He took her with a feverish passion, raising her thighs to drive into her as deeply as he could, deeper and deeper, faster and faster, their bodies fusing together to become one pulsating being.
Anna’s climax bubbled back into life and when he came with a groan she followed within moments, biting into his shoulder and pressing herself as tightly as she could to him as the pleasure exploded out of her.
For a long, long time, the only sound to be heard was their ragged breathing and the thundering of their hearts.
It was the most blissful state.
Eventually Stefano shifted his weight off her and she twisted onto her side to rest her head on his chest.
She kissed the taut skin beneath her. ‘I’m so glad I married you. I would do it again in a moment.’
His response was to tighten his hold on her and kiss the top of her head.
CHAPTER NINE
ANNA CARRIED HER BOWL of cereal to Stefano’s study, eating as she went. For once he’d woken before her, waking her to make love before saying he had a conference call to take and work to catch up on. When she’d asked if there was anything she needed to be getting on with herself, he’d kissed her and reminded her that she was technically still off sick.
She hadn’t protested. Five days of sex, sand and sea had left work far removed from her life. She’d left school at eighteen and had worked constantly since. There had been no grand plan, just a determination to work hard and be self-sufficient. She hadn’t known how wonderful it could be to kick back and relax and to let the cares of the world pass her by and here, in this bustling beach paradise, she’d been able to do just that. In a few hours they’d be heading up Route 17 to San Francisco and their mini holiday in Santa Cruz would be over.
She found Stefano rummaging through a filing cabinet and talking to himself. It took her a moment to realise he was in fact having a video call with someone on his laptop.
He raised a hand and winked to acknowledge her and carried on with his conversation in rapid Italian with a woman Anna couldn’t see from the angle of his laptop but whose voice replied in equally rapid Italian.
Perching herself on his desk, Anna ate her breakfast while the two chatted. Although she couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, judging by Stefano’s tone this was no business talk.
By the time he’d finished the conversation, she’d finished her breakfast and put her bowl on his desk. ‘Who was that?’ she asked.
‘My sister.’ He came over to her, took her face in his hands and gave her a kiss.
She looped her arms around his neck. ‘Is she okay?’
‘She doesn’t like her neighbours. She has three male students living in the flat above hers and they make too much noise at night. They ignore her complaints.’
‘Is she not scary like you?’
‘I don’t scare people.’
‘You revel in it.’
He grinned and kissed her again. ‘Only people who deserve it. And I have never scared you.’
‘I’ve never scared easily. So what are you going to do about her neighbours? Kneecap them?’ she joked, then pressed her lips to his.
‘I think a threatening letter will do as a start,’ he said into her mouth.
She nipped his bottom lip. ‘Very wise.’
Laughing, Stefano unlooped her arms from round his neck. ‘I have a conference call to make. Give me an hour and I’ll come back to bed before we leave.’
‘You don’t need me here for it?’ She had never missed a conference call in all the time she’d worked for him...
But then she remembered she had a new role, one she only had patches of memories of. She would have to get a handle on it from scratch.
She wouldn’t worry about that until they were back in London, she decided, sliding off the desk.
‘No underwear?’ he said with a lascivious gleam.
She turned, giving a hint of her bare bottom beneath her skirt. ‘I can sit on your lap.’