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What might have happened next she didn’t know because Luca reached out his arms to her and almost toppled into the pool. Santo caught him deftly and scooped the child off his shoulders. ‘Your mamma is planning to run and you are in charge of stopping her,’ he drawled, handing the child to Fia. But, instead of releasing his father, Luca kept one arm around his shoulders and reached out the other to Fia.
Accepting the hug meant moving closer to Santo. His bare leg brushed against hers. His eyes flicked to hers. Wry amusement danced there.
Her stomach flipped. ‘He needs toys,’ she blurted out. ‘Toys for the pool.’
‘Of course he does.’ His eyes were still on hers, mocking her because he knew she was trying to change the subject. ‘We will go shopping this afternoon.’
‘He still has a sleep in the afternoon.’
As if to prove that statement, Luca, exhausted after such an energetic afternoon, flopped his head onto his father’s bare bronzed shoulder and closed his eyes.
‘I’ll put him in his bed.’ Somehow Santo managed to ease himself from the pool without waking the sleeping child.
Fia watched him cross the terrace and then left the pool herself and took a quick shower in the pool house.
She was just wrapped in a towel when Santo appeared behind her.
‘He didn’t even stir. I envy his ability to fall asleep so easily.’
He looked so impossibly gorgeous that Fia simply stared. ‘Right. Well, I’ll just go and—’
‘You’re not going anywhere.’ His mouth came down on hers and he gave the towel a sharp tug.
She made an abortive grab for it as it slid to the floor. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Proving to you that our relationship isn’t just about night-time sex.’ His voice was a sensual purr and his hands slid down the length of her spine and pressed her against him. ‘You’re about to experience daytime sex.’
‘Santo—’
‘Wall sex, floor sex—’ he kissed her neck ‘—shower sex, bed sex—’ his mouth trailed lower ‘—how do you feel about pool sex?’
‘Absolutely not—’ she moaned as his fingers found that most sensitive part of her. ‘I wouldn’t be able to look the staff in the eye ever again.’
‘So I’ll fire them and then you won’t have to.’ A wicked glint in his eyes, he captured her mouth with his. ‘Turn around.’
‘What?’
‘I have a better idea than pool sex. Sun lounger sex. Bend over.’ He turned her and Fia gave a soft gasp as he bent her forward. Tipped off balance, she put her hands flat on the sun lounger, a movement that exposed her bare bottom. Feeling horribly vulnerable, she tried to stand but he pressed down on her spine and kept her there.
‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he said softly. ‘Just relax and trust me.’
‘Santo…we can’t…’ she moaned, but his fingers were already stroking her there, teasing and exploring while showing a total disregard for her modesty. And within seconds she forgot about modesty. Just when she thought she’d go crazy, she felt the heat of his shaft against her and his strong hands grasped her hips and held her still as he slid deep. His throaty groan mingled with her soft gasp.
‘Cristo, you feel incredible—’
Fia couldn’t respond. Her shaking thighs were locked against the hardness of his, and he was all heat and power, each driving thrust sending her closer and closer to her own
climax. It came in a rush of heat that engulfed them both simultaneously and she would have collapsed if he hadn’t been holding her. With a rough laugh, he eased out of her, scooped up her quivering body and carried her into the shower. ‘Great idea of yours,’ he said huskily, lowering her to her feet and turning on the jet of water. ‘Daytime sex. Yet another reason to leave my desk. At this rate I will not win my bet.’
‘Bet?’ Still dazed, she pushed her hair out of her face as the water cascaded over both of them. ‘What bet?’
‘That I can make the Ferrara Beach Club the most successful hotel in our group.’ He squeezed shampoo into his palm and gently massaged her hair. ‘I would never admit this to him, but my brother is a very hard act to follow. When he took a back seat in the company a year ago everyone assumed I would just hold the reins and not change anything, but caretaking someone else’s baby doesn’t interest me. I have more respect and admiration for my brother than any man alive, but I want to prove that I, too, have something to add to this company.’
Lulled by the gentle stroke of his fingers, Fia closed her eyes. ‘You’re so competitive.’
‘Sí, it is partly that, but not entirely.’ His voice soft, he turned off the shower and reached for a towel. ‘When our father died it was Cristiano who took over. I was in my last year of school. He was studying in the States. He gave up everything, came home and took over as head of the family. My father’s business was always small, but Cristiano took it and turned it into a global player. Because of him, Dani and I stayed in school and finished our education. He sacrificed a great deal for us. I want to do well, not because I am competitive, although of course I am, but because I love him and want to make him proud.’
He said it so easily, Fia thought numbly, standing still as he towelled the ends of her hair dry. No embarrassment. No awkwardness or fear that such an admission might somehow diminish his masculinity. Just a simple declaration of absolute family loyalty and commitment, as if that was normal. And for him it was, of course. She’d seen that commitment in all the Ferraras, but from a distance, not close up. They supported each other. Their lives were woven together like a piece of cloth, stronger as a whole than it would have been as individual strands.
