Phantom Marriage

‘Si. Much too late. I do not understand what he was thinking.’

‘Neither do I.’

Leonardo frowned. ‘Possibly he wasn’t thinking at all. He was very depressed after Ruth died. Very grumpy too, at times. But I still liked him. He was good to me when I needed him. I miss him. Terribly. As strange as it might seem, he was my best friend, despite our age difference. He was always totally honest with me. And I liked that.’

‘Honesty is a good virtue in a friend,’ Veronica choked out, struggling a little with this conversation. She would liked to have been her father’s best friend too.

‘I have made you sad,’ Leonardo said with a combination of regret and frustration in his voice. ‘I did not walk you home to make you sad. Now, no more delaying tactics,’ he went on with suddenly hungry eyes. ‘I don’t want coffee, or cognac. Not even that port I told you about. I just want you, Veronica. Only you…’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ONLY ME, VERONICA thought breathlessly as she watched him remove his arm from the mantelpiece and slowly walk towards her.

He could not have said anything more perfect. Or more seductive. If ever she’d needed to be wanted the way Leonardo professed to want her, it was now.

This time, she went into his arms without hesitation. And without any more qualms. Or worries. It was as though with those impassioned words he’d blinded her to the slightly sordid reality of the situation and turned their assignation into something sweet. Romantic, even.

Her arms wound up around his neck and slowly pulled his mouth down onto hers. But within seconds of his lips meeting hers the timbre of the moment changed. Suddenly, there was nothing sweet or romantic about his kiss. Or her response to it. The inner fire which she’d been desperately trying to douse all day sprang back into life with a vengeance. It was like the most savage bush fire, the ones which scorched everything in their path. Up on tiptoe, she pressed her open mouth to his like a woman dying of thirst, with the moisture of his mouth her salvation. When his tongue dived deep, her lips closed around it and sucked hard. He gasped, then moaned, then lifted her up off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her like that into the master bedroom. There, he threw her across the bed, his breathing ragged as he glared down at her.

‘Dio,’ he muttered, shaking his head as he kicked off his shoes and started stripping off his clothes.

Veronica tried to think. Tried to will herself to move. But her mind was all on him, on this magnificent male animal whom she wanted as she had never wanted anyone before. Her hungry gaze ogled him shamelessly as he undressed, her eyes stunned by his rapidly unfolding beauty. Naked, he was everything she’d imagined and more. Not too big or too small. No flaws. Just perfect in every way. She loved the olive colour of his skin, and the sculptured look of his stomach muscles. She loved his broad shoulders and his long, strong legs. Skier’s legs. But most of all she loved the length and strength of his erection.

When she started thinking of how he would feel sliding into her she did move, her hands reaching up under her skirt and ripping off her panties, uncaring that she’d ruined them. A need was possessing her, a need so powerful and impassioned that there was no room for shame. Or decorum.

‘Hurry,’ she choked out.

For a long moment he just stood there beside the bed and stared down at her, his expression stunned. Veronica groaned with frustration, lifting her skirt up and spreading her knees.

‘Just do it,’ she begged, her desire now desperate. She was so turned on she feared she might come with him still standing there staring at her. ‘Please, Leonardo…’

Finally, he fell upon her, entering her with little finesse, taking her hands and scooping them up above her head, holding her captive against the bed as he pounded into her. Surprisingly, she didn’t come straight away, moaning and groaning as her head whipped from side to side. He kept saying things to her in Italian. Not romantic-sounding words. Hard, hot, perhaps angry, words. After what felt like for ever she came, and he came with her, their bodies shuddering together, their mouths gasping wide. Veronica squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to look into his, afraid of what she might see.

Please God, not disgust!

He let her arms go with a sound she could not identify. Whatever, it didn’t sound happy.

‘I did not use protection,’ he growled.

She opened her eyes, not to an expression of disgust, but anger.

‘You did not give me time!’ he accused her in harsh tones.

He was possibly right. But she hadn’t exactly put a gun to his head and forced him to have sex with her. If he’d wanted to use a condom, he could have. She opened her mouth to apologise then closed it again. Why should she say sorry? Practising safe sex was as much his responsibility as hers.

‘You don’t have to worry,’ she shot back at him. ‘I won’t get pregnant.’

Veronica knew her body well and her period was due next Monday. She should have ovulated more than a week ago.

He clasped the sides of her face and glowered down at her. ‘You are on the pill?’ he demanded to know.

His attitude both frightened and annoyed her. If she told him she wasn’t, he would probably have a conniption. Or a tantrum. She could imagine that Leonardo would have had tantrums as a boy. He was spoiled rotten. That much was clear. She hated lies, but there were times when a little white lie was the only option.

‘Yes, of course,’ she said. ‘What do you think I am, a fool? And, whilst we’re asking each other personal questions, I hope you don’t make a habit of practising unsafe sex.’

‘Never!’ he said, looking quite offended.

‘Before tonight, that is,’ she pointed out archly.