‘When did you know you loved me?’ she asked him as she emerged dazedly from the waves of pleasure induced by the most beautiful lovemaking she had ever experienced.
‘I don’t know,’ he admitted honestly. ‘I saw you at some business dinner in the City and seized the chance to offer you a job as my chef. I tried to ignore my awareness of you, but I started making excuses to leave the office early because I liked knowing you were waiting at home for me—although I told myself it was because I appreciated your wonderful cooking. But I found myself thinking about you a lot, and after we slept together I was determined to make you my mistress. When we were in Tuscany I couldn’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t want you and when you left and refused to come back to me …’ His voice deepened and he said raggedly, ‘I missed you like hell.’
‘I went because I was fathoms deep in love with you, and I was afraid that if I stayed you would break my heart.’ Rebekah gave a contented sigh as she snuggled close to him and felt his lips brush hers.
‘I will always love you,’ Dante promised her. ‘I never felt I truly belonged anywhere, but I belong with you, my darling. And you belong with me. For ever.’
EPILOGUE
MELLOW September sunshine bathed the Casa di Colombe in golden light. In the courtyard Rebekah was collecting herbs to use in the new recipe she was planning to make for dinner. Her first cookery book had been such a success that she had been commissioned to write another one, and this time her recipes were influenced by traditional Tuscan dishes.
She glanced up at the sound of excited laughter and smiled at the sight of her son, held in his father’s arms, trying to catch the spray from the fountain in his chubby hands.
‘Easy, tiger,’ Dante murmured as he held the wriggling baby a little tighter. ‘He’s so strong,’ he said proudly. ‘And so determined to get into the water,’ he added ruefully as he moved away from the ornamental pool and Leo gave a loud yell of protest.
‘He likes to have his own way—just like his father,’ Rebekah said drily. She had experienced Dante’s forceful personality ten months ago, when in the space of a week he had arranged their wedding and booked a honeymoon in the Seychelles. They had married in the tiny chapel in Wales close to her parents’ farm. Her father had given her away, and her seven brothers and their families had packed the pews. Rebekah had worn an exquisite white silk and lace dress and carried a bouquet of pink roses, and her five little nieces had acted as bridesmaids.
She recalled how her heart had leapt when she had walked towards Dante and seen his love for her blazing in his silver-grey eyes. He had looked breathtakingly handsome in a tuxedo. But he looked just as gorgeous now, she thought as she skimmed her gaze over his denim shorts and bare chest. His skin was dark olive after the month they had spent in Tuscany and she could not resist running her fingers through the whorls of black hairs that arrowed down over his flat abdomen.
‘If our son would deign to take a nap, I would take you upstairs to bed and make love to you,’ he murmured, his eyes glinting with sensual promise that sent a quiver of longing through Rebekah.
‘He doesn’t look very tired,’ she said doubtfully as she lifted Leo into her arms and her heart melted when he gave her a wide smile that revealed his solitary tooth. She hugged the baby tightly and felt a fierce surge of emotion. ‘He’s amazing, isn’t he? It’s hard to believe he had heart surgery three months ago.’
There had been no complications with Leo’s birth, and he had fed and thrived so well that when he was three months old the doctors had decided he was strong enough to undergo the operation to repair his heart defect. The few days he had spent in intensive care had been the most nerve-racking ordeal of Rebekah’s life, but the worrying time had brought her and Dante even closer and she did not know how she would have coped without his support. Fortunately Leo’s quick recovery had been nothing short of miraculous and now, at six months old, he was healthy, full of energy and seemed to require remarkably little sleep.
‘I think he’ll drop off,’ Dante said, watching the baby nestle against Rebekah’s neck and give a yawn. ‘And when he does I’ll have my wicked way with you.’
‘Is that a promise?’ she said teasingly.
Her soft smile stole Dante’s breath. He hadn’t known he could feel this happy, he reflected, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. For the first time in his life he felt utterly content and secure in the knowledge that his wife loved him as much as he adored her.
‘Oh, yes,’ he assured her huskily as he pulled her and their son into the circle of his arms. ‘I promise I will never stop loving you.’
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Chantelle Shaw 2012
eISBN: 978-1-408-97471-1
Table of Contents
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Copyright
At Dante's Service Page 16
