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‘No, of course you haven’t and I’m not—’
‘Finally…you’re crying over me, bella mia.’ Luciano awarded her a brilliant smile of approval. ‘And all I had to do was tell a sob story and touch your heart.’
Even as Kerry recognised the skill and determination with which he cast off unhappy memories and centred all attention back on to her, her mouth ran dry in receipt of the megawatt effect of that wickedly attractive grin. The hands he had loosely linked behind her slid down to her hips and curved her into connection with his lean, hard physique.
Her breath caught in her throat while intelligence urged her to retreat. In defiance of that awareness, she wanted him just to grab her and kiss her: that way she wouldn’t have to think about what she was doing. But Luciano had never made things that easy. Glittering golden eyes held hers in thrall. Her heart rate speeded up, constricting her breathing. A frisson of heat curled like a cruel betrayer in the pit of her stomach before settling into a dulled, throbbing ache between her thighs.
‘Touch your heart and…?’ Luciano teased with husky, knowing intimacy, tipping her forward a little more, long fingers flirting in provocation with the hem of the dress that had ridden up the backs of her slender thighs. ‘Isn’t self-denial painful?’
Helplessly, controlled by the fierce yearning of her own body, Kerry leant into him. She was wildly aware of every hard, sexy angle of his big, powerful frame against hers. Tiny little tremors of desire slivered through her. It was a revelation to her that even after the night that had passed he could still make her feel like that. ‘Kiss me…’ she muttered, her fingers spearing up into the black depths of his hair.
‘I couldn’t possibly make a move on my housekeeper.’ Brilliant dark golden eyes struck hers in ruthless challenge. ‘On the other hand, if you’re my lover…’
Rage, longing and wonderment engulfed Kerry all at once. At such a moment, only Luciano would have tried to exploit her weakness with calculated cunning. In response, she put into practice what he himself had taught her. On tiptoe to overcome the disparity in their heights, she pressed her lips to the wide, sensual curve of his firm male mouth and with the tip of her tongue conducted a more intimate exploration. The fractured hiss of his breathing and the raw tension tautening his muscular length against her were her reward.
‘I created a witch last night,’ Luciano growled in roughened acknowledgement of his own error.
He banded strong hands to her hips and lifted her up to him so that he could devour her lush mouth, over and over and over again with explicit, hungry demand. The plunge of his tongue between her lips set Kerry on fire with excitement. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get enough of his passion. With a muffled groan, he anchored her legs round his waist and lowered her down onto the edge of the table. In that position, she was agonisingly aware of the hard thrust of his arousal and every pulse in her entire body jumped with frantic energy until her own fevered craving became more than she could bear.
‘Luciano—’
‘Not here…not like this,’ he muttered thickly.
Acting on instinct, Kerry rocked forward into needy contact with his bold erection.
Surprise and appreciation shimmered in Luciano’s hot, hungry gaze and suddenly he no longer wanted to wait for the comfort of a bed. The depth of her desire excited him. She wanted him the way he had always wanted h
er to want him: without defence or conditions. He hauled her back to him.
‘I just want you…’ she heard herself confess shakily, possessed by the fierce need driving her but unnerved too by her inability to fight it.
‘How much?’ he prompted, sliding up her dress and hooking his fingers into the band of her cotton briefs.
‘You’re driving me crazy—’
‘And making you reckless. I like that…I really like that, bella mia,’ Luciano admitted, sexily grazing the delicate skin of her throat with his teeth and sending such a powerful surge of heat to the moist heart of her that she whimpered out loud.
The complete and glorious havoc that he could wreak with his mouth and his hands deprived Kerry of any true grasp of the sequence of events over the next few minutes. The belated awareness that she was half-naked beneath her dress startled her but she was way out of control by then and pitched to a wild high of anticipation. When he pulled her to him and entered her hard and fast, the sensation was so intense, so exquisite, she wanted the moment to last forever until he withdrew and surged into her again with renewed force and it was even more sublime. She cried out, lost in him, drowning in the fierce passion of his dominance. He sank his hands below her hips to deepen his penetration. As he slammed into her damp inner sheath, her raw excitement reacted with the explosive heat coiled at her inner core and pitched her into a shattering climax. In the heaving, gasping aftermath while she still clung to him, the sound of his cellphone ringing was a piercing intrusion.
‘It might be something important,’ Luciano finally groaned, retaining a possessive hold on her as he answered the call.
Still in a daze, Kerry pressed her hot face into his shoulder until she heard his caller speak as clearly as if she had been standing in the same room.
‘Are you missing me yet?’ a woman asked in a teasing tone of intimacy.
It was her stepsister’s voice, unmistakably Rochelle in seduction mode, Kerry registered with sick distaste. Detaching herself from Luciano in one sudden movement, she jumped down off the table. She almost cringed at the sight of her discarded panties lying on the floor and walked past them on unsteady legs. The madness of passion had evaporated to leave Kerry reeling in shock and shame at her own behaviour. She had thrown herself at Luciano, encouraged him every step of the way. What had happened to her proud boast that she would not be a woman whom he slept with when he felt like it? It was sheer insanity to get involved with a male still in regular contact with her stepsister. No way was she lowering herself back into some degrading competition for Luciano’s attention!
Only minutes later, Luciano strode into the great hall, where Kerry was clearing away the evidence of the morning tea she had served there earlier. Her every tiny movement made her shamefully conscious of her partial nudity below her dress and she could barely muster the courage to look up when she heard his entrance.
Lean, bronzed features hard, Luciano came to a halt. ‘Don’t do this to me again,’ he breathed impatiently. ‘Surprise me…don’t say a single word about Rochelle phoning me.’
Kerry had nothing to say. If he was expecting a jealous fit, he was in for a disappointment. That Rochelle was still confident enough to purr down the phone to him like a lover hurt and humiliated Kerry. But she had also decided that she had been lucky to receive that wake-up call to her own wits. Why was she allowing Luciano to make a fool of her? Within twenty-four hours he had contrived to devastate her faith in her own intelligence.
‘OK, never let it be said that I can’t take a hint,’ Luciano drawled with sardonic bite. ‘So we just had casual sex again—’
Kerry shot him a stricken appraisal. ‘I don’t do that sort of thing—’
‘You just did,’ Luciano contradicted in a wrathful undertone. ‘You let me screw you on the kitchen table. Isn’t it time you dropped the prudish euphemisms?’
