Lina swallowed, feeling the sudden rise of colour to her cheeks, and swiftly she dived beneath the water again to swim another couple of lengths. But this time the water didn’t cool her and when she reached the shallow end of the pool he had slipped into the water and was waiting for her, just as she’d somehow known he would be. He was standing waist-deep, with tiny droplets glittering like scattered diamonds against all that rich golden skin. She wanted him so badly it was as if every atom of her body was longing for him to touch her. Suddenly she understood the reason for all the tension which had been slowly mounting throughout lunch and in the car afterwards. And despite her complete inexperience, Lina knew there was only one thing which could happen now.
If she wanted to.
She looked into his eyes and licked her lips again.
She wanted to.
Did he somehow read her thoughts or was it the hard thrust of her nipples against her navy costume which gave the game away? Was that why his body stiffened, as if someone had just turned him into stone? Lina didn’t know and she didn’t care, because suddenly it was as if she were being governed by something outside her control—by a force much greater than herself. It was as if she knew exactly what was going to happen, despite her total lack of experience and the laughable inequality which existed between them.
He didn’t move—not one inch—but that didn’t come as a surprise to her either. She’d somehow guessed he wouldn’t.
Because he doesn’t really want this, she recognised with a sudden understanding which went way beyond her actual experience. Oh, on one level he does—on the physical level, for sure. But he’s reluctant to initiate anything he might later regret. He doesn’t want to take responsibility for this.
But she did.
Somehow she knew she needed to.
Which was why she went right up to him and turned her wet face to his, standing on tiptoe and placing her trembling palms on his broad wet shoulders so she could support herself. But mainly so she could touch her lips to his, and kiss him.
CHAPTER THREE
SALVATORE TRIED TO do the right thing. The only thing. Which was not to respond to her in any way. Even though her fingers were digging into his shoulders and her soaking breasts were pressing against his chest. Even though his erection was so hard it felt as if he were about to explode. His throat constricted as he attempted to keep as still as possible and not react, but it was proving almost impossible because he wanted to kiss Lina Vitale more than he could remember wanting to kiss anybody.
He tried to tell himself she was not his type. In fact, she was the antithesis of his type. But that didn’t help him much either, because there was something so joyously vital about her. Those thick-lashed bourbon eyes. The mass of wet curls, which were streaming in a heavy mass over her luscious curves. It had been the same during the car journey here, when he’d been so achingly aware of her as she’d sat beside him. How had she managed to do that? He’d barely been able to keep his eyes on the road and when they’d arrived he’d left her to swim, quickly absenting himself in order to rid himself of his erotic thoughts. Alone, in the sane and cool surroundings of his bedroom, he’d thought he’d succeeded in that mission. And then he had seen her rising out of the water like a dark and voluptuous mermaid and—wham. Instant lust had combusted, and now this.
His throat dried because something told him she had the potential to be trouble and he needed to get her out of here as quickly as possible. But then his intentions were detonated by the way she pressed herself closer so that their bodies melded together as if they’d been glued. He could feel the exquisite press of her diamond-hard nipples pushing against the wet material of her swimsuit. Still he didn’t voluntarily touch her, just moved his lips so that he could whisper directly into her ear as if someone were listening. But no one was listening. He knew that. He knew it because he’d dismissed the housekeeper and chauffeur for
the afternoon so that the place was now empty save for them. Had this been his unconscious agenda—to have a nearly naked Lina Vitale standing compliantly before him, and to be poised on the brink of having sex with her, despite his very real misgivings?
‘We aren’t going to do this,’ he husked, but he could feel his body tremble as he said it and it felt like a betrayal.
‘W-why not?’
‘Because...’ Pulling away from her ear, he forced himself to look into her eyes and he trembled again, cursing the inexplicable hunger which was heating his blood. He ground out the words with difficulty. ‘Because it’s pointless.’
‘Pointless?’
Salvatore nodded. He’d noticed things about her when they’d been having lunch on the beach. Her trainers had been old and so had her scooter. She was poor and he wasn’t stupid. Newspapers regularly highlighted his eligibility. In the race to get him to the altar—which seemed to have been ongoing since he was barely out of puberty—Lina Vitale wouldn’t have made it past the starting post, so different was she from his usual choice of sexual partner. And she needed to be aware of that. He needed to destroy any foolish fantasies she might be nurturing before this went any further. He needed to tell her that any kind of shared future was a non-starter.
‘I’m leaving tomorrow. And even if I weren’t, nothing could ever come of this, Lina, for all kinds of reasons. We’re too different, do you understand?’
‘I don’t care about the differences!’ she burst out.
Salvatore narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t used to such honesty and her fervent declaration was chipping away at his resolve. ‘If you really want this—’
‘I do!’
‘If you’re absolutely sure about it,’ he continued, biting each word out with deliberate emphasis, ‘then it’s going to be nothing but sex. One night and nothing more. And that’s why it shouldn’t happen.’
‘But what if...?’ She hesitated before replying, like someone contemplating the wisdom of their next words, and her soft Sicilian voice was tantalisingly husky as she seemed to draw courage from somewhere deep inside her. ‘What if I don’t want anything but sex?’
It was the right answer and the wrong answer, all rolled into one. It was like starting a fire and dousing it at the same time. He stroked his finger down over her forearm and felt her shiver. ‘You’re sure you don’t have a boyfriend waiting at home?’
‘Quite sure.’
‘Or a pack of angry brothers?’ he murmured, only half joking.
She pressed her lips together. ‘I’m an only child.’