“I LEFT MY purse and phone downstairs,” Izzy said as they walked into their suite.
“I’ll get them...after,” he said. His voice was guttural.
Desire seemed to have stripped away the level of sophistication and civility that Antonio always wore like a mantle. A part of her had resented it because it was the kind of attitude that couldn’t be aped or learned. It came from being born with money and growing up secure.
But she’d shaken him to his core. She did like that.
Licking her suddenly dry lips, she took him by his tie and exerted a slight pressure, not enough to hurt him but enough to let him know she wanted him to follow her.
He gave her a cocky half grin, raised one eyebrow and did as she commanded. She drew him to the small sitting area and pushed him down into a padded armchair. He spread his legs wide and put his hands on the arms of the chair.
She took a step back and then slowly bent forward, knowing she was giving him a view down her bodice as she undid the buckle to her left sandal first and then her right. She stood back up slowly, and their eyes met.
She felt the heat in his gaze as he watched her. Moving deliberately, she stepped out of her shoes, then slowly lifted the hem of her dress, drawing the fabric up her legs. She hadn’t worn any hose on this hot May evening and the soft cotton-blend fabric felt good against her skin. She reached under her dress and pulled off her underwear, kicking it to the side, next to her shoes.
He sat up straighter in the chair and beckoned her forward with the crook of one long finger.
She shook her head and arched her eyebrow at him. “You’re not ready for me yet.”
“Oh, I’m ready,” he promised her.
“Show me,” she said.
He slowly undid his belt, drawing it from around his waist and letting it snap when it was free. A shiver of anticipation went down her spine. Her breasts felt fuller and her nipples tightened as he undid his pants, shifting on the chair until he was able to free his cock and balls.
His erection was thick and long, and he stroked himself as he watched her.
“Satisfied?”
“Not yet, but I think I will be,” she said. She took a step toward him, only stopping when her skirt brushed the fabric of his trousers.
He shifted forward quickly and caught her unawares, lifting her off her feet and settling her so she straddled him. The fabric of her dress bunched between their bodies as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. His fingers fanned out along the side of her face, stroking her cheek and then fondling her earlobe. A shudder of need went through her and she canted her mouth toward his, but he turned away. She felt the bristle of his beard against her lips and it sent another shiver down her spine.
Rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip made it tingle and she reached up, taking his wrist in her hand. She found his mouth with hers, their tongues tangling. She felt his fingers feather-light against that spot at the base of her spine. Trembling with need, she tried to deepen the kiss, but Antonio was firmly in control, no matter that she was in the dominant position. He wasn’t rushing things.
She wanted to force him to move faster, yet at the same time she enjoyed the delicate torture of his prolonged kisses and caresses. His breath tasted of mint and passion. After a life spent following procedure and denying herself, she knew this was something worth breaking the rules for.
She’d been in Cole’s Hill—the neighboring town to the Bar T ranch and the training facility—and Izzy had been there for a long time, being tested, showing her expertise and facing every challenge thrown at her by NASA and the Cronus mission commander and director. Yet she was no closer to getting anything she wanted. After a lifetime of trying not to be her mom, refusing to make bad choices when it came to men, she didn’t care anymore.
The way Antonio moved his tongue over her bottom lip was sending pulses straight to her core. His hands on her backside flexed, squeezing her and then urging her to rock against him. The most inviting shivers were coursing through her entire body, and she couldn’t have stopped if she’d been ordered to.
Her fingers slipped around his neck to the knot of his tie. She undid it and pulled it free of his collar, tossing it aside. Then without breaking contact with his lips, she undid the shirt buttons one by one.
Shifting back on his thighs and lifting her head, she pushed the sides of his shirt open only to find a crisp white T-shirt. Startled, she laughed.
“What? A gentleman is always properly dressed,” he said.
“I’m just not used to thinking of you in a tee,” she said.
“I think of you in a tee a lot,” he admitted, his finger moving along the neckline of her dress.
Those same delicious shivers continued coursing through her.
“Do you?” she asked.
He nodded. “It’s a newer fantasy since that afternoon in the gym. Ever since then, I wake up every night in a fever for you. I reach for you and you’re not there. I have pictured you in many different clothes and naked in the middle of the night.”
She reached for the hem of his T-shirt and drew it up his body, revealing a solid six-pack and a flat stomach. There was a light dusting of hair on his chest, and she couldn’t resist running her fingertips over it.
It tickled in the best possible way and she slowly moved her hand lower as she traced the line of hair that narrowed and darkened before thickening around his groin. She took him in her hand and stroked him. “Did you ever do this while you thought of me?”
“What do you think?”
“Yes,” she said. “What was I doing in this fantasy of yours?”
“What you are right now,” he said. His accent was thicker when he was turned-on.
There was something endearing about that. And she realized no matter what she’d been telling herself, she already cared about him.
Antonio tangled his hands in her hair and drew her mouth back to his as she stroked his cock. She knew he wanted her very badly.
His other hand cupped her breast, his thumb rubbing over her nipple in syncopation with his tongue plunging into her mouth.
The slow burn that had been building inside her was being fanned into an inferno, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Not that she wanted to.
She needed to be very careful that she didn’t allow this to consume her and burn her out.
But tonight she could enjoy the heat. She shifted again, trying to move so that the tip of him would be at her center, but he took his hand from her hair and held her waist, keeping her still.
He wasn’t going to be hurried, and she got it, really she did. The first time had been all white-hot heat and this time... This time would be like the long hot summer.
She swiped her finger over the tip of him before increasing the pace of her strokes. His hips canted forward and his tongue plunged deeper into her mouth as his hand shifted on her breast and she felt her dress being drawn up. They broke the kiss long enough for him to pull it off and toss it aside. All she wore now was a tiny bandeau-type strapless bra.
He arched an eyebrow at her as he slowly peeled it up and over her head. Then he put both hands on her breasts, cupping them, pushing them together as he leaned in and his breath brushed over her cleavage. He dropped nibbling kisses along the full globes and then bit her at the base of her left breast.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry, querida,” he said. “I wanted to leave my mark on you so when we go back to real life you will know this really happened.”
She shifted around and leaned down and bit him above his left nipple with the same force. Then she soothed the area with her tongue and sucked hard on his skin, and when she lifted her head she knew he’d have a love bite to remember her.
“Tit for tat? Isn’t that what you Americans say?”
“I don’t know, but I’m all about keeping the playing field level,” Izzy said. Finally she pulled his shirts over his head, getting him fully naked. It was then that she noticed the gold medallion he wore. She lifted it up. It was the size of a quarter and hot from being pressed against his skin. She leaned over and kissed the spot on his chest where it had lain and then dropped it back down.
Putting her hands on his shoulders, she shifted until she felt the tip of him at her entrance, and this time he didn’t stop her. Instead, he put his hands on her hips and urged her down. She had to move slowly to accommodate his size. But soon he was fully seated inside her and she felt those delicious shivers again, spreading out from where they were joined. She wanted to move, but he held her still with his hands as he lowered his head and took one nipple in his mouth. He held it lightly between his teeth and twirled his tongue around it. She was desperate to move, and she put her hand against his neck, urging his head back with her thumb.
She leaned forward, her mouth open as she rubbed her lips over his neck and tightened her internal muscles around him. He groaned and his tongue snaked out to touch hers. She sucked it into her mouth and shifted again, and this time he let her move. She moved up on his length until he was almost out of her body and then slowly slid back down him again. She moved her mouth over his, leaving wet kisses all along his jawline as she moved against him, riding him slowly. Letting the storm within her build up. She held herself in check, taking him slowly because, now that he was inside her again, she knew she didn’t want to let this moment end. Didn’t want to chance losing him.
But he felt so damned good. He put his hands on her hips, driving up into her. Their joining was frantic, both of them becoming more urgent with each stroke. His mouth took control of hers and she felt his hands in her hair. His other hand found her hip and gripped it hard. His tongue thrust into her mouth as his hips thrust into her body, pushing her more quickly toward her climax. She held on to him, her tongue tangling with his, her body searching for release. Then he tore his mouth from hers and buried his head in the crook of her neck as he groaned and she felt him spilling himself into her.
His release triggered her own, and she closed her eyes tightly as her orgasm rocked through her. Antonio kept thrusting into her, the pace slowing until she collapsed against him, resting her head on his shoulder as he swept his hands up and down her back.
The caresses on her back grew lighter and then he placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head so that their eyes met.
“Each time we are together I tell myself no woman can make me feel as good as you do, and each time I am wrong,” he said.
He was exactly what she needed—and exactly what she was afraid of.
There was a very good chance that Antonio had already broken something at her core. That glass wall she’d used to keep everyone away so she could focus on one thing—the space program.
She wanted to feel regret or anger, but she didn’t. How could she when he held her so tenderly?
He withdrew from her and stood up, holding her in his arms. She felt him step out of his trousers, which had pooled at his ankles. He carried her into the bathroom, where she saw a large garden tub and intimate lighting just over it. He set her on the counter as he washed up.
“I believe I need to go and fetch your phone and purse, and I’m going to ask Ace to look in on Carly. Why don’t you run a bath and I’ll be right back?” he suggested.
She nodded and hopped off the counter to fiddle with the taps on the tub while she heard him dressing.
“I’ll be right back,” he promised again, and came to kiss her before letting himself out of their suite.
She felt a pang as he left. In a small way, it mirrored the reality of their lives. They were going to be apart more than they were together. Even if the Cronus mission accepted couples, they were a long way from that stage. They were still feeling their way around things. Sex was hot, but the friend thing...well, that was hot and cold.
She thought about putting her dress on and sneaking back down to the limos, going back to her room at the bunkhouse and denying this had happened.
But she’d never run from the hard things in her life and she wasn’t about to now. Antonio was changing her. Making her care for him.
Damn. She couldn’t even make herself say love. But it wasn’t love. Not yet. And if she was careful, it never would be.
She wanted Cronus. But for now she wanted Antonio, too. And if she put her mind to it, she could have both. She just had to be willing to let him go when the time came.
She turned her attention back to the bath, carefully monitoring the temperature and adding in salts that the hotel had so thoughtfully provided along with some high-end bubble bath that smelled like lavender. She put the bath mat on the floor, adjusted the lighting, then climbed into the tub just as the door to the suite opened again.
“I’m back.”
“I’m glad,” she said. She wasn’t going to try to put up walls to keep him out tonight. She was going to give herself this time with Antonio. Soon enough they would be facing the rigors of training.
He stood in the doorway with her purse and phone and another bag in his other hand. “I picked us up some snacks for later.”
She nodded but said nothing as he went into the other room. She watched him go and this time it didn’t hurt. She’d like to think that was because she’d made the decision to let him go and not because she knew he’d be coming right back.