Free The Costarella Conquest by Emma Darcy

delicious pressure of touching points; breasts, stomach, thighs, a wild vibrancy pouring through her, making her ache with the intensity of feelings that had never been so overwhelmingly aroused.
    This kiss was not just a kiss. It was total invasion, possession, wildfire sweeping beyond any control, burning her up with the need to have all of this man. Laura lost all sense of self. She was completely consumed by her response to him, and the response was too immediate, too powerful, too real for her to reason it away.
    She wanted him.
    More fiercely than she’d ever wanted anything.
    It was a dizzying shock when he tore his mouth from hers and pressed her head onto his shoulder, making the separation decisive. Her heart waspumping so hard, the drumming of it filled her ears. Only vaguely did she hear him suck in breath. His chest expanded with it. He rubbed her back, probably an instinctive calming action. Her quivering nerve ends were grateful for it.
    â€˜Shouldn’t have done that but I’ve been wanting to all evening,’ he muttered. ‘Are you okay to walk on, Laura?’
    Hotel…alone together in private…bed…uninterrupted intimacy… ‘Yes,’ she breathed on a sigh that relieved some of the tense ache in her chest. ‘As long as you hold on to me.’
    A deep sexy laugh rumbled from his throat. ‘Letting you go will be the problem, not holding on to you.’
    His words struck a vulnerable chord in her that Laura instantly shied away from examining. ‘Let’s not think about problems,’ she said quickly, lifting her head to shoot him a look of needful appeal. ‘I only want to think about what we can have together.’
    â€˜So do I,’ he answered, tenderly cupping her cheek as though she was something very precious, his dark eyes shining with pleasure in her. ‘It’s not far to the hotel now.’
    â€˜Okay. Give me your arm.’
    He tucked her close to him. The shakiness in Laura’s legs gradually lessened as they walked the rest of the way to the Intercontinental. Neither of them spoke. They moved in a haze of mutual desire, impatient for the fulfilment of it, everything else irrelevant.
    The hotel had been built around the old treasury building, making spectacular use of its special features. Laura had shared an afternoon tea with her mother there after a shopping day in the city. The main gathering place was The Cortile, a marvellous two-storeyed area covered by a huge glass dome, with colonnaded walkways surrounding it. Tonight, as Laura and Jake headed around it to the reception area, elegantly dressed people were indulging in a late supper, enjoying the ambience and the music being played on a grand piano.
    It was a classy hotel and Laura couldn’t help feeling pleased that Jake had chosen it. Somehow it made tonight with him more special. He collected their door-key from the receptionist and as they moved to the bank of elevators, he murmured, ‘I took a Bayview room. It overlooks the Botanical Gardens. I thought you’d enjoy the view over breakfast.’
    Laura’s heart swelled with happiness. He’d been thinking of her, planning to give her pleasure. This wasn’t just about sex with him. They were going to share more. Much more. She had made the right decision. A journey with Jake Freedman was well worth having. She no longer cared about how far it might go or where it might end. He was the man she wanted to be with.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    J AKE quickly slid the door-key into the slot just inside the room and the lights came on. Everything looked fine—classy, welcoming, and most important of all, providing a private oasis, not touching on Laura’s home environment nor his, completely separate to the lives they normally lived.
    It had to be this way.
    Bad enough that he was in the grip of uncontrollable desire for Alex Costarella’s daughter. Boundaries to this affair had to be set and