Page 163 of Modern Romance June 2025 5-8

Their breaths punched the air between them, she could feel his sharp exhale on her lips. Her heart pounded in her chest and coherent thought fled. Shewanted. It was nothing more complicated than that and it was as undefinable. She just wanted…

‘I need to marry Maria,’ Antonio said, but it sounded more like a reminder to them both than an excuse.

‘I know.’

‘I can’t let her down. Not now, not with so much at stake.’

She heard it. Felt the same warring twisting her gut. It was madness to put whatever this was above everything he’d worked for and everything she needed. But oh, God, she wanted to.

‘I understand,’ Ivy said truthfully. ‘I really do.’

She hated that she did, but also knew it was one of the things that she most admired about him.

‘But this…’ he said, raising his head just enough to look her in the eye. ‘But you…’ He trailed off. His hand came to brush a lock of hair back behind her ear and stayed to cup her cheek.

Oh.

The heat of his hand, the feel of it against her skin. She wanted to lean into it. To take what it offered, to know what it felt like, whathefelt like. She wanted the power of him, the security. She wanted,neededit, like the way she needed her next breath. Because if she walked away from this, without knowing what it felt like, she would spend the rest of her life wondering ‘what if’ and she knew exactly how damaging that was. What if she hadn’t been struck by the cyclist? What if the first operation had worked? What if her parents had stayed?

‘What ifs’ were torment where regret was pain. But somehow, she knew that, no matter what happened between her and Antonio, she would never regret it.

She ground her teeth together to stop herself from saying as much. He couldn’t be with her. Wouldn’t. So she needed to walk away. She swallowed and turned, but he cursed and, before she could react, he had pulled her back to him and claimed her mouth with his.

The moan of pure want poured from her into him, setting them both ablaze.

He held her to him and she opened for him, without question or hesitation. She luxuriated in the way his tongue filled her, possessing her completely and utterly in a way she’d never known was even possible. She clung to him, her hands fisting in his shirt, a passion, an untapped femininity unleashed. Just for him. Justbyhim.

Her body flared with a single united pulse as he took her under his control.

Mindless and dizzy, she didn’t fear the sensations; he would catch her if she fell. Oh, not for ever, not beyond this. She wasn’t naïve enough to hope for more. But this was what she wanted. No regrets. No doubts.

This.

Him.

Antonio tried to hold onto the twisting wildfire that Ivy became in his hands, but could only touch and grasp. He didn’t know who had been more shocked by the kiss, him or Ivy, but once that first barrier had been breached, once his lips had tasted hers, there was no going back. Not unless she willed it.

But for him? It was like finding something he’d never known he’d lost. Yet at the same time it was like being found. And then Ivy’s gasp reached deep within him and put an end to any kind of coherent thought.

He walked them into the house without breaking the kiss. It wasn’t as if there were prying eyes, but he needed…wanted… He prised open an eye and aimed for the side table.

He lifted her onto it, pushing between her legs, relishing the way she leaned forward into him. Here, not anywhere else, buthereshe fought him and matched him with every kind of fervour he could think to want for. Powerful, demanding, utterly unrestrained, it was the most glorious thing he’d ever seen or experienced.

‘Agata?’ Ivy asked against his lips, not even the thought of his housekeeper enough to bring a halt to her desire.

‘Away. All of them are away,’ he said of the staff.

Her hand swept into his hair, short nails scraping gently against his scalp as her mouth opened even more for him to possess. Harder than he’d ever been in his life, he needed more, more, more. The refrain pulsed through his veins maddeningly. But just as he was reconciling himself with the idea of slowing things down, Ivy yanked the shirt from his trousers and cool little hands swept over his sensitive skin. His body reacted instinctively, his hands reaching around her to pull her firmly against the hard length of him.

Ivy, leaning back against the wall, stared at him with eyes so carnal, so lustful, so damn wanton he would never, for as long as he lived, forget her like that.

‘Incredible…’The word fell from his lips and her eyes glowed.

He throbbed for her and never, not even as an untested youth had he felt so helpless to stop himself. But he would. For her. Because she had to understand. She had to know. And even if it would put an end to things right now, he would still ask her. She had to have power in that.

‘Ivy, this changes nothing,’ he confessed, forcing himself to look her in the eye.

‘I know. And I still don’t want to stop,’ she said, meeting his gaze, understanding and determination clear in her eyes.

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