Kidnapping His Bride (13 page)

A gloriously delicious, quick amount of time…

He’d helped her out of the car like a gentleman, taking her hand as she stepped onto the sidewalk. His arm swooped around her waist as she stumbled in her shoes, embarrassed yet thankful he caught her. Her legs still quivered from the intensity of her orgasm, her skin fairly vibrating. The satisfied smile he gave her just before he leaned in for a brief kiss had left her even dizzier than before.

“You’re glowing,” he murmured only for her to hear, his arm tightening around her waist as he led her into the building, tipping his head at the doorman as they headed straight toward the elevator.

The moment the doors slid closed, he had her pinned against the wall, his mouth on hers, his hands cupping her face as the elevator made its quick ascent. “I love that I’ve made you look like this,” he whispered against her lips before devouring her again.

“H-how do I look?” she asked after he finally broke away from her lips, his mouth dotting fevered little kisses along her jaw, down the side of her neck.

“Beautiful,” he whispered reverently, his gaze meeting hers. “Radiant. Satisfied.”

Her cheeks warmed and she ducked her head, thankful when the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened. Rafe took her hand and walked her down the short hall that led to his apartment. He seemed agitated, downright anxious as he unlocked the door and then he was pulling her inside, slamming the door behind them, pushing her against the wall as if he were unable to keep his hands off of her.

She loved it. Wished fervently that she’d known Rafe had this side to him long ago. It was rather…arousing.

“I’ll stop if you want me to,” he said, his expression sincere, his eyes serious as they roved over her face. “Just say the word and you can go to your room tonight alone and everything will be fine tomorrow. I won’t hold your refusal of me against you. You’re in complete control of this situation, Cat. I hope you realize this.”

“Or?” she prompted, because she knew there was more. There had to be. The mysterious depths behind his words intrigued her. She didn’t want to stop this.

She wanted more. More, more, more.

“Or…” His voice trailed off, his gaze sweeping over her body, lingering on her chest, then moving upward to her mouth. “You can come with me. And spend the night in my bed.”

She nibbled on her lower lip, her body aching from the dark promise in his voice. There wasn’t a doubt that she wanted to be with him tonight, in his bed. But a small part of her was scared. Unsure. What if it hurt? She’d heard that, of course, knew that sex was painful the first time. Worse, what if he was disappointed when he discovered she was a virgin? There was no way she could pretend she wasn’t. He’d figure it out.

Cat would bet a lot of money there weren’t a lot of twenty-three-year-old virgins out there. Yet here she stood, having saved herself for this very man. The sexiest man she’d ever seen or been with, pressed up against her, ready to do things she’d only ever heard of. Imagined doing many times—with him. She could feel his erection, thick and insistent against her belly, the heat in his gaze sending darts of pleasure running throughout her body.

Giving her the answer, the reassurance she needed.

“I want to be with you.” She reached for him, ran her fingers down his front, tripping over the button placket of his shirt. “But…I hope you really want to be with me too.”

Chuckling, he trailed his index finger lightly across her collarbone, slipping it beneath the sequined strap of her dress. “I don’t think you understand just how bad I want to be with you. Do you, Cat?”

Slowly she shook her head, needing to hear him say it. His words would give her strength, knowing he really did want her. That this wasn’t just a passing whim.

Was it?

“How bad do you want me, Rafe?”

A smile appeared, slow and easy as it stretched across his face. “Quite the seductress, aren’t you, my darling Catalina?” He held up his hands in between them, turning them this way and that. “Look at me. My hands are shaking.” Unbelievably enough, they were. Such a vulnerable revelation on his part, one that she loved seeing. “Feel my chest.” He grabbed her hand and pressed it against him. She could feel his firm, warm skin, the accelerated
thump-thump
beat of his heart. It raced as fast as hers.

Maybe even faster.

She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know if this was normal or not. He always appeared calm and composed. Did she have the power to rile him up? Turn him on, turn him inside out as much as he affected her?

“I want you so bad it’s killing me not to just throw you over my shoulder and carry you off to my room. So I can lay you out on my bed and slowly strip you out of that sinful-as-hell dress. I want to kiss you all over your body, lick you between your legs until you’re begging me to stop, until you’re coming against my tongue, crying out my name as I bring you pleasure over and over again. Tell me. Would you like that, Cat?”

Struck completely mute, she nodded her answer, unable to form words at the images his confession brought forth. His dark head between her legs, his magical tongue licking her straight into pure oblivion…

She shivered at the thought.

“Say yes, love. Agree to spend the night with me and I promise to show you pleasure like you’ve never experienced before,” he went on, his voice thick with desire, his eyes glowing.

He already had, he just didn’t know it.
 

“May I ask you question?” Her voice was small and trembling with want.

“Anything,” Rafe said immediately.

“What’s going to happen after this night? What will happen to us after this weekend? Will we go our separate ways?”

Carefully he watched her, but she saw the hint of worry flicker in his gaze. Seeing that chink in his armor, that tiny imperfection made her feel better. Made Rafe seem more real. “Is that what you want?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. “Before I spent the last twenty-four hours with you, yes. It’s what I thought I wanted. I didn’t believe you could ever care about me. But now…now I think you could.”

“I do care about you,” he agreed. “I never wanted this to end in the first place, Cat. You have to know this.”

“I didn’t know. I still don’t really know what’s going to happen…” Her voice trailed off and they watched each other, standing in the foyer of his apartment, ready to make a major life decision all in a few quick minutes, all with a few short words.

He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it, clutching her fingers tight. “Let me prove it to you, Cat. Let me show you just how much I want you in my life.” He pulled her to him, delivering the sweetest, softest kiss to her lips. “Forever,” he murmured against her mouth.

Chapter Nine

“All right,” Cat whispered, her expression softening after he pulled away from the kiss. She swayed toward him, feeling dizzy from his heady words. She couldn’t believe he admitted that. Wanted so badly to believe he meant what he said.

Did he? Would they spend the next few days together, cocooned in such delicious intimacy that the outside world couldn’t invade their happiness? Only for him to ditch her the moment she returned to Italy?

Steeling her spine, she stood straight, pushing all worry from her mind. She was tired of living in fear. Tired of living in the simple, boring little bubble of her life. To get what she wanted, she had to grab hold of it and never let go.

She needed to grab hold of Rafe and show him just how much she wanted,
needed
him in her life.

Without a word, he grabbed her, swept her into his strong arms, making her gasp in surprise. He strode down the hall, his jaw tight, his expression unreadable as she stared up at him. Her arms were looped around his neck, his hands gripped her backside, and she almost felt like a bride on her wedding night, just about to be carried over the threshold.

Did newly married couples still do that sort of thing? Or were her thoughts as old fashioned as the marriage agreement that had been arranged oh-so many years ago?

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered as he walked into his bedroom, slowly setting her down on her feet. “And you’re mine.”

Chills swept over her skin at his possessive claim. She wanted to be his, in every sense of the word. But did he really want her like he promised? She still had her doubts…

“After tonight, you’ll belong to me.” He spoke very matter-of-factly as he pulled the dress up, exposing her panties, her breasts, until he was tugging the dress over her head and tossing it onto the floor. “Keep the shoes on, love. I’ve been fantasizing you wearing them and nothing else since you tried them on in the store.”

A bolt of lust moved through her, settling warm and damp between her thighs. The man could look at her, say a few choice words, and she would let him do whatever he wanted to her, no questions asked.

It was almost frightening, the power he held over her.

“Climb onto the bed,” he said, his voice edged with heat.

She did as he asked, propping herself on the mountain of pillows, feeling sexy in just her skimpy white lace panties and the nude platform stilettos. She spread her legs, braced her heels into the mattress and his eyes widened as he drank her in.

“That pose would be perfect if you weren’t wearing the panties,” he said darkly, his gaze dropping to said scrap of fabric, staring at her as if he could see right through them.

Shyness crept in, making her snap her legs back closed, but he reached out, his hand lightning fast and settling on her knee, slowly pulling her leg back.
 

“Rafe…”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Kitty Cat.” He kissed her, his hand moving to her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple. “Do you know how fucking gorgeous you look, half-naked and sprawled across my bed? I’ve dreamed of this, you know.”

He spoke so plainly. There was no pretense, no wondering where she stood or what he wanted from her. What he thought of her. She hadn’t a clue how relationships worked, how men and women really talked to each other. Her parents were a terrible example. Her sister was essentially dateless. Annalisa didn’t spend much time with the few friends she had anymore, always too busy either working or tending to her mother.

So her expectations when it came to Rafe, to any man, were impossible to dictate. It was a mystery for her to figure out—and more than anything, a mystery that left her woefully confused and insecure. She didn’t want to mess up this tentative connection they shared.

“What’s going through that pretty head of yours?”

She snapped her gaze up to his face, her insides going loose and hot when she saw he was unbuttoning his shirt. How she wished she were the one doing that. Her fingers literally itched to brush against his skin, explore all of those firm, hard muscles. Lick them. Nibble them. “Do you want the truth?”

“Always.” He shed the shirt, letting it flutter to the ground, and she gaped like an idiot. His chest was smooth, olive skin stretched over finely sculpted muscle. He was beautifully built, trim and lean. Confirming her earlier thoughts that he was lickable.

Definitely lickable.

“I was thinking how much I like it when you talk to me like that,” she admitted softly.

He tilted his head. His gaze dark, his smile wicked. “I can do it again if you want.”

“Really?” Her mouth went dry when his hands went to the waistband of his dark rinse jeans, undoing the buttons one by one. Shedding them with a simple push, revealing black boxer briefs that clung to powerful thighs…

And a rather impressive erection that strained against the thin cotton.

“What would you like to hear, my sweet little Kitty Cat?” He crawled onto the bed and she slid over, making room for him, a shuddering breath leaving her when he moved over her, his hot flesh pressing against hers, pushing her into the soft mattress. “How insanely sexy you look wearing those shoes? How I wish I could see through your panties?”

A laugh escaped her when he dove in, his mouth on her neck, raining wet kisses all over her skin. “I knew you were trying to see through them.”

“I wish you weren’t wearing any at all.” His hand drifted, down the slope of her belly, lower, toying with the waistband of her underwear. “Of course, this adds a hint of mystery, so I suppose I shouldn’t mind.”

“You had your hand beneath them not too long ago,” she reminded him, her eyes widening when she realized what she just said.

Well, well, well. Being with Rafe made her bold. And she liked it.

“That I did. And what a pleasure that was, I must say.” His fingers slipped beneath the thin fabric of her panties, tangling with her pubic hair, stalling her breath. “Or more like it brought you so much pleasure. I enjoyed watching you reach for all that pleasure, too. You’re quite beautiful when you’re coming, Kitty Cat. Has anyone ever told you that?”

She shook her head, her hair getting in her face, and she pushed it back. This could be the time, the moment when she might confess her little secret. But she was scared, afraid of his reaction.

More than anything, she was scared of his rejection.

“I don’t think I’d want to know of your past interludes anyway. No one wants to hear that sort of thing.” He sounded vaguely jealous, which was funny, since he had no one to be jealous of. No man had ever really been that interested in her. Oh, she’d had teenage boyfriends, but nothing lasting. One young man had taken a strong interest in her when she was nineteen, and they’d spent a lot of time together. Annalisa had encouraged her relentlessly to be with him, pushing him on Cat to the point of making a spectacle of herself. Her sister had believed the two of them would’ve made a perfect couple, direct quote.