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He lightly brushed her lips with his.
‘Our first time won’t be on a plane within listening distance of my staff.’ He walked to the bed and pulled back the covers. He waited until she got in and tucked her in. About to walk away, he suddenly stopped. ‘We will make this marriage work, Eva.’
Her mouth parted but, with no words to counter that unexpected vow, she slowly pressed her lips together as pain ripped through her.
‘Sleep well, dolcezza,’ he murmured, then left.
Despite her turmoil, she slept through the whole flight, rousing refreshed if unsettled as to what the future held.
Dressing in a light cotton sundress and open sandals, she left her hair loose, applied a touch of lip gloss and sunscreen and exited the plane.
They transferred from jet to high-speed boat with Romeo at the wheel. The noise from the engine made conversation impossible but, for the first time, the silence between Zaccheo and Eva felt less fraught. The strange but intense feeling that had engulfed them both as he’d undressed her on the plane continued to grip them as they raced towards their final destination. When she caught her hair for the umpteenth time to keep it from flying in the wind, he captured the strands in a tight grip at the base of her neck, then used the hold to pull her closer until she curved into his side. With his other arm sprawled along the back of their seat, he appeared the most at ease Eva had ever seen him.
Perhaps being forced to wait for a while to tell him hadn’t been a bad thing.
She let the tension ooze out of her.
Despite the shades covering his eyes, he must have sensed her scrutiny, because he turned and stared down at her for endless minutes. She felt the power of that look to the tips of her toes and almost fell into him when he took her mouth in a voracious kiss.
He let her up for air when her lungs threatened to burst. Burying his face in her throat, he rasped for her ears only, ‘I cannot wait to make you mine.’
By the time the boat slowed and pulled into a quiet inlet, Eva was a nervous wreck.
‘Welcome to Casa do Paraíso,’ he said once the engine died.
Enthralled, Eva looked around. Tropical trees and lush vegetation surrounded a spectacular hacienda made of timber and glass, the mid-morning sun casting vibrant shades of green, orange and blue on the breathtaking surroundings. Wide glass windows dominated the structure and, through them, Eva saw white walls and white furniture with splashes of colourful paintings on the walls perpetuated in an endless flow of rooms.
‘It’s huge,’ she blurted.
Zaccheo jumped onto the sugary sand and grabbed her hand.
‘The previous owner built it for his first wife and their eight children. She got it in the divorce, but hated the tropical heat so never visited. It was run-down by the time I bought the island from her, so I made substantial alterations.’
The mention of children ramped up the tension crawling through her belly and, despite her trying to shrug the feeling away, it lingered as she followed him up the wide front porch into the stunning living room.
A staff of four greeted them, then hurried out to where Romeo was securing the vessel. She gazed around in stunned awe, accepting that Zaccheo commanded the best when it came to the structures he put his stamp on, whether commercial or private.
‘Come here, Eva.’ The order was impatient.
She turned from admiring the structure to admire the man who’d created it. Tall, proud and intensely captivating, he stood at the base of a suspended staircase, his white-hot gaze gleaming dangerously, promising complete sexual oblivion.
Desire pulsed between them, a living thing that writhed, consumed with a hunger that demanded to be met, fulfilled.
Eva knew she should make time now they were here to tell him. Lay down the truth ticking away inside her like a bomb.
After years of struggling to forge a relationship with her father and sister, she’d finally laid the foundations of one today.
How could she live with herself if she continued to keep Zaccheo in the dark about the family he hoped for himself?
Her feet slapped against the large square tiles as she hurried across the room. His mouth lifted in a half-smile of satisfaction. She’d barely reached him when he swung her into his arms and stormed up the stairs.
And then the need to disclose her secret was suddenly no longer urgent. It’d been superseded by another, more pressing demand. One that every atom in her body urged her to assuage. Now. Before the opportunity was taken from her. Before her confession once again found her in the brutal wasteland of rejection.
His heat singed where they touched. Unable to resist, she sank her fingers into his hair and buried her face in his neck, eager to be closer to his rough primitiveness.
