Page 55 of A Very Italian Wedding
‘So I’m an experiment?’ The hurt that flashed across Ben’s face made her knees go wobbly.
‘Of course not!’ She muttered. ‘You’re the first person I’ve ever wanted to ignore my rules for.’ She squashed her hands infrustration. She was doing this wrong. Without her rules, she was in untested waters. Clearly drowning.
Ben must have liked what she said because he nodded. ‘So we dance and take this slowly.’ He took her hand again. The track changed once more, and the music grew sultry. Rose didn’t recognise the song, but she could hear heartache and longing, could almost feel the same emotions reflected inside herself.
Ben pulled her closer until their hips were pressed against each other. He was taller, but somehow, they seemed to fit. She let him guide her – so tired of always being in control, of making the rules and giving advice. Especially when it felt like it made no difference.
The only advice she was going to give now was to herself. To embrace chaos, to forget the rules, to chase whatever made her happy and to forget everything else.
‘Are you sure this is what you want?’ Ben whispered, nudging her hair aside and pressing his mouth to her ear so he could stroke his lips against the skin underneath. Rose shivered, only this time it had nothing to do with the cold.
‘We could have died earlier. I know I’m being dramatic,’ she muttered.
‘You?’ he teased, pulling her closer still and swinging them both in a small circle in time to the music. Rose saw Coco look up from where she was lying by the door, her doggy expression content but a little confused. ‘I’d never call you dramatic, Rose.’
‘What would you call me?’ she asked, returning his nuzzle by stroking the top of her nose along his sharp jawline. He smelled incredible, of olive groves and sunshine – with some kind of aftershave mixed in there too. It reminded her of sex and bad decisions – things she usually avoided, but now she couldn’t stay away.
He whisked her round again, then dipped her, making her feel like a contestant onStrictly Come Dancing. This man hadall the moves, and she was seriously out of her depth. But that wasn’t going to stop her. He righted her again and smiled, his grin setting her insides alight. ‘You’re loyal and hard-working. You care about other people and put them first. Sometimes, to your own detriment.’
The answering smile that had been hovering on her lips disappeared. That was all true, but it made her sound so… ‘Boring,’ she muttered. ‘A lot like a dog – biddable and well trained.’ Her eyes flashed to Coco who looked up at her. ‘Present company excepted of course; no one would ever accuse you either of those.’
Ben chuckled. ‘It’s quite unnerving how you can take something that’s meant as a compliment and turn it into an insult. Is that a psychiatrist thing?’
‘It’s a listening thing,’ she said sourly as Ben dipped her down before whirling them both around as the song on Ben’s mobile changed again.
‘Then it’s time we stopped talking and try to communicate some other way,’ he said, bringing them both to a slow stop, then circling his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. Now this was more like it. This is what she’d been dreaming about.
‘I can get behind that.’ She pressed her body against his, relishing the feel of him. He was muscular, she’d expected that, she just hadn’t anticipated the way he’d set her skin alight until she felt like every inch of her was ablaze. She wound her arms around his neck, fighting an almost impossible urge to rip off his shirt so she could explore all that perfect landscape of hard muscle. She’d touched him when they’d been in the sea, but that had been an accident, or the lingering effects of the fertility statue; her plans tonight were deliberate.
She’d spent years drilling the difference between lust and love into her clients, but tonight, she wanted to give herself over to uncomplicated pleasure and desire.
But it was a lot more powerful than she’d anticipated.
Ben made the first move and caught her mouth in a slow, deliberate kiss. Rose had been intending to kiss him first, but as usual her head had got in the way. Thinking versus doing, rules versus going with the flow. It was the story of her life. At least her life until now. That was about to change.
The kiss started out slow – Ben had clearly decided to take his time. Perhaps he didn’t want to overwhelm her? But that’s exactly what Rose wanted. She wanted to be claimed, to lose herself and let go.
If there was a rule tonight, it was that there were no rules. She reached up and pushed her hand into his hair, pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. What had begun as restrained soon turned fiery.
To Ben’s credit, he didn’t try to pull away or make them slow down; he followed her agenda, letting his hand stray lower until it was cupping her bottom. She dropped her own and did the same, tracing the firm globe of his buttock.Godhe was so gorgeous. The blueprint for the perfect man, physically anyway. And now she was objectifying him and that was wrong. She frowned without breaking off their kiss.
‘Is this okay?’ Ben pulled away so he could speak.
‘It’s not enough,’ she whispered.
Beside the door she heard Coco make a low grunting sound. ‘Someone’s going to find us soon.’ It was only a matter of time. That, or the demon was going to get antsy. It was a miracle that she hadn’t already. ‘I want…’ She swallowed – the next words were going to take all of her bravery to share.
Ben didn’t interrupt or ask, he simply waited for her to finish. But his eyes were fixed on her mouth – his expressionravenous. It was enough to make her insides melt like a handful of marshmallows on a bonfire. ‘I want more…’ she rasped.
For a moment, she wondered if he was going to ask how much more. Instead, he nodded and captured her mouth in a kiss again. This time, he didn’t hold back. This time, he dived straight in, using all his kissing miles to destroy her. He began to guide her backwards towards the table and chairs, as his lips travelled to her neck, tracing every curve and dip, exploring every inch of her skin. She was trembling by the time her legs hit the first piece of furniture. Then Ben growled and shoved the chair aside, easing her further back until she was perched on the edge of the table.
‘This much more?’ he whispered.
‘No, way more than this,’ she rasped as he hitched her up until she was sitting on the edge of the table. Then he slowly eased her legs open and situated himself in between. Her heart was hammering so hard that she could hear it, or maybe it was all that blood rushing through her ears?
It was so loud it almost drowned out the next slow song as it played from Ben’s mobile. He stopped and placed a hand on either side of her hips, penning her in, as he leaned closer and looked into her eyes.
‘How much more, Rose?’ he asked again. ‘I’m serious.’ He looked it, and that only made him more appealing – if that were possible.
