And then he caught sight of her. She was standing in the far corner of the room talking to a tall, distinguished-looking man. Vicenzo recognised him. He was a charmer, renowned for taking beautiful young mistresses while his wife played away with her toy-boys. Blind fury rose up within Vicenzo as he strode through the crowd. Cara was standing and nodding gravely, responding to whatever Stefano Corzo was saying, one arm wrapped around her belly and a fresh glass of water in her other hand. She stood out in the crowd, tall and slender, her weight on one leg, while every other woman there was fawning and preening to get noticed. In fact she looked so studiously demure that it made Vicenzo’s rage burn even fiercer.
Cara’s skin prickled and she knew Vicenzo was close. Fine hairs were standing up all over her body. She had to disguise her shiver of reaction when she felt him slide an arm around her waist. He greeted the other man urbanely enough, but Cara recognised the tension in his voice and marvelled that she already knew him well enough to know that.
Corzo was passing on his congratulations to Vicenzo, a mischievous glint that Cara didn’t understand in his eye. Then she heard Vicenzo say, ‘Time for us to leave. We have a big day tomorrow.’
The wedding. A flutter started in her chest as Cara followed Vicenzo, her elbow clasped firmly in his hand, as he bade goodnight to their hosts. Once in the car, the air positively crackled with tension but Cara was determined to ignore the fact that she was so burningly aware of him.
Vicenzo tried to push down his feeling of relief at having Cara back in his car, to himself, away from Stefano Corzo and all the other men he’d seen notice her pale and unusual beauty.
He forced himself to be civil when he felt anything but, and said, ‘So, what were you and Stefano talking about?’
Cara looked at him briefly, warily, before turning away again. Vicenzo had to quell the urge to turn her face back to him. He saw her throat work and then she answered. ‘We were talking about the recent boom and subsequent downturn in the Irish economy, actually, and its effect in Europe.’
Cara looked at Vicenzo, feeling defiant. She’d no doubt that he probably thought she’d been trying to seduce that other man, but Stefano was the one who had collared her, blocking her from getting back to Vicenzo. She bit down the urge to say something else and just clenched her fists in her lap.
Vicenzo looked at her, eyes glittering. She’d been talking about economics? Uncomfortably, the thought made something lurch in his chest, and he looked away before he might reveal how ambiguous her statement made him feel.
When they got back to the apartment, Vicenzo gestured for Cara to precede him through the door. She put down her wrap and turned to go to her room, but he seemed to be blocking the whole hallway with his huge dominating presence. She stepped back, willing him to move, looking up warily.
‘I’m going to bed…’
Why did she suddenly feel so breathless? A jolt of electricity seemed to pass between them, and out of nowhere came a tingling awareness of something so erotic that Cara felt as if she should run away—very fast. And yet she couldn’t move, pinned to the spot by Vicenzo’s dark, unfathomable gaze. His hand came out and tipped up her chin. His eyes rested on her mouth. Cara’s heart started to thump crazily in her chest. He wasn’t going to—
His scent enveloped her and his breath was feathering close to her mouth before Cara registered fully that he’d closed the distance between them and was about to kiss her. But just before his lips touched hers she had a deep and visceral reaction. She couldn’t risk that rejection again—that he might turn away from kissing her on the mouth. Not when she craved it so badly. Despair filled her. Nothing had changed. She brought her hands up to his chest to push him away, and twisted her head so that his mouth landed on her cheek. Even that was annihilating her equilibrium.
His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her in tight to his body, and Cara gasped, heat flooding her all over. She looked up and could see that Vicenzo’s jaw was clenched.
She stiffened in his hold even as she was made aware of his arousal and the co
rresponding pooling of desire between her legs. ‘No,’ she said fiercely, as much to herself as him, ‘I won’t let you do this. I don’t want you.’
Even as she said it she knew she was lying. She wanted him more than anything.
Vicenzo’s gaze moved down the pale column of her throat to her shoulder. Her skin seemed to tingle wherever his eyes rested. Then she felt him raise a hand and gently but firmly push down the strap of her dress, over her shoulder and down her arm.
Cara tried to get a hand out to stop him, but they were both trapped against his chest, which felt like a steel wall—a warm steel wall. Her heart beat so fast now she was sure he had to be able to feel it.
He bent his head and pressed kisses all along her shoulder, and then pushed her dress strap down further. Much to Cara’s deep shame she felt a weakness invade her. She could feel him start to pull the dress down to bare the swell of her breast.
‘Vicenzo, please…no.’
‘Vicenzo, please…yes.’ His voice sounded guttural, making her feel even weaker as she remembered how he’d sounded when he’d taken her that night.
‘Don’t lie to yourself, Cara. You might lie to me, but not yourself. You want this as much as I do.’
She shook her head desperately to deny it, even though she knew she lied to herself. She sucked in air as she felt him roughly pull down her dress to expose her bare breast completely, its design precluding the need for a bra. He took her hands in one of his, looking at her with challenge in his eyes, daring her to stop him.
Cara couldn’t move or think or speak.
With a triumphant gleam in his eyes he dropped his head again, and his mouth closed around the pouting peak, already hard and begging for his touch, his tongue. Cara realised the wall was supporting her and she sagged against it, her breath coming swift and sharp, her eyes closing in defeat.
As Vicenzo registered the musky scent of her arousal his desire soared. He knew he wasn’t far from pushing Cara’s dress up, her pants down and taking there and then, standing against the wall. With a supreme effort he stopped and drew back, quickly pulling up her dress to hide the sight of her heaving breast.
Dazed glittering eyes looked at him accusingly, and he finally broke his hold and let her step away from the wall. She was unsteady on her legs, and it made something move through him. Tendrils of hair had come undone, falling around her flushed face, and the pulse-beat under the pale skin of her neck told him of her desire for him.
He reached out and pulled the strap up her arm again. She flinched minutely, making anger lace his words. ‘Tomorrow we’re to be married, and this will be a proper marriage. In bed and out of it. There’s going to be some recompense for marrying you, Cara. I don’t see the neccessity in taking lovers when we both know how good it can be between us…at least until our desire burns itself out, as undoubtedly it will.’
Cara struggled to find her balance again. She couldn’t believe she’d let him undo her so completely. Her dress chafed against sensitive breasts and she was mortified at her lack of control. Hurt lanced her at his cold declaration, and anger at that made her hurl out desperately, ‘Go to hell, Vicenzo. I won’t let you near my bed.’