A Life Sublime (16 page)

With a strength that she knew he was more than capable of, he heaved both her legs over his shoulders, her pussy sucking him in even more. Gripping his thighs with her nails, she rolled her hips against him as he thrust deep. He reached for the headboard, turning her lower body up, to her ear piercing shriek, only because it sent his cock deeper. She felt his cock pulse inside her when he did, the organ flexing against her tightening walls.

“More? Yes?”

“Yes!” she wailed. Her eyes wandered to the bulk of his arms, muscles tight and stretched beneath the skin as he rammed faster and harder, rocking the bed violently.
Like riding a bike
, she thought with another laugh. She could feel pleasure in the very air, shivering into her as she sighed Massimo’s name. Her body felt boneless, reality was in the sensation of him pulsing inside her, tightly pressed against her pussy lips.

Carefully, he uncurled her legs from his shoulders and collapsed next to her. He pulled the condom from his body and tied it neatly. She watched him, slowly regaining control of his breathing a hand on his chest. He caught her with those blue eyes and demanded, “Come here! Why are you so far away?”

She snuggled against him, listening to his heart beat go from hundred meter dash to gentle walk. His hand gently cupped her face and he smiled at her. That smile, she would remember, even if every other memory she’d ever had faded away. Maybe she’d been alone all this time so she could savour the wonder that was him.

“Again?”

“Yes, again,” she smiled, lifting her head from his shoulder to taste bliss on his mouth once more.

They were on the boat for hours. The port hole showed the sun was beginning to set. Rose gold light warmed his skin, misted with sweat. He was such a beautiful man. Belinda slid her aching body from the bed to the bathroom, even as Massimo protested, “Come back!”

“Oh be quiet!”

Glancing down at her breasts, she wondered if she had anything heavy enough to cover all those little bite marks. Tidying herself up as best as possible, she returned to the bedroom and sat naked on the side. “We need to go back.”

His face stilled. “We said one day.”

“My flight’s tomorrow morning. I need to pack.”

“We agreed,” he said quietly.

“Today hasn’t finished,” she denied, even as his hand curved into her own.

“It has. I can see it on your face.” His hand compelled her closer, until she was lying on top of him. It made her giggle. What a comfortable mattress he made! “Once more, Bella.”

Good God, he was insatiable. “I’m starving. We can eat at the villa.” She traced a strange blood red scar at his neck with her lips. “It won’t take long to go back will it?”

Gently, he lifted her head so he could look her in the eyes. “No,” he said eventually. “We will go back and we can have something to eat.”

After dressing, they were carefully deposited at the marina. The walk back to the villa was very different from the same walk earlier in the afternoon. There was the weight of reluctance in their steps. With the sun setting behind them, lighting them both in a burnished red, they held hands once more in silence. Massimo’s thumb brushed back and forth over her own.

“Will you come to my room?” he asked, making her jump. She’d been so embroiled in her own thoughts. More particularly whether she’d sealed her name on the devil’s list.

“I have to pack.”

He gave a short nod. “Then I will come to you.”

Belinda frowned, “What’s the point?”

She barely caught the flicker of his glance in her direction. “There are many points. The most important being
I
want to.
You
want me to. At present, you are simply adding to the Hail Marys you will need to complete.”

While that was true, he wasn’t helping his cause or quieting the voice in her head that was already tapping out an
I told you so
beat. “You’re making things worse.”

“And you are interfering with my hard earned time with you.”

“So why don’t you stop trying to make me be someone I’m not?
Kraa
.” She pulled her hand from his, ignoring the immediate cold that washed over her.

He came to a halt. “Why would you say that?”

I’m a disappointment? A failure? An embarrassment? A fool? All of the above and more?
It was a stupid idea to sleep with the man in the first place. What had she set herself up for except one more thing that would never last?

“Bella.”

Glancing into the sunset was a much better idea than looking at him. “What’s wrong with you now?”

The tips of his fingers touched her jaw, his eyes touched with fire from the fading sun. Now he looked like the archetypal demon who would lead her to darkness. “Why do you not believe me?”

She shrugged. “You’re a man aren’t you?”

“
Per l’amore di dio
!” he flared. “What are you so scared of?”

“Can’t we just leave it? Leave whatever happened on the boat,” she waved in its general direction.

“Everything,” Massimo muttered under his breath.

“On the boat,” she finished. “Leave it alone.”

“Why? We have barely started.”

“I’m not doing it.” Her voice demanded there be no further argument. “I won’t put myself through it and knowing exactly what you know about me, you shouldn’t be asking.”

He shook his head. “I do not understand what is so important about living in quiet misery. You are not protecting yourself, you are wasting your life away in fear.”

“I am
not
afraid,” she fumed.

“Liar,” he accused softly.

“What did you just say? You of all people?”

“Yes me,” he echoed, “because I know a lie when I hear one and
that
was absurd, Belinda.” He was full naming her. Well that was clear as day he was getting cross with her. “Show you have nothing to prove.”

“I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

“No, you do not. Not to me, but yourself.”

She gave a very unlady like snort. “And you think your magic
cazzo
will help me do that? You are so arrogant.”

Before she could even think about moving away, she was cradled against him, his fingers locked at her waist. “The hours we have just spent together has given me more than good reason to be arrogant.”

“You’re not funny,” she murmured in Fanti.

“Come, let us have dinner.”

Arguing with him would be as useful as a chocolate tea pot. And she would really like to have tea. Then him after.

He could feel her slipping away from him bit by bit. It didn’t matter that after they had a quiet dinner alone on the balcony of her room with a bottle of Sancerre, every so often ignoring the shrieks of voices and music sounding across the grounds. She looked beautiful by candlelight and occasionally their conversation would tail off and they simply stared at each other. Their meal finished, he took her hand and they looked out over the villa’s grounds. Gently, he manoeuvred her in front of him, her lovely bottom cushioning his groin. “I’m going to miss this view,” she sighed.

“Let me help you remember it,” he suggested, his languid strokes over her torso moving over to her breasts.

“I won’t forget,” she replied on a soft sigh, leaning into his palms. She shuddered as his lips touched her neck, followed by the nip of his teeth.

“Of course.” His hands slipped beneath the hem of the top she wore and onto the silky skin of her nipples. Belinda’s eyes were already closed by the time his lips reached her mouth. What had he ever wanted more than this before now? He gathered the material of her skirt and eased it into the waistband, out of the way and exposing her to him. His mouth didn’t leave hers as he released himself from the confines of his trousers and edged her panties to the side. The heat of her almost burned him with the first probe at her liquid soft entrance. A gasp burst from her lips which became a cry as soon as he drove into her in one, full thrust.

“Do not ever think of this view, that sea, this balcony without thinking of me,” he commanded quietly, one arm anchoring her to his body, the other gripping the iron rail of the balcony. She held onto him, rocking in rhythm with him.

“Massimo,” she moaned, her head tilting back which thrust her divine ass more firmly into his pelvis. How could she think of leaving when they could be together like this? She felt so good with her thighs almost closed against him, she felt incredibly tight on his length, even more pleasurable without the barrier of a condom. They’d run out on the yacht. Belinda’s hand gripped over his suddenly, urging him to drive into her faster. He released the railing to gently rub his fingers over her soaked clit. She trembled against him and he buried his face in her neck. Simultaneously, she clamped down on him as he felt release rippling over his body. He thrust deep and stayed still, savouring the sensation of her walls gripping him. Closing his eyes, he wrapped both arms around her waist, holding her against him. He wanted to ask her again not to go. They could spend days, weeks simply enjoying each other, but she seemed so set on one day.

She turned to him and grinned. “Do you want to go swimming?”

“Now?”

“No, while I’m in the air. Yes now!”

Kissing him, she wriggled out of his arms and out of her clothes only to dive once more into a new kaftan and her swimming costume. Massimo stripped to his boxers and took her hand to lead her to the pool. No one, it seemed, had the same idea as them.

“Take it off,” Massimo ordered. Belinda sent him and arch look before taking off the kaftan and the costume and diving into the pool. Laughing, he stripped off the boxers and dived in after her. She swam like a dolphin, with exuberance and giggling when he caught her, sliding her nude body over his. Her hand curved over his face and he knew she was going to say something he had no intention of hearing, so he kissed her instead.

No, he simply wouldn’t let her go. This, them, couldn’t compare to any sort of life either of them had to return to in London. Lifting her out of the pool, he sat her on the side and joined her, pulling her to the grassy verge of the pool side. Without his prompt, she stroked his length, encouraging an even wilder response to her suddenly bold actions. The breath left his lungs sharply as she kissed and stroked the water from his cock.