Page 205 of Modern Romance June 2025 5-8

‘Okay…’ She lifted her hands to the front of his shirt, working on each of his buttons, but the task was made all the more complex because of the excitement building in her body. Her breath caught at the back of her throat as she exposed the sculpted muscles of his chest. His skin was like hot satin under her hands, and she wanted to caress his entire body, to feel it move and twitch with pleasure as hers had already done under his sublime caresses. Emboldened by every button she got undone, she leaned closer to brush her lips to his chest. He tasted salty and tangy, and she was instantly addicted as if she had just consumed a potent drug. She undid three more of his buttons, her heart rate pounding as she got closer to the waistband of his trousers. She glanced at the tented shape of him, her pulse racing to think of him so aroused for her.

‘You can go further if you feel comfortable with that,’ Vic said in a hoarse-sounding voice.

‘Are you sure?’

He gave a wry laugh, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘Absolutely.’

Addie tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his trousers, her gaze focussed on her task, the thought of uncovering him both exciting and nerve-racking. She was so inexperienced she didn’t even know how to touch him. Would he think her ignorant and naive or would he find it refreshing to be with someone so new to intimacy? She undid the last of his shirt buttons and slid her hands over the broad expanse of his tanned and toned chest. ‘I’ve never done this before,’ she confessed, flicking her gaze upwards to meet his.

Vic captured one of her hands and held it against his chest. She could feel the hammer blow of his heart against the flesh of her palm, and it made her want him even more. ‘Don’t be nervous. I want you to be comfortable with every step we take. And remember, at any point you can say no.’

‘Thank you for making me feel so…so safe and listened to,’ Addie said, her gratefulness for his sensitivity to her needs making her crush on him move to another level—a level scarily close to love. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with him—those were the rules he had set down. This was a one-off affair that they would put behind them once they left Italy. But how could she not fall in love with him after he kissed her? How could she not fall in love with him after he touched her so tenderly, so passionately? The feelings she was trying to control were not able to be controlled. They were an unstoppable wave washing over her.

Vic lowered his head to kiss her once more, his mouth soft and yet insistent against hers. A drumbeat of lust pounded through her lower body, her female flesh on fire. His tongue touched hers and molten lava flowed straight to her core. She had no idea her body was capable of such rampant, rabid desire. It was like a wild thing had been unleashed inside her body, a wild energy that refused to be constrained any longer.

Vic raised his mouth from hers, his lips going to the side of her neck, caressing her sensitive skin until she was writhing beneath him. His mouth came back to hers with a hungry kiss that spoke of his own primal passion. With her mouth fused to his, she slowly peeled his shirt from his shoulders, and he did the rest by shrugging it off, tossing it to the floor beside the bed. Vic raised his head to look down at her and Addie feasted her eyes on the broad expanse of his chest, her hands moving over him, exploring the hard planes and contours of his body, her own body tingling with excitement.

‘Don’t be shy,’ he said in a husky tone. ‘You can touch me anywhere you want to.’

Addie put her hands to the waistband of his trousers, her fingers almost trembling as her need for him grew. Emboldened by her own desire and encouraged by his for her, she became more confident and unfastened his trousers. He helped her by sliding down his zipper but then left the rest to her. She drew in a skittery breath and stroked her fingers over the swollen length of him covered by his underwear. He sucked in a ragged breath and his eyes glittered with pleasure.

‘Your touch drives me wild,’ he said.

‘That’s only fair since yours does that to me.’ Addie grew even bolder in her exploration of his form. She peeled his underwear away from the proud length of him and tentatively touched him along his shaft. He was satin-covered steel, potent and yet strangely vulnerable, strong, and yet sensitive. But didn’t that describe not just his body but his whole personality?

Vic drew her hand away from his body but kept hold of her hand in the cradle of his, holding it against his abdomen. She could feel the ridges of his muscles beneath her hand, his strength exciting her even more.

He looked down at her with his dark glinting gaze, his features contorted by raw desire. ‘I want to kiss my way down your body.’

‘Okay…’ Addie was barely capable of anything but that single word, her body on fire for more of his touch.

He worked his way from her neck to her breasts, kissing and caressing each in turn, sending her senses into a tailspin as her flesh came alive under his tantalising touch. He moved from her breasts to press soft barely touching kisses all the way down to her belly. She automatically sucked in her abdomen, hoping he didn’t think she was judging herself for not being reed slim.

Vic propped himself up on one elbow to gaze into her eyes, his hand gently stroking her face. ‘Hey, relax for me. You won’t enjoy yourself if you’re all tensed up.’

Addie slowly let out her breath and gave him a twisted little smile. ‘Sorry. I can’t help worrying you’ll find me…unattractive or—’

He placed his finger against her lips. ‘No more talk of me not finding you attractive. Can’t you feel what you’re doing to me?’

Addie could and it made her blood race and her heart pound and her desire for him to run wild. His body was rock-hard against her, and his breathing as hectic as hers. She could see the desire in his eyes, and it made her feel beautiful for the first time in her life. Beautiful and desirable.

He removed his finger from her lips and replaced it with his mouth, kissing her deeply and passionately. Addie’s hands moved through the thick strands of his hair in a caressing motion, caught up in the maelstrom of physical need that was a force she could not control. She had no idea her body could feel this way, this primal drumbeat of lust that overtook everything else. Vic moved from her mouth back down her body, gently pushing the bathrobe out of his way, kissing every inch of her, sending her into new raptures of delight.

And then he came to the heart of her…

Addie held her breath, shocked at the intimacy but captivated by it too. His mouth moved over her female flesh, tasting her, separating her, allowing her time to get used to him being so close to the most intimate part of her body. He gently opened her with a stroke of his tongue, the erotic caress making her toes curl and powerful sensations to course through her lower body. He went deeper, tasting her essence, devouring her like he was addicted to the nectar of her female body. He flicked his tongue against the swollen nub of her clitoris, sending an earthquake through her flesh. She was riding a tidal wave, caught up in its powerful energy and momentum, tossing, turning and twirling her until she was gasping and crying out loud with noises so primal, they were faintly shocking to someone as shy as her. But she had no control over it. Trying to stop the forces moving through her body would be like trying to stop a hurricane. You couldn’t. It would blow you away up, up, up into the atmosphere. Ripples of aftershocks pulsed through Addie’s body, leaving her breathless until every muscle in her body relaxed as if her skeleton had been liquified.

‘That was…’ Addie struggled to find the words and looked at Vic in a kind of stunned wonder. ‘How did youdothat?’

He gave her a quizzical look. ‘You haven’t had an orgasm before? Even by yourself?’

Addie could feel a hot blush creeping over her cheeks. How naive and innocent and ignorant he must think her. ‘I’ve always felt so much shame about my body that I haven’t explored it properly. And it didn’t help that the one time I was about to have sex with someone when I was a teenager, he told me he only wanted to sleep with me so he could boast about it to his friends that he had “done” Solange Featherstone’s daughter.’

Vic’s dark brows snapped together. ‘He actually said that? What a jerk.’

Addie nodded, lowering her gaze to look at Vic’s sensual mouth. ‘I was lucky I had time to get away from him before it went any further, but the whole experience turned me off ever dating again. I could never decide if someone wanted to be with me for me or just because of who my mother was.’ She let out a fluttering breath and added, ‘It’s been lonely to tell you the truth.’

Vic lifted her chin, so her gaze came back to his. His features were softened in compassion, and it made it even harder for her to keep her feelings out of their relationship. ‘I’m so sorry you went through that. It was despicable of that guy to use you like that. It’s dehumanising and disrespectful and he should have known better.’

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