He linked his fingers through hers and began leading her across the lawn, swerving to the side of the house where exuberant flora, lemon trees, shrubs sprouting with brightly coloured flowers and hydrangea enclosed an exquisite infinity pool. The air was aromatic.
‘I feel as though I’ve stepped into a travel brochure.’
Alessandro frowned. A nagging thought occurred to him. Had he seen those prints on the walls and brought her here so that he could deliver her those dreams of sun, sea and sand that had clearly never been realised? Had that been some weird, unconscious motivation behind his invitation to bring her to his house? He irritably swept aside a suspicion with which he was not comfortable.
‘You said you were hot...?’
‘So I did.’ She would have liked to enjoy the scenery a bit more. Well, a lot more. But business was business, wasn’t it? The longer this game between them carried on, the deeper her scars would be when they parted company, when he had got what he wanted. She undid the small buttons of the dress and it fell to the ground, pooling at her feet.
Alessandro remained where he was, looking at her with lazy, predatory satisfaction. ‘Will this be a full striptease?’
‘I want you, Alessandro...’ And I love you. I loved you once and I think it would be very easy to love you again. She schooled her features to conceal the chaos of her thoughts. ‘And I think we’ve both waited long enough...’ She walked towards him, reaching behind her as she did so to unhook her bra, which she tossed onto one of the low, wooden sun loungers, never taking her eyes off his face.
Alessandro found that he could barely control his breathing. The moment was electric. His jaw clenched when she was finally standing in front of him and he had to steel himself against an unruly, premature overreaction as she slipped out of her panties so that she was now completely naked.
‘The sun’s pretty fierce...’ He curved his hand around her waist, idly caressing it and pulling her against him at the same time. ‘And you’re fair. Any doctor would tell you that you need to lather yourself in sunblock...’ He kissed her slowly, tugging her bottom lip with his teeth, gently tasting her mouth, taking his time as their tongues melded, even though it was agony trying to keep his libido in check.
‘So what do you want to do about it?’ She wrapped her arms around his neck and flung her head back with a sigh as his lips traced a path along the slender column of her neck. She was wet and ready for him. She reached to fumble with the button of his trousers and he stayed her hand.
‘One good striptease deserves another,’ he murmured in a sexy, shaky undertone that sent her blood pressure skyrocketing. ‘But first...’
He sauntered towards what she now saw was a vine-covered pool house and emerged a couple of minutes later with towels and various creams. He dumped them on one of the vacant loungers and she watched, heart beating wildly, as he did what she had done only moments before.
His shirt was tossed to join hers and he kept his eyes on her as he walked slowly towards her. Every inch that brought him closer did crazier things to her nervous system. Her breath caught in her throat as he removed his trousers, then, when she felt that swooning was a real possibility, the final item of clothing joined the rest and he was as naked as she was, his proud, impressive erection proclaiming that he was as turned on as her.
When he was inches away from her, she reached down and firmly circled it with her hand.
‘Three days ago you were as tense as a violin string...’ He led her towards one of the loungers which was shaded by an overhanging tree and he neatly spread one of the towels on it.
Three days ago, she thought, I had no idea that my body could feel like this; three days ago it started to come alive. I may have been apprehensive then at what I was feeling but I’m not apprehensive now...
‘I’m not now,’ she said huskily.
‘Then lie down. I’m going to put sun cream on you and it’ll be the best foreplay you’ve ever experienced...’
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘IT MIGHT BE a little cold,’ Alessandro murmured. He had to make sure to keep his eyes away from her breasts, away from her flat stomach, away from the soft, downy hair that lightly covered the triangular apex between her thighs. He would save himself. ‘I keep the pool house air-conditioned. Lie on your stomach...’
‘You honestly don’t need to bother with sun lotion. It’s perfectly safe here in the shade.’
‘Doctor’s orders. Safety first is the main thing.’ She was on her stomach and very slowly he began to explore every exquisite inch of her body, rubbing the sun cream into her, feeling the silky smoothness of her skin and, with each stroke of his hand on her body, getting more aroused.