Rumours: The One-Night Heirs. Carol Marinelli

for their source.

      And was she scared?

      No.

      Shy?

      Not a bit.

      Raul stripped, and then no words were needed, no instruction required, as naked, erect, he dealt with her dress.

      Lydia held up her hair as he unzipped her.

      She shook as he removed the dress, then her bra.

      And she moaned as he knelt to remove first her shoes and then the final garment between them.

      Raul slid the silk down and probed her with his tongue. Lydia stood and knotted her fingers in his hair, and as Raul gently eased in two fingers, though it hurt, it was bliss.

      She parted her legs as he licked and stretched her, and ensured she was oiled at the same time.

      He turned away from her then, reaching for the bedside table.

      ‘You’re on the Pill?’

      Lydia nodded, a touch frantic. She wanted no pause for she needed him inside her.

      Lydia had the rest of her life to be sensible and behave.

      Just this night.

      He took her to his bed and they knelt upon it, kissing and caressing each other. Gliding their hands over each other’s body. His muscled and taut…hers softer. They recreated the scene from earlier, at the glassblower’s, because it had felt at the time as if they were watching themselves.

      ‘Since we met…’ Raul said, and kissed her arched neck.

      And her breasts ached for him, but not as much as between her legs.

      His erection was pressed against her stomach, nudging, promising, and he wanted to take her kneeling but was aware that it was her first time, and he had felt how tight she was with his fingers.

      Raul tried to kiss her into lying down so that he could take things slowly.

      She resisted.

      And he was glad that she did.

      He raised her higher, hooked her leg around him and held himself. And she rested her arms over his shoulders and then lowered herself.

      A little.

      It hurt, but it was the best hurt.

      Raul’s eyes were open, and they were both barely breathing, just focused on the bliss they felt.

      ‘Since we met…’ he said again, and his voice was low, rich and smoky.

      And she lowered herself a little more, and he felt her, tight and hot.

      She wanted him so badly but could not see that last bit through. ‘Raul…’

      There was a plea in her voice again, and he heeded it and took control and thrust hard.

      Lydia sobbed as he seared into her. Everything went black, and not just because she’d screwed her eyes closed. She thought she might faint, but he took her hips and held her still and waited as best he could for her to open her eyes.

      They opened, and she thought she would never get used to it—ever—but then her breathing evened. And when she opened her eyes again, as she had on the canal, this time they met his.

      Raul’s hand went to the very base of her spine. His touch was sensual and she moved a little, slowly, acclimatising to the feel of him within her.

      She was sweaty and hot as his hands moved to her buttocks and he started to thrust.

      ‘Raul…’

      She wanted him to slow down, yet he was moving slowly.

      And then Lydia wanted him never to stop.

      Pain had left and in its place was a craving, an intense desire for more of what built within.

      His hands had guided her into rhythm, but now she found her own. And it was slower than they could account for, for their bodies were frantic, but they relished the intense pleasure. Raul felt the oiled and yet tight grip of her, and each thrust brought him deeper into the mire, to savour or release. Lydia was lost to sensation. His breath in her ear was like music as it combined with the energies concentrated within her.

      Her calf ached, but she did not have the will to move it, and then her inner thighs tensed as she parted around him.

      The centre of her felt pulled so tight it was almost a spasm, and then she was lost for control and he held her still. And then, when she had thought he could fill her no more, Raul swelled and thrust—rapid and fast.

      Lydia screamed, just a little, but it was a sound she had never made before and it came from a place she had never been.

      Her legs coiled tight around him, her body hot and pulsing as he filled her.

      ‘Since we met,’ he said as she rested her head on his shoulder and felt the last flickers of their union fade, ‘I’ve wanted you.’

      ‘And I you,’ Lydia said, for it was the truth.

      And then he kissed her down from what felt like the ceiling.

      ‘Res…’ Raul said, and then halted and changed what he had been about to say. ‘Rest.’

      And she lay there in his arms, silent.

      Lydia knew there could be no going back from what had just taken place.

      And it had nothing to do with innocence lost.

      How the hell did she go back to her life without him?