He kicked the door closed behind him, scooped her into his arms and strode up the stairs to his bedroom. Normally, she hated being carried, but with Gabe it felt so natural. Nuzzling her face against his chest, she didn’t think she’d ever wanted anything as much as she wanted Gabe now.
The muted light from the half-closed blinds in his bedroom cast a golden glow. Gabe placed her feet lightly on the floor and tugged at the ties of her terry-towelling robe.
‘This will have to go,’ he said, drawing the ties apart slowly, never taking his eyes from hers.
Charlie blushed with anticipation as he swept his hands inside the heavy cotton cloth and eased the garment from her shoulders.
Gabe’s eyes flicked down her body. His eyebrows arched in amusement.
‘Nice shirt.’ The T-shirt he’d given her that first night in Nervi clung to her body in all the right places. ‘Remind me to buy you something better,’ he said, fingering the faded material.
‘No way,’ she said, hugging the soft cotton to her naked skin. ‘It’s the little piece of you that I take to bed every night.’
He ran his fingers lightly down the worn fabric. His feather-light touch brushed the swell of her breasts. Her breath caught in her throat. She longed to feel him, skin to skin. She ached for him to be inside her.
‘I think I’m jealous,’ he said a little unevenly. ‘All this time and my T-shirt’s ben having all the fun.’
He dispensed with the shirt in one deft movement and flung it aside. He held her arms apart and stepped back. A thrilling tingle spread over her as his gaze swept her body. Only her cream lace knickers stopped her from being naked.
Fleetingly, she felt exposed. Then free. Alive.
She couldn’t wait to shed the one thing that stood between them.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he breathed.
Her nipples tightened under his hungry eyes. A smile touched her lips. ‘Your turn,’ she said seductively. She pulled his shirt free from his jeans and tugged it over his head.
The sun-kissed glow of the Mediterranean hadn’t quite relinquished its grip on his muscled body. She ran her hands lightly up his smooth, hard chest. Dropping kisses on his collarbone, she stepped towards him and ground her hips against his groin.
His chest rose with his sharp intake of air.
‘You’re killing me,’ he said, his voice hoarse.
Loving his reaction, she pressed her body against his. He closed his eyes, a deep moan sounding in her ear.
‘Enough, woman,’ he groaned and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her breasts hard against his chest. He walked her backwards, half-carrying her, until she felt the bed behind her knees.
She fell back onto the covers.
His gorgeous body filled her vision.
Without taking his eyes from hers, he kicked off his shoes and reached for his belt.
‘Wait,’ she said sitting up. She wanted this on her terms. She pushed his hands away and released the strap of leather that imprisoned what she craved. Then she dealt with the zip and dragged down his jeans.
He kicked them aside and stood before her. His penis strained against his black boxers. His eyes blazed with lust. She dragged him down. His luscious weight blanketed her body. His all-male scent was a blistering combination of spice and citrus.
Acutely aware of only a fine film of cotton and barely-there lace separating them, she moved her hips to caress his rock-hard erection. He groaned and took possession of her mouth, parting her lips with his tongue and delving deep.
This was where she belonged. Fate had brought them together that day on the beach. She was his. He was hers.
She withdrew from the kiss. ‘Lie on your back,’ she whispered.
He obliged, a bemused look joining the craving in his eyes.
She straddled his thighs and leaned over his body. Slowly, she licked and kissed her way down his abdomen towards his groin.
‘You sure you want to do that?’ he asked, he voice rough. ‘I’m already on the edge.’
She didn’t answer.
The lower she travelled, the more his body shuddered. She reached his boxers and eased them down his legs.
His manhood stood proud. She scanned his perfect body.
‘Mmm,’ she murmured.
‘Come here,’ he commanded in a ragged voice. He reached for her again but she batted his hands away.
‘Soon,’ she purred as she wrapped her fingers around his taut shaft and flicked her tongue seductively up its length.
A moan escaped his lips. He thrust his head back on the pillow.
She teased him until he clutched at her arms, trying to pull her mouth back to his. She restrained his hands and pushed them back on the bed.
‘Stay where you are,’ she breathed. ‘I’m enjoying this.’
When she closed her fingers around him again, a low groan emanated around the room. His hands twisted in the sheets. She licked his tip and then took him in her mouth. His body snapped rigid as she snaked her tongue and lips along his length.
‘I need to be inside you,’ he said, his hands tangled in her hair. But she kept up her rhythmic motion.
‘Enough,’ he growled and hauled her up to his chest. Flipping her on her back, he dragged her knickers from her body. He yanked open the top drawer in his side table and withdrew a condom.
The anticipation accelerated her breathing so she was almost panting. Blood pounded loudly in her ears.
Moments later he nudged her legs apart and positioned himself. He met her gaze, almost questioning. ‘Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you. You’ve only been out of hospital a couple—’
She grasped his muscled buttocks and pulled him close.
He needed no more invitation.
He plunged deep inside her, driving every molecule of air from her lungs in a low moan. A rainbow of colour enveloped her world.
And in that one instant, Charlie knew she couldn’t live without him. Gabe was her life, her world, her reason for being. He’d been prepared to give up his dreams for her. She knew she’d give him everything she possessed.
He sank into her again and again. The sounds escaping her lips didn’t even seem to be hers. Cries of pleasure. Demands for more. Sobs of pure ecstasy.
She wrapped her legs around his back, craving everything he could give.
He reached between their slick bodies and slid his finger between her folds. She arched up to meet him.
As soon as he touched her, she tipped over the edge, crying his name over and over.
He shuddered. ‘Charlie. Oh, Charlie.’
His body crumpled over her.
She closed her eyes, smothered with the delicious weight of the man who’d captured her – heart and soul.
Charlie basked in the afterglow of the best sex she’d ever had. She lay with her head on Gabe’s chest, listening as his heartbeat slowed from frantic to merely racing. She didn’t know it could be this way – every cell in her body ached to be possessed. In fact, she’d always wondered what all the fuss was about. Paul had been her only lover. Sex with him had been . . . well, pleasant. Not the scream-the-house down, wild romp she and Gabe had just indulged in.
Her cheeks burned. She hoped the neighbours were at work.
And that orgasm . . .
With Gabe, the pulses of pleasure had just kept coming and coming until she thought she’d explode from sensual bliss.
Gabe stroked her hair. ‘Wow,’ he said, his voice barely audible.
‘I feel faint,’ she said.
‘What?’ he asked, lifting her body onto his hot, bare chest and placing the back of his hand on her forehead. ‘Do you feel sick?’
She laughed. ‘No, I feel wonderful.’ She reached up and kissed him.
His mobile buzzed from the pocket of his pants somewhere on the floor.
‘Bet that’s Abigail,’ he said. ‘She’ll be wondering where I am.’
‘I suppose I’d better let you go then.’
He slid his hand
s down her back. Cupping her bottom, he pulled her up further so her soft mound rested against his hardening manhood.
‘Yes, I suppose so.’ His words clearly at odds with his body.
She sat astride him.
‘Well, don’t you think you should be going?’ she said provocatively, rocking so her clitoris stroked his growing hardness.
He hitched in a quick breath. ‘If you keep this up, I might never let you go.’ He reached over and slipped another condom from the open box.
‘Don’t make threats you don’t plan to keep,’ she said, leaning down and kissing his chest. ‘You really should . . .’ But the words died in her throat as he deftly lifted her to thrust inside her.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned into his ear. ‘I want you hard and fast.’
He needed no further invitation. He gripped her waist and pumped into her. Every movement, every thrust – ecstasy. She came, blinded by pleasure. Nothing mattered except the man beneath her.
As she lay satiated, basking in the slowly ebbing pleasure, guilt crept slowly over her. Gabe had no idea he’d just made love to a woman masquerading under a false identity.
Not once but twice.
Chapter Fourteen
After spending an hour in hair and make-up, Charlie returned to her dressing room. She leaned on the counter and stared at herself in the mirror.
What a difference.
A few months ago, she’d been in a loveless relationship with a soulless life stretching out before her. Now she was a national television star with a real talent for food and in love with a gorgeous, talented director.
Guilt still tugged at her heart, but she wouldn’t let it in. Not tonight.
Charlotte Wentworth would just have to wait. She was Charlie Brown and she was about to compete in the live final of First-Class Chef.
Win or lose, tonight she would finally prove to herself and the nation she was not nothing. She’d succeeded without her family and their millions. Three of Britain’s elite food critics thought she could cook and Gabe thought her worthy of his love.
A smile crept across her face as she savoured the many times they’d been between the sheets over the past couple of days. Just thinking about it made her feel sexy and alive.
‘On set in five.’ Abigail’s voice floated through the door.
‘Coming,’ she called back, shaking her head, trying to dislodge Gabe from her mind so she could focus on the exact steps of her recipes.
Regarding herself in the mirror, Charlie straightened her spine.
‘Ready?’ she asked her reflection.
‘You bet,’ she told herself.
There was a knock at the door.
‘Yes?’
Gabe opened the door. His dazzling smile sent her heart rate flying.
‘Good to go?’ he asked.
‘As I’ll ever be,’ she said softly to the man who’d changed her life forever.
‘You’re going to be great,’ he said. ‘Come, on, I’ll walk you over.’
They moved together down the corridor to the huge studio door. Famous faces stared out at her from portraits on the walls. Perhaps she might now count herself among them.
Applause crashed over them as Gabe swung the heavy studio door open. Cast, crew and audience gave her a standing ovation. She took a step back.
‘No,’ Gabe said, pulling her towards the front of the set. ‘You deserve it all. Enjoy it.’
The audience called her name. Her cheeks glowed and elation filled her heart. Finally she’d found a place in the world where people admired her, liked her for herself.
When the applause died, Gabe led Charlie into the dim light at the side of the set. He found a quiet, isolated spot behind the cameras. Applause rang out again, and Charlie could see Abigail leading out Tim out onto the set.
Gabe drew her to him. She looked around quickly.
‘Gabe, people will see,’ she protested.
‘When you’re in love, you don’t care who knows it.’
And there it was.
Love.
Gabe loved her.
‘You love me?’
‘Oh Charlie, how could you doubt it? In hospital . . . I thought I’d lost you.’
‘Gabe—’
But his kiss cut her short. She forgot about the show, forgot about the audience and the millions who would be watching, and poured her whole soul into that moment. The moment she knew would define the rest of her life.
A life with Gabe.
‘Get your hands off my fiancée.’ The familiar ugly voice roared through her brain like a tsunami. Her body froze like a block. She turned slowly, stumbled back.
Gabe pulled her close.
‘I said, get your filthy hands off my fiancée.’ Paul’s normally handsome face twisted in fury as he walked forward.
Gabe pushed her behind him. ‘Call security,’ he called to the closest cameraman. ‘You.’ He pointed to Paul. ‘Take another step and I’ll have you for trespass.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so.’ Paul’s voice dipped with sarcasm. He stood just a few metres from them now. ‘There is no law against a man collecting his lying, cheating fiancée.’
Gabe dropped into a boxer’s pose. ‘Get back,’ he said to Charlie over his shoulder. ‘I’ll hold him. You run.’
Gabe crouched, his fists at the ready. In seconds, the two men would be within striking distance.
She had to act. If Gabe hit Paul, he’d be the one slammed up for assault. She knew Paul well enough to know he’d go to the ends of the earth to wreak revenge on anyone who came even close to hurting him, or worse, humiliating him.
Charlie leaped in front of Gabe. ‘Stop. I know him.’
Gabe simply heaved her aside. ‘Charlie, go. It’s another lunatic.’
She hauled down his fists with all her strength. ‘No, I know him.’
Gabe stilled. His eyes clouded with confusion. ‘You know this guy?’
‘You bet she does.’ Paul moved in close. ‘Charlotte Wentworth knows me very well, if you know what I mean.’ He sniggered, his mouth ugly in its vulgarity.
Gabe lunged.
‘No, Gabe.’ Her desperation checked him.
Gabe’s eyes bore into hers like drills. ‘Wentworth?’ Paul’s words must have sunk in.
A sweat broke out across Charlie’s body. ‘I’ve something . . .’ But her voice shattered before she could finish.
Paul dropped a heavy arm across her shoulders. ‘It appears, my friend, that your star cook has been passing herself off as someone she’s not.’
Gabe’s teeth clenched. His hands twitched at his side. Charlie could tell he was only just managing to hold himself in control.
Charlie slipped from Paul’s grasp. She needed to handle the situation and fast.
‘Gabe, I need to explain—’
Paul grabbed her around her waist. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘I don’t know about you, darling, but I’ve had just about enough of this miserable country. Come on, Charlotte, we’re going home.’ He took her arm and pulled her towards the exit.
‘Stop right there,’ Gabe growled.
Charlotte noticed two security guards enter the studio.
‘Tell me this isn’t true,’ he implored.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she begged, reaching for his hands.
‘But—’ Gabe shook his head as if trying to awaken from a dream. ‘Wentworth—’ He looked at her as if it were for the first time.
‘Enough.’ Paul’s voice was authoritative and bullying. ‘Come on, Charlotte. Now.’
A few months ago, his demands would have made her jump. Now she whirled on him in fury.
‘Don’t you dare talk to me like that. I want you to leave.’
Paul sneered. ‘Is that right? Fine. I’ll leave, but you’re coming with me.’
Her arm burned as he gripped her roughly and began dragging her across the floor.
‘Security,’ Charlie cried. ‘This man is assaulting me.’
The tw
o burly guards made short work of Paul, pinning his hands behind his back.
Incensed, he began shouting obscenities and threats of legal action. Then he turned his attention to Charlie. ‘If you don’t come now, you’ll be cut off without a cent. Do you understand?’ he shouted. ‘You’ll be left with nothing.’
It took security less than a minute to remove a furious Paul Forsyth from the premises but Charlie barely noticed as she ran back to Gabe. What she saw broke her heart.
‘Who are you?’ he asked through clenched teeth.
‘Gabe, please—’
‘Damn it, Charlie. Answer the question.’
It was over. She took a deep breath. ‘I’m Charlotte Wentworth. That was my cheating ex.’
‘He didn’t seem to be aware he was an ex. Is that a lie, just like your name is a lie?’
‘No. No. Gabe—’
‘You met me and decided you’d prefer to be a celebrity. After all, it’s not like you needed his money.’
Fear crept into her heart. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Oh come on.’ He raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘Don’t insult my intelligence. Wentworth. Went worth mining? Diamonds. You’re just another spoilt princess looking for headlines.’
‘No. Gabe. You’ve got it all wrong.’
‘Oh, yes? Which bit?’ He brought his face close to hers. ‘The part about you being worth millions? The part where you’re still engaged? Or the part where you lied about who you are to get on television?
As the wave of accusations slammed into her, Charlie realised she had no defence.
Guilty as charged.
Gabe spun away from the woman he thought he’d loved. Was anything about her real?
Idiot. Taken for a ride by another rich princess. But this time hadn’t just been lust – he’d fallen for Charlie. His mind worked fast. Damn, it must have begun . . .
He whirled back to face her. ‘What did you do? Stalk me all the way to Italy?’
‘Gabe—’
‘I’ve got to hand it to you, Charlotte, you really had me.’
Abigail rushed up. ‘Come on, you two, we’re live in five minutes.’ She looked from Charlie’s face to his. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
Sweet Seduction Page 30
