Page 26 of ‘I Do’ for Revenge

The air sizzled. Or maybe she was just sizzling.

He said, ‘If this evening’s stunt was designed to make me change my mind, it worked.’

Flora frowned. It was hard to concentrate when he was so close.Hadshe set out to drive him to pursue her? All she could remember thinking was that if she wasn’t a virgin then they could make love.

‘I...hadn’t really thought it through in such detail. I just wanted to get rid of it so that I could...maybe we could...you know...’

‘Make love?’

Flora nodded, relieved that he understood. She looked at his mouth. ‘Can we stop talking now?’

He answered that by putting his mouth on hers and she melted into him, hands fisting his shirt to stay standing. His hands were on her face, in her hair and then on her back, fingers spread over her skin.

She ached between her legs. A physical pain to have him touch her there, but he drew back and said harshly, ‘Not here, like this.’

He scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the corridor into his bedroom. Flora lifted her head and said, ‘Wait! Benji.’

Vito didn’t break his stride. ‘Taken care of. I asked Damiano to keep him in the security room tonight. We’ll get him in the morning.’

We.Flora’s heart turned over. He hadn’t just forgotten about the dog. And now they were truly alone. No interruptions. Vito was going to be her first lover. And she already knew that his mark on her would be indelible. Perhaps fatal. But she didn’t care about that now. She was hungry. Starving. For something she’d never known could exist. Desire. No, lust.

She’d always imagined wanting to have sex with someone would feel a little tepid. But this was like a storm, building and building deep inside, threatening to blow her apart.

Vito put her on her feet. She suddenly felt self-conscious. Very aware that she would be joining a legion of women before her and that inevitably she wouldn’t stack up next to them.

But Vito was looking at her as if he’d never seen a woman before and Flora clung onto that illusion. He said, ‘I want to see you.’

Flora quivered inwardly. No way was she baring herself while suddenly feeling so vulnerable. ‘You first.’

Vito didn’t hesitate. His shirt came off and Flora barely had time to ogle at the hard-muscled perfection of his chest before he was undoing his trousers and pulling them down, kicking them off.

Now he wore just briefs that did little to hide the bulge. Flora watched wide-eyed, fascinated, as he tugged them down and off too, freeing his impressive erection.

Flora’s insides squeezed tight. Then she realised she was squeezing her thighs together as if that could stem the flow of damp heat. Of sheer lust.

Without even making the conscious decision, she reached out and touched Vito’s chest. His skin was warm and firm. Dark hairs dusting his pectoral muscles. A line of hair dissected his abdomen and went all the way down to the thicket of hair between his legs.

Hard, powerful thighs. Slim waist. He was intimidatingly perfect. She dragged her gaze back up. She was filled with a sense of their disparities in everything—but mostly experience. ‘Vito... I don’t know if this is such a good idea. I’m not...experienced, as you know...you’re bound to be disappointed...’

He put a finger over her lips. Then he took it away and said, ‘Do you want to do this?’

Flora couldn’t help but nod. ‘More than anything.’

‘Then let me see you.’

Flora’s heart thumped. She brought a hand to one strap of the dress and pushed it down over her shoulder. Then the other. The dress lowered and clung for a second to her chest.

Vito reached out and, with a flick of his hand, the dress fell under its own weight, all the way to the floor, leaving Flora standing before him wearing nothing but her underwear.

She heard Vito’s sharp intake of breath. She was too scared to look at him, see his reaction. There was a stillness in the air. Eventually, he breathed, ‘You are...more beautiful than anything I imagined.’

She looked up. He’d imagined this? His eyes were so dark she couldn’t read them. He closed the distance between them and cupped her breasts, testing their weight and shape, thumbs moving back and forth over hard nipples.

Flora bit her lip. And then Vito was dipping, capturing her mouth with his again, angling her face up to him so that he could plunder deep. She wrapped her arms around him, opening up her body to his. There was no point where they didn’t touch, breast to chest and hips to belly and thighs. It was intoxicating.

Flora felt weightless for a moment and then she realised that Vito was putting her down on the bed. She was dizzy, with desire. He drew back. A lock of hair fell onto his forehead and she reached up and touched it. It made him seem younger, carefree.

He took her hand and captured it, pressing his mouth to her palm again. Tasting her. Need was like a taut wire inside Flora. She said, ‘Vito, please... I need you.’