Page 49 of Forgotten Mistress, Secret Love-Child
Alessandro avoided her eyes. Heat lashed his cheeks at the way he’d treated her.
She didn’t move as he settled himself, naked, on the bed beside her. The dress he’d paid a fortune for was probably unsalvageable, but he didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything but the hunger thrumming again in his veins like a horde of locusts sweeping down to devour him.
She was barely dozing, worn out by his rough handling. He should let her rest. She’d been wound tight as a top at the wedding. But in conscience he couldn’t let her sleep in her clothes and shoes. She was bound to be uncomfortable and wake.
He reached out and took one slim foot in his hand.
Carys stretched, half aware of something behind her, something moving down her back. But she felt deliciously replete and she clung to sleep.
It was only as hot palms slid against her bare skin that she woke fully.
She lay in bed, still in her wedding gown, and Alessandro had undone each tiny button down her spine. His hands were inside the dress, massaging and soothing so she instinctively arched against his touch.
‘You’re awake.’ His deep voice throbbed with an expression she couldn’t identify.
Cravenly she wished she’d woken alone. The memory of what they’d done scoured her brain. The hot musk smell of sex permeated the air, reminding her of how she’d climaxed so easily at his touch. Without even a move to escape!
For all her protests, her fine talk about not being a convenience, she’d succumbed without a fight. Just lay there and given herself up to the ecstasy he wrought.
Carys bowed her head into upturned hands, hunching away from him. What had she done? How could she face herself?
‘Carys? Are you all right?’ His roving hands stopped, gripping her shoulders beneath her dress.
‘I’m fine,’ she lied.
She fought the tremors of delight spreading from his touch. The secret excitement hoarded close in her heart that he’d wanted her, and no one else, in all that time. Had she no pride?
It would be too easy to fall in love with Alessandro again. Where would that get her? A one-sided relationship where she gave all and he only as much as it suited him.
But she feared it was too late. That there was no turning back. Emotion filled the bitter void she’d lived with so long.
She needed time to work out what this all meant.
Yet there was no mistaking the sizzle of anticipation in her blood as his hands wandered, evoking magic.
Was she doomed to be enraptured by him all over again?
‘Let me help you out of that dress. It can’t be comfortable.’
Carys slithered forward out of his reach. ‘I can do it myself.’ It was too soon to meet his assessing eyes. If she didn’t gather her wits, he’d have no trouble reading the effect he had on her.
She made it to the edge of the bed, sitting up and holding the sagging bodice against her breasts with one palm. She stopped there, rigid, as Alessandro walked around to stand before her.
Naked.
Long-limbed, muscle-toned, a tall Adonis come to life.
An aroused Adonis.
Her body prickled at nape, breast and forehead as heat bloomed. She swallowed hard and tried to control her wayward pulse.
She’d just experienced the most intense climax of her life. Twice. She should not be interested in sex right now.
He shifted his weight, and she watched, fascinated as muscles flexed in broad thighs and across his taut abdomen. A dart of fire pierced her chest and spiralled lazily down into her womb.
She shut her eyes, trying to banish the heady image of Alessandro, pure potent male, before her. But there was no escape. The picture was branded on her brain.
She tried to think of Leo, of the guests beginning to leave the wedding reception. Of—
‘It will be easier if I help, Carys.’
Mutely she sat as he unpinned the veil that hung haphazardly from her hair. She felt the fine lace drop away but didn’t open her eyes. Not when Alessandro stood before her so close his heat invaded her space.
His hands at her elbows urged her to her feet and she complied.
She snapped her eyes open, keeping them trained on his shuttered face. What had she expected? To see a reflection of the stunned delight that had consumed her such a short time ago? Instead his hooded gaze and flattened mouth gave nothing away. Only the merest hint of a frown suggested he wasn’t quite satisfied with how this had played out.
What more could he want? She’d been putty in his hands, so eager she hadn’t even managed to remove her precious gown. Her cheeks burned. She was so easy where he was concerned.
It had always been like that with Alessandro.
‘I can take it from there, thanks,’ she said in a clipped voice. But as she sidestepped he was already dragging the bodice from her shoulders.
