chapter Nine
Arianna tossed in her bed, restless, unable to get comfortable. Her body was burning up, heat scorching her from the inside out. An ache filled her core – pulsing, swollen, needing something – though she didn’t know what.
“Shh. You’ll enjoy this,” Rafe whispered.
His low soothing tone calmed her, though her body temperature rose a few more degrees. An erotic sensation lit her senses as she felt his hands on her stomach, his fingers burning her flesh. They glided up the flat plains of her abdomen and outlined the mounds of her naked breasts. Where had her shirt gone?
“Trust me,” he whispered, his mouth caressing her ear while his hands slid underneath her arms, his fingers stroking the sensitive skin as he lifted them higher. Clasping her wrists together, he swiftly tied a silk scarf to them.
Tight.
Before she had a chance to resist, she was locked firmly to the bed, unable to move her hands, unable to escape his touch. He kissed her wrists with feather soft pressure, his tongue gliding along her beating pulse, then moving down her arms and over the top of her collar bone.
“Do you like this, Ari? Do you want me to stop?”
“No… Please…” she pleaded with him. She wanted more. She opened her eyes, but only saw black and felt the gentle presence of a mask over her eyes, impairing her vision. Instead of fear, it only heightened her pleasure as his hands and mouth continued stroking her body.
His hands cupped her breasts, his slightly callused fingers circling her sensitive peaks, but not touching her where she ached, needed to be touched.
“What do you want, Ari?”
“...You…”
“Mmm. And where do you want me?”
“I want your mouth on my… on my nipples,” she cried, embarrassment washing through her, but knowing he wouldn’t touch her unless she begged him. Rewarding her, his thumbs brushed simultaneously across her peaked nipples, making her cry out.
They were painfully hard as he circled the tight buds before pinching them and drawing another cry from her. She needed more. Her legs opened on the bed, her body begging him to touch her where she ached, end the torment she was feeling.
When she was ready to cry out again, she felt the wet slide of his tongue across her nipple at the same time he pinched the other side, making her back arch off the bed from the intense pleasure.
“More!” she cried out, yearning for his touch. She pulled against her restraints, wanting to touch him, needing to pull him closer. She shouldn’t be doing this, but she didn’t care. She ached all over, her body shaking with unfulfilled need that only he could quench.
“Ah, don’t get greedy, Ari, or I’ll have to stop. I’ll just place my hardness in your sweet mouth and relieve myself, leaving you here to suffer,” he threatened as he pulled away from her breasts.
She whimpered in submission, willing to give him anything in that moment just as long as he continued what he was doing.
“Are you going to behave?” he demanded.
“Yes. Yes, I promise,” she gasped as his hand settled on her stomach.
“Good, Ari. That’s what I want to hear. I want your obedience. In turn, I’ll give you great pleasure, and you will satisfy my needs.”
“Yes, Rafe. Please, more,” she agreed with a scratchiness of pure desire in her voice.
His warm breath blew across her wet nipples, making them stiff as they reached up toward his hot mouth. His lips closed over the tight bud and she felt him suck hard, his tongue swirling around the swollen nipples.
It wasn’t enough.
His hand began moving down her smooth stomach, his fingers dancing across her skin as he reached her thigh. His thumb grazed the pulsing flesh of her pelvic bone, teasing her as he circled her swollen womanhood without touching its center, without relieving the burning ache inside her.
She knew better than to cry out, demand more from him. If he stopped, she’d die. Surely a person couldn’t come to the brink of so much pleasure only to be left tied to the edge. She’d rather perish than feel such a pulsing desire only to be left unfulfilled.
His mouth followed his hand as he kissed her between her breasts, then moved down her torso, slowly circling her belly button, before gently nipping the soft skin of her stomach. It was all so good, every place he touched relieved the ache for a brief moment, before the burning returned even greater than before.
He moved further down, his lips caressing the inside of her thighs, his tongue sliding out to caress the soft skin where her legs met her core. Just a little bit further… she begged silently.
She twisted her body, trying to lead him where she desired him most. She heard a soft groan escape his lips as she felt his warm breath caress her swollen womanhood. The sound of his pleasure heightened her very own, knowing she turned him on... he actually desired her. A shocking thrill spiraled down her spine at the thought.
His mouth hovered over her aching heat, torturing her with his proximity, but not bending the last half inch and satisfying her. She tried raising her hips, but couldn’t as his hands were pressing her against the bed, holding her in place, right where he wanted her.
When she was ready to give up, about to go out of her mind, he closed the gap. His hands moved inward and he parted her soft folds, his thumbs caressing her inner heat as his mouth bent down and he sealed his lips over her most sensitive area.
She screamed out in pleasure as he sucked her into his mouth, his tongue quickly rubbing over her swollen mound. When he inserted his fingers deep inside her core at the same time as his tongue swirled over her bud, she exploded with triumphant pleasure.
Her body shook against his skilled mouth as he eased her down the crest of her wave. She sagged against the bed as exhaustion overtook her body. Her bones felt like they were made of liquid, making her unable to move – to even breathe.
She felt the release of his mouth, then the feel of his body moving up her own – the warmth of his skin searing across hers. She wanted to push him away, tell him she couldn’t take any more, but her hands were still bound. She couldn’t move. She was all his for the taking.
“You don’t think it’s over, do you? Are you a selfish lover, Ari?” Rafe asked as he settled his weight across her body and his teeth bit down on the soft lobe of her ear.
She could feel the tip of his thick shaft pressing against her soft, wet opening. Lacking the energy to form words she simply shook her head. He slowly pushed himself inside her, one inch at a time.
Too big!
He was going to rip her apart. He pushed deeper and she screamed. It hurt. This wasn’t pleasurable. He was too large. They didn’t fit together.
“Please stop. It hurts,” she cried out. He laughed as his lips claimed her mouth, silencing her. He thrust his tongue inside at the same time his arousal pushed fully inside her.
Ari screamed as she sat up in bed, sweat dripping off her brow. She looked around in confusion, then gasped at the ache consuming her.
“It was just a dream. You’re okay, it was just a dream,” she said out loud. Even her words couldn’t calm her. What was that? Why was she fantasizing about Rafe? She didn’t want him. She didn’t. She had no business having an erotic dream about the man.
It had to be from their meeting earlier that day. She’d felt like a deer in headlights as he waited for her answer. Ari was still shaking from the strength it had taken for her to stand and walk from that room.
When he’d leaned over her, his mouth nearing hers, she’d almost arched her back, moved her body closer to him. She was finding his raw power to be an aphrodisiac. His seduction was hard to resist.
She had a great job; she had a few days to find help for her mom. It would be much easier for her to shun Rafe Palazzo if he wasn’t so magnetic. Her body seemed to be drawn to him, and that couldn’t happen.
Still unable to calm her beating heart, Ari stood and walked into her small bathroom. Flipping on the light she looked at her flushed complexion in the mirror. She was shaking as if he really had been there stroking her flesh.
“It was only a dream,” she said again, furrowing her brow at her reflection, as if she couldn't believe her audacity to be so turned on.
Her one and only sexual experience had been in college and it had been horrible. The guy was only concerned with himself and hadn’t given her body time to prepare. The pain had been excruciating when he’d thrust quickly inside her. She knew sex could be good, but she figured she was broken. That’s really why she didn’t understand her dream.
She could understand the end, the painful part, but the pleasure before that. Wow. She’d never in her life felt something so intense and since she didn’t have anything to compare it to, confusion swirled around in her head. She wished she’d never read his papers, filled her mind with such ideas.
She didn’t want to be tied up with silk scarves. She certainly didn’t want him to pleasure only himself and leave her aching. If only she was able to turn off her mind, purge him completely from her system. That would make her life so much easier than what it was right now. Though it was still the middle of the night, she didn’t think she would find sleep again anytime soon.
Turning on her shower, she stepped under the warm spray and washed away the sweat her erotic dream had produced. As she passed her fingers over her swollen folds, she flinched. Never had a dream made her body ache.
Pressing her hand tightly against her heat, she tried to push out the ache that still throbbed from her very core all the way down the sensitive skin of her thighs. After a fifteen minute shower, she was no closer to feeling relief so she dried off and climbed back in bed.
Ari tossed and turned the rest of the night, not finding any solace in sleep. She was hungry, and when a woman craves something, there is no use in fighting it.