Paloma tore into the house and ran upstairs to her room, intending to change her skirt and blouse that she’d worn to the office for something sexier. But when she opened her wardrobe, it was empty.
The maid came into the room.‘Scusa, signorina.’
‘Where are my clothes?’
‘Il signoreasked me to move your things into his room.’
The master suite had been refurbished eighteen months ago after Marcello had transferred to a bedroom on the ground floor because he’d found climbing the stairs difficult. Paloma barely noticed the sumptuous black-and-gold decor as she heard the shower in the en suite bathroom running. She slipped into the room and caught her breath when she saw Daniele through the misted glass of the shower screen.
He was a work of art. That body of his: lean and powerfully muscular, the broad chest that tapered down to narrow hips and strong thighs. Through the steam, she could make out the whorls of black hairs that grew thickly on his chest and arrowed over his abdomen to the base of his manhood. So absorbed was she in her appreciation of his masculine form that she yelped in shock when he stretched an arm around the screen and caught hold of her shoulder. He tugged and she found herself pulled beneath the spray.
‘I’m wearing my clothes,’ she protested. Glancing down, she saw that her silk blouse was plastered against her breasts and her nipples had already hardened in anticipation.
‘Not for much longer,’ Daniele drawled, stripping her with thrilling efficiency. His mouth was on hers, making hungry demands that she returned with demands of her own as their tongues tangled.
‘I missed you,’ she gasped as he closed his lips around one taut nipple and sucked hard. ‘Did you miss me?’
‘Can’t you tell?’ he said thickly, lifting her up so that her pelvis was flush with his and his erection pressed between her thighs. ‘I need to be inside you now,cara.’
She wanted to ask if he had only missed her for sex, but his urgency heightened her own, and when he slid an exploratory finger inside her, she was slick and ready for him. He replaced his finger with his rock-hard length, entering her with a powerful thrust that drove the breath from her body. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he cupped her bottom in his hands as he drove into her faster, faster. The intensity was too much, and she gave a cry as her orgasm surged through her in wave after wave of pleasure. Daniele pressed his mouth against her neck, and his groan was muffled when he came hard, shudders racking his big body.
Afterwards, Paloma blasted her hair with the hairdryer and slipped on Daniele’s shirt. The musky scent of his cologne clung to the fabric, and she breathed deep before following him into the bedroom. He was wearing slim-fit trousers and was buttoning a black silk shirt. ‘I asked for dinner to be served at eight.’
‘I’d better get dressed.’ She smiled. ‘You had my clothes moved to your room.’
‘Of course. The staff would think it odd if we did not sleep together, now we are married. We don’t want to risk a careless comment reaching the press and Morante Group’s shareholders.’
Disappointment twisted in her stomach. ‘Is that the only reason you want me to share a room with you?’
Daniele strolled towards her with that easy grace of his that reminded her of a jungle cat. ‘I proved a few minutes ago that I want you in my bed every night.’ His lazy smile faded, and his eyes narrowed on her tense face. ‘Am I missing something,cara?’
She bit her lip. ‘It’s just that I thought... I hoped that what we have between us is more than sex.’
‘What we have?’ He sounded genuinely puzzled, and Paloma’s hopes sank like a stone dropped into a pool. She snatched a breath.
‘I have feelings for you, Daniele. I care about you. Do you feelanythingfor me?’
His shuttered expression told her nothing. ‘You know that I care about your welfare. I will protect you—’
‘It’s not your protection that my heart longs for,’ she burst out. ‘I want you to love me...as I love you.’
His silence crushed her daydreams and ground them to dust.‘At least you’ll know where you stand,’Laura had said. Now Paloma knew that she stood alone, as she always had, she thought painfully. Only her grandfather had truly loved her. To claim the company that had meant so much to Nonno, she had married Daniele. But she had committed the unforgivable folly of falling in love with him.
‘I was honest with you from the start when I told you that I am not the man to fulfil your hopes and dreams,’ he said grimly.
‘Is that because you don’t want to?’ she whispered.
‘I can’t be the man you want me to be.’
‘I want the man you are. Not a different version of you that suits me. Even as a teenager, I never saw you as a fairy-tale Prince Charming. I fell in love with you because you are strong and gentle, fierce and kind.’
A nerve jumping in Daniele’s cheek was the only indication that his features had not been carved from granite. ‘I have never wanted to fall in love because it doesn’t last. What is the point in setting yourself up for disappointment and failure?’ He stepped closer to her, but when he placed his hand on her shoulder, she jerked away from him.
‘Love doesn’t always fail.’ Paloma bit her lip at his cynical look. Her family’s track record for commitment wasn’t impressive, and nor was Daniele’s.
‘What we have is good,’ he insisted. ‘Friendship, respect for one another and—’
‘Great sex,’ she supplied heavily.