erection against her lower body, and her inner core responding with tight contractions and clenches. The sweet tension was building, all her pleasure points in heightened awareness of his touch. One of his hands went to her breast in a slow caress that made her skin tighten and tingle. His thumb rolled over her nipple, back and forth until it was a hard pebble of pleasure. The sensations travelled from her breasts to her belly and below as if transmitted by a sensual network of nerves, each one triggered and tantalised by his spine-tingling touch. He went lower to caress her intimately, his clever fingers wreaking havoc on her senses, driving up her need until she was breathless with it.
But he coaxed her only so far, leaving her hanging in that torturous zone that made her wild with longing. Wild and wanton and racked with primitive urges she’d had no idea she possessed. She felt like she would die if he didn’t let her come. The need was like a pressure cooker inside her flesh. Building. Building. Building.
He gently pressed her down with his weight, his body entering hers with a smooth deep thrust that made her gasp and groan in delight. Her body welcomed him, worshipped him, wrapped around him in tight coils of need that sent pulses of pleasure ricocheting through her flesh.
He set a slow rhythm at first, but then he gradually increased his pace and she went with him, holding him, stroking his back and shoulders, her body so finely tuned to his that she was aware of every breath he took, every sound he made, every movement of his body within hers.
He rolled her so she was lying on top of him, his hands gripping her hips, encouraging her to move with him in an erotic rhythm that intensified her pleasure. She should have felt exposed and vulnerable but she didn’t, instead she felt sexy and desirable. His eyes gleamed with delight as she rode him, naked flesh to naked flesh, hers soft and yielding, his hard and commanding.
Sabrina could feel the tight tingle in the core of her being; the slow build was now a rush of heady sensation threatening to consume her like a swamping wave. It was terrifying and yet tantalising as her body swept her up into a tumult of powerful pulses of pleasure, blissful, frightening pleasure that stole her breath and blanked out her thoughts. She heard herself cry out, a high wail that sounded almost primitive, but she was beyond caring. Her body was riding out a cataclysmic storm that made every pore of her skin tingle and tighten as the waves of orgasm washed over her.
Max continued to move within her, his hands holding her by the hips now, his face screwed up in intense pleasure as he pumped his way to paradise. It was as thrilling as the orgasm she’d just had to watch him shudder through his. The way his hands tightened on her almost to the point of pain, the clench of the toned muscles of his abdomen, the momentary pause before he allowed himself to fly. The raw sexiness of his response made her feel proud of her femininity in a way she had never before.
He arched his head back on the pillow and let out a ragged-sounding sigh as his whole body relaxed. He ran a light hand up and down her right arm, his touch like an electrical current on her sensitised-by-sex skin.
His eyes meshed with hers, holding them in a lock that communicated on another level—a level she could feel deep in her flesh. Their bodies were still connected, neither of them had moved. She hadn’t been able to. Hadn’t wanted to.
He gave a crooked smile and gathered her close so she was sprawled across his chest. She laid her head against the thud of his heart, and sighed as his hand went to the back of her head in a slow-moving caress that made every hair on her scalp shiver at the roots.
Words didn’t seem necessary, although Sabrina had plenty she wanted to say. But she kept her mouth closed. He might hold her like a romantic lover but this was not a love match. She had to keep her head. She had to keep her heart out of this. She closed her eyes and nestled against him, breathing in the musky scent of their coupling. For so long Max had been her enemy. The man she actively avoided or if she couldn’t avoid him, she fought with him. But how would she be able to conceal her body’s involuntary response to him? How would she stop herself from betraying how he made her feel?
Max wasn’t her ideal husband. How could he be when he’d always made it clear he didn’t want children? He’d been prepared to marry his ex-fiancée but only on the proviso that the marriage would be childless. He didn’t want the things Sabrina wanted, the things she’d wanted since she was a little girl. But now circumstances had forced them together because he refused to walk away from her and their child.
Max moved so he was lying beside her and leaning on one elbow. His free hand moved from her face in a slow caress down between her breasts to rest against the flat plane of her belly. There was a faintly disturbing gravitas about his expression that made her wonder if he was already regretting making love to her. Regretting the child they had made.
Sabrina searched his tense features, noted the shadows behind his eyes. ‘Does your decision never to have children have something to do with what happened to your brother Daniel?’ She knew she was crossing a line by bringing up the subject of his baby brother. Some of the tiny muscles on his face flinched as if she’d slapped him with the pain of the past.
His hand fell away from her belly and he rolled away and got off the bed, his back turned towards her. ‘I was the last person to see him alive.’ The words were delivered in a hollow tone that echoed with sadness. ‘You didn’t know that, did you?’ His glance over his shoulder was almost accusing.
Sabrina pressed her lips together and shook her head. ‘No...no, I didn’t...’
He turned back around and drew in a savage-sounding breath, releasing it in a gust. ‘No. Because my parents wanted to protect me from blame.’ Guilt was etched on his features and shadowing his gaze in smoky clouds.
She frowned in confusion. Why was he blaming himself for his baby brother’s death? ‘But Daniel died of SIDS, didn’t he?’
‘Yes, but I can’t help blaming myself.’ His throat rose and fell. ‘I was seven years old. Surely that’s old enough to know if something was wrong with my baby brother? But I must have missed it. I thought he was asleep. If only I had acted earlier, called Mum to check on him or something.’
Sabrina thought of Max as a young child, confused and distraught by the death of his baby brother. Even adults blamed themselves, particularly mothers, when a baby tragically died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, so how much more would Max shoulder the blame from his immature and somewhat ignorant perspective as a young child?
‘But, Max, you were so young. You shouldn’t be blaming yourself for Daniel’s death. It was a tragic thing but no way was it your fault. Your parents don’t blame you, surely?’ She had heard nothing of this from his parents or her own, who were such close friends of Gillian and Bryce Firbank.
‘No, of course they don’t,’ Max said in the same grim tone. ‘They were in shock and grieving terribly at the time but they were always careful to make sure I was shielded from any sense of responsibility for Daniel’s death. But I couldn’t stop blaming myself. Still can’t, to be perfectly honest.’ He gave a twisted movement of his mouth that was as sad to see as the sh
adows in his eyes.
‘Oh, Max...’ Sabrina got off the bed and went to him, put her arms around him and hugged him close. After a moment, she leaned back to look up into his eyes. ‘I don’t know what to say... I can’t bear the thought of you blaming yourself all this time. Have you talked to your parents about it?’
He shook his head, his shoulders going down on a sigh. ‘We hardly ever mention Daniel’s name now. It upsets Mum too much.’
‘Understandable, I guess.’
Max’s arms fell away from around her body and he stepped back, his expression difficult to read. ‘My mother had several miscarriages before and after Daniel died. That’s why there was such a gap between Daniel and me. She desperately wanted another child after he died, but each time another pregnancy ended, I saw another piece of her fade away.’ Something flickered in his gaze. ‘I’ve always felt guilty about my decision not to have children. My parents would love grandchildren. But I realised I can’t tell them about this baby of ours until we’re through the danger period. It would destroy them to have their hopes raised and then dashed.’
‘Your poor mum. I’m not sure I knew about the miscarriages,’ Sabrina said. ‘Mum’s never mentioned it. Neither has your mum.’
‘She doesn’t talk about it. Hasn’t for decades. She’s always so upbeat and positive but I know she must still think about it.’ He sighed again. ‘And that’s another thing I blame myself for. My parents’ marriage has been tested way too much because of my failure to protect my brother.’
‘But your parents are happy together, aren’t they? I mean, they always look like they are. Your dad adores your mum and she adores him.’
His mouth gave a twisted movement, his eyes shadowed. ‘But how much happier would they have been if I hadn’t let them down?’
Sabrina placed her hand on his arm. ‘Max, you haven’t let them down. It’s not your fault. They’re amazingly proud of you. They love you.’
The Venetian One-Night Baby Page 9
