The Italian's Wife

'I confess that I've always loved it just as it is. As a kid, I used to

run wild here with my English cousins.'

'What were you like as a kid?' Holly was smiling, happiness enclosing

her in a protective cocoon, all her earlier uncertainties set behind her

and forgotten. She loved him. It might kind of embarrass her that she

felt that strongly after so short a time but just then she felt that

there was absolutely nothing that she would not do to make him happy.

'Spoilt rotten. Only-child syndrome. Got everything I ever wanted and

more, cara mia...ah, forgot, terms of endearment are on the forbidden

list,' Rio mocked.

'Not now we're married,' Holly hastened to assure him as his hand

settled on her spine to draw her closer and her pulses began racing.

'Makes a difference, does it?'

Holly nodded.

He let caressing fingers toy with her ringlets, watched her arch towards

him in instinctive response, seeking out the hard heat of his lean,

strong body. His stunning dark golden eyes flamed and he bent his head

and brought his mouth swooping down on hers with an irresistible passion

that she felt right down to her curling toes.

When Holly emerged from that scorching first move she was being carried

up the big carved staircase and she was weak with the strength of her

own longing.

Shouldering open a door, Rio glanced down at her with a look of

amusement. 'I'll close the curtains for you if you like...'

It was only early evening and she blushed and shook her bright head,

taking the opportunity to scan the big wood-panelled room and the oak

four-poster bed, resplendent in dark red brocade drapes that glowed in

the fading light. A beautiful arrangement of white lilies adorned a

table near the burning fire. A fire in a bedroom. She could hardly

believe the luxury of it.

Rio lowered her to the floor and began removing her jewellery piece by

piece. When he realised that her earrings were tied on, he surveyed her

in wonderment.

'I need to get my ears pierced.. it's just I'm a bit squeamish about

that sort of thing,' Holly admitted ruefully.

She followed him to the doorway of the most incredible Victorian

bathroom that also rejoiced in its own fire and watched him locate a

pair of scissors. He was so beautiful, she thought with an inner ache of

possessiveness that seemed to squeeze at her very heart. Daylight picked

up the blue-black tint of his luxuriant hair, already ruffled by her

disrespectful fingertips. She studied that bold, vibrant profile with

consuming fascination that he was her husband. That against all the odds

someone like her should have ended up with someone like him. He cut the

thread with which she had attached the earrings and smoothed a finger

over the tiny red score marks left behind.

'Why did you hurt yourself like that?'

'I didn't want to lose them.' That he had asked her to Wear them went

unspoken.

He removed his tie, undid his collar and tossed his jacket down onto a

chair. Suddenly she felt shy, shy as she had been before the revelation

of that first experience with him, now there was a wicked burn beneath

the shyness, a

108

tingling expectation she could not repress. She just looked at him and

she wanted him. It was that simple and it had been that way from the

first moment for her.

'I'm glad you couldn't get changed, bella mia,' Rio confided lazily,

scorching golden eyes flaring over her slender figure. 'I spent half the

day fantasising about undoing those very provocative laces.'

'Did you?' Beneath the tight bodice, her breasts were stirring and

lifting, the tender peaks straining to taut points. Momentarily she was

embarrassed by her own susceptibility to a certain look, a certain tone

in that dark, deep drawl. He just generated the most impossible level of

excitement inside her and he did it without even trying.

'I love the way you watch me. Like there is no other guy in the world

for you.'

Well, there wasn't for her, but it was no longer a sentiment she wanted

to brandish, not for the benefit of a male who had informed her that he

thought he could get fond of her. If he had to think about it too much,

the likelihood was that he would never get beyond lust and liking. And

she wanted a lot more, knew it in that instant, saw it as clear as day.

She wanted him to love her, really love her, the way he must have loved

his ex-girlfriend.

'You're all warmth and promise and desire...' Rio drew her back against

him, brushed her bronze-coloured hair out of his path and let his mouth

press against a taut, slim shoulder. 'And it fires me up every time I

look at you.'

'Oh...' A slight sound was wrenched from Holly as she trembled in

reaction to the heat of his knowing mouth against her cooler skin. He

knew exactly where to touch her. Her head tipped back against his

muscular chest, throat extending as she struggled to breathe again, eyes

sliding languorously shut. She felt as if the very blood in her veins

was turning liquid with longing. 'You match this room. I ought to be

wearing a Tudor doublet and a plumed hat,' Rio teased thickly, his proud

dark head bent over hers as she opened her eyes and saw them etched

together in the carved mirror adorning the table set in front of the

tall windows. She watched long brown fingers pluck loose the laces with

studied slowness and her heart raced. She pushed helplessly back against

him, already aroused beyond belief just by the contact of his big,

powerful body against hers.

'The Tudor bridegroom was probably a pig,' Holly mumbled, recalling that

much from her history lessons on the subservient role of women through

the ages.

'Not necessarily. There are love letters and diaries stored in the

library downstairs that tell a very different story.' Rio loosened the

laces level by level until her anticipation was at such screaming pitch

that she was ashamed of herself.

He released his breath in a soft, sexy hiss as he discovered that she

was not wearing a bra. Embarrassed, she mumbled, 'My bra showed through

the silk at the back and I took it off again-'

'Don't apologise for what I like, cara.' He eased down the dress from

her shoulders and shimmied the soft fabric down her arms so that it fell

to her hips, baring her full breasts to his v

iew and attention. Her

breath caught audibly in her throat as he let his expert fingers roam

over her achingly sensitive nipples, catching the swollen buds between

thumb and forefinger.

He might as well have set a torch to kindling inside her, for the

strength in her lower limbs just dissolved, legs shaking under her as

she fell back against him, the whole of her consumed by the power of her

own almost agonised response. With a husky laugh he gathered her up with

easy strength and laid her down on the big bed.

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Rio gazed down at her, lean, strong face intent. 'Your response to me is

the biggest erotic buzz I have ever had.'

Odd how that assurance seemed to both reassure and undermine, she

reflected as the wave of weakness lessened while he plucked off her

shoes and began to tug her gown from beneath her hips. On the one hand,

it did not say much for his intimate experiences with other women, which

delighted her, but on the other hand, it suggested all over again that

it was her longing for him which was her strongest attraction, and that

was humiliating.

'Dio mio...' Rio backed off a step, the better to appreciate the sheer

stockings, diminutive briefs and the blue garter his bride wore. His

shimmering scrutiny lit on her hot self-conscious face and he flashed

her a wolfish smile. 'Full marks for surprising me.'