The Temporary Mrs. Marchetti

Cristiano’s frown made a roadmap of lines on his forehead. His hand fell away from her arm. ‘No.’

Alice bent down and picked up her bra and knickers and bundled them into a ball in her hand. ‘Then we’ve got nothing to worry about, have we? We’re both in this for what we can get. You want your company shares and your share of the villa and I want the financial security my share in your grandmother’s villa will give me once we fulfil the terms of her will.’ She slipped on her heels before adding, ‘Although, I’m not sure why you’re insisting on having a church wedding. It seems a little over the top given the circumstances.’

‘I told you my reasons. I don’t want people thinking this is anything but a genuine relationship.’

‘All the same, it’s going to look pretty bad when we divorce in six months,’ Alice said. ‘Aren’t people going to speculate and wonder how genuine it was then?’

He gave her an unreadable look. ‘Perhaps you won’t want it to end in six months. You might be enjoying yourself too much.’

Alice laughed. ‘Funny man. You’re good in bed, but not that good.’

He sent a lazy fingertip over the back of her hand where it was holding his shirt in place. ‘Speaking of bed... I hope I didn’t rush you just then?’

‘Did you hear me complaining?’

A small smile lifted one corner of his mouth. He sent the same fingertip down the slope of her cheek, stopping beneath her chin to lift it so her gaze was on a level with his. ‘I want you like I’ve wanted no other woman.’

Alice gave up trying to hold his shirt together and linked her arms around his waist instead. ‘I bet you say that to every woman you’ve brought back here.’

He made a twisted movement of his mouth. ‘You might not believe this, but I’ve never brought anyone back here. For a drink or dinner, yes, but not to have sex. Not since you.’

Alice did find it hard to believe. But why hadn’t he brought anyone back here? Did it mean he had loved her after all? That he couldn’t bear to have anyone here where he had made such passionate love to her? But he was so adamant now he hadn’t been in love with her back then. ‘But why not?’

His eyes dipped to her mouth but whether it was because he was thinking of kissing her again or avoiding her gaze she couldn’t be sure. ‘Every room reminded me of you.’ He waited a beat before returning his eyes to hers. ‘It was...off-putting.’

‘It must have cost you a fortune in hotels,’ Alice said.

His crooked smile made her insides shift. ‘The upside of owning hotels is I don’t get to pay for accommodation.’

‘Lucky you.’

His hands went to her hips, holding her against the stiffening of his body. The sensation of him swelling against her stirred her blood, making her aware of the tingling nerve endings deep in her core. His mouth came down and covered hers in a long, slow kiss that ramped up her desire to a new level.

Alice returned his kiss, her tongue tangling with his in a sexy tango that made him tug her harder against him as if he couldn’t bear to have any distance between them. She moved her hands up and down his back and shoulders, delighting in the freedom to touch him, to stroke him, to feel his sculpted muscles tense and flex under her caressing touch.

She couldn’t get it out of her mind—he hadn’t brought anyone back here since her. Not one woman. No one had shared his bed with him but her.

Cristiano’s hands went from her hips to scoop her up in his arms. ‘Time for bed?’

Alice played with the ends of his hair that brushed his neck. ‘You don’t have to carry me. I’m too heavy. You’ll herniate a disc or something.’

He pressed a brief hard kiss to her lips. ‘You’re a lightweight. I lift weights that weigh more than you.’

He had the muscles to prove it. She could feel them bunching and tensing under her knees and her back where his arms were holding her, a heady reminder of how strong he was and how potently male.

He took her to his bedroom, which had been redecorated since she had last been there. Had he tried to remove every memory of his time with her? Tried and failed? It was now decorated in a soft mushroom grey on a feature wall behind the bedhead, with white walls and ceiling, and white linen on the king-sized bed with a matching grey throw placed neatly on the end. There was a grey velvet linen-box-like seat at the foot of the bed half the height of the mattress. The carpet was a soft cream that threatened to swallow her up to the knees when Cristiano placed her on her feet beside the bed.

Alice kept her arms linked around his neck, pushing her body against the warm, hard frame of his. ‘You’ve redecorated since I was last in here.’

‘Yes.’ He nibbled at her earlobe, sending a frisson scooting down her spine. ‘Not that it worked. I still couldn’t bring myself to make love with anyone in here. I spent a veritable fortune for nothing. Like it?’

‘It’s gorgeous.’

‘Like you.’ He kept kissing her neck, nipping and licking at the sensitive flesh.

Alice couldn’t help a thrill of pleasure at his compliment. She didn’t see beauty when she looked in the mirror. What woman did? She only saw the things she wished she could change. But when Cristiano looked at her with his dark eyes glittering with desire, she felt beautiful and desirable in a way she never felt with anyone else.

His mouth came to hers in a searing kiss, his tongue delving between her lips in search of hers. She gave herself up to the kiss, a soft whimper escaping her lips when he peeled his shirt away from her body and took possession of one of her breasts in his hand. The warm expertise of his touch made her skin tingle and her nipples tighten into buds. He rolled his thumb over her nipple, his hand then slipping to the underside of her breast, pushing the globe of flesh upwards for the descent of his mouth. He suckled on her engorged nipples in turn, his tongue hot and moist as it moved over the curve of eac