Kadir opened the door, and Athena hurried across the room and flung her arms around her sister. No words were necessary. The bond of love they shared was so strong that they simply held each other. But when they finally drew apart Athena was shocked to see her usually strong-willed, fiery sister looking pale and infinitely fragile.
‘Kadir says the specialist thinks the baby will be all right,’ she said jerkily, desperate to try and reassure Lexi.
‘The situation looks a lot more hopeful,’ Lexi said, and exchanged a look of intense love and trust with her husband that brought tears to Athena’s eyes.
This was how marriage should be, she thought. Lexi and Kadir were soulmates, and their love for each other was a bright flame that would never be extinguished.
Lexi leaned over the crib and handed Athena a small bundle. ‘Meet your nephew—Faisal Khalif Al Sulaimar.’
Athena’s heart turned over as she stared at the baby’s tiny screwed-up face and mop of black hair. ‘He’s beautiful,’ she said softly. And deep inside her she felt an ache of maternal longing.
‘I knew you would go gooey over him,’ her sister said. Lexi looked over at Luca. ‘I expect you know that Athena is mad about babies? I don’t suppose it will be long before you start a family.’
Athena stiffened, and then breathed a sigh of relief when Luca made a comment about them just wanting to enjoy married life for now. She glanced up and wondered why Kadir was frowning—but just then Faisal decided to demonstrate his strong cry, and she forgot about the puzzling expression she had noticed on her brother-in-law’s face.
* * *
‘As you’re newlyweds, we’ve put you and Luca in the tower room,’ Lexi had told Athena. But she didn’t understand the significance of that, or why her sister had winked at her, until that evening, when a servant escorted them to their room.
‘It looks like a sultan’s harem...’ she said faintly as she looked around the circular room.
The walls were covered in richly coloured silks that matched the satin sheets on a huge circular bed set on a platform in the centre of the room.
‘I wonder why there are mirrors on the ceiling...’
Luca’s eyes glinted with amusement. ‘You can’t be that naive.’ But perhaps she was, he thought. He could not imagine her ex-fiancé Charlie Fairfax had been an adventurous lover. ‘Some people find it erotic to watch themselves making love,’ he explained patiently, when she looked at him blankly.
‘Oh!’ Athena felt hot colour flood her face. She grabbed her suitcase. ‘I...um...I think I’ll go and take a shower.’
She could not forget the mirrors—or what Luca had said. Had he ever watched himself making love to one of his mistresses? A tremor ran through her as she imagined looking up to see a reflection of herself and Luca on the circular bed, their naked limbs entwined, his body poised above hers. Sweet heaven! She covered her scalding cheeks with her hands, shocked by the visions in her mind that had elicited a fierce throb of need deep in her pelvis.
The sense of relief she felt that baby Faisal’s heart problem was not life-threatening, together with the relief she’d gained from telling Luca about the sexual assault, meant that she was now able to relax—and focus on the new feelings stirring inside her.
She spent ages drying her hair, conscious of her heart thudding painfully hard in her chest. But she could not put off returning to the bedroom for ever. A decision had to be made. She opened her suitcase and stared at her pink cotton pyjamas sprigged with a daisy motif that she had packed next to the black lace negligee Luca had admired in Las Vegas...
‘Stand still,’ he ordered when she walked from the en-suite bathroom into the bedroom. He was sitting on the bed, his legs stretched out in front of him and a sketchpad in his hands. ‘Hold that pose for two more minutes.’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Designing a new dress for you.’ He glanced at her briefly, before looking back down at the sketch pad as his pen flew across the paper. ‘I’ve decided to make you something special to wear for when we hold a dinner party at Villa De Rossi for my uncle and the other board members of De Rossi Enterprises. I’ve been inspired by this Arabian Nights room,’ he added.
Athena’s brows lifted. ‘Does that mean I’ll be wearing a belly dancer’s outfit?’
He laughed softly. ‘Only in my dreams, mia bella.’
Luca finished his drawing and dropped the sketch pad onto the floor.
‘Can I ask you something? How are you planning to spend a million pounds? I’m curious,’ he said when she looked surprised, ‘because you seem uninterested in clothes and jewellery and the usual things that most women consider important.’
She hesitated. During dinner Lexi had asked her about the fund-raising campaign she’d organised for the orphanage in Jaipur. Athena had felt flustered as she’d replied that the campaign’s funds had been boosted by an anonymous donation. In fact the million pounds Luca had paid into her bank account had already been transferred to Cara Tanner, who had arranged for building work on the new orphanage house and school to begin immediately.
The conversation had led to Luca talking about the charity he was patron of, which raised money for research into Rett Syndrome and other genetic illnesses. But, even knowing of his charity work, Athena still wondered how Luca would react if she admitted that she had given the entire one million pounds to the orphanage project.
‘I...I’m planning to spend the money on a house.’
‘That’s a good idea. Investing in the property market is a wise investment.’
Keen to change the subject, she glanced around at the silk-lined walls. ‘This room is amazing, isn’t it? Although we have the same problem we had at the hotel in Las Vegas—only one bed. I wonder which end you’re meant to sleep in a circular bed.’
‘I don’t think the bed is designed to be slept in,’ Luca said drily.
Her eyes strayed to the mirrored ceiling above the bed. ‘Probably not...’ she murmured.
‘Don’t worry.’ Luca took pity on her in her obvious embarrassment. ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa.’
He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, drawing Athena’s eyes to his superb musculature. She took a deep breath.
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I suppose it is a big bed...’ He considered her statement. ‘Are you suggesting we sleep on opposite sides of the mattress?’
‘Actually...I’m suggesting that we don’t sleep at all.’
CHAPTER NINE
THE SILENCE THAT followed Athena’s statement was profound. Luca jerked his eyes in her direction and she saw his startled expression change to one of burning intensity as he watched her untie the belt of her silk robe. It slithered to the floor, leaving her in the wisp of a sheer black lace negligee that had definitely not been designed to sleep in.
His eyes narrowed. ‘You had better be clear about what you are suggesting,’ he said tensely.
She pushed her long hair over her shoulders and felt a tingle of anticipation as Luca stared at her breasts, with their swollen nipples visible through the semi-transparent negligee.
‘I want you,’ she told him simply. He frowned, and she said quickly, ‘I won’t change my mind, or freeze on you like before. I’ve allowed what happened when I was eighteen to affect the way I live my life for too long.’
She met his gaze, and her voice was steady.
‘I’m determined to put the past behind me. I have tried to deny the chemistry that exists between us, but...but I’m done with fighting a battle I can’t win,’ she admitted.
‘Athena...’ Luca’s voice was unsteady, and he could feel his heart beating faster than normal beneath his breastbone.
How ironic was it that the man dubbed by the paparazzi the ‘Italian Stallion’ had been reduced to the state of a hormone-fuelled youth by th
e most unsophisticated, unassuming woman he had ever met? he brooded. Somehow he needed to regain control of himself, but the almost painful hardness of his arousal was an indication of how turned on he was by the sight of Athena’s gorgeous, ripe breasts which were in danger of bursting out of her nightgown.
‘Come here, piccola.’
Luca’s husky endearment dismissed Athena’s last lingering doubts about what she was doing. What she was about to do, she silently amended as she took the few steps required to reach where he was standing next to the bed.
She had thought she would feel shy, or nervous, but she felt neither of those things as he put his arms around her and drew her towards him. The spicy tang of his aftershave intoxicated her senses, and with a low moan she pressed herself against him and tilted her head as he angled his mouth over hers and claimed her lips with a bone-shaking passion mixed with a tenderness that enchanted her heart.
Luca lifted her onto the bed without breaking the kiss and lay down next to her, running his hands over her body and leaving a trail of fire wherever he touched her.
‘I have fantasised about doing this since Las Vegas.’ He traced his lips down her throat to the edge of her negligee, where the dark pink tips of her nipples were clearly visible through the sheer material. ‘Bella...’ he murmured, before he closed his mouth around one hard peak and suckled her through the black lace.
Athena gave a gasp of pleasure when he peeled the damp material away and bared her breasts to his glittering gaze. For the first time in her life she did not hate her breasts for being too big. Luca’s appreciation of her body and his respect for her, shown by the almost reverent way he caressed her, made her glad of her curvy figure.
The realisation that Peter Fitch no longer had power over her and she was finally free of the dark memories of the past gave her confidence to touch Luca as he was touching her. She swiftly undid his shirt buttons, as if she’d had plenty of practice undressing a man, and pushed the material aside so that she could run her hands over his naked chest.
His bronze skin was warm and silken, with a covering of dark hair that arrowed down over his abdomen. Athena traced the fuzz of hair down to the waistband of his trousers and drew a startled breath when she felt the huge bulge of his arousal.
‘Now you know what you do to me,’ he said thickly. He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. ‘I could die with wanting you. I’ve never felt like this before.’
It was the truth, Luca thought. His desire for Athena was beyond anything he had felt for any other woman. Her courage in facing up to the traumatic incident in her past filled him with admiration and he knew he must not rush her, even though his blood was on fire and he was desperate to appease his hunger for her.
He stroked his hand over her sheer lace knickers and almost forgot his good intentions when he felt the dampness of her arousal.
‘We’ll take things slowly,’ he promised—as much to himself as to Athena. ‘You’re trembling.’ He frowned. ‘You are not afraid of me, are you carissima?’
He assumed that as a consequence of the sexual assault when she was younger it would take her a while to relax with a lover.
‘No,’ she assured him, ‘it’s just that this is all new.’
Luca lowered his head and flicked his tongue into her navel. Her soft moan of pleasure urged him to trail his mouth lower, but his brain questioned her curious statement.
‘What do you mean, new?’
Athena wished he would continue, would slip his hand inside her knickers and touch her where she longed to be touched, but Luca propped himself on one elbow and looked down at her with a puzzled expression in his eyes. She knew it was only fair to tell him the truth.
‘The way you are touching me is new,’ she admitted.
‘Do you mean that Charlie never spent time on foreplay before making love to you?’
‘I’ve never slept with Charlie...or anyone else.’ She swallowed as she watched shocked comprehension slowly cross his face. ‘I’m a virgin.’
The only other time in his life that Luca had been rendered speechless was when he had read his grandmother’s will. ‘But you’re...’
‘Twenty-five. Yes, I’m aware that I’m an oddity,’ Athena muttered.
She had half assumed, half hoped, that Luca would have guessed she was inexperienced when she told him about the sexual assault. But he rolled away from her, and in the mirror above the bed she watched his expression change from shock to something she could not read as his chiselled features hardened.
‘You were engaged to Charlie for a year. How the hell are you still a virgin?’
‘He was happy to wait until we were married before we had sex.’ She bit her lip.
‘He must have had the patience of a saint to resist his desire for you for a year.’ A thought occurred to Luca. ‘You told me you discovered on your wedding day that Charlie had been unfaithful. Did he turn to another woman because he had agreed to wait until you were his wife before you had sex?’
‘Sort of...’
Athena felt embarrassed by her nakedness now it was evident that Luca was turned off by her lack of experience. She sat up and pulled the purple satin sheet around her body, wishing she could crawl away and hide.
‘Charlie never desired me,’ she said in a low voice. ‘On the morning of the wedding I found him in bed with his best man, Dominic. He admitted he had asked me to marry him to conceal the fact that he’s gay.’
‘Why didn’t you say anything—instead of allowing Charlie to blame you for calling off the wedding and accusing you of having an affair with me?’
‘I had realised that I didn’t love him, but I couldn’t betray his secret relationship with Dominic. Lord Fairfax is an ex-Royal Marine, and Charlie has spent his life trying to live up to his father’s expectations. It was one thing we had in common. I’ve always been a disappointment to my parents,’ she said ruefully.
‘Santa Madre, what a mess.’
Luca rolled onto his back and stared up at the mirrored ceiling at the image of himself and Athena lying on the circular bed. The knowledge that she was naked beneath the sheet she had covered herself with evoked a sharp tug of desire in his groin. But, Dio, she was a virgin—and he was in dangerous territory.
‘What were you were hoping for when you decided that you wanted me to be your first lover?’ His eyes narrowed on her pink cheeks. ‘Because if you were hoping for hearts and flowers and for me to fall in love with you, then you chose the wrong man,’ he said bluntly.
She flushed. ‘I don’t—’
‘In Vegas you said that you believe the act of making love should be a physical demonstration of being in love.’
‘I think I felt that at the time because Peter Fitch had made me feel sex was somehow dirty. In my mind I thought that if I only slept with a man I loved it couldn’t be wrong. But now I understand how I had been affected by the past. You pointed out that there is nothing wrong with two people who are attracted to each other taking pleasure in sex. I’m not in love with you,’ she told Luca earnestly. ‘I chose you to give me my first sexual experience because I trust you, and because I...I think you are an honourable man.’
An honourable man! For the second time in the space of ten minutes Luca did not know what to say. He had earned many accolades—a great lover, a gifted designer, a brilliant businessman—but people had always admired him for his achievements in the fashion industry, or for his wealth. Athena did not care about those things. She had said that she trusted him.
His mother had abandoned him, his grandmother had told him he was worthless so often that he’d believed her, and Jodie had thrown his love back in his face. But Athena believed he was an honourable man, and to Luca it felt like the greatest accolade of all.
Luca seemed lost in his thoughts, and as silence stretched between them Athena remembered C
harlie’s taunt: ‘Who do you think will want a twenty-five-year-old virgin?’
‘I suppose you’re put off by my inexperience,’ she said dully.
She sensed him shoot her a sharp glance.
‘I’m not put off by you.’ But if he had known she was a virgin he would not have married her, Luca thought silently. ‘When our marriage ends in a year’s time you deserve to fall in love with a man who loves you and will propose a proper marriage.’
She grimaced. ‘After running away from my society wedding and then having a quickie wedding in Las Vegas I won’t be in any rush to plan another wedding.’
Her eyes kept straying to the mirror above the bed and to the reflection of Luca, looking sinfully sexy sprawled on the satin sheets. She wondered if he was wishing he was here in this Arabian Nights room with one of his sophisticated, sexually experienced mistresses instead of her. Of course he is, taunted a voice in her head.
‘You’re too tall for the sofa, so I’ll sleep on it,’ she muttered, keeping the sheet wrapped around her as she wriggled over to the edge of the mattress.
He watched her awkward progress across the bed with amusement. ‘You look like a caterpillar.’
‘It’s okay, Luca. I know I have the sex appeal of a creature you’d find crawling out from under a stone,’ she choked.
The wobble in her voice got to him.
‘You know I didn’t mean it literally.’
He caught hold of the edge of the sheet she was clutching to her like a security blanket and gave a hard tug. She gave a cry of surprise as the slippery satin was jerked from her hands and unravelled from around her body.
‘You know I find you incredibly sexy,’ Luca told her in a fierce voice as he pushed her flat on her back and knelt over her.
His brain was insisting that this was a bad idea, that he should walk away and leave Athena to give her innocence to a man who would love her in the future. But he’d caught the glint of tears in her sapphire-blue eyes and he hated himself because he knew he had hurt her feelings.
Her self-confidence had been destroyed by the vile monster who had sexually assaulted her. Athena must have dug deep to find the courage to ask him to make love to her and now she was mortified, believing he had rejected her because he did not desire her, when the truth was very different.
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