The Italian's Christmas Secret

‘Because I’m finding the darkness...distracting.’

‘I don’t understand.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Don’t you?’

There was a pause. Matteo could see wariness in her eyes as she shook her head, but he could see the flicker of something else, something which made his heart pound even harder. Fraternising with the workforce was a bad idea—everyone knew that. But knowing something didn’t always change the way you felt. It didn’t stop your body from becoming so tight with lust that it felt like a taut bow, just before the arrow was fired.

No,’ she said at last. ‘I don’t.’

‘I think I’d better go and sleep in that damned armchair after all,’ he said. ‘Because if I stay here any longer I’m going to start kissing you.’

Keira met his mocking black gaze in astonishment. Had Matteo Valenti just said he wanted to kiss her? For a moment she just lay there, revelling in the sensation of being the object of attraction to such a gorgeous man, while common sense pitched a fierce battle with her senses.

She realised that despite talking about the armchair he hadn’t moved and that an unspoken question seemed to be hovering in the air. Somewhere in a distant part of the house she heard a clock chiming and, though it wasn’t midnight, it felt like the witching hour. As if magic could happen if she only let it. If she listened to what she wanted rather than the voice of caution which had been a constant presence in her life ever since she could remember. She’d learnt the hard way what happened to women who fell for the wrong kind of man—and Matteo Valenti had wrong written on every pore of his body. He was dangerous and sexy and he was a billionaire who was way out of her league. Shouldn’t she be turning away from him and telling him yes, to please take the armchair?

Yet she wasn’t doing any of those things. Instead of her eyes closing, the tip of her tongue was sliding over her bottom lip and she was finding it impossible to drag her gaze away from him. She could feel a molten heat low in her belly, which was making her ache in a way which was shockingly exciting. She thought about the holidays ahead. The stilted Christmas lunch with her aunt beaming at Shelley and talking proudly of her daughter’s job as a beautician, while wondering how her only niece had ended up as a car mechanic.

Briefly Keira closed her eyes. She’d spent her whole life trying to be good and where had it got her? You didn’t get medals for being good. She’d made the best of her dyslexia and capitalised on the fact that she was talented with her hands and could take engines apart, then put them back together. She’d found a job in a man’s world which was just about making ends meet, but she’d never had a long-term relationship. She’d never even had sex—and if she wasn’t careful she might end up old and wistful, remembering a snowy night on Dartmoor when Matteo Valenti had wanted to kiss her.

She stared at him. ‘Go on, then,’ she whispered. ‘Kiss me.’

If she thought he might hesitate, she was wrong. There was no follow-up question about whether she was sure. He framed her face in his hands and the moment he lowered his lips to hers, that was it. The deal was done and there was no going back. He kissed her until she was dizzy with pleasure and molten with need. Until she began to move in his arms—restlessly seeking the next stage, terrified that any second now he would guess how laughingly inexperienced she was and push her away. She heard him laugh softly as he slid his fingers beneath the sweater to encounter the bra which curved over her breasts.

‘Too much clothing,’ he murmured, slipping his hand round her back to snap open the offending article and shake it free.

She remembered thinking he must have done this lots of times before and maybe she should confess how innocent she was. But by then he’d started circling her nipples with the light caress of his thumb and the moment passed. Desire pooled like honey in her groin and Keira gave a little cry as sensation threatened to overwhelm her.

‘Sta’ zitto,’ he urged softly as he pulled the sweater over her head and tossed it aside, the movement quickly followed by the efficient disposal of his own T-shirt and boxers. ‘Stay quiet. We don’t want to disturb the rest of the house, do we?’

Keira shook her head, unable to answer because now he was sliding her panties down and a wild flame of hunger was spreading through her body. ‘Matteo,’ she gasped as his fingers moved down over her belly and began to explore her molten flesh. He stoked her with a delicacy which was tantalising—each intimate caress making her slide deeper into a brand-new world of intimacy. Yet strangely, it felt familiar. As if she knew exactly what to do, despite being such a novice. Did he tell her to part her legs or were they opening of their own accord? She didn’t know. All she knew was that once he started stroking his fingertip against those hot, wet folds, she thought she might pass out with pleasure. ‘Oh,’ she whispered, on a note of wonder.

‘Oh, what?’ he murmured.

‘It’s...incredible.’

‘I know it is. Now, touch me,’ he urged against her mouth.

Keira swallowed. Did she dare? He was so big and proud and she didn’t really know what to do. Swallowing down her nerves, she took him between her thumb and forefinger and began to stroke him up and down with a featherlight motion which nearly made him shoot off the bed.

‘Madonna mia! Where did you learn to do that?’ he gasped.

She guessed it might destroy the mood if she explained that car mechanics were often blessed with a naturally sensitive touch. Instead, she enquired in a husky voice which didn’t really sound like her voice at all, ‘Do you like it?’

‘Do I like it?’ He swallowed. ‘Are you crazy? I love it.’

So why was he halting her progress with the firm clamp of his hand around her wrist, if he loved it so much? Why was he was blindly reaching for the wallet which he’d placed on the nightstand? He was pulling out a small foil packet and Keira shivered as she realised what he was about to do. This might be the craziest and most impulsive thing which had ever happened to her—but at least she would be protected.

He slid on the condom and she was surprised by her lack of fear as she wound her arms eagerly around his neck. Because it felt right. Not because he was rich and powerful, or even because he was insanely good-looking and sexy, but because something about him had touched her heart. Maybe it was the way his voice had softened when he’d asked her those questions about Christmas. Almost as if he cared—and it had been a long time since anybody had cared. Was she such a sucker for a few crumbs of affection that she would give herself completely to a man she didn’t really know? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything.

‘Matteo,’ she said as he pulled her into his body.

His eyes gleamed as he looked down at her. ‘You want to change your mind?’

His consideration only made her want him more. ‘No,’ she whispered, her fingertips whispering over his neck. ‘No way.’

He kissed her again—until she’d reached that same delicious melting point as before and then he moved to straddle her. His face was shadowed as he positioned himself and she tensed as he made that first thrust and began to move, but although the pain was sharp it was thankfully brief. She saw his brow darken and felt him grow very still before he changed his rhythm. His movements slowed as he bent her legs and wrapped them tightly around his waist so that with each long thrust he seemed to fill her completely.

As her body relaxed to accommodate his thickness, Keira felt the excitement build. Inch by glorious inch he entered her, before pulling back to repeat the same sweet stroke, over and over again. She could feel her skin growing heated as all her nerve-endings bunched in exquisitely tight anticipation. She could feel the inexorable build-up of excitement to such a pitch that she honestly didn’t think she could take it any more. And then it happened. Like a swollen dam bursting open, waves of intense pleasure began to take her under. She felt herself shatter, as if he needed to break her apart before she could become whole again, and she pressed her mouth against his sweat-sheened shoulder. Dimly, she became aware of his own bucked release as he shuddered above her and was surprised by the unexpected prick of tears to her eyes.