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‘Thank you.’ She took a long sip of sweet, perfect hot chocolate. ‘It’s not as cold in here as outside.’
‘I turned on a heater, but it’s not the most efficient way of warming the space. This place was meant for protecting the castle. I’m sure my ancestors didn’t want the people guarding it to get too comfortable.’
‘It looks like it’s been made comfortable.’
This would have taken time and effort. The candles, the heater, the drink... Walking up and down that flight of stairs multiple times, because it likely would have taken more than one trip. He’d thought about this. He’d done it for her.
The burn of tears teased at her eyes again. This man—he was all risk. And she was deceiving him by not telling him about the violin, by allowing herself to be lost in this world that they inhabited together rather than ruining precious moments like this, in a fantasy place where everything going on outside the castle didn’t matter.
But for now she’d relish the time with him. This big, beautiful grand gesture from a man who would likely not admit to any softness.
She blinked the errant tears away. Settled back into the cushions as he sat beside her. ‘What is this place used for now?’
He looked around the room and an expression crossed his face. Something almost wistful. ‘Not for anything. I keep it furnished for sentimental reasons. It was my escape when I was younger. Being in charge of the castle and my siblings when I was only a teenager was difficult at times. At my request, the staff took some furniture from the lesser-used rooms and made this place for me.’
‘It must have been hard, being so responsible.’
He sat staring at the candles on a small table, his eyes unfocussed. ‘It wasn’t all responsibility. We ran wild much of the time. I was their leader. For the most part we had fun.’
‘For the most part?’
‘Children aren’t easy to look after, and my younger siblings felt neglected by me at times, I’m sure. They certainly felt neglected by my parents. One evening my younger sister decided she wanted to see my mother, who’d worn a grand ball gown to go to the capital. Emilia packed a bag and left the castle. It was winter. We were lucky that dinner was early that night or we’d never have noticed her missing. Even luckier that fresh snow had fallen and we could follow her footprints, or we would have lost her. From that day on, I never forgot my responsibility to my siblings. To keep them safe. To protect them.’
Lucy reached out and laid her hand over Stefano’s for comfort. His skin was warm under her fingers. ‘At least they’re adults now.’
‘I’ll always be responsible for them. Lasserno can be unforgiving—especially for my siblings. Social climbing is an aristocratic sport here, and my brother and sister aren’t interested in playing that competitive game. I had the protection of the Crown, but they wanted something different from life... What I do has an impact on them and always will.’
Stefano was so responsible. He was looking afterher. She wished she could look after him for a change. He desperately needed someone to give him a little softness in his life.
‘Thank you for showing me this place. Your home is beautiful. You must miss it when you’re not here.’
‘I’ve been neglecting it. Celine didn’t like the castle, or the mountains. The things she used to say about them...’ He laughed, but it was a bitter sound with no pleasure in it. ‘So I stayed away when I should have been here. My brother cares for the conservatory but that’s all he’s really interested in. My sister is busy studying. The responsibility for this place is mine and I’ve failed it. You’re suffering the consequences.’
‘I’m getting used to the temperature.’
‘You shouldn’t have to.’ He took her hands between his and the heat of them slid through her fingers. ‘Are you cold now?’
‘Never around you.’ It was as simple and as complicated as that. He might be dark and brooding, and there was something around him that wasn’t entirely happy, but Stefano carried the heat of sunlight. It was a truth she could admit when other things between them were a lie.
She wished she could talk to him, tell him what she needed to before her secrets eroded everything beautiful between them, but she couldn’t find the right words. Not here in this space together, cocooned against the world, where she could kid herself with the fantasy that reality couldn’t touch them. She’d allowed a sense of inevitability to overtake her. As if there was nowhere else they should be.
She didn’t know who moved first—her or him—but somehow they were closer and their lips touched again. She opened underneath him. His mouth was a gentle tease against her own and all she craved was more,deeper. She could forget when his lips were on hers, when his arms were banding her body, when he was inside her. Her worries dissolved and her pain disappeared with the pure and perfect need. Nothing mattered. Not the orchestra. Not her violin. There was her, and him, and it was enough.
Her hands skated around the waist of his hard body, tugged at the warmth of his sweater. She slipped them under his shirt to stroke his hot skin and he flinched away, a smile on his lips.
‘You say you’re not cold, but your fingers are.’
‘Then keep me warm.’
Stefano moaned and took her in his arms. His lips crashed onto hers in a move that took rather than gave. She didn’t care. She wanted to forget again, and she would give everything in this moment for their bodies to be skin to skin, with his hard, muscular frame covering hers.
His sure hands unzipped her coat, pushed it from her shoulders. The cool air of the room held a sting, but it was nothing when compared to the passion and heat that they generated together. He broke from the kiss and stood, holding out his hands to her. She placed her chilled ones into his and he helped her stand. He walked them to the narrow bed and drew back the covers, then hesitated.
‘I’m sorry...perhaps we should go somewhere else.’
Lucy looked up into his black eyes, gleaming in the candlelight. She cupped his cheek and the stubble teased her palm. ‘No, here’s perfect.’
‘Good. I’m not sure that I can wait.’
