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Stefano pressed his thumb to her chin and gently stroked it. ‘When your memories come back you will know the truth. I will help you find them.’
Her heart thudding, her skin alive with the sensation of his touch, Anna swallowed the moisture that had filled her mouth.
When had she given in to the chemistry that had always been there between them, always pulling her to him? She’d fought against it right from the beginning, having no intention of joining the throng of women Stefano enjoyed such a legendary sex life with. To be fair, she didn’t have any evidence of what he actually got up to under the bed sheets; indeed it was something she’d been resolute in not thinking about, but the steady flow of glamorous, sexy women in and out of his life had been pretty damning.
One of her conditions for accepting the job as his PA was that he must never ask her to be a go-between between hi
m and his lovers. No way would she be expected to leave her desk to buy a pretty trinket as a kiss-off to a dumped lover. When she’d told him this he had roared with laughter.
When had she gone from liking and hugely admiring him but with an absolute determination to never get into bed with him, to marrying him overnight? She’d heard of whirlwind marriages before but from employee to wife in twenty-four hours? Her head hurt just trying to wrap itself around it.
Had Stefano looked at her with the same glimmer in his green eyes then as he was now? Had he pressed his lips to hers or had she been the one...?
‘How will you help me remember us?’ she asked in a whisper.
His thumb moved to caress her cheek and his voice dropped to a murmur. ‘I will help you find again the pleasure you had in my bed. I will teach you to become a woman again.’
Mortification suffused her, every part of her anatomy turning red.
I will teach you to be a woman again?
His meaning was clear. He knew she was a virgin.
Anna’s virginity was not something she’d ever discussed with anyone. Why would she? Twenty-three-year-old virgins were rarer than the lesser-spotted unicorn. For Stefano to know that...
Dear God, it was true.
All the denial she’d been storing up fell away.
She really had married him.
And if she’d married him, she must have slept with him. Which meant all her self-control, not just around him but in her life itself, had been blown away.
She’d taken such pride in her self-control after her mum had left. Events might fall out of her power but her own behaviour was something she controlled with iron will. All those teenage parties she’d been to when alcohol, cigarettes and more illicit substances were passed around and couples found empty spaces in which to make out... She’d been the one sitting there sipping on nothing stronger than a cola and taking great pride in the fact that she was in control of all her faculties. Her self-control was the only thing she’d had control of in a life where she’d been powerless to stop her father dying or her mother moving to the other side of the world and leaving her behind.
A different heat from the mortification ravaging her now bloomed as her mind suddenly pictured Stefano lying on top of her...
His eyes still holding hers as if he would devour her in one gulp, Stefano trailed his fingers down her neck and squeezed her shoulder. ‘Let’s get you inside. You must rest. You’re exhausted.’
Anna blew out a long breath and nodded. For once she was completely incapable of speech.
She’d shared a bed with him.
She’d shared more than a bed with him.
Trying desperately to affect nonchalance, she had no choice but to allow him to assist her through the grand atrium of his apartment building to his private elevator. It was either that or have her unsteady legs collapse beneath her again.
She’d always been physically aware of him before but with his arm slung protectively around her shoulders that awareness flew off the scale.
The dividing line she’d erected between them and worked so hard to maintain... Noting Stefano’s easy familiarity with her; the way he was so comfortable touching her now along with the flirting she’d long been used to... Yes, that dividing line had been demolished.
She just wished her body didn’t sing its delight at his new proprietorial manner with her.
It was such a relief to be led to a sofa to collapse onto that it took her a moment, catching her breath, to take stock of Stefano’s home.
Her home.
It was like stepping into another world.
