‘Of course.’ Lexi smiled back. But his confession had jolted her more than she cared to admit.
Striding along after the tireless Luigi, they walked along streets with pavements and gutters, a bar with a classic painting on the wall of a group of men cheating at a game of cards with the aid of a mirror.
‘See, nothing changes.’ Luigi laughed, indicating the painting, but Lexi was barely listening.
For the past few days she had lived in a sexual daze. But Jake’s words had reminded her exactly what she was committed to. He had said she owed him a child, but she had conveniently blocked the message from her mind. She had nursed a hazy idea: a few months of Jake and sex, till his desire for her was burnt out, and then freedom. Suddenly it wasn’t so simple. What if she got pregnant and had his child? She knew after losing one child that if she was lucky enough to get a second chance she would never be able to walk away from her own baby. She cast a sidelong glance at Jake. His interest was captured by the lead piping at the side of yet another villa, and for a moment she studied his rugged features. Jake was not the sort of man to let her walk away with a child. What he owned, he kept. She shivered at the thought of a lifetime with Jake without love, never knowing if she could trust him. Worse: how would a child feel, brought up in that kind of atmosphere?
‘Cold?’ Jake’s demand and husky laugh broke into her chaotic thoughts.
‘No, no,’ she reiterated and, pointing to the lead pipe, she said the first thing that came into her head, ‘I suppose, with your being in construction, this is doubly interesting to you.’
He glanced down at her, his blue eyes narrowing, his dark face suddenly guarded. ‘Not really, my business is much more diversified now. I have little to do with construction. After the collapse of the property market a few years back I concentrated my efforts on finance.’
‘Finance...’ But the Jake she remembered had been a builder, a self-made man, and mad keen on his Docklands development. He had told her once he had taken a business and finance course at night-school, but she thought he would have stuck with construction.
‘Yes, with the help of our mutual friend Carl Bradshaw and his German connections, I made a killing in Deutchmarks, when the pound fell out of the ERM and was devalued. It’s amazing how easy it is to make money when you have a beautiful mercenary woman as an incentive,’ he drawled mockingly.
Lexi wished she had kept her mouth shut; his crack was aimed at her. At least she thought it was, and in a rush of honesty she told him, ‘I never wanted your money, Jake; in fact I’ve never looked at the account you opened for me, not since I left England.’
‘Do you know, I almost believe you.’ Jake hugged her and pushed her in front of him. ‘Come on, the guide is escaping.’
Inexplicably Lexi’s heart felt lighter as Luigi led them into the House of Vetii, a villa restored almost completely intact, and perhaps the most notorious in Pompeii, known for its pornographic paintings and statue. Within minutes Lexi could see why as she followed behind Luigi. Lexi stopped and turned bright scarlet at the statue in front of her. She heard Jake’s chuckle behind her, but didn’t dare turn around as Luigi burst into speech.
‘The poor man suffered from an uncommon disease, as you can see.’ And Lexi could see all too clearly the exaggerated masculinity of the man. ‘A state of permanent readiness, shall I say.’ His old face split with a huge grin. ‘Many male tourists ask me how to contract this disease.’ And with an arch of his bushy eyebrows, and an open palmed salute he added, ‘But unfortunately, I cannot say.’ And cackled with laughter at his own joke.
Lexi felt Jake’s arms curve around her waist to hold her firmly against him, the back of her legs through the fine fabric of her sundress brushing against his thighs; she could feel the warmth of his breath at her throat.
‘I can,’ Jake whispered teasingly in her ear. ‘All a man has to do is stay around you, Lexi, darling. You keep me in that state permanently.’
Herself and how many other women? she wondered, a flash of pain—or was it jealousy—piercing her breast. ‘Jake,’ she admonished. She could feel the stirring of his masculine interest all too plainly against her. ‘There are people around,’ she hissed in embarrassment.
‘Shame.’ Jake gave an exaggerated sigh and Lexi, pulling free, dashed after Luigi.
For the rest of the tour through the house, Lexi hardly noticed the magnificent wall paintings or the lovely garden; she was too intensely aware of Jake. He had caught up with her and rested one arm possessively over her shoulders, his long stride slowed to match hers, the brush of his thigh against her leg, the warmth of his hard body, the musky male scent of him all conspired to make her pulse-rate rocket. She tried to tell herself it was all the walking, the stifling heat of the noonday sun, but she knew she was only fooling herself.
‘You’re very quiet,’ Jake said softly as they walked once more down yet another paved street. ‘Had enough for one day?’
‘It is rather hot, and the crowds...’ She trailed off as Luigi stopped once more, but she was flattered at Jake’s evident concern.
‘We now go to the great Amphitheatre; today we still build a sports stadium in much the same design. Nothing changes. The only new inventions since the wheel are the new power sources, new ways to kill each other—’
‘Very true, Luigi,’ Jake interrupted the old man. ‘But my wife has had enough for one day—the heat.’
‘I see, I see. It is lunch time.’ Luigi smiled, his dark eyes sliding over Jake with his protective arm around Lexi. ‘Also, I think you enjoy a siesta, no?’ His black eyes sought Jake’s and he started to laugh. ‘As I say, nothing changes. You marry, you make love, you make babies.’ Jake’s responsive chuckle mingled with the older man’s laughter as Luigi led them speedily to the exit.
Lexi looked at Luigi, and then sideways at Jake. His eyes were crinkled at the corners in amusement, his firm mouth relaxed in a singularly masculine grin; he looked carefree, happy and vitally male.
‘A siesta sounds good to me, sweetheart,’ Jake drawled turning his glittering blue eyes down to capture hers.
It was at that moment it hit her like a thunderbolt. She loved Jake. Luigi was right, ‘you marry, you make love, you make babies’, and she realised, staring at Jake, that that was exactly what she wanted, had probably always been what she wanted with this man. She blinked and tore her gaze away from his handsome face, unable to answer the sensual message in Jake’s eyes, too afraid she would give herself away completely. ‘Whatever you say,’ she murmured, and didn’t see the flash of anger darken his bright eyes at her dull response.
In the car, Lexi laid her head back against the head-rest and closed her eyes. Jake had paid Luigi handsomely and promised they would return, and she had smilingly accepted the old man’s congratulations on having such a handsome and generous husband. But now, in the close confines of the car with Jake’s strong body only inches from her own, his attractive face set in a look of determined concentration as he urged the car along the treacherous winding coast-road, avoiding the wild antics of most of the Italian drivers, she was left to her own thoughts, and they were anything but pleasant.
She could not believe her own stupidity. When Jake had blackmailed his way back into her life, she had told herself she hated him, and burnt with resentment at the ease with which he could tumble her into his bed. But at the same time she congratulated herself on being more than a match for him. She was quite capable of meeting him on the same sophisticated sexual level as the rest of his friends, Lorraine in particular. Now she recognised the depths of her own self-deception.
Married or not, five years’ celibacy should have told her something. She was not the type to sleep with a man without love—not that Jake slept with her, the hurtful thought flashed in her mind; he made a point of leaving her bed and returning to his own... She had pretended to herself she didn’t care, when in reality she cared far too much. She had loved him as a teenager and she still did. For years she had deceived he
‘Do you want to stop for lunch?’ Jake’s voice interrupted her reverie, her eyes flashed open and she looked at Jake, then just as quickly away again.
‘No, thank you. I’m not hungry,’ she said flatly. She just wanted to get back to the villa and lock herself in her bedroom. The thought of sitting in a restaurant making polite conversation with Jake was an added strain she could do without. It was bad enough realising she still loved him. She needed to be on her own for a while, time to sort out her emotions, decide where she went from here.
A growing sense of despair settled in her heart as, with a grinding of gears, the car speeded up. After Jake’s revelation about the baby they had lost, they had seemed to reach a new understanding this morning. But now, with the fear of revealing her love for him uppermost in her mind, they had slid back into the familiar tension-packed atmosphere of the past few days. Lexi didn’t know what she could do about it.
Without speaking they drove through Sorrento and along Amalfi Drive. She chanced a swift sidelong glance at Jake. He was frowning, his dark eyes narrowed against the sun, his mouth a grim straight line; her laughing companion of the morning had changed into a darkly brooding, dangerous man.
She looked down at her clasped hands folded neatly in her lap, and was lost again in her own painful thoughts. Jake wanted her but he didn’t love her. How could she live the rest of her life with a man who did not love her and whom she did not trust? It was hopeless...
Jake, bringing the car to a screeching halt outside the front door of the villa, made her sit up and take notice. But, before Lexi had managed to unfasten her safety-belt, Jake was out of the car and had the passenger door open and was reaching in to help her; his hand closed firmly over her upper arm and he almost dragged her from the car.
‘Move it,’ he snapped and his voice sounded rough. He led her into the house and up the wide staircase, his anger a tangible force in the still air.
‘Where’s the fire?’ she tried to joke but, as her eyes clashed with his, she had her answer—it was in the glistening depths of Jake’s eyes. Her pulse raced, a sudden heat igniting in her lower stomach.
‘You know...’ One dark brow arched cynically as he pushed her before him into his bedroom, his fingers gripping the flesh of her arm. He shut the door behind him and leant back against it, roughly pulling her into the hard heat of his long body.
‘Luigi was right, nothing changes,’ he rasped savagely, and she caught her breath as his lips moved against hers. ‘You’re running away from me again, and I won’t tolerate it.’
Lexi, running away! With his long arms like bands of steel around her waist, she knew she had to be hearing things. She leant back and raised puzzled eyes to his, taking in the hard planes of his ruggedly chiselled features. ‘Unless I’m dreaming, I am very much here.’ She quipped, trying to sound casual, to defuse the tension cracking around them.
‘Physically, yes. But mentally you ran away ages ago, as we left Pompeii.’ His eyes narrowed fractionally, and she sensed the anger lying beneath the surface of his control. ‘You did it in London, listened and agreed with me, and then vanished. Those innocent eyes haze with purple and it’s as if a curtain has drawn across your mind, shutting out anything and anyone.’ His warm breath fanned her temple. ‘I’m damned if I’m going to let you get away with it again.’
‘Why?’ she said simply. ‘You told me days ago it was my body alone that interested you.’
‘I’ve changed my mind; it’s not solely a woman’s prerogative.’ Jake taunted and his hands pulled her close so that she was made all too conscious of his arousal. ‘I want to know your every thought.’
‘Taking me in anger is hardly likely to make me bare my soul to you—’ Lexi drew an unsteady breath ‘—even if I wanted to.’ And she did want to; she ached to tell him she loved him, let go of her emotions completely, but she dared not. He had hurt her too much in the past. Suddenly the thought sneaked into her head: surely it was a step in the right direction if Jake actually did want to know her better, deepen the relationship. She loved him, and if their marriage was to have any chance at all it was up to her to try and make it work, to try and win Jake’s love. That was always supposing he was capable of such an emotion, she thought wryly.
‘I sometimes doubt you have a soul,’ Jake snarled. ‘The only way to reach you is this,’ he muttered with menacing softness against her lips, just before his mouth ground down on hers.
She sighed, her breath mingling with his. Their tongues touched, danced, writhed, and she felt herself falling, down, down, down once more into the depths of desire, a passionate flood of need only Jake could arouse.
Suddenly he moved, thrusting her away from him. ‘Get undressed, Lexi,’ he said deliberately, swiftly pulling his shirt over his head, his hands going to the fastening of his shorts. ‘Come on...!’ A hard dark gleam sprang alive in his eyes. ‘I’m in no mood for patience...’
She stood transfixed, her eyes roaming over his naked chest, the dark whorls of body hair glistening in the hot afternoon sun. A strange languor hung in the air and, as if in a dream, Lexi did as he said, whisking her simple sundress over her head, but all the time she watched as he slid his bermudas down his thighs along with his briefs. Even when he stepped towards her, his fingers digging into the skin of her shoulders as he pulled her close, she could not tear her gaze away from his strongly muscled, virile frame. She knew she should be afraid, there was a menacing calculation about his movements, but oddly she wasn’t. She loved him, and she wanted him...
Lexi sucked in her breath and raised her eyes to his, and when she met his darkly unyielding expression she trembled, but something gave her the courage to try and deflect his anger.
‘Why hurry, Jake?’ she asked flirtatiously. Lowering her long lashes half over her eyes, she reached out a finger and trailed it lightly down the hard column of his throat. ‘We can take Luigi’s advice, and have a siesta,’ she declared huskily.
She had surprised him. His forbidding expression lightened perceptibly, his sensuous mouth tilted at the corners in the beginnings of a smile. ‘Damn you, Lexi...you confuse me to hell.’ A masculine chuckle escaped him, his anger waning. ‘But I wouldn’t have it any other way.’ And, swinging her in his arms, he carried her to the bed, his body following her down; he shifted his weight until he was lying heavily across her chest, crushing the soft roundness of her breasts against his chest.
His mouth came down on hers in a hard, hot kiss. His hands slid down her body, along her thighs, pushing her legs apart. He kissed her again, a ruthless demand that contained the lingering traces of anger and masculine frustration. She felt a shiver of fear ripple down her spine, but somehow she knew he would not hurt her, and she opened her mouth to welcome him, surprising him yet again. He reared back, a question in his navy blue eyes.
Lexi smiled and deliberately lifted her small hand and stroked the firm skin of his stomach, and lower, entranced by the lightning response of his aroused body. Jake moved over her, his tongue driving into her mouth, and she had the feeling she was being seduced, physically dominated, as if he needed to show her he was in control.
‘You want me, you can’t help yourself. Whatever else you are, Lexi, in this you are mine and mine alone,’ he husked, and lowered his head to suck on the rosy tips of her breasts, bringing them to throbbing peaks of desire; his fingers slid down between her parted thighs, and began moving in quick sensuous patterns that had Lexi trembling all over.
Lexi’s eyes widened to their fullest extent, her body arched, the breath nearly crushed from her, but she was ready for him as Jake drove into her soft, moist centre with a fierce aggression that made her shudder on the pinnacle of delight. For a timeless space he did not move, making her aware of the full weight of his possession, while withholding the release she craved. She cried his name. The sound of his name on her lips shattered Jake’s control. Their bodies, bathed in perspiration, slid together, rocking, moving in a shimmering white-hot culmination so closely entwined they spun as one into the fiery rapture of climax.
Ages later Lexi groaned, but still she clung to Jake, reluctant to move, if not incapable of movement, she thought fuzzily. Finally, she lifted heavy lashes to find Jake staring down at her. She smiled lovingly, her soft gaze roaming over his darkly flushed face.
Jake rolled on to his side, one large hand supporting his head; a smile curved his lips and sparkled in his eyes. His other hand deliberately stroked across her full breasts. ‘I could easily get addicted to this siesta idea,’ he offered lazily, rubbing his mouth lightly against hers. ‘But right now, I need lunch.’
It was hardly the words of love she had been dreaming about, but it was a step in the right direction, she thought with hope in her heart.
CHAPTER NINE
LEXI, wearing a brief black bikini with a floaty black and pink silk patterned overblouse on top, and carrying a matching beach bag, the whole ensemble a present from Jake, strolled out on to the terrace and down the steps to the swimming-pool. Shrugging out of her shirt, she flopped listlessly on to a convenient sun-lounger, rummaged in her bag and found her sunglasses and pushed them on her nose. Sweeping her long hair round to one side of her neck, she lay back down on the lounger and tried to relax.
The heat was almost unbearable, in the nineties; she glanced around the colourful sweet-scented garden, the pool, and the view of the sea beyond. She had watched Jake leave after a shared informal lunch in the comfort of the air-conditioned kitchen. He had said he had business to attend to... Maybe he had...right at this moment she didn’t give a damn!
Tomorrow it would be exactly two weeks since she had moved into the villa. This morning, as she had been idly looking through her diary, ruefully reflecting on the fact it had been chock-full of appointments up until Jake had stormed back into her life and cost her her job, it had suddenly hit her. She was a week overdue with her period. She tried telling herself it wasn’t important. What was a week, for heaven’s sake? But, for a girl who had never been so much as a day late except the one time she had been pregnant, the week was beginning to assume gigantic proportions.
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