Page 10 of Chasing Caine
I knew this. That’s why I changed my mind and flew to Naples. But still, the gravity of this choice felt like a boulder crushing my lungs.
“No more running.” He pulled the hem of my tank top from my pants and slipped his fingers underneath, easing it off. His large hands moved up either side of my body, a tingle trailing in their wake. Along my rib cage. Across my bra.
My arms lifted for him to remove it.
“Be here with me, bella.”
I moistened my lips as he threw my shirt over his shoulder.
He ran a thumb along the fabric of my bra and deftly popped the hook at my back. The fabric released and I looked down. I’d shaped my body for rock climbing, self-defense, and a career in the FBI. It wasn’t curvy like the women in the Calendar Club, the type of women Antonio normally dated.
He pulled the bra off and I wrapped my arms around my front. What was wrong with me? The last time we’d almost made love, I’d been nervous, but nothing like this. Hell, I’d been the one who planned it.
A deep rumble sounded in his chest as he unfolded my arms and took my breasts in his hands. A cascade of energy began flowing out from my core. Need. Hunger. Desire.
He kissed the mounds which formed when he squeezed them, and my inner muscles clenched.
“Perfetto,” he growled, his breath shallow.
I blinked slowly, the devilish smirk on his perfect lips and the growing bulge pressing against me making it clear. He liked what he saw. A lot.
“Your body is the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen.” He pulled me against him, the skin of my chest touching his for the first time. He was warm and smooth, solid and even more overwhelming half naked than fully clothed.
We kissed again, falling into a bubble like the one we shared at the charity gala, everything else a blur outside of his body and mine. Had it only been two weeks since that night?
The boulder shifted, some of the weight falling away, and my breasts heaved, swelling against his pecs. This was going to be more than just two hours of heaven.
“I—I’m wearing more clothes than you.” I separated from him, hesitant, and sat on the bed. It was thick with a luxurious pillow top. I’d sleep well in this bed. Although from the look of him and the way I was feeling, I probably wouldn’t sleep much.
I lifted one boot to the opposite knee, but before I could unlace it, he placed it between his legs, undoing the laces for me. As I leaned back on my elbows, his eyes locked on mine, full of that same innuendo as when he’d opened the cornetto box for me at his office four weeks ago. He’d been thinking about undressing me since that day, hadn’t he?
One boot, two boots. He let them fall to the floor, a gentle thud accompanying each, then he took care of my socks.
“I think we’re even now.” He came to the edge of the bed and placed one knee next to me, leaning in close.
“Not yet.” I bit my bottom lip to stop it from trembling. Antonio was a man who joked his way through everything. A little play would hopefully be what he liked. “You’re only wearing one layer.”
He straightened with a smirk and inched down the lounge pants to show me bare skin underneath. He knelt on the floor between my legs and placed his hands under my knees, pulling me to its edge. My arms gave out and I fell to the bed with the sudden movement. We both laughed, carving off a sliver more of my anxiety.
I lifted on one elbow, but he kissed my abdomen, his tongue tracing my navel. I lay back, sipping slow breaths to calm myself, but my nerve endings were already on fire. He undid my jeans, pulled them over my ass and off, holding them as he straightened. He stepped away, raking his eyes over my near-naked body.
“Now we’re even.” He held my pants while he stared at me, not moving one muscle of his awe-inspiring body.
Fighting off the idea of ripping the pants off him and slamming him into the bed, I drank him in. He stood just over six feet, broad shoulders and chest, perfectly sculpted torso and arms. Chiseled cheekbones and sharp jaw, constantly smirking lips, and those eyes I couldn’t help but get lost in. Deep brown with flecks of gold that danced in the right light. And then there was the dark wavy hair, just long enough on top to run my fingers through. I would have been happy to stare at him for two hours.
I crawled backward on the bed, hoping he would pounce. Maybe just staring for two hours would be a bad idea. “What now?”
He shook his head slowly, exhaling through pursed lips. “So beautiful.” He let my pants fall to the floor and covered his heart.
The feeling had returned to my fingers, but they continued to tremble. I was a grown woman. I’d had sex plenty of times. Just not with someone like him. Someone with whom it mattered on a deeper level. It wasn’t just going to be sex.
I lay down and bridged, sliding my underwear off while he watched, then sat up. My heart was beating so fast, I could barely control my movements. I threw the underwear toward the spot the rest of my clothes had fallen, but he snatched them out of the air. With a wink, he held them to his nose and inhaled before tossing them over his shoulder.
Oh, god. All the little muscles inside me clenched again, as well as several of the larger ones. I removed the tie on my hair and loosened the braid, running my fingers through until it was all free. His gaze traversed my body, his cheeks flushing and cock tenting his pants.
“Now the only thing left…” He eased his lounge pants down, revealing a patch of dark hair, gradually sliding the pants along his swollen length. Once his cock was free, he let the pants fall to the floor and stepped out of them, stroking himself slowly. “…is to decide which part of you should I taste first?”
I sucked in a shaky, excited breath at the sight of him—and the realization of what was finally about to happen. “Whichever part you want.”