Natalie Anderson - Mr Right All Along

No one had given her jewellery. Ever. She didn’t know what her father had done with her mother’s things—he never discussed her.

Eduardo watched her. ‘It brings out that blue in your eyes and you look even more beautiful. Which is impossible, but there it is.’

For a half-second she stared at him, then turned away.

He grasped her arm and turned her back to him. ‘You’re not used to receiving compliments?’

Her tongue was tied. She didn’t want to answer that honestly. She didn’t want pity.

‘When someone compliments you, you say thank you. It is very simple. But failing that—’ his boyish dimpled grin exploded ‘—you let actions speak.’ He held up a hand in defence. ‘Just a smile. I didn’t mean sex. Though of course I would not say no to that.’

She laughed. As he’d intended her to.

‘You will learn you can trust me,’ he said softly.

‘And will you trust me?’ she asked, because he didn’t trust easily either. He didn’t open up.

Shadows flickered in his eyes.

‘I’ve never given you reason not to trust me.’ She echoed his words.

He shook his head. ‘You didn’t tell me some very important things before you took what you wanted from me on that beach. Then you ran,’ he said. ‘You wouldn’t even look back when I called out your name.’

She looked down at the beautiful bed, remembering that fateful afternoon. How overwhelming. How passionate. Maybe in this at least she could be honest.

‘You were right,’ she whispered quickly. ‘I was afraid. Because what we did was...’

‘Was what?’

She glanced back up at him. ‘Too intense.’

‘Was it what we did or what happened after?’ he asked. ‘You were angry, then I was angry... We won’t fight when we’re finished today.’

‘No?’ She half laughed.

‘At least I know your name this time. Princess Stella Zambrano De Santis.’ His smile was beautiful—that dimpled, genuine, gorgeous smile.

No, there wouldn’t be that abrupt end after they’d indulged now. That wouldn’t come for months yet. This time there would only be more. Already she was melting.

‘Don’t be afraid of passion,’ he said, reaching for her. ‘It is to be enjoyed.’

Passion? Was lust all this was? ‘How do people get any work done if they feel like this?’

He laughed and his hands slid to her waist. ‘The lucky ones get to indulge in it at their leisure. We’re very lucky.’

The expression in his eyes stirred that wildness she’d felt on the beach. This was her gorgeous fun-in-the-sun Prince.

‘There’s nothing to it.’ He lifted the veil from her hair and it tumbled in a heap of white on the end of the bed. He looked at her, approval all over him. ‘Pretty shoes. Pretty dress.’

So playful. So tempting.

He kissed her, then dropped to his knees, sliding his hands under her skirts.

‘What are you doing?’

‘What do you think?’

His eyes twinkled as he looked up at her. He knew how instantly this turned her on—seeing him at her feet, so determined to please her. What was there to worry about when he was this generous?

She smiled and closed her eyes, sinking into the sensations he stirred with his intimate caresses. ‘I thought we weren’t going to rush?’ she gasped.

‘I can’t wait to taste you again. I’ve been dreaming of it too long.’

He didn’t hold back. He pressed hot kisses up her thighs. But he didn’t pull back her panties. He teased her through them. She shook all over. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she gasped, rocking against him.

‘Oh, no!’ So quick. So intense.

‘It’s just an orgasm, Stella, get used to it,’ he teased. ‘You’re going to have lots and lots.’

She was going to have one now. His mouth was finally there. Even through the barrier of her cotton briefs she could feel the heat of him, the wicked swirls of his tongue, the maddening rub of his thumb.

‘Ohhhhh...’ she moaned as it hit. So good. She pressed hard on his shoulders to stay upright, but her legs were wobbly.

‘And there was me thinking you preferred to stand.’ He gripped her hips. ‘Always.’

‘I can’t stand. Don’t tease me.’

‘But teasing you tastes good.’ He kissed her explicitly again.

She wanted this. But it wasn’t enough.

As if he’d heard her he rose to his feet and turned her, carefully unfastening the small buttons and then parting her dress. She wore scrupulously plain white cotton panties and a sports bra designed for containment—to minimise bounce, not push for great up-thrust. Nothing decorative. So unsexy.

‘I like cotton,’ she said stupidly. Why hadn’t she worn the lacy, frilly things Giulia had silently left on the bed for her?

‘I like you.’ He tugged her panties down in a couple of swift jerks. ‘Bare.’

He undressed her until she wore nothing but the sapphire he’d chosen for her. He was at her feet, wearing that incredible suit. And he’d stripped her not just of her wedding dress but all her inhibitions.

He kissed every inch of her body. The balmy heat, the breeze wafting through the tunnel, the sound of the sea in her ears was like an erotic dream. But it was Eduardo alone who intoxicated her.

She wanted to see him. She wanted to touch him. Taste. Take. She wanted to feel all of him about her. His strength summoned hers. She instinctively understood that in this they were a match.

‘You need to be naked too,’ she ordered, feeling her power returning, and the freedom to have him the way she wanted.

He stood and all but ripped off his clothing, until he finally shed the silky black boxers that clung to his muscular thighs, and she openly, avidly gazed at his beautiful body.

‘See how you affect me?’ he muttered as he climbed onto the thick mattress and pushed her back onto the cool sheets. ‘You want to take it, Stella?’

She couldn’t wait.

He kissed her again, laughing even as he ravished her with kisses that made her writhe beneath him. His hands traced teasing paths over her bared skin, setting her cells alight, finally finding the secret curves. She arched into his hand.

‘Something you want more of?’ he teased.

But he gave her only teasing strokes, then finally just the one finger, slipping inside—carefully testing. Too carefully.

She didn’t want it as gently as this. She wanted all that raw passion back—like they’d had on the beach. She moved, restless and aching at the slow pace of his fingers.

A smile curved his mouth. ‘It doesn’t hurt?’

She shook her head, but it was a partial lie. It hurt that he wasn’t ferociously claiming her.

‘I’m not a virgin any more,’ she reminded him.

‘I worried later that I’d hurt you,’ he said.

‘No. It was so good and I felt so wild that I freaked myself out... It wasn’t you.’

But it was him. He’d been the one to stir up those passions—just as he was stirring them now.

‘I like you hot and wet and arching up to me, your body begging for mine,’ he muttered, kissing her again. ‘But this isn’t enough for you, is it?’ he asked, his voice roughening.

Could he read her mind? She licked her lips.

‘Stella?’ He moved his hand, pushing a little deeper, rubbing a little harder.

‘No,’ she answered, almost angry that he was pushing her to admit it. ‘I want more.’

She wanted it as wild and as free as it had been that day on the beach.

‘I think you are greedier than you like to admit. Stronger. Ready for rougher. Ready for the rest of me.’ He laughed as she moaned. ‘And you like it when I talk filth to you.’

She arched as he moved to brace over her, nudging her legs wider and settling between them. Unable to speak. So hot. And, yes, so ready.