Joi could feel Marco’s hand cupping her cheek, and the strong arm pinning her body flush to his, as the kiss deepened. Her rising desire had emboldened her to ask for his kiss, and now, he was delivering big-time. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth and stroke against her own. The sensations elicited a low, crooning moan from her.
He eased away, still holding her close. The dark pools of his eyes were focused solely on her, as if they were the only two people in the whole world. He moved back a few inches, releasing his hold on her as he took a seat on the sand near her feet. With his long legs bent and his ankles crossed, he patted his lap, gesturing for her to sit.
She obliged him, easing into the nest of his lap and facing the right side. He pulled her close, draping her legs over the crook of his arm, as his other arm supported her upper back. Her bottom made contact with the apex of his powerful thighs, and she released a small gasp when she felt the familiar hardness pressing against the sensitive flesh of her hip.
“I’m ready for you, Dulce.” He breathed the words into her ear. “But first, I want to play...to make sure you are ready for me. Is that all right?”
She nodded as a sensual shiver ran down her spine. If his mission was to make her arousal rise, he was already off to a brilliant start. Already, she could feel the goose bumps breaking out on the surface of her skin at the mere anticipation of his skillful touch.
He moved to let her legs drop, freeing one hand. With the tall dunes of sand sheltering them from prying eyes, she watched as he eased the top of her dress down, revealing the thin, sheer fabric of her strapless bra.
“Dulce, you’re beautiful.” He murmured the words softly as his fingertips mapped the curve of her breasts, just above the sheer fabric. He drew her closer, letting his kisses retrace the path of his fingers. Her eyes closed, and she arched as the pleasure shot through her like an electric current.
He adjusted her in his lap until she had a solid base of support, then reached around her to unclasp the bra. He paused momentarily, sought her consent again. “Can I...”
“Yes...” She didn’t wait for him to finish his question because, God, she wanted this. When he unclasped the bra and tossed it aside, baring her sensitive flesh to the breeze flowing over the surface of the water, she groaned. Then she dissolved into soft cries as his warm mouth settled over one of her nipples.
He lavished the breast with attention, his large hand cupping it as he savored her nipple. When she thought she’d die from the pleasure of it, he stopped, but only long enough to turn the same treatment on her other breast. By the time he drew away, she lay half-dressed and panting in his arms.
She opened her eyes, found him watching her.
The wicked smile and the flames dancing in his eyes relayed his enjoyment at the sight of her, arching and breathless in the moonlight. “Dulce, you are a vision.”
His flattery only served to send more heated blood to her already swollen core. She was so mindless, she couldn’t formulate a coherent reply.
“Let’s see what more I can do to make you moan.” Now one large hand scuttled up her leg, to the hem of her dress. She knew exactly what he was doing, and she offered no resistance as he gently raised the hem, baring her trembling thighs to the night air. Each inch of skin he touched was seared, branded as his.
She swallowed, felt him hook his thumbs beneath the waistband of her panties. He tugged them down and removed them. With hooded eyes, she watched him fold them neatly and tuck them into the pocket of his slacks.
First the gentle breeze touched her core, then, his even gentler fingertips. At the first touch, she shivered, not from being cold, but from being oh so hot. His fingers meandered and played, circling and teasing the bundle of nerves centering her womanhood. Her legs fell apart, widening to give him unobstructed access, and the pace of her breathing increased. Over the sounds of her own throaty sighs, she heard him uttering soft, sensual endearments in Spanish, which only increased her passion.
The tide of ecstasy rose within her, lapping at the shore of completion. Yes, her mind screamed. Yes to everything he was doing, and everything he had planned for her this night. A thousand times yes.
As if sensing her impending crisis, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Let go, Dulce. Come for me.”
At the sound of his voice, her control faltered and her body shook with the force of a release that radiated out from her core to the very tips of her fingers and toes. She called his name on a strangled cry, writhing and twisting as his strong arms supported her weight.
When she came back to awareness, she saw him watching her in the muted light. The color of the sky above heralded the coming dawn, and she wondered just how much time had passed. The only sounds she heard were the crashing of the waves, and their own heightened breathing.
Finally, he spoke, with a hint of humor in his voice. “I think we should go inside now.”
She stretched, sat up in his lap. “Did I fall asleep?”
He nodded. “For a bit. You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to disturb you. Ready to go in?”
She adjusted her dress to cover her exposed breasts, then stood, tugging the hem of her dress down. When she’d effectively concealed her nudity, she reached down and picked up her discarded bra from the sand.
He got up as well, still fully dressed. Her eyes zeroed in on the prominent bulge below his waist, and a tingle raced through her core.
Catching the direction of her gaze, he smiled. “The sooner we get inside, the sooner you can have it.”
She returned his smile, swept her open palm over the bulge. “Then let’s go to my room.”
Joining hands, they made their way back inside the hotel and up to the tenth floor. Inside the confines of the elevator car, they kissed and stroked one another, keeping their bodies as close together as their clothing would allow. The elevator doors opened on the tenth floor, and they maneuvered down the hall toward her room, kissing and fumbling like love-struck newlyweds the entire way. It took some effort, but she finally tapped the electronic key against the lock and opened the door. They both backed into the room, falling onto the bed in a tangle of limbs as the door slammed shut behind them. She kicked off the thong sandals she’d been wearing, not sure of where they landed, and not caring.
She was beneath him, barely aware of his weight as he kissed her senseless. When he released her and raised up on his hands, she immediately reached up to drag his white shirt up and over his head. Her palms burned as she toured them over the hard, muscled lines of his chest. To pay him back for the sensual torture he’d dealt her earlier, she used her thumbs and forefingers to tease his nipples.
He sucked in a breath. “You are truly wicked, Dulce.”
“Why don’t you teach me a lesson, then?” She lay back on the surface of the bed, awaiting whatever method of instruction he deemed appropriate.
In response to her sassy decree, he snatched her dress away. Leaving her nude form reclining on the bed, he stood to quickly remove his sandals, and to strip out of his pants and underwear. From his pocket, he produced a condom, which he rolled on to protect them. When he rejoined her on the bed, she purred with anticipation. No man had ever filled her with such a complete feeling of safety, of feminine vulnerability, of molten-hot desire. Marco was everything she never thought she needed, and she wanted everything he had to give, forever.
Forever.
She winced as the thought passed through her mind. This was no time to be thinking about attachments, not now that she had so much to do to prepare her business for national expansion. But despite what logic told her was right, her heart knew otherwise. She’d fallen in love with Marco, and there was nothing she could do to change it.
* * *
Marco centered himself between Joi’s shapely thighs, bracing his body weight on his elbows to avoid crushing her. She looked so gorgeous, laid out beneath him like a veritable buffet of pleasure. His body begged for her, urging him to plunge inside her warmth, but he refused to be rough with her. Despite her views on who she was, and her defensive abilities, she was still his Dulce, his delicate blossom.
He leaned down, placed soft kisses over her brow, her closed eyelids and the bridge of her nose. Despite the insistence of his throbbing manhood, he held back, taking her on a slow ride toward ecstasy.
The air held the citrusy scent of her perfume, and the intoxicating scent of her arousal. He grazed his fingertips over her body, down the center of her chest, then lower, drifting over her stomach until he reached her core. There, he eased his index finger into paradise, feeling the silken heat of her desire. Her hips rose from the bed as he gently moved the finger in, then out.
“Do you like this, Dulce? Do you want more?”
“Yes...” she whimpered. “More...”
So he obliged her, enjoying the way she reacted to his touch, and the knowledge that her core was so wet and primed for his entrance.
She hummed low in her throat. Placing a hand on either side of him, she pressed down, tilting his pelvis closer to hers. The tip of his manhood brushed against her core, and he growled.
“Now, Marco.” The urgency in her tone spoke of her desire.
Obliging her, he flexed his hips, entered her in a single slow stroke. Each of them gasped as their bodies joined, and he pressed forward until he’d reached maximum depth. Sheathed within the tight confines of her body, he felt as if he’d come home after a long absence. He rocked his hips in an easy, deliberate rhythm, reveling in the sounds of her sharp gasps.
He loved making love to her this way, loved the way she sang for him on the wings of pleasure, loved the way her body felt sheltering his. He loved the way she spoke, the way she moved and the way her lips pursed when she was deep in thought.
I love everything about her.
I love her.
He continued to move, stroking her with all the passion he felt, even as he pushed away those thoughts. Love meant commitment. Commitment meant settling down. Settling down meant responsibilities, sacrifice and so much more.
No. He wouldn’t think about that now, not while the red-hot pleasure rose inside him, threatening to make him erupt like Vesuvius at any moment. He turned his focus back where it belonged, on making love to the beautiful woman lying beneath him, and giving her all the pleasure she could stand.
She trembled, and her eyes went wide before rolling back in her head. He knew she was on the brink of another orgasm, so he rotated his hips, increasing the depth and speed of his strokes. He wanted her to shatter, wanted to watch the glow of pleasure spread over her face.
Suddenly she arched. “God, Marco!” Her body stiffened, then a tremor ran through it, and he felt her inner muscles gripping his shaft.
The waves of pleasure hit him then, and he rode them to his own release, his body pressed against hers. His shouts mingled with her moans, until the wonder passed and the room fell into silence again.
A little later, he extracted himself from her body, and moved so they could get into a more comfortable position in the bed. The sun had fully risen by now, and the rays of light penetrated the sheer curtains covering the sliding door that led out to the balcony.
Joi had fallen asleep beneath him, and her soft snores barely broke the silence. As he eased beside her and draped his arm over her form, he was taken aback by the sight of her.
Lying nude in the hazy sunlight, she looked like a goddess. Her bronzed skin glistened with a light sheen of perspiration, and while he looked on, mesmerized, she shifted a bit.
Her eyelids twitched, then she opened her eyes. Sleepily, she asked, “Why are you staring at me?”
Not knowing what else to say, he told her the truth. “Because you’re so beautiful, I can’t look away.”
With a catlike stretch, she offered him a smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Marco.”
He tugged at the covers, adjusting things until they could both slip beneath them. When their bodies were cocooned beneath the patterned comforter and white sheets, he lay on his back and drew her into his arms. Her head rested on his chest, and he played his fingertips through the riotous mass of her hair. A feeling of peace and contentment settled over him as he held her close to his heart, and he got a sense that this was where she belonged.
He didn’t know how or when it had happened, but he’d let himself fall in love with her. He knew it with every fiber of his being, and he was surer of it than he’d ever been of anything in his life.
Up until she’d shown up at his office to put in her proposal for the security contract, he’d thought he would spend the rest of his life playing the field. Commitment had never been part of his plans for the future, because he hadn’t wanted to be saddled with the “burden” of being responsible for a wife, let alone children. Now, he’d begun to rethink his entire way of life. Would being a husband, and dare he think it, a father, really be as stifling and confining as he had assumed? Or could the love of a wife and family open the door to his heart, and to a level of happiness he’d never thought possible before?
Somehow, this petite powerhouse, mouthy, tough and wonderful, had come into his life and turned everything upside down. He’d thought he’d known who she was when she stepped into his office that day, but he could not have been more wrong. Only this time, he was actually glad to have been mistaken, and even happier that she’d stayed around long enough to show him how stupid he’d been to misjudge her.
He opened his mouth, set to tell her that she’d stolen his heart, and that he couldn’t live without her. But before he could form the words, he heard her snores rising again. She’d gone back to sleep, and after what they’d shared, he didn’t want to deny her the rest.
So he snuggled down into the soft feather pillow, and held her close, his body sheltering her as she slept.