‘We’re talking about Simon, not my damned cousins.’
‘I know that, but I don’t see the difference.’
Sebastiano stared into her luminous blue eyes, made even bluer by the reflected light glowing from the infinity pool nearby. Something in her guileless gaze finally registered in his usually agile brain. ‘Right,’ he said, feeling like a fool. ‘Simon is your brother.’
‘Yes. Who did you...? Oh!’ She clapped her hand over her mouth as if to stifle a laugh. ‘You thought he was...?’ She shook her head. ‘Who? My lover?’
At his silence her grin widened and that only made him scowl harder. ‘Of course I thought he was your lover. You told him you loved him.’
Her glee was evident in her mischievously sparkling eyes. ‘Is that why you glower at me every time I use my phone?’
‘You need to stop laughing.’
‘You have to admit, it’s kind of funny,’ she said, making a meagre attempt to stifle her mirth.
Sebastiano drew her even closer, releasing the lapels of his jacket to slide his hands into the wisps of hair either side of her face. She stopped laughing instantly then, her eyes suddenly as wide as saucers. Her hair felt like silk against his fingers, her skin even softer. His eyes drifted from her mouth to the tiny pulse point flickering in the base of her throat, a sense of victory he couldn’t explain coursing through him. ‘Kind of funny, you think?’
‘Sebastiano?’ Her voice was soft and her hands came up to grip his thick wrists. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m going to give you a lesson in what I would do if this relationship was real.’
Only it’s one-hundred-percent fake, he reminded himself right before he bent to her and covered her mouth with his. Her petal-soft lips parted on a gasp of surprise, her body stiffening beneath his touch.
Sebastiano gathered her closer, feeling her rigidity give way to a trembling need as old as time.
He groaned, pressing his lips harder over hers, seeking access to the warm recesses of her mouth. ‘Open for me, Poppy,’ he growled. ‘Kiss me as I’ve imagined you doing this past week. Let me taste you, bella. Let me—’ Another groan escaped his lips as she did as he requested, willingly parting her mouth for him, a tiny whimper escaping her lips as his tongue swept inside.
He tilted her head back further, seeking even deeper contact with her, one hand leaving her face to skim down her body and curve around her waist, bringing her into firmer contact with his hardness. His other hand fisted her sleek ponytail, holding her steady beneath the onslaught of his hunger.
Dio, but she tasted sweet. Tasted sweet and felt sweeter. He wasn’t sure he’d ever experienced a kiss like it, her hot, unguarded response making his body throb heavily.
Mine, a voice in his head chanted. Take her.
Some part of him questioned the desperate yearning behind that notion, but she was like a living flame in his arms, driving out rational thought, her hands gripping his shoulders, her tongue curling around his in a delicious imitation of what his was doing to hers. Hot need poured through him. He’d never experienced hunger like it and he wanted to drive her back against the nearest hard surface and take everything she had to offer.
A spear of blue fire flamed through him as she rubbed against him and he raised a hand to cup her breast, dragging his thumb across her distended nipple.
She gave a soft whimper and wrenched her mouth from his, her hands braced against his chest.
‘Poppy...’ He groaned, dragging her mouth back to his.
‘Sebastiano, wait!’
Her cry of panic infiltrated his sluggish brain and he stilled, suddenly aware that they were standing by the pool at his family home in full view of anyone who might be watching.
Dio!
He eased his arms from around her, insanely gratified to find that she wasn’t any more composed than he was.
She gazed up at him, her blue eyes blank with unsated lust. Her tongue snuck out to touch her reddened lips, and he saw the moment she came back into herself.
‘Oh, God. I... We... Was somebody watching us?’
He had no idea. Really, the Pope could have been performing a holy communion and he wouldn’t have noticed. ‘It’s possible.’
‘It’s possible?’ Her hand went to her hair, smoothing the strands he had just dislodged, her breathing as hard as his. She stepped back, grabbing at his jacket before it slipped from her shoulders. ‘Then why did you kiss me like that?’
He had no idea. ‘Insurance,’ he clipped out. ‘If one of my family members were watching us, they would have no doubt that we’re the real de