‘I hate to burst your bubble, but I knew it was you and I controlled my reaction. If I hadn’t, I might have killed you,’ he said grimly. ‘As soon as you had delivered the kick, you should have run as fast as you could. However, it is true that the element of surprise can give vital minutes in which to escape from an attacker.’ Daniele moved behind Paloma. ‘Imagine that I am an assailant and I’m about to drag you into a dark alleyway. What are you going to do to get away from me?’
His arms shot around her in a bear hug, but she instantly dropped into a squat position, making it harder for him to pick her up. Remembering her training, she lunged forwards and at the same time thrust her elbow backwards into his abdomen.
‘Good,’ he grunted. ‘The assailant would be off guard. But if he grabbed you like this—’ Daniele seized her by her shoulder and spun her round to face him ‘—you’d have no choice but to defend yourself. Make a fist,’ he instructed. ‘Strike mainly with your top two knuckles. Go on, hit me in the stomach.’
Paloma stared at Daniele. She had been fascinated with him since she was a teenager. However, none of her romantic daydreams had featured her punching him. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
He gave her a sardonic look. ‘There’s no chance of that happening.’
She sensed there had been a double meaning in his words to let her know she couldn’t hurt him, either physically or on an emotional level. It infuriated her to admit that he could probably break her heart if she were ever foolish enough to allow him anywhere near that vital organ. She wanted to slap the arrogant expression off his face. Instead she drove her fist into his abdomen. It was like hitting a brick wall and he did not flinch.
‘Again,’ he said. ‘An assailant would not be expecting you to show aggression. Fight like you mean it. Fight for your life, Paloma.’
For the next half an hour, Daniele alternately praised and criticised her as he put her through the hardest training session she’d ever done. She was breathing hard when he finally signalled that they had finished, but she noted that he was not in the least out of breath. He was a superb athlete. She leaned back against the wall and her gaze was drawn to Daniele’s powerfully muscular body in grey running shorts and vest top. His skin was darkly tanned, and his legs and forearms were covered with fine black hairs that Paloma guessed also grew thickly over his chest.
He was blatantly masculine and utterly gorgeous. Her insides melted every time she looked at him. Their eyes met and held, and she sensed an undercurrent of awareness between them. There had been something raw and sexy about working out together and getting hot and sweaty. She understood why he had challenged her. He’d wanted her to react and let her anger out. Her marriage and divorce from Calum had robbed her of her self-worth. Being kidnapped, and the continuing threat to her safety, had made her feel disempowered. But Daniele had given her the opportunity to prove to herself that she was strong, mentally and physically.
He moved closer to her and laid his hand flat against the wall next to her head. His amber eyes glowed like the smouldering embers of a fire. ‘I agree with the suggestion you made last night,’ he murmured. ‘Our marriage must appear to be genuine, and in public we will have to act as though we can’t keep our hands off each other.’
His deep voice with its sexy accent sent a delicious shiver through Paloma. She licked her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘Do you mean you want to practise...kissing me? You didn’t give that impression last night.’
‘You’d had too much to drink, and I couldn’t take advantage of you. But now...’ His warm breath tickled her ear as he pulled her towards him and lowered his head. ‘Will you object if I kiss you?’
She couldn’t speak. Could barely breathe. He dominated all of her senses, and anticipation made her heart pound. His face was so close that she could count his eyelashes, but his mouth hovered tantalisingly out of reach. Realising that he was waiting for her to make a response, she gave a tiny shake of her head, and finally his lips met hers.
The kiss exploded through Paloma. Heat and fire. Her head fell back as she offered her lips to him, and he took everything and demanded more. This was nothing like the cool brush of his mouth over hers after he had announced their engagement at the board meeting. Daniele’s arm tightened around her waist and he sank his other hand into her hair, drawing her against him so that she was conscious of his hard thighs and the tantalising ridges of his abdominal muscles.
He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue over the shape of her lips before he dipped into her mouth in a flagrantly erotic exploration that drew a low moan from her throat. Paloma hadneverbeen kissed like this. Never felt such an intensity of desire that brought her body to urgent life. Her nipples, jutting beneath her clingy top, were so hard they hurt. Between her legs she ached with a need she barely understood. Her ex-husband had crushed her confidence with his mental cruelty, but now the startling idea occurred to her that perhaps she wasn’t frigid, and maybe Calum’s inability to make love to her had not been entirely her fault, as he’d claimed.
Paloma was totally absorbed in the sensations that Daniele was creating with his mouth and hands. He feathered his fingertips down her spine and spread his fingers over her bottom. When he hauled her even closer to him, so that her pelvis was flush with his, she caught her breath as she felt the unmistakable ridge of his arousal beneath his shorts.
He lifted his head and his amber eyes burned into her. ‘If we act this convincingly in public, we will be in danger of being arrested for indecency,’ he drawled.
Of course he was acting, and so was she. The salutary reminder of their marriage bargain doused the fire inside Paloma. She managed a nonchalant shrug when he stepped away from her. ‘I guess we will have to suffer a few kisses if it means that we both get what we want.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘I apologise if you found kissing me an ordeal.’ He walked over to the punchbag suspended from the ceiling and pulled on a pair of boxing gloves. ‘I’m going to continue working out.’ It was a dismissal. Paloma felt his gaze follow her when she walked towards the door. ‘You were an excellent student, by the way.’
She glanced back at him. ‘At martial arts or kissing?’
A grin broke across Daniele’s stern features and for a moment he looked almost boyish. ‘Both,cara.’
CHAPTER SIX
THATKISSWASbranded onto Daniele’s psyche and he had thought of little else for the past four days. He’d had a good reason to kiss Paloma, he brooded. Tonight the Morante Foundation’s charity ball was to take place at the palazzo, and they would be seen in public for the first time since the news of their engagement had broken in the media, the day after Marcello’s funeral.
The funeral had been a small affair. Paloma and Franco were Marcello’s only family, and he’d left instructions in his will for a few of his closest friends to attend the ceremony in the private chapel in the grounds of the palazzo. Paloma had been pale but composed, but when Daniele had seen tears slip silently down her cheeks, he’d taken hold of her hand, and she had curled her fingers tightly around his.
The practice kiss at the farmhouse had been necessary. It would be no good if Paloma shrank away from him when they were in front of the curious eyes of the shareholders and the long lenses of the paparazzi photographers, Daniele assured himself. His jaw clenched as his body responded predictably to the memory of Paloma’s lithe body pressed up against him. He had felt her nipples as hard as pebbles and heard the soft gasp she’d made when she’d become aware of the burgeoning proof of his arousal. It had taken all his willpower not to tumble her down onto the floor and strip off her sexy gym pants. He had longed to drive his swollen shaft between her thighs and claim his soon-to-be wife. And he’d sensed from Paloma’s ardent response to his kiss that she was not as immune to him as she would like him to think.
But if they embarked on a sexual relationship, it would only complicate the situation, Daniele decided. It was crazy how, when he’d made a teasing remark about grandchildren and she had responded that they would not have children, he had pictured a baby with chestnut-brown hair and the bluest eyes—his and Paloma’s daughter. He had assumed he would never have a family. At least he had never met a woman who he would want to be the mother of his children and he’d believed he was not cut out for the commitments of marriage and parenthood. He functioned better alone, and there were plenty of attractive women willing to share his bed if he desired company.
Daniele pushed away the idea that a man could achieve his ambitions, make his fortune and have the world at his feet, but still feel lonely. He walked through the grand rooms of the palazzo where the portraits of generations of the noble Morante family adorned the walls and tried to shrug off the feeling he’d had when he was a boy, that he was not good enough for his mother, and now he was not good enough to marry Paloma.
He halted at the bottom of the magnificent, sweeping staircase and every thought was driven from his mind except for one incontrovertible truth. Paloma was beautiful beyond compare. As Daniele watched her walk gracefully down the stairs, his heart missed a beat and his blood rushed south, making him instantly and embarrassingly hard. If their engagement had been real, there was no way he’d be able to keep his hands off her. He clenched his fists by his sides to avoid temptation as he roamed his gaze over Paloma.
Her white satin ball gown with a black floral design was a dramatic showstopper. The strapless bodice had been designed to push her small breasts high and showed off her slim shoulders and the elegant line of her neck. Her hair was piled on top of her head, with a few loose tendrils framing her delicate jaw. Her hairstyle drew attention to her dazzling diamond drop earrings.
When they had stayed at the farmhouse, she had worn little make-up, and in truth, her exquisite features did not need enhancement. But Paloma must be aware that tonight she would be the focus of attention and her appearance was flawless. A smoky shadow on her eyelids emphasised the deep blue of her eyes, and her lips were coated with a scarlet gloss that gave her the look of a glamorous femme fatale.