He lifted her hand to his lip and kissed each fingertip. “I couldn’t go back.”
“Why not?” She scanned his face, scarcely daring to breathe.
He laced his fingers through hers. “Because I knew I’d go to you.” He shook his head. “I know you think the worst of me. But what happened between us was not planned. It took me as completely by surprise as it did you.” She went to pull her hand away. Talk of the past was like a bucket of ice cold water, dousing the memories they were building now. “If I’d come to London, I would have wanted… no, needed… to see you. To be with you. I would have walked into an affair with you with my eyes wide open.”
Annie couldn’t have said how she felt. Desperate, sad, pleased, relieved. A strange combination of emotions from every end of the spectrum. That he wanted to be faithful to his wife was an odd mark in his favor.
“You both deserved better than that.”
“We both?” She sucked in a breath. The ghost of his wife had been hovering at the edges all evening. Again, she tried to pull her hand away, but he held it tight. “Did you tell her about me, Giac?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Did you tell him about me?”
She shook her head. Now, when she pulled at her hand, he let her have it. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because. The reason I broke up with Thomas had absolutely nothing to do with you. What would I have said? That I dated a guy a few years ago? Totally irrelevant.”
Giac beckoned to a waiter and handed over his Centurion credit card without taking his eyes off Annie. “Why did you break up with him, then?”
It was all too tempting to degenerate into a game of tit for tat. If he wouldn’t speak about his marriage, why should she talk about her ex-boyfriend? Only, she had nothing to hide. “We wanted different things,” she said, somewhat evasively.
“Such as?” Giac pushed.
She sighed. “He was more serious than I was. I was happy as long as we were just hanging out. But I didn’t want to lead him on.”
“How long did you date him?”
“Five months, apparently.” How had she let it go on so long? She lifted her sea green eyes to his face.
“Did you sleep with him?” He felt his heart squeeze at the question. He had no right to ask. He had, after all, been married. But he needed to know.
Annie glared at him, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did you sleep with your wife?”
Giac should have seen it coming. “I’m sorry.” He held his hands up in the air in a sign of surrender. “We’re covering dangerous ground now. Come on. You promised me twenty four hours, and by my count, I still have twenty one to go.”
And because Annie knew that she would remember this night for the rest of her life, she pushed her frustrations over the past aside. She could feel angry another time.
“I’m ready when you are.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The view from the top of the Eiffel tower was truly beyond compare. Beneath them, the whole city was covered in a blanket of lights, and they were left in privacy to enjoy the vista.
“I can’t believe you were able to swing this,” she said with a small shake of her head. Then again, what could the great Giac Medici not achieve?
Despite the fact it was summer, there was a chill in the air, and she shivered against him.
He held her tighter, smelling the lemony fragrance of her hair. The truth was, money talked. Giac had learned, a long time ago, that there weren’t many doors in life that couldn’t be pushed through with money, confidence and power. His hard working assistant had been able to call the manager of the Eiffel tour and arrange an after-hours trip to the top deck.
Annie scanned the city, a sense of magic weaving around her as she contemplated the buzz of traffic, the well known landmarks etched against an inky black sky.
“Will you dance with me?”
She tilted her head up to his. “But, there’s no music.”
His smile was small. “Who needs music?” He held his hands out and she slid into them. Slowly, he began to move, keeping her close.
Annie rested her cheek on his shoulder. She wanted to stay wrapped in that simple, sweet moment of perfection for the rest of her days.
“How long are you staying in England for?” She murmured, her eyes closed, her body exhausted, her mind heavy, her heart full.
Giac ran his fingers down her spine and rested them at the top of her bottom. The smallest amount of pressure brought her most intimate core into contact with his erection. She gasped, her cheeks flushed, to realize he was so turned on by her. “The ceremony is next Friday, at Windsor castle.”
“Oh.” She had, somehow, completely forgotten about the honor he was to be awarded. “And then you’re going?”
He stopped dancing. With one forefinger, he lifted her chin. Their eyes locked. “No.”
“You’re staying?”
“It depends. I’ll stay as long as I have a reason to.”
Her heart turned over. She wanted so badly to hope against hope that this could be different. That this time could work for them. She loved him. She always had. But trusting him felt idiotic after what they’d been through.
She lowered her head, nuzzling against his chest. “I want to go back to the hotel.”
“Tired?” He teased.
She shook her head. “Not at all.”
He had planned to take Annie for a cocktail at Jules Verne on the way down, then to a real nightclub to dance the night away. But time alone with Annie was preferable to just about anything he could have organized.
Back in the hotel, Annie felt suddenly uncertain. How was it possible to forget the past? She watched Giac surreptitiously, as he poured scotch into two tumblers. Annie didn’t drink scotch, but she’d accepted the offer simply to buy herself some breathing space.
His room was a far cry from hers. Then again, what had she expected? It was, of course, the penthouse. Far from having a bed in the middle of the living space, he had several bedrooms, a full kitchen, an elegant lounge area, and a beautiful spa bath she’d glimpsed when she’d washed her face to freshen up.
She kept chasing her dilemma around in her mind, and she couldn’t work out what the heck she wanted. Oh, she knew she wanted Giac, but she wasn’t certain she’d ever be able to forgive him. Would that simmering resentment overflow one day, and ruin whatever they could build? Was she brave enough to take a chance?
He looked up, in the midst of placing the lid back on the decanter. His eyes locked to hers and she felt an electric charge flow through her body.
Who was she kidding? She had no choice. Where Giac was concerned, she never really had.
“I think I must have lost my mind,” she murmured, curling her legs up beside her as he handed her the glass of amber liquid.
“How so, cara?”
He sat beside her, stretching his long legs out in front of them.
“I’m really enjoying myself.” Her smile was shy. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Why is that ridiculous?” He asked, his handsome face angled to hers, his eyes carefully watching her.
“I thought I hated you!” She shook her head, staring down into the glass. “I, at least, thought I was over you.”
“Annie,” he ran a hand over her dark hair. “If it makes you feel any better, I never got over you either.”
A tiny pin prick threatened to deflate her pleasure. “I don’t think your wife would appreciate that,” she whispered.
“Ex-wife. Soon to be, ex-wife.”
Annie bit down on her lip. “It’s really over between the two of you?”
“Absolutely.” He put his scotch down and came to kneel before her. “I wouldn’t do this to you again. It’s the only reason I waited until now to come back to you.”
Her eyes assumed a faraway look. “That day in the boardroom…”. Had it only been two weeks ago? She shook her head. “I wasn’t even sure you remembered me.”
His expression was fi
lled with barely concealed surprise. “You were the sole purpose of my coming to Amicus, bella.”
“You didn’t seem to recognize me.”
He skimmed his palms over her thighs, marveling at her soft, smooth skin. “You had changed a lot,” he conceded. “It surprised me.”
“I had to change after you,” she whispered, not looking directly at him. “I needed to grow up.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You were perfect just the way you were.”
“Giac,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I want to do this.” She screwed up her courage. “I never did stop loving you, you know. But I’ve never been as hurt as I was that day. Realizing what you must have thought of me was just… awful.”
Giac pushed to his knees, so their heads were level. He kissed her, wishing his body could say what his mouth could not. “There are some things I cannot discuss.” He grimaced, running his hands up her sides, and resting them just beneath her breasts. “Carrie and I were together a long time before I met you. We went through a lot together. She gave up a lot to be with me.” Annie felt ice trickle through her veins. “I was blindsided by what you made me feel. Totally unprepared for it. The only thing I thought about you, Miss Carlton, was how lucky I was to have met you.”
She kissed him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She couldn’t think about what he’d shared with his wife. How long they’d been together. How much they’d meant to each other. It was too devastating to contemplate, and so she put it out of her mind, and instead thought about how lucky she was to have had a second chance with Giac. She didn’t know if it would last. She didn’t know if she’d be able to ignore the past forever. But in that moment, she didn’t want to be anywhere else, or with anyone else.
Gently, he eased the straps of her dress off her shoulders, pressing his lips to the skin that was revealed there. He nipped at her flesh with his teeth, and rubbed his thumbs in circles over her back. She sighed as he eased her backwards on the leather couch and came to lie on top of her. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured against her neck, as he slid her dress down lower still, freeing her breasts from the black lace bra she wore.
He took one of her pert nipples into his mouth, and with his hand, he felt the weight of the other breast, pulling at her nipple until it was almost painful. “So beautiful,” he repeated, teasing her with his tongue. “Does it still drive you wild when I do this?” He wondered aloud, removing her dress and briefs quickly. He lowered his head to the apex of dark hairs at the top of her thighs, and ran his tongue over her opening. She arched her back in fevered response. “Good,” he said with a small smile. “I always loved how much you liked to be kissed here.” He moved his tongue against her again, this time, he kept her legs separated with hands on her thighs. When it became too much, and she tried to move away, he shook his head. “No, bella. I have dreamed of this a long time. Let your body be in my hands. Let me remind you what we mean to each other.”
She collapsed back against the sofa, her breathing labored as he moved his tongue against her most sensitive skin. A dull throbbing began low in her body and she moaned as she felt the start of an orgasm forming. It wasn’t enough though. She needed him.
“That will come,” he promised. “But for now, I am enjoying being in control of you.”
She shook her head against the sofa, and then cried out, as he drove two fingers inside of her core. She swore loudly, her whole body shaking with the desires he had stirred. Annie’s green eyes were closed to the world. She needed not to see, not to hear, simply to feel.
“You’re so wet,” he muttered, bringing his mouth down to her breast again and sucking her sensitive peak, while his fingers moved inside of her. “So wet and responsive.”
She gripped his shoulders as her orgasm made her mind weak, and her body tingle. He didn’t give her a moment to recover, before poising himself at her entrance and driving into her. She let out a low whistling sound as she experienced the fulfillment of his body anew.
“This. This is what I need,” she groaned, wrapping her legs around his waist to welcome him completely.
He had never needed anything as much as he did to feel her wrap around him. He lavished kisses over her body, touching where his mouth went with his fingertips. Every single bit of her, he kissed and touched, tasted and felt, and he moved inside of her, holding her close, moving with her and showing her that heaven really did exist on earth, so long as she was in his arms.
The last thought Annie had before her whole body seemed to explode with sexual release, was that she would forgive him anything, if it meant they could be together.
His whole body shuddered as he felt the full expression of their love making; his orgasm was intense.
Afterwards, as he rolled her to lie on top of him, and tenderly stroked her naked back, she propped her head onto his chest. “I have to tell you something,” she said seriously, running her fingertips through the coarse hair that surrounded his nipples.
“Oh?” His eyes were hooded. A combination of the long day, and their sexual exploration, had made him feel more satisfied than he knew possible.
She bit down on her lip, shyly. “You are the only man I’ve ever, um, done that with.”
His eyes flared wide, as possessive pride burned through him. Any hint of exhaustion was consumed by the fire within him. “I can’t believe it,” he groaned, gripping her face on either side with his hands. “How is that possible? It’s been three years.”
Her cheeks flamed. “Now you’re making me feel like some kind of prude.”
“No!” He shook his head, sitting up and pulling her with him. “It’s just… I can’t believe you haven’t had men beating a path to your door.”
She shrugged, self-consciously. “I haven’t really been interested.”
His smile bared his even, white teeth. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me.”
She arched a brow. “I thought you might feel that way.”
“Am I that predictable?”
She shrugged. “I guess so.” She smiled at him, slowly, and she felt like her future was bright. That maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay after all.
* * *
“You’re really not nervous?”
He was reclining lazily against her bedroom door, watching while she folded laundry. “Do I strike you as a man who feels nerves?”
She picked up a pair of rolled socks and threw them at him. “You strike me as a human being, and everybody gets nervous from time to time. Especially when meeting the Queen.”
“Meeting the Queen is not such a big deal. Would you like to come to the investiture ceremony?”
She wasn’t sure if he was serious. Her heart turned over in her chest as she shook her head. “I’d be way too terrified to meet, or even see, the Queen.”
He winked at her. “I have met the Queen before, cara. She toured one of the pediatric wings we helped fund in the states.”
“We?” Her heart thudded painfully, as it always did, when he alluded to Carrie.
“Yes.” His sigh was heavy. “We.”
Annie nodded. She couldn’t quite meet his eyes. It had been four blissful days since Paris. Days in which life had almost seemed to carry on as normal, but nights... Oh, the nights. Her body burst into flames just thinking about the things they’d done to each other.
But always, at the back of it, were the questions. Questions about his past, their future. After all, he was based in America, now. She was in England. And geography was the very least of their worries.
“What is it?” He stepped into the room and picked up a towel off the bed. With a small frown of concentration, he began to fold it. It was clear, from the effort it took, that sorting laundry was not one of his usual activities.
Annie watched, perplexed. A sickening stone seemed to lodge in her heart. “I don’t know anything about your life.”
“You know me. That’s what matters.”
She was silent, working up the courage to
say what she needed him to know. “Not if you see a future for us.” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “I feel like there are all these redacted areas of your life; parts of you I can’t catch a glimpse of because you insist on keeping the book closed.”
He frowned. “I have told you, cara, there are things I won’t discuss out of respect for Carrie.”
“Respect for Carrie?” Though she didn’t know the other woman, her temperature spiked. “What about respect for me?”
He frowned. “I do respect you,” he ground out, giving up on the towel and moving swiftly around the bed to put his arms around her waist. “What do you need to know?”
Everything, she silently answered. “Where do you live?”
“New York. Though I travel a lot for business.”
She nodded. “And you live with her, of course.” Her heart felt like it was splintering into a million pieces. It was an oddly delayed reaction, given that he’d been back in her life for weeks now. The reality of their situation was just making sense to Annie.
“We are in the process of divorcing. I moved out, months ago.”
Annie nodded, jerkily. “Do you still speak to her?”
He scanned her face. “Yes.”
“How long have you known her?”
His gut instinct was to shut down the line of questioning, but he understood Annie’s dilemma. In the normal course of events, they would discuss significant parts of their lives. “I met Carrie when I was fifteen.”
“Fifteen?” She visibly paled. “You’ve been in a relationship with her over half your life.”
He pulled the shirt she was hanging out of her hands and threw it angrily onto the bed. “Would you leave the Goddamned laundry? Madre di Dio. We can have it sent out.”
Her eyes were huge pools of green in her face, as she stared up at him.
“I’m sorry,” he groaned, pulling her against his chest. “I just wish… I could go back in time and change how I behaved back then. The decisions I made. Everything.”
“You can’t.” She bit down on her lower lip. “I don’t know how to trust you.” It was a whisper into the abyss. A question neither of them could answer.
The Medici Mistress: Nothing and no one would stop him from having her. Page 8
