‘Now!’ she exclaimed, unable to wait a moment longer.
They plunged together, shuddering and convulsing, helpless in the grip of pleasure so extreme they could only cry out repeatedly as the giant waves of sensation battered them relentlessly. She was weak and shaking by the time it eased off, and then Luca suggested huskily, ‘Bed?’
‘Will we even make it that far?’ she teased him groggily.
‘Once more against the door?’ he suggested. ‘Just to take the edge off?’
‘Anywhere you like,’ she agreed. ‘But the door is too far away.’
He laughed softly. ‘Bed,’ Luca decreed. ‘I need a firm surface and time to enjoy you.’
‘You’re not doing that already?’ Jen protested. It was her turn to laugh. ‘You think you’re going to win this, don’t you?’ she said. Luca was still inside her, and she was an able student.
‘Witch,’ he accused as she tightened her inner muscles around him.
‘Door,’ she instructed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JEN SITTING CROSS-LEGGED on the bed feeding him with pizza was definitely a first. Pizza was the only thing they could find in the freezer, but it was Jen who was the revelation. Six months didn’t seem nearly long enough to spend together now. He could never have imagined this when he had first come up with his plan, he reflected as they sat facing each other naked, wolfing down food to keep up their strength.
‘What are you thinking?’ she pressed him when he stared at her.
‘First off—I never imagined collecting my auction lot quite like this. And don’t worry,’ he assured her. ‘I think it’s a great improvement on a quiet supper at the club.’
She laughed. ‘I should hope so. And what else?’
‘Things you don’t need to know.’ Like, incredibly for him, he was wishing they could be a normal couple without secrets and a fair chance of seeing where this might lead. ‘Crazy thoughts,’ he admitted when Jen gave him one of her shrewd looks.
‘Like?’ she mumbled, cramming another triangle of crisp dough into her mouth.
Her eyes pinned him, demanding the truth, but it was a truth he couldn’t give her without losing what they had. But to get her to tell him more, he had to give her something. ‘The last I heard from Raoul, he was talking about building a camp for kids here on the island—kids like him, he said. I didn’t know what he meant at the time, but maybe it makes sense now. What?’ he prompted when Jen frowned.
It was Jen’s turn to mask her thoughts, and he was instantly suspicious. He must have hit on something close to the secret she was keeping for Raoul.
Moving the pizza plate away, he brought her into his arms to ask, ‘Did Raoul ever mention the idea of a summer camp to you?’
‘Hmm.’ Jen sighed with contentment as she snuggled deeper into his arms. She rubbed her cheek against his chest like a sleepy kitten. Anything to distract him, he thought.
‘We should make the most of this,’ she told him softly. ‘I start work tomorrow, and I’m pretty obsessive when I’m working. I’ll be like a mole underground, only surfacing briefly and even then I’ll be distracted. And it will take me months to finish the assignment,’ she added, turning her face up to look at him.
‘Six months,’ he repeated, staring away into the middle distance.
‘Well, that’s what you said,’ she reminded him with a wry quirk of her mouth. ‘I’ll have to see if I can work faster.’
‘Are you so eager to leave?’ Her answer was suddenly very important to him.
She shrugged as she smiled and huffed. ‘I’m sure you’ll be pleased to see the back of me.’
She obviously knew something he didn’t.
* * *
Jen woke the next morning and turned to find Luca waiting to make love to her.
They kissed long and slow. ‘I was wondering how long it would take you to wake up,’ he said.
‘You could have started without me.’
He laughed softly, deep in his chest.
‘My body works just fine on automatic,’ she whispered.
‘Let’s test that, shall we?’ he suggested.
His body moved firmly and slowly to please hers, as she gradually made the transition from sleep and dreaming about making love with Luca, to discovering that the actual fact was so much better.
‘Good morning,’ he murmured as she began to move with more intent.
He moved behind her, while she curled up, giving him all the access he needed. Accentuating the angle of her body, she offered him more. She offered him everything. Drunk on pleasure, she decided she could happily stay in bed all day—that was, if she didn’t have work to do. But she was so very sensitive after so much concentrated and skilful attention from Luca that it took very little to bring her to the brink. Holding her in place as she bucked frantically, he was flattered and not a little surprised.
‘That was sudden,’ he murmured, smiling against her mouth.
‘I can’t always wait for your command,’ she told him before teasing the seam of his lips with her tongue. ‘And it’s your turn now,’ she insisted, turning to face him.
Goodness knew where all this confidence had come from, Jen thought as she straddled Luca. It could only have come from Luca. He was such a generous lover he made it obligatory to respond. And he was so gorgeous that her heart squeezed tight just at the sight of him. Sweeping ebony brows over those knowing black eyes, and that mouth... Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his and felt his arms close around her. She pressed into him until there was nothing between them, and they were one.
‘You are the best,’ she whispered, pulling back to look at him. ‘The absolute best.’ That was the closest she could come to admitting that she loved him. And she did love him. She had loved Luca practically from the first moment they met. It made no sense then, and it made no sense now, but it was a fact. Her heart was full when she was with him. Her body was his. His body was hers. Leaving money and position in life aside, they were equally matched in so many things. This just felt right. They were fierce and strong together, and she only wished that what they had could last for ever.
‘Will you be all right working on the island on your own when I have to leave?’
‘What?’ His question came as a complete surprise. ‘Are you going somewhere?’
Luca’s hesitation gave her the answer to that.
‘You’re still in charge of everything where the jewels are concerned while I’m away,’ he reassured her as he planted a kiss on her lips.
‘And I’m happy with that,’ she confirmed.
‘You don’t sound happy.’ Luca’s dark eyes searched hers.
‘But I am,’ she said, trying to convince herself that this was true.
* * *
Email wasn’t enough. Telephone calls were frustrating. What was even more frustrating was the way Jen could do exactly as she’d told him and immerse herself in her work to the exclusion of everything else, including him. He’d been away around a month now, and she still showed no sign of easing up on her schedule, or, more significantly, missing him.
‘I’ll be on the island next week...’ He cursed viciously beneath his breath, realising how tense he had become as he waited for her to answer.
‘That’s great,’ she said.
‘But?’ he queried, sensing there was something more coming.