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‘I like to swim.’
Now she gave him all of her attention and happily let her gaze soak him in. ‘I can tell.’ It felt amazing to be able to do that, to let her eyes run over him whenever she wanted and say whatever was on her mind which, admittedly, had mostly been sex these last few days. It felt even more amazing that the heady feelings that had become such an intrinsic part of her were reciprocated. Alessia had fallen headfirst into lust with her own husband and it was the best feeling in the world. ‘I wish you’d told me. I’d have brought a swimming costume with me.’
A lascivious gleam appeared in his eyes. ‘Who needs a swimming costume when we have all this privacy?’
The mere thought made her legs go weak. ‘What about your staff?’ she asked, suddenly breathless.
‘All chores are done in the morning. Gregor—the butler—has a self-contained apartment at the back of the kitchen that he shares with the chefs. They don’t come into the main house unless I call for them.’ He dipped his head and ran his tongue over the rim of her ear. ‘We have complete privacy.’
Stepping onto her tiptoes, she hooked her arms around his neck and rubbed her nose into his neck, filling her senses with the scent of his skin she was rapidly becoming addicted to. ‘Complete privacy?’
He clasped her bottom and pulled her to him. ‘I could take you now and no one would know.’
The outline of his excitement pressed against her abdomen almost flooded her with an urgent, sticky heat.
‘Then do it,’ she whispered, grazing her teeth into his skin. ‘Take me now.’
Minutes later, lifted and pressed against the wall, her legs wrapped tightly around Gabriel’s waist as he pounded into her and the pulses of a climax thickened inside her, Alessia dreamily wondered who this wanton woman who’d taken possession of her body was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LATERTHATAFTERNOON, when Gabriel had to drag himself away from making love to return some of the calls he’d neglected these last few days, Alessia took herself off exploring. There was so much to see! To her delight, by the time she’d finished exploring the villa’s interior, Gabriel was sitting on the balcony having a drink.
‘Your home is amazing,’ she said, sinking into the seat next to his and twisting round to face him, unable to keep the smile from her face. As well as the huge living area, there was a smaller, cosier living room, a cinema room with sofas so deep and wide a party of people could sleep on them, a games room with a bar, other bars inside and out, a full-blown gym and a spa area bigger than the ground floor of her quarters. On top of all that were the eight bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, an upper floor entertainment area... It was endless! Oh, and Gabriel’s office, which she’d only peeked into to blow a kiss at him as he was on a call. Oh, and there were two kitchens too, an indoor one which looked like it belonged on a spaceship, and an outdoor one. She hadn’t even thought of exploring the grounds yet!
His eyes crinkled. ‘I’m glad you like it,’ he said as he poured her a glass of iced water and passed it to her.
She thought of the intricate sketches he’d made of the stables. ‘Did you design it yourself?’
‘I had the vision of what I wanted but an architect put those visions into something workable.’
‘It’s the polar opposite of the castle. And I can’t get over how quiet it is.’ She closed her eyes and listened hard. The castle was quiet at night but by day, it being a place of work as well as her family’s home, it bustled with the burr of people’s voices, footsteps and general movement.
Large hands wrapped around her ankles and pulled her feet onto his lap. ‘How would you feel about us turning the stables into something like this?’
She met his stare with a mournful sigh that turned into a sigh of pleasure when he began rubbing his thumbs over her left calf. ‘We’d never be allowed—can you imagine this there? Much as I love this, it wouldn’t fit in with the surroundings.’
‘Agreed, but with some clever architecture, we can get a lot more light into it.’
Relaxing under his strong, manipulating fingers, she sighed again. ‘That would be nice. I’ve never really considered how little natural light there is in the castle. I don’t suppose anyone thought about natural light when they converted the stables either. They probably thought my grandmother’s personality suited living in darkness,’ she added with a cackle of laughter.
‘I’m still astounded by what you told me of her.’
‘That she hated being a royal?’
‘No, I understand that; but that she seemed to hate people including her own family.’
‘She didn’tseemto, shedidhate people.’
‘Including your mother?’
‘I suppose she must have loved her,’ she said doubtfully. ‘That’s what mother’s do, isn’t it? Love their children.’
His fingers were still working their magic on her legs, now massaging the muscles of her right calf. ‘You don’t sound sure.’
‘I’m not. It’s not something we really talk about. I know my grandmother was hard on my mother but she was hard on everyone. She wasn’t a woman for drying a child’s tears, but she knew her duty and she was the perfect queen consort. She never let my grandfather down.’
‘Not until he died.’
