Page 30 of Pregnant in the Italian's Palazzo

‘You weren’t carrying our child on the first night we met.’

‘That was different. You were still...honourable.’

‘Not that honourable, considering I couldn’t keep my hands off you.’

‘Well...yes. But we both felt that madness that night.’

‘It’s not madness. And it wasn’t just that night, Aria. I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you on that rain-soaked street and I have not stopped wanting you since. Not once.’

‘Nysio.’ She shook her head, knowing she felt the exact same way but still telling herself to wait, to be cautious. She was afraid to take that risk again, especially as this time there was more than her heart at stake. There were her child’s feelings to consider too. ‘I didn’t think you wanted me any more.’

‘I know I forced you to walk away from your plans in London so that I had more time to ensure that I could keep our child safe. But I haven’t stopped fantasising about having you again, not once. I’ve been half mad with lust, having you so close. You’ve haunted my dreams...my days...every moment I’m not touching you is torture.’

She remembered his words in the car, when she’d thought he was driving her to the airport. She’d thought him arrogant and high-handed, expecting her to be grateful that he was protecting her when she’d thought he was acting purely in his own best interests. She’d thought she had misread all of the signs that there had been something good between them, something real.

‘Put me out of my misery,bellezza. Kiss me.’

Nothing could stop her from doing that in that moment. Aria leaned forward, her lips touching his with the softest reverence as she felt his arms slide around her waist and pull her close.

Of all the kisses they had shared in the short time they had known one another, this one was quite possibly her favourite. Not because it was becoming increasingly steamy and frantic in a public place, or because things had been so fraught between them for the past week as they navigated their new situation. But as Nysio’s tongue slid over hers, his teeth nipping her bottom lip and his hands caging in either side of her neck, she felt all the feelings that she had tried to deny build up within her to a fever pitch. Not just the raw sensuality that he brought out in her, but the emotion too. It choked her throat, bringing moisture to her eyes and stealing the breath from her chest.

But before she could examine it too closely, he pulled a thick blanket from a chair onto the floor of the gazebo and laid her down on it, and began to draw the skirt of her dress upwards.

‘We can’t do this here,’ she chastised with a little moan as he began to slide her underwear to the side, his intent clear as he licked his lips and stared down at where she was swollen and ready for him.

‘They know not to disturb us,’ he growled. But instead of stopping what he had just begun, he simply switched up the method, sliding a finger between her sex and swirling in gentle circles that made her sigh in delight.

‘Just let me give you this,’ he murmured against her lips, his hands still working their magic between her thighs. ‘Just let me remind you why we’re so good together. To think that you could ever believe me to have lost interest in you...is madness. If you knew how much you consume my thoughts on a daily basis you’d never accuse me of such a thing.’

‘Is this a punishment?’ She gasped as the first wave began to build deep within her and he showed no sign of stopping.

‘Perhaps,’ he murmured, ‘or maybe it’s just a reminder. One that I am only too happy to give you every single time that you doubt my attraction to you.’

His words struck a chord within her, alarm bells sounding. But they were swiftly drowned out as her orgasm began to build and melted all coherent thought from her mind.

Then he paused and she nearly screamed with frustration.

Nysio was delicate with her, but firm as he pinned her hands and pulled her down gently onto their blanket once more. She was flushed and gorgeous, her newly swollen breasts and darkened nipples peeking out from the top of her bra.

‘I want nothing between us.’ He leaned down, licking the barely visible little bud once before taking hold of the front clasp. ‘I want to see you,cara. All of you.’

He waited for her to tense up, to mention any one of the numerous reasons why he probably shouldn’t be making love to her at this very moment, in this place. But she simply smiled, a shy smile filled with a raw vulnerability that took his breath away. Then she reached up and replaced his hands with her own, unclipping the clasp and baring herself to him, then shimmying the rest of her dress down and away.

Nysio swore his erection suddenly gained a heartbeat all of its own as he gazed down at the visual feast laid out before him, making him heat up to self-combustion point with lust. Perhaps she couldn’t see the changes that pregnancy had brought to her body yet, but he could.

Her breasts had already been full, but now they barely fitted in his hands. Their tips were the colour of his favourite sweet pink grapes, begging to be tasted. In fact...he reached over and put action to the thought. He swore they tasted better than vintage wine.

He realised he must have spoken his thought aloud when she gasped and said, ‘You...really are obsessed with wine.’ She made an attempt at laughter, but her breath caught, her hips undulating as his tongue darted out to flick one hardened peak, her breath hissing through her teeth.

‘Obsession is not enough to describe what I feel,’ he growled, his eyes pinning hers as he bent to kiss each sweet pink bud again. ‘I...adore it. I worship it. I fear that I’ll never get enough.’

Her eyes held his and he knew by the slight flicker of uncertainty there that she understood. A part of him whispered that he should slow down, that he should continue to show her that she could trust him. But another, much darker part of him just wanted to know that she felt the same.

She still had her eyes half closed, her hips undulating with barely restrained need. She was so responsive, so effortlessly sensual, he could read her without a word spoken. It had been this way that first night, he remembered. He kissed her, fighting the urge within him to push her once again, to demand that she agree to his terms. That she stay in Italy by his side as his wife, in hispalazzo, in his bed... He fought against the tightness in his chest, the need to possess her completely.

He took his time, whispering his adoration against the skin of her thighs as he made his way to the silk covering of underwear she wore. The intricately embroidered red silk was dark with her moisture and he couldn’t resist laying the first of his kisses against the fabric.

‘Wait,’ she whispered, her eyes wild with pleasure as she reached down to unbutton his jeans. ‘It’s always about me. Let me give you pleasure for once.’

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