A Pawn in the Playboy's Game

There was, apparently, air conditioning throughout, but right now the house had been aired and as he flung open doors and shutters, balmy breezes blew in. The smell of the sea was even stronger here and he told her that it was a short walk down to a private cove. ‘But not now,’ he said drily, noticing the way she gazed wistfully through to the garden.

‘It’s just the most beautiful house.’ She ran her eyes over the exquisite wooden flooring, gleaming through lack of use, and the light bamboo furniture and fine muslin drapes. ‘Like from a magazine.’

‘And I’ve saved the best for last,’ Alessandro murmured, drawing her away from the living area towards the bedrooms, although he’d already made his mind up, and individual see-and-touch exploring sessions within the seven guest ones wasn’t going to happen. At least not right now, when his libido was making walking a challenge.

The master bedroom, reserved for his exclusive use, was at the far end of the house and opened out, through French doors, to a view of the ocean. It had its own private veranda and he watched as she took it all in with open awe. He had flung open the French doors and she stepped outside to breathe in the clean, warm tropical air. Then she admired the giant bed with its gauze curtains, which would have seemed feminine were it not for the dark-coloured bedding and the starkness of the furnishings.

Without even noticing, she only realised that she had been led by the hand into the biggest bathroom she had ever seen when he began tugging the strap of her sundress.

Laura gazed up at him helplessly. It mystified her that she couldn’t create some distance between them when she knew that this was a situation that was going to leave her stranded and hurt. There was not one single part of her that could resist when he touched her, even when he glanced at her. She burned for him and made absolutely no attempt to stop him from undressing her. The sundress was tugged down, pooling at her feet, and she obediently stepped out of it, then off came the bra and the knickers so that she was standing naked in the vast bathroom while he was still fully clothed.

It was unreasonably erotic but when she reached to strip him of his shirt, he stilled her hand with a half-smile.

‘I need to go slowly,’ he breathed huskily. ‘Watching you sleep on the plane tested me to the outer limits. If we have sex right now, I won’t be able to do justice to the act.’

Pink tinged her cheeks and she reached up as he began kissing her, very slowly and very thoroughly, and as he kissed her he played with her breasts, murmured into her ear, told her things that made her face burn and turned her on so much she could barely contain the feverish excitement coursing through her body.

He eased himself lower until he was kneeling before her. Laura could scarcely stand. Her legs felt like jelly because she was so turned on, and the hand that gently slipped between her thighs to part her legs elicited a moan in response.

Legs apart, she flung back her head and savoured the exquisite sensation of his tongue probing the wet slit, slipping between the folds of her femininity to tickle the roused bud of her clitoris. Of their own accord, her fingers curled into his hair. She widened her stance, created more space for his lazy exploration, sank into the caress of his wet mouth between her legs.

Her orgasm came fast and furious, building quickly and carrying her away with a whoosh.

A sultry breeze blew through the open window. So alien from what she was used to. Even the loud, shuddering groan that escaped her lips didn’t seem to come from her. Neither, she thought, opening drowsing eyes and catching sight of herself in the mirrored wall opposite, did this woman resemble the one she thought she was and always had been.

She was in a parallel universe and all she could do was wait for the bump when she returned to earth to happen...

That...and protect herself the best she could...

CHAPTER TEN

SITTING BY THE infinity pool, slowly being toasted by the sun, which was still hot even though it was after five in the afternoon, Laura reflected that time had stood still and now the hands of the clock were once more on the move.

First thing the following morning the private jet that had whisked them to his island paradise would be whisking them away from it and back to reality. Harsh, inescapable reality.