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It was not surprising that she had been in love with him for years. Paloma froze, fighting a dawning truth. Her youthful feelings had not been an infatuation. Age was not a barrier to love. She was in love with Daniele, but he must never guess how she felt when there was no chance he would return her feelings.
It was suddenly important that he did not find her lying in his bed, as if she had nothing better to do than wait for him. She would show him that she was an independent woman, and he did not have to feel responsible for her just because she had lost her virginity to him. And if deep in her heart she was glad it had been Daniele, she wasn’t going to admit it to him or herself.
She hurried back to her bedroom, and as she crossed the landing, she smelled the heavenly aroma of coffee wafting up from the kitchen. A sound made her stop in her tracks. Daniele was whistling cheerfully and, it must be said, rather tunelessly. It was such a normal thing, but from Daniele, the master of self-containment, it was perhaps an indication that he had lowered his guard a fraction.
Heading into her en suite bathroom, she turned on the shower and closed her mind to everything but the feel of the hot spray on her skin. She ran her fingers through her hair to rinse out the shampoo and gave a startled yelp when a pair of big, tanned hands settled on her hips. Daniele nuzzled the base of her throat and moved his lips up to nip her earlobe with his teeth. A quiver ran through her when he cupped her breasts in his palms and pulled her against him so that her back rested on his chest and his arousal nudged the cleft of her bottom. Erotic memories of the previous night filled her mind, and she was shocked by how desperately she wanted him again.
‘I prepared breakfast for you,’ he murmured. ‘But when I carried the tray up to the bedroom, you had gone.’
‘Oh, I’d better come now before it gets cold.’
‘It’s yoghurt and fruit,’ he said wryly. ‘My capabilities as a cook don’t stretch to a—what is it called?—a full English.’ He turned her around to face him, and her heart missed a beat when he gave her a sexy grin. His wet hair was slicked back from his face and the dark stubble on his jaw made him look like a pirate.
Paloma caught her breath when he slipped his hand between her thighs and his fingers found her molten heat. His powerful erection jabbed her belly as he lifted her up and held her against the shower wall. Pushing her legs apart, he entered her with a smooth thrust. ‘And now you are full of an Italian,’ he murmured, his eyes gleaming wickedly.
She giggled, but soon she was gasping as he took her hard and fast. His urgency matched her own and she dug her fingers into his shoulders as the storm inside her built to a crescendo. His ragged breaths told her he was close, and moments later they climaxed simultaneously. The perfection of the moment and the man brought tears to Paloma’s eyes, and she prayed that Daniele would think it was the shower spray running down her face.
‘I want to make it clear that we will divorce in the future,’ she told him much later, after he had taken her back to bed and they had been too occupied to think of breakfast. Finally they had made it down to the kitchen for lunch, and they were famished and feasting on bread and cheese and tangy olives.
‘Have you had enough of me already?’ Daniele lifted a brow. ‘I did not get that impression when you were being very inventive with a bar of soap in the shower,cara.’
Paloma felt herself blush, but kept her gaze locked with his. ‘Sleeping together wasn’t part of the plan. This—’ she waved her hand in the air ‘—attraction between us won’t last.’ She needed to remind herself that their marriage was temporary.
Something flickered in his eyes before his thick lashes swept down. ‘How can you be so sure?’
‘I know your track record with women.’ Paloma felt a sharp stab of jealousy as she thought of all the women who had come before her and those who would share his bed after her. She wondered if he would bring them to the farmhouse and spoil them with breakfast in bed, even if it was only yoghurt.
Daniele leaned back in his chair. ‘Your birthday is more than six months away and we have to remain married until you are twenty-five. I have learned that life is unpredictable,’ he said with emphasis. ‘I suggest we enjoy whatever “this” is.’
For as long as it lasts.His unspoken words hovered in the air. Paloma sternly quashed her disappointment that he had not suggested their marriage might continue after she was twenty-five. She did not want to be trapped in a loveless marriage for a second time, she reminded herself. But he was right. No one knew what was around the corner. A few weeks ago, she had been teaching in one of the most deprived parts of Africa. The shocking news of her grandfather’s death had turned her life upside down.
‘I just wanted you to know that I don’t have any expectations,’ she told him seriously.
Daniele’s eyes narrowed on her face, and he seemed to be about to say something but then changed his mind. ‘So we agree to take each day as it comes. I have a plan for the rest of today.’
‘Are you going to tell me where we are going?’ Paloma asked him a little while later as they strolled through some woodland near to the farmhouse.
‘You’ll see very soon.’ He was as good as his word, and when they emerged from the cool shade of the trees into the warm afternoon sunshine, Paloma heard the unmistakable sound of a waterfall. Daniele led the way along a path that opened out to a rocky area where water gushed into a crystal-clear pool. ‘I thought we would swim.’
‘I’d love to, but I didn’t bring a swimsuit.’
‘Nor did I.’ He pulled his T-shirt over his head and grinned when Paloma’s eyes widened as she watched him strip off his jeans and boxers. ‘Your turn to get undressed,cara.’
She glanced around her. ‘But what if someone sees us?’
‘The pool is on my land, and no one will come here. Have you never swum naked in a wild pool before?’
‘No. It will be another first that I can thank you for.’ She slipped off her skirt and top and hesitated for a heartbeat before removing her bra and knickers. Daniele scooped her into his arms and strode into the pool with her. ‘Oh, God, the water’s freezing,’ she gasped as he lowered her down.
‘I’m curious to know how you plan to thank me,’ he whispered in her ear.
She moved her hand down his body and discovered that the chilly temperature of the water had not affected a certain area of his anatomy. ‘Like this,’ she murmured, and he groaned when she curled her fingers around his manhood.
For the rest of the day, they swam in the pool or stood beneath the waterfall and dried off by lying on the flat rocks that had been warmed by the sun. ‘Like lizards,’ Paloma commented.
‘You are a million times more desirable than a lizard,’ Daniele assured her, and he proceeded to show her how much he desired her. She had never seen him so carefree, almost boyish, and she fell in love with him even more.
The afternoon by the pool set a pattern for the days that followed. They spent almost every hour in each other’s company, much of the time in bed, although they experimented on the sofa and on the gym mats after a martial arts session, and most memorable of all was when Daniele bent her over the kitchen table and made passionate love to her while the dinner burned and stuck to the saucepan.
