‘I’m not sure that’s necessary...’ She tugged her fingers loose, but her cousin interrupted.
‘Come on, Cai,’ she said, gripping the child’s hand. ‘Let’s get you dressed so you can see the new car. And your mummy and Mr Galanti can talk,’ she added pointedly.
The look that passed between the two women was not lost on me. Clearly Jessie wanted us to talk too. I decided I liked the woman a great deal.
‘Can we go right now?’ the child asked.
‘We can go as soon as you are dressed,’ I said.
‘Thank you, Mr Alexi,’ he said. ‘I like being your friend,’ he added, the innocent remark making my chest ache.
‘It’s just Alexi,’ I called after him as he dragged Belle’s cousin towards his bedroom in his rush to get changed.
As soon as Jessie and my son disappeared down the hallway, the room fell silent.
The delightful flush on Belle’s cheeks had spread to engulf her collarbone. I noticed the pink rash on her neck where I’d sucked the pulse point less than ten hours ago—and driven her wild.
The heat surged back into my pants.
‘I... We weren’t expecting you today, but if you want to take Cai for a trip to the track I have no objections,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Jessie can accompany you. I’ve still got a ton of things to do here.’
That all sounded very reasonable, but the pulse punching her neck gave her away. She was still running, and still kidding herself we could conquer this need with denial.
I placed my hand on her neck and ignored the flash of panic. She stiffened but didn’t draw away.
‘Surely we discovered last night the time for cowardice is ove
r, bella notte,’ I said, stroking my thumb across the pulse in her collar bone, feeling it flutter uncontrollably.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said, but I could see she knew exactly what I meant. Her desire for me was the one thing she had never been able to hide.
‘Then let me demonstrate,’ I said as I lowered my head to hers. ‘I’m not here just to claim my son,’ I murmured. Her lips parted under mine with a gasp. The invitation was all the more beguiling because I was sure it was completely instinctive. ‘I’m here to claim you too.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Belle
I’M HERE TO claim you too.
The gruff words, so sure, so dominant and so possessive, shot through me as Alexi’s lips captured mine.
The dark, insistent need I had been trying to rationalise, minimise and explain all through my sleepless night leapt out of the shadows and sent glittering light cascading through my body.
My mouth opened instinctively to let him in, my fingers fisting in the soft cotton of his polo shirt as his tongue probed—demanding, relentless. He thrust deep into my mouth, exploring the recesses, tasting me again the way he had tasted me last night, but in the bright light of morning my response felt somehow more devastating, more out of control.
His hands cupped my cheeks as he angled my head for better access, his tongue delving deeper, not just claiming me but branding me.
My breathing sped up with my heart rate but my dazed mind—which was still reeling from the shock of having Alexi in my home unannounced, and seeing him engage with our son with surprising sensitivity—managed to engage.
Why was he really here? To become a father to his son, or to reopen the Pandora’s box I had tried to slam shut after last night?
I flattened my palms against his waist and managed to gather the strength to override the need and shove him back.
‘Stop!’ The words came out on a sob. He let me go instantly.
Perhaps he was as shocked by the incendiary nature of our physical connection as I was. But he didn’t look shocked, he looked indomitable, as I stumbled back, desperate to get away from the fire still burning in my blood.
‘We can’t... We can’t go there again.’ I dragged shaking fingers through my hair, scrambling around for the right words, the right tone—calm and assured rather than weak and needy. Not easy when my heart was racing faster than the Galanti X on the final lap at the Monaco Primo Grande. I gulped down several steadying breaths.