Hired:The Italian's Bride

“I know you’ve been hurt badly.” Her eyes widened but he continued in that same, soft, hypnotic tone. “I can see it in you. I realized it after that day in the attic. I won’t hurt you, Mari. We’ll keep our eyes open. I promise.”

He lifted his hand and his fingers disappeared beneath her hair. Her breath caught as she fought against the urge to lean into the pressure of his hand. Luca kept his promises. Eyes open.

“Beautiful Mari. I cannot deny there is something between us. I feel it. You feel it, too. We both felt it today, in the meadow. I could see it in your eyes. But the difference is we set the limits. We set the boundaries.”

“I can’t sleep with you, Luca.” It came out on a rush of breath.

A smile teased his mouth. “Perhaps a kiss.”

He was close enough now that she had to tip her chin up to meet his eyes. It was a struggle to keep them open as his fingertips moved through her hair. “Kiss.”

“Surely you’ve kissed before?”

Mari’s insides trembled. She had, but not for a very long time. Not without utter fear.

“A time or two.”

His face was so close his breath warmed her cheeks. Her fingers tightened around the edges of his jacket. Surely, if she could make it through a first kiss, it would all be fine. “Kiss me, Mariella.”

Their gazes held for a second. He was waiting for her, she realized. He understood she’d been hurt and he was letting her make the first move. It was unexpected. She was used to him bossing her around. Now he was giving her the power and it made him even more difficult to resist.

She leaned into his hand, tilted her face up, and with her heart in her throat, touched her lips to his.

For a split second she let them rest there, testing. Their eyes were open, and the connection between them was so strong it rocked her core. His lips were warm, soft, waiting. She let go of the jacket and rested a hand against his heart and she felt the thunder beneath her palm.

The simple movement changed everything. Her breath came out in a rush as Luca’s hand commanded her head, tilting it gently to the side and he opened his lips. Her lashes fluttered shut. The kiss was deliberate but soft, easing into the passion slowly, building the fire with teasing nips.

For the first time since leaving her old life behind, she threw caution to the wind, wrapping her arms around his torso and pulling him closer.

The moment she did it, everything changed. His hand swept from beneath her hair and dragged her close. His tongue swept into her mouth and she wilted against him. The jacket fell from her shoulders to the floor of the terrace and his hands warmed her skin as they roamed over the bare flesh of her arms.

Glory.

He broke off the kiss, resting his forehead against hers.

Mariella pulled out of his arms, immediately feeling the cool air and the bite of cold reality. “Thank you.”

His eyes glittered at her knowingly. “Thank you?”

She had to take a step backward. She’d been swept away in the magic of the moment and had forgotten. She was supposed to be afraid. She was supposed to keep personal distance. She was not supposed to let herself be vulnerable. She could not…a sob built in her chest. She could not allow herself to feel.

She wanted to deny it, but he’d know she was running away from it, and him. And to acknowledge it had affected her deeply was to take things where she didn’t want them to go.

“As you said, there’s a certain amount of chemistry.” She lifted her chin, daring him to contradict her.

Instead he laughed, reaching out and grazing her cheek with a knuckle.

“You are a strong woman, Mari. You do my grandmother’s name justice. She was a strong woman, too.”

Mari swallowed. Coming on the heels of the kiss, she was seeing a whole new side to Luca. Whether he recognized it or not, he carried around his own scars, ones indelibly scraped on his heart.

She turned away, leaving him staring at her back as she rested her elbows on the balustrade.

“You remind me of her.” He paused for a moment. “Why did you not correct Gina when she called you by your full name?”

Mari shrugged. “It would have been rude of me. We’d just met.”

“But you didn’t mind being rude to me.”

She heard the dull sound of his shoes on the stone floor as he came closer. “You can take it.”

“I appreciate you being kind to my sister. Annoyance that she is.”

Mari held her breath as his hands appeared on either side of her and he leaned closer, not quite an embrace, but with his chest leaning warm and secure against her back.

“Mariella.”

Mari’s eyelids drifted shut. The soft way he said it was sweet seduction. But it was no better as his image appeared behind her eyes. The way he looked tonight, the way the expensive cut of his suit emphasized his physique, making him look like a movie star from bygone days. Too much like the man from her dreams. She had to resist him. Had to. This was madness. She was supposed to be afraid. Repulsed. She wasn’t supposed to be feeling like this.