“Yes but—”
“No. Everything you just described was a situation. An excuse to have sex . . . to get married . . . to stay married. You didn’t dive into a feeling other than giving it a label of love. Love has to start somewhere.”
“I suppose,” Emma said.
“Everything starts as an attraction. Could be physical . . . intellectual or both. Like you and I.”
Emma stubbed her foot on a rock, found herself off-balance. After a two-step dance, she found her footing. “Excuse me?”
“Our attraction,” Gio said without apology.
Her throat felt dry. “Who said I’m attracted?”
One minute she was in front of Gio, the next he’d doubled his step and stood in front of her, stopping her in her steps. The backpack he’d had dangling from one shoulder fell to the ground.
Emma sucked in a breath.
His eyes found hers, his lips fell into a thin line.
She took a step back and then stopped herself.
Gio lifted his hand and placed it on a tree that stood directly behind her. “Are you suggesting that I’m completely wrong about the chemistry between the two of us?”
She looked at his lips, his eyes. “Physical.”
“I’m not convinced that’s all it is.”
Emma lifted her chin.
“The risk is in the exploration.” He leaned closer.
Somewhere on the trail in front of them their party was disappearing from sight. Not that Emma felt threatened by Gio’s sudden move to keep her from walking away. Quite the opposite. His eyes drew her in, put heat deep in the pit of her stomach that started to spread.
“Isn’t . . . isn’t that what we’re doing?” she asked. “Exploring through conversation?”
He leaned a little closer. “Yeah. We’re doing that. You’re smart as all hell. Feisty . . .” He reached for a strand of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and brushed it aside. The slight brush of the back of his fingers against her skin sent shock waves up her spine. “Unapologetic.”
Emma swallowed . . . hard.
His lips were so very close to hers.
She felt certain he was inching in to kiss her. Unable to stop herself, she licked her bottom lip.
Gio noticed the move, his eyes dilated.
He moved closer still . . . his voice a whisper in her ear. “Your skin looks soft enough to taste, cara. Your lips . . . even when you’re angry, I want to feel them against mine.” Gio brushed his lips against the lobe of her ear, his breath warm against her skin.
Emma leaned into him slightly . . . her eyes fluttered shut.
Gio trailed his fingers down the side of her neck, and she tilted her head as if he were a vampire and she wanted him to taste her.
Was that him chuckling?
Emma wasn’t sure and wasn’t about to ask.
He pressed his lips to the side of her neck, and she felt her knees wanting to buckle from under her.
He was good.
Holy hell, when was the last time anyone turned on the fire in her body the way Giovanni did before a first kiss?
“Do you want to explore, bella?” His teeth grazed the side of her ear.
She opened her eyes, found Gio staring at her.
Emma offered a single nod.
“Me too.”
His words were out, and his lips pressed against hers.
Emma’s heart leapt in her chest with the contact.
Gio’s open-mouth kiss made her want to drink him in. He kissed her hard, tilted his head where she had to follow . . . wanted to follow. His tongue was not timid, but smooth and so incredibly delicious.
Emma felt the tree at her back as Gio leaned in, their bodies touched from knees to tongues. The pressure of his body against hers would stay in her dreams long after this kiss was over, she knew that . . . felt it deep in her core.
So many sensations swept over her.
The fresh air and smell of something fragrant blooming nearby. The touch of Gio’s hands as they ran up the sides of her body, stroking and bringing continuous waves of shivering sensations. Butterflies, if you could call the wings fluttering in her belly that, pulsed with every brush of his tongue against hers.
This was worth exploring.
So worth the risk.
Emma’s breath felt raspy, her chest rising and falling against his.
While she wanted to touch more, explore deeper . . . they were standing on a trail with their friends up ahead by a few yards . . . or maybe a quarter mile by now.
Gio brought both his hands to her face and slowly eased back.
They stared at each other, breath mingling. “That was worth the wait,” he whispered.
She leaned forward, caught his lower lip between her teeth, briefly.
Gio moaned, his eyes rolled back. “Damn, Emma.”
She liked seeing him lose his shit, she decided.
He always appeared in control, but biting lips dissolved that in a second.
His eyes opened, lingered on her lips. “One more.”
This time there was more fire. Emma let her hands wrap around him and fall past his waistline and over his ass.
There was no mistaking his arousal as his frame molded into hers, their bodies touching as much as they could and still be clothed.
Only when she tilted her hips did Gio pull back a second time. “The things I want to do to you right now.”
She smiled. “Not the best place.”
“You deserve cool sheets and champagne.”
Emma looked over his shoulder. “Do you think they’ll miss us?”
Gio smiled, leaned his forehead against hers. “Yes.”
“Damn.”
He untangled his body from hers but kept a hand on her hip. “We should catch up with them before they come looking.”
“Probably a good idea.”
Gio reached up, plucked a leaf from her hair. “Wow.”
“Yeah. I agree.”
He took her hand in his, grabbed the backpack, and turned toward the trail. “We’re doing that again.”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard from you since we met.”
Gio squeezed her palm and didn’t let go.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
He was trembling.
There were kisses . . . and then there was that.
Emma was pure fire and response. He’d kept his distance until now. And Gio knew, as he kept her hand in his, even when the others came into view, that he wasn’t letting go. This stumble into passion should have been a crash. But that cat-and-mouse game was over.
“There you two are,” Nicole called from the edge of the river. “We were about to head back to find you.”
Emma stood close to his side. “We were, ah . . .”
Chris looked between them. “Ah-huh . . . sure you were.”
Pierre laughed. “Leave them alone.”
Nicole walked over to Emma, made a motion to her own lip. “You have a little . . .”
Emma swiped at her lips. “What?”
Nicole chuckled. “Nothing.” Her eyes met Gio’s. “About time.”
“We weren’t gone that long,” Gio teased.
Chris hummed and looked away.
“There’s a clearing on the other side of the river,” Rob said, pointing across the water.
“And how do you suggest we get over there?” Gio asked. The flow wasn’t all that fast, nor was the river very deep, but there wasn’t a bridge.