‘Mustn’t?’ he repeated imperiously, as if he had never been forbidden to do something by a woman in his life. ‘Don’t forget, you lay no claim on me either, Kate.’
‘But what point is there in saying anything—it’ll only cause trouble?’ she asked him urgently. ‘You’ve known Rosa and her husband for years and years—you can’t fall out, just because of me!’
‘Thank you for your consideration, Kate,’ he said implacably. ‘But I will say a few quiet words. Don’t worry, cara mia,’ he tilted her face upwards and coaxed a smile, ‘we will not fall out.’ He wasn’t going to tell Kate that Rosa was probably jealous of her, and that the wife of one of his oldest associates had been giving him the come-on for the past year. Giovanni’s mouth hardened. It was time he warned her off.
‘Kate?’
‘What?’
He bent his head forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips, smiling as he watched her eyes flutter helplessly to a close. ‘Let’s make the most of our last few hours in Barcelona,’ he whispered urgently. And he wasn’t talking sightseeing.
He drove as if demons were at his heels, and, back in the hotel room, he stripped her clothes from her body with such slow, sensuous care that she wanted to beg him to hurry up.
But the waiting and the anticipation more than compensated for her mounting need for him, and only when she was lying in the beautiful silver undergarments on the bed did he remove his own clothes and come to lie on top of her.
She saw the look of dark hunger on his face and gestured to the camiknickers she still wore, a question in her eyes.
‘I want to leave them on,’ he whispered. ‘I want to do
this.’ And he pushed aside the panel which shielded the very core of her femininity, his finger coming away coated with the syrup of her longing and he groaned and positioned himself and thrust into her long and slow and deep.
The sensation of the silk still against her skin, and then the silk of him inside her skin was almost too much too bear, and frantically she clung to him as he kissed her, and rocked her with the oldest rhythm of all.
And then it was too late, it was happening all over again, and this time she had to concentrate very hard to keep her emotions in check.
Because this time she was determined not to cry.
Kate felt subdued as she stood close to the departure lounge, but she hoped that she achieved the right kind of grown-up expression. The kind of look which would tell him that she had enjoyed herself—though she guessed he must have known that. A look which would tell him she had no expectations about the future.
She wondered what he would say. Just a goodbye, and then a brief, poignant kiss, maybe?
Giovanni looked down into eyes as green as the cypress trees which dotted the hills around the place of his birth, and touched his mouth to hers.
‘So did you enjoy your visit to Barcelona, Kate?’ he murmured.
To be honest, they could have been in any city in the world, for all the sightseeing they had done, but then sightseeing hadn’t been number one on their agenda. She knew that and he knew that.
She nodded, and smiled, her smile masking the thought that this might be the last time she would ever see him. ‘You know I did.’
‘Mmm. I thought so, magara mia!’
‘I am not your witch!’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Your Sicilian is improving by the day!’
Her flight announcement was called for the second time, and he swore softly beneath his breath. Had two days really passed with such indecent speed?
‘Giovanni, I really must go—’
He halted her with a forefinger placed softly over her lips. ‘Listen, I’m going to Roma in a few weeks’ time. Would you like to come and join me there?’
Her heart leapt, even while she registered how casually he broached the question. She pretended to give the question careful consideration, determined not to seem too eager.
‘To Rome?’ she repeated, and then she smiled. ‘Do you know, Giovanni?’ she said, taking care to keep her voice as casual as his. ‘I’ve always wanted to visit Rome.’
Rome. Paris. Prague. Vienna. New York. She joined him in one luxurious hotel after another—and in between times Kate threw herself into her work in an attempt to consume her thoughts with something other than her dark Sicilian lover. But it wasn’t easy.
Christmas came and went, but she didn’t see him. He spent it with his parents in Palermo, while Kate and Lucy went to their own family home.