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‘Sorry, I’ve been bursting to tell you,’ Clara said when all the hugs and congratulations were done with. ‘I’ve known for a week but Marcelo wanted us to keep it private a bit longer. I wasn’t sure if he meant private from the public or private from you too, so I didn’t ask him and that way he couldn’t confirm it! I’ve beenitchingfor one of you to ask me!’
At that moment the glass door slid open and the man in question appeared. He took one look at the three of them and shook his head indulgently at his wife. ‘I knew you’d tell them.’
The mischief on Clara’s face made both Elsbeth and Alessia laugh. ‘But I’m excited!’
‘I’ve noticed.’ But the grin on his own handsome face told Elsbeth that the expectant father was every bit as excited as the expectant mother. ‘I suppose I have to tell Amadeo now.’
‘And Gabriel,’ Alessia piped up, then dashed back into the thrumming party to seek them out and drag them onto the balcony so the good news could be shared with them too.
Much back-slapping and manly hugs ensued, another bottle of champagne was opened, toasts were raised, crystal tapped against crystal before Clara and Alessia handed their flutes to their husbands to drink for them, and then they headed back inside. Before Elsbeth could rejoin the throng, strong fingers wrapped around her hand and pulled her to a stop.
Thrilling at the heat of his skin against hers, all the more acute as their flesh hadn’t made contact since they’d got out of the car, she gazed up into Amadeo’s handsome face.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, his eyes searching hers.
Understanding his question, recognising the signs of his concern, her heart swelled. Smiling, she nodded and said truthfully, ‘I’m thrilled for them.’
‘It will happen for us one day.’
‘I know.’
The concern turned into the gleam of a smile. Pressing his cheek against hers, he murmured huskily, ‘Maybe we should look at making a minor alteration to the rules and adding Wednesdays to our conjugal nights.’
A thrill of joy and wantonness took hold of her and, without even thinking about what she was doing, she clasped hold of his hip and then slid her hand around to clasp a tight buttock. ‘I could agree to that.’
Amadeo pulled his head back so he could look at her flushed face again. ‘Just to help the conception process.’ And the breaking of the fever. If he couldn’t take her away for a week to screw this fever out of them, then he would amend the rules.
‘Of course.’
‘Original rules applying after conception.’ By the time she conceived, the fever would be spent. It was not possible it could continue like this much longer.
Pupils dilated, her fingers squeezed tightly into his buttock. ‘Naturally.’
Now he was the one to grab her bottom, pulling her to him and grinding his groin into her. Baring his teeth, he growled, ‘Just you wait until I get you home.’
The next hour that passed was, for Amadeo, torture. He’d been so good up to that point on the balcony, ensuring no skin on skin contact with Elsbeth, keeping her by his side but not letting their flesh touch. Now, it was all he could do to keep his loins behaving. The way he was feeling, he was going to have to pour liquid ice down the front of his trousers.
He could hardly believe he’d behaved in such a debauched manner, grinding himself into her like that. Never before had he behaved like that outside the privacy of his own home. When he left the castle’s gates, he never forgot who he was, not even in a private setting such as this amongst good friends.
Now it was all he could do not to check his watch every five seconds to see if it was a reasonable time to whisk his wife home.
A large group had formed around them, conversation flowing as freely as the champagne, but the moment it turned eleven he caught Elsbeth’s eye. He didn’t say anything, just indicated the door.
A knowing sparkle came into her eyes and she gave the subtlest of nods.
Fifteen minutes was all it took to escape the party and then finally they were in the underground garage with their bodyguards, his driver, parked next to Amadeo’s siblings’ cars and the vehicles used by their individual security details, already opening the back door for them.
Only ten paces away, Elsbeth tugged at his hand and whispered, ‘Do our bodyguardshaveto sit in the back with us?’
The fever in his blood was alive in her eyes.
His vocal cords suddenly too thick to reply, he shook his head, then cleared his throat and told his head protection officer to sit up front with the driver. The other guards could arrange themselves in the convoy that always accompanied them.
Enclosed in the back of the car, the only sound was the heaviness of their individual breaths. Elsbeth stared straight ahead, her hands folded neatly on her lap, the rise and fall of her chest rapid.
He couldn’t just sense her desire. He could see it. He couldsmellit.
The driver set off.
