Page 51 of Duty and Desire

“Can we get onto the bed before you reduce me to a puddle of goo?”

I chuckled against his neck. “I don’t know. That might be fun to watch.” The humor masked the nervousness blossoming inside me.

I want this.

I need this.

I pushed him backward onto the bed, and we shuffled our way toward the pillows. He spread for me, and I laughed. “Is that an invitation?” I placed myself between his legs, claiming his lips again, accompanied by a slow grind that brought soft sighs and moans from both of us. The sheets were cool on my overheated skin, and the air hummed with anticipation. Each undulation turned up the heat, until my need was at fever pitch, and Gio matched my movements, his chest rising and falling, his hands in my hair, tugging it, his kisses filled with an urgency that ramped up my need.

I shifted lower down his body, and Gio’s breathing caught when he realized my intent.

His eyes widened. “Yes.” It was more than consent.

It was a plea, and that one word was all the encouragement I needed. His flesh was warm in my hand and I licked my lips once more.

“Oh God, when you do that…” Gio’s groan filled the air. “Please.”

I met his gaze and smiled.

“I’ve got this.” Then I began the very real, very serious business of driving Gio out of his mind.

Gio grabbed my hair with one hand, his back arching, his bellytaut. “Fuck, your mouth…” He clutched the sheet, gripping it tighter. “Nick…Fuck…Too good.”

My world narrowed to that one moment, that intimate act, and I ached to hear more of the rough silk of Gio’s voice as I unraveled him. I raised my eyes to meet his again, and his resultant groan reverberated through me. “Aw fuck.” Gio’s fingers tightened in my hair, and he shoved his head into the pillow, the cords standing out on his neck.

The raw note in his voice, the smell of him, the way he writhed as I pushed him closer to the edge…I wanted to watch him fall apart.

I quickened the pace, anxious to meet my goal, and when I achieved it, a low cry burst from him, his body stiff before it gave way to shaking, my name tumbling from his lips.

I lay on him, his chest damp with perspiration, and we kissed, his hands on my nape, my face, as I shared the taste of him. I pressed my lips to his forehead, and he expelled a long breath. He wrapped his arms around me, and we lay together, sharing kiss after drugging kiss. No words passed between us, but that was perfect. I wanted to remember this.

Nothing else mattered. Not my father, not Franz…

There was only this.

Chapter Seventeen

April 15

Gio

Iopened my eyes, blinking in the light that poured through the patio door.

Something’s different.

It felt later than my usual rising time, but that wasn’t it.

A warm solid body pressed against my back. An arm was draped across mine. A leg was hooked over my thigh. And slow, even breaths stirred the hairs on the back of my neck.

An effusion of warmth spread through me, and a layer of calm and contentment settled on me, as soft as a whisper.

Nick stayed.

I didn’t dare move in case this was a fantasy, and I’d dreamed of Nick coming to see me, dreamed of kissing him. Then heat bloomed in my chest when I recalled how we’d ended up in my bed.

Nick’s kisses, his fingers, his mouth… He’d undone me, drowned me in a sea of bliss.

And I couldn’t wait to dive back in.

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