‘You think I don’t appreciate what I have? That I take my good fortune for granted?’ Bastian’s glance was steely. ‘You have no idea how wrong you are. I work as hard as—if not harder than—any of my employees who need to put food on the table for their families because that’s what I learned from my father. His example taught me that a business is only as good as the people who run it—that we have to value those who work for us and let them know their contribution is essential to the success and wellbeing of us all.’
The passion in his voice made Lily realise how much her comment had got to him. She knew she’d sounded accusing and jealous of his good fortune and she hadn’t meant to convey that at all. That wasn’t the way she felt. All she wanted was to be treated fairly and not to be pushed aside like some annoying inconvenience.
‘I didn’t say that you took anything for granted. I take pride in working hard myself. It’s just that...’
Disturbingly, she somehow found herself face to face with him, and she tried hard not to be distracted by his arresting presence for long enough to finish speaking her mind and let him know how furious she was at what appeared to be his distinct lack of understanding in her case.
‘Couldn’t this necessity of yours to turn over the land to more organic olive groves wait a while longer? At least until the agreed length of my tenancy expires? Can’t you at least think about it?’
Breathing hard, she felt the uncomfortable sensation of sticky perspiration breaking out on her skin, making her feel damp. It was a particularly hot day, but the external temperature wasn’t the only reason for the enervating heat that had descended on her...
It was Bastian Carrera himself.
When he didn’t immediately reply she added lamely, ‘Honestly...you make me so angry’
His smile was wry—taunting, almost. The fury he’d displayed just now had suddenly dissipated. Yet the residue of that heightened emotion seemed to be unaccountably turning into something far more threatening.
When she glanced back into those haunting, dark eyes of his she saw they were unapologetically sensuous.
‘That is just the kind of thing a lover would say.’
‘What are you talking about?’
She was too flustered to understand how or why events had taken a sudden one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, but they had. However, deep inside she did know.
The tangible tension between them that was now electrifyingly real had simply had to find an outlet.
As if to confirm it, the Italian’s warm, slightly callused hand was suddenly on the back of her neck as he brought his face down to hers. There was no time to think about anything other than the urgent feelings that shockingly made her ache to know him in the most intimate way, to touch and explore him and see if he echoed her hunger.
When his lips voraciously descended on hers, to all but devour them, Lily had her answer. The uncontainable passion he expressed made her heart pound and her blood thicken with the viscosity of molasses. And, whilst her trembling hands held on to the banks of his shoulders as if they would never let go, he murmured something in husky-voiced Italian and slid his hot silken tongue into her mouth.
She groaned with pleasure. As the kiss became even more erotic it was as if the combustible route they were on was only going to lead to one destination...
As their insatiable contact deepened and grew hotter Lily’s knees gave way, and the short sharp breaths she released against his mouth sounded almost agonised.
Bastian instinctively caught her round the waist to stop her from falling and effortlessly lifted her into his arms. Then he turned and carefully lowered her onto the sofa. Lily’s heart beat like a war drum inside her chest. But it didn’t make her question the wisdom of what she was doing. Her senses were so captivated by the tantalising aroma of him, how he smelled and how he felt, that she knew it was already too late to turn back.
She was hypnotised beyond recall.
With held breath, she watched him hurriedly strip off his shirt. Before he came back to her she had a tantalising glimpse of sleek, tanned musculature that was everything a woman would dream of in a man. His silken toned biceps were like steel ropes beneath his skin, and he had a dusting of inviting ebony hair on his chest. With his deeply assessing brown eyes and a charisma second to none, Lily already knew he was impossible to resist.
Delving into the back pocket of his jeans, she saw him take out something and unzip his fly. In a wave of mercurial heat she realised he was going to protect himself. It shocked her that she hadn’t thought of the need to do the same—but then she was scarcely familiar with such a necessity, was she?
As he positioned himself astride her, his weight pressed her down into the sofa. She heard the leather crackle and settle. Staring up, she knew her gaze was helplessly fixed on him.
Even the simplest of words were hard to summon right then. All thought and sense of time was suspended. Bastian was nipping at her mouth and kissing her forehead, cheeks and eyelids in turn, before pushing her dress up to her middle and caressing her slim torso. His mouth captured hers in a commanding sexy kiss and she felt his hands tug her dress up even higher. When he expertly undid her cream-coloured bra to release her small pert breasts, she gasped.
The sultry air that played against her bare skin had an immediate effect on her. It made her feel like a whole other woman.
Never in her life had Lily behaved so wantonly. But she had always known it would take a very special man to free her desires—a man who would give credence to his senses and wouldn’t be afraid to express them.
Just a second later the Italian lowered his head to take a burgeoning nipple inside his mouth. When he grazed his teeth against her tender skin Lily moaned low and drove her hands into his hair to hold him there. It was the most erotic combination of pleasure and pain she’d ever experienced and she didn’t want it to end.
He lifted his head and a lock of hair fell across his forehead. Meeting her aroused gaze, he spoke with a gravelly husk as he asked, ‘Signora, will you let me take you?’
Her answer was an unequivocal whispered, ‘Yes...oh, yes...’
Reaching down to her panties, he eased them down over her hips and discarded them. Laying his hands against her silken thighs, he pressed them apart. In less than a heartbeat he’d eased himself deep inside her.
A sharp pain made her wince momentarily and catch her breath, but the discomfort very quickly subsided. It was as if she’d been waiting for him all her life. He was hard and hot and everything she’d wanted and yearned for but hadn’t known just how much until the very moment he claimed her.
Both the revelation and the visceral nature of the experience stunned her.
Bastian, too, was taken aback. His gaze was resting on her as though he couldn’t quite believe what was happening.
‘Sei incredibile,’ he murmured.
No more was said as their bodies started to move in the timeless motion that lovers the world over intuitively knew, and Lily instinctively wrapped her slender legs round his lean taut middle the better to accommodate him.
There was no thought of regret whatsoever.
How could she possibly regret something as amazing and sublime as this?
He had said she was incredible, but she would say the same about him—and more.
Never before had Bastian felt so turned on or so sexually hungry, as if he would go out of his mind if he didn’t have her. Recalling that he’d mocked his father when he’d asked if Lily had put him under a spell, he now knew she had done exactly that to him.
She was utterly exquisite, with her silky soft skin, her long-lashed green eyes and hot, tight centre, and he hadn’t missed the fact that she’d been a little too tight when he’d first taken possession. It had surprised him. Maybe the sexual intimacy between her and her ex hadn’t worked out?
But all that was forgotten as he sensed her come undone. The muscles in his arms bunched harder as he held himself still, pausing to give her time to enjoy the release. It appeared as though she was utterly overwhelmed by the experience—as if she’d never encountered a similar response with a man before.
Bastian couldn’t deny that the idea filled him with a surge of undeniable male pride. He was still entranced by the seductive sounds she’d made as he’d pleasured her, and this couldn’t help but heighten his desire. But any further thoughts vanished as the very palpable need in him to attain his own culmination grew undeniably urgent.
‘Look at me,’ he commanded.
Lily complied, her green eyes shimmering like crystal, her beautiful golden hair spread out on the cushions behind her. He thrust hard as his craving grew ever more demanding, and when it reached its crescendo she held him as he cried out.
Gasping to get his breath, he fell against her. He could honestly attest that he had never had such mind-blowing sex with a woman before. They seemed to have the most inexplicable connection despite having only just met.