They walked down the alley and turned in the opposite direction Carlo had gone. Natalia took a deep breath once they’d left the alley. The air didn’t smell all that fresher on the main street, but she felt as if a weight had lifted off her chest.
Without thinking her movement through, she once more rested her head on Adam’s arm. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Back to my place to pick up where we left off?” she asked, her voice heavy with innuendo. Natalia lowered her voice further and all but purred. “Isn’t that what spies do after a successful mission?”
She moved just enough to grin up at him, and didn’t miss the way he looked back at her. As if that was the best idea he’d ever heard.
On the sidewalk, Adam lowered his head to her neck and said just loud enough for her to hear, “I believe it is.” His lips caressed the skin just behind her ear. He cupped her cheek and kissed her. It was a slow, drawn-out kiss that left her breathless and aching.
Natalia heard the screech of tires, but thought nothing of it. But she did see the terror on Adam’s face in the instant before he yanked her against him. They stumbled off the sidewalk, back against the building.
She heard the metal of the car’s rims scrape against the sidewalk and smelled the acrid scent of burnt rubber in the air. Adam’s hands were hard on her hips, steadying her. Natalia looked up at him, stunned, but his gaze was riveted to the street. By the time she regained her balance and turned, the car was already speeding off.
Taillights burned bright in the shattered silence of the night, and it looked as if the car hesitated. Natalia drew in a deep breath, but Adam yanked her against him. With a squeal of tires, the car disappeared down the street and into the night.
“Stupido!” she shouted in the sudden silence that followed, her hand waving angrily at the vanishing car.
She tried to step out of Adam’s embrace, but he held her firmly against him. Natalia turned to look up at him and only then noticed the clenched jaw and the pulse pounding wildly at the base of his throat.
“Don’t worry.” She waved it off with a shake of her head. “Just an idiota. Probably drank too much and swerved into us.”
Those dark, fathomless eyes met her gaze, and his hands tightened on her hips even more. “He stopped. He hesitated.”
“He probably wanted to make sure he didn’t hit us,” Natalia insisted.
Adam shook his head. “No. I think that was a warning. They may have followed Carlo then saw us.”
Natalia looked at him and opened her mouth to reassure him. To insist that he was wrong and that Italian drivers deserved their reputation. Nothing came out and she swallowed, hard. Shaking her head, she reached down to grip his hand.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, and that admission frightened her. She shivered in the cold night air. Natalia wanted to look back to where the car disappeared, but couldn’t tear her gaze from Adam’s.
“But we need to go someplace safe. And that’s not your place or my hotel room.” His free hand clenched into a fist. “I need to make a call.”
Finally tearing her gaze from his intense one, Natalia looked around. Nodding, she tugged him back to the sidewalk and down another alley. “I know a little place where we can go for a few hours.”
Chapter Nine
Only two other tables at Aldo’s, the restaurant Natalia had taken Adam to, were filled. It was late, nearly ten by now, but Aldo’s wouldn’t close for hours yet. Plus, she knew the owners and knew if need be, she and Adam could stay longer.
Faint music piped through the speakers of the old Milanese setting. Smooth stone lined the walls where old etchings hung. The rear wall was painted in a faded fresco, but Natalia had never asked whether Aldo commissioned it to look ancient and fading, or if it really was ancient and fading. The dim lighting was normally perfect, but tonight Natalia found even that a little too bright.
She’d never thought she’d be afraid in her own city.
Actually, Natalia wasn’t sure what she was. Her foot tapped on the floor, and her fingers played with the cup of coffee she’d ordered. Logically she knew Adam was probably right—that car hadn’t been an accident. She recalled her words to him as they’d walked to her shop. How exciting it was to play at being a spy.
Taking a deep breath of the warm air, scented with the garlic bread from the basket on their table, Natalia turned to Adam, who spoke in a low, harsh voice to his contact at MI6. She resisted breaking off a piece of the bread and watched him across the table. His hair was mussed, and despite the situation, she wanted to run her fingers through the soft strands as he kissed down her body.
And apparently sneaking around Milan back alleys and nearly getting hit by a car affected her libido by only in increasing her desire for Adam.
“That’s too long,” he snapped. “What if we’re approached again?” He looked across the table at her. “Or something else happens?”
With his gaze still holding hers, he nodded. “Fine. Four days. Understood.”
Movements controlled, he ended the call and dropped the phone on the table. Natalia had the feeling he wanted to throw it across the room. His jaw clenched, eyes dark with suppressed anger, he watched her for another moment. Then he picked up her hand and leaned across the short distance separating them and kissed her temple.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I thought Philip, my contact at MI6, would arrive a lot faster, but there’s more red tape there than there is at the Commission.”
He sighed heavily and rested his forehead against hers. A wave of tenderness warmed her and she raised a hand to his cheek. Pressing her lips gently to his, she tried to lighten the mood. Grinning she said, “Oh my darling, what did you expect? They’re British.”
Adam smiled, as he was meant to, and kissed her softly. Natalia hadn’t expected this tenderness, this affection between them, and it wove through her insides to settle around her heart. Oh dear, she was in trouble.
Pulling back he gave a little shrug and pulled out the USB from his inner jacket pocket. “I need to keep you”—he turned a heated stare to her then held up the USB—“and this safe.”
“Then let’s disappear,” she said in a breathless voice. Arousal heated her veins, but more than that, she found she needed to keep Adam safe, too. “Let’s leave town for a few days. We can go somewhere…” Natalia hesitated then jumped in. “Romantic. We can return when your contact arrives.”
“This is probably the most important case I’ve taken upon myself.” He shook his head ruefully. “And I’m going to take a holiday in the middle of it?” Adam’s thumb stroked over her knuckles, and that forceful stare took on an entirely different heat. “Sounds about right.”
He slipped the USB back into his inner pocket and leaned over the small table. It felt as if she were the center of his world right then, despite the danger, his frustration over this enforced wait, and the fact they were both now very involved in whatever Carlo had got himself into.
“Where should we go?” Adam asked in a low, husky voice.
Natalia licked her lips. She watched him follow the movement and felt a surge of power and arousal. Subtly clearing her throat, she met him halfway across the table. “There’s a late train to Portofino,” she whispered, her voice thick with anticipation and desire. “We can catch that.”
“If we use our charge cards—”
Natalia shook her head, interrupting him. “I know exactly where we can stay.”
Oh. She needed to call Carlotta and her shop, tell them she wasn’t going to be in for a few days. She did have the perfect excuse—a romantic interlude with her new lover. They’d believe her, and it wasn’t as if she lied about that.
Pressing a quick kiss against Adam’s mouth, Natalia went to use the restaurant’s phone. She didn’t want to chance using hers, in case whoever the mysterious “they” were had somehow tapped into her mobile.
She really took to this spy
business. Natalia wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
* * * *
It was nearly four in the morning by the time their their taxi dropped them off, half a block from the villa.
During the train ride, Adam had told her what was on the USB and what Carlo was involved in. While he’d told MI6 about his suspicions and gave them what little proof he’d had, the investigation had yet to be authorized. Even now, with Carlo’s information, it’d be several days before his contacts could get to them. They’d need to hide until then.
Exhausted, Natalia had let his soft, deep voice lull her to sleep, his arm wrapped firmly around her, his heart a steady beat beneath her ear.
When she’d startled awake, it’d been to see Adam staring at her. It was more than just him watching her. The force behind that heavy gaze sent thrills of need spiking through her. No, it was more than that—more than just lust, more than passion. But Natalia hadn’t wanted to read more into that look. Into the warmth that moved through her and curled around her heart.
Now, with Adam’s hand firmly in hers, Natalia tugged him along the street. Of course the Dolcini family had their own house in Portofino, but Adam’s caution had rubbed off on her. So she’d phoned a friend and had had no problem securing Della’s agreement to use her oceanfront house.
The attached villa sat on the corner of the row. It overlooked the harbor, still lighted despite the late hour. She was tired and stiff from the train ride; whatever adrenaline had kept her going after the near miss had long faded, and now all Natalia wanted was to crawl into bed.
Actually, she wanted to curl next to Adam, an intimate move that surprised her. But given the previous six or so hours, she wanted to feel his hard, solid body behind her.
No, what she wanted was to feel his hard, solid body against hers as they made love. Yes, sleep could wait a few more hours.
In the shadows blanketing the front door, Natalia flipped through her key ring and silently thanked herself for always carrying all her keys together. It was not the lightest or most economical move, but in this case, it’d saved them.
Unlocking the door, she pushed the heavy wood open and crossed the marble foyer as Adam closed it and relocked the deadbolts.
“You have wonderful friends,” he said in a voice that sounded entirely too alert considering their evening.
Offering a tired chuckle, Natalia flicked on a light. “I do,” she agreed with a smile. “I truly do. This place is a dream. It has everything—we can go to the beach right from the back stairs. Outdoor shower and…”
She crossed the room in smooth steps, adding an extra swing to her hips. Natalia didn’t miss the way Adam’s already dark eyes darkened or how he watched her every move with piercing concentration.
She slid her hands up his chest. “And a big, fluffy”—she leaned closer, her lips a breath from his—“bed.”
Suddenly his lips were hard on hers, taking and taking as his fingers gripped her hips, down over her ass to pull her tighter to him. He broke the kiss and pulled back just enough to ask, “Is there?”
“Oh, yes,” she whispered.
She retook his hand and led him upstairs to the guest room overlooking the bay. Despite the darkness, the lateness of the day, and the weariness tugging her limbs, Natalia wanted to make Adam lose the control he had earlier. She wanted to feel his growls and hear his harsh breathing.
And then, in the morning when they finally woke, Natalia wanted to make love to him again on the balcony with the warm breeze and rising sun and the hint of ocean surrounding them. Where anyone could see them.
She didn’t know where that voyeuristic need came from, but she liked it.
They didn’t bother with lights, no matter how much she wanted to see him as they moved together. It was simply too much trouble when his hands were already skimming her curves, lifting her rumpled tunic over her head and tossing it aside. She kissed him greedily, her tongue sweeping against his, and kicked off her sneakers, fingers no longer fumbling as they undid each button on his shirt and let it drop to the floor.
Her breath hitched as he lifted her onto the bed and stripped her pants down her legs in one move. Bared before him, arousal thick and hot in her veins, Natalia lifted herself onto her elbows. From the faint light coming from the windows, she couldn’t make out more than his shadow.
But she heard his harsh breathing and felt the weight of his stare. Adam knelt between her legs and kissed up one thigh, his fingers tracing patterns behind her knees. His hot breath caressed her aching sex, but he didn’t touch her. Natalia whimpered as another bolt of arousal wound tighter within her.
His hands continued their homage, his mouth following eagerly in their wake. Over her hips, across her belly, to her breasts.
“Perfect,” he said as he lifted the heavy weight of her breast and teased the sensitive skin underneath.
His mouth closed gently over the already hard nipple, teasing it as he’d teased her sex. He settled over her, his hard cock pressed between them, throbbing deliciously against her hip. Natalia tried to move, but one strong hand settled on her hip and stilled her.
“No,” he said around her nipple, his teeth grazing the peak. “Let me taste you.”
Natalia forgot how to breathe. Her hands fisted in the bedding as Adam pinched her neglected nipple into an aching point. She arched into his touch, but words deserted her and all she remembered how to do was moan his name.
Suddenly one finger sank into her heat and she cried out, body curving into his touch. Begging for more, she raised her hips and widened her legs. Once again Adam’s hand rested on her hip, and he held her still beneath his touch.
He added a second finger, thrusting in and out in a lazy rhythm that built her orgasm but never high enough, never enough.
Dragging her hands from where they fisted the bedding, Natalia raked her nails down his back. Adam shuddered against her, a low growl vibrating along her skin from where he continued to torment her sensitive nipples. She did it again, up his back and along his scalp, and guided his head back to hers.
Her mouth seeking his, she kissed him hard—tongue and teeth and desperation. Natalia rocked against him, but he didn’t move. Whimpering in frustration and need, she lightly scraped her nails down his chest to his cock and wrapped her fingers around the thickness.
Adam jerked in her touch, and she felt a thrill of power shudder through her. Nipping along his jaw to scrape her teeth over his neck to the spot between shoulder and neck, she bit down harder than she’d intended.
But it had the desired effect, and she felt Adam’s control snap; he growled her name and the sound went straight through her. Never had she desired anyone like she did him.
“Purse,” she gasped as his fingers thrust harder inside her wetness. “Condom in my purse.”
She’d hoped they’d have time for a quickie in the back of her shop, but this worked out so much better.
Adam kissed her hard, his mouth crashing into hers, before he climbed off the bed and found her purse. Her hands drifted down her belly over her own generous curves, up to her heavy breasts where she lightly circled her nipples, so hard they ached. He cursed, but before she had the chance to ask what happened, he was back on the bed, kneeling before her.
Natalia heard the rip of the packaging, and reached out to guide him into her. In one smooth thrust, he was buried in her. She rocked her hips up, impatient now, demanding. Her orgasm climbed higher with each touch of his fingers, and she was desperate to come.
He set a fast, bruising pace, and she loved it. Adam’s fingers curled over her legs, holding her against him. Her nails dug into his hips, pulling her harder and faster to her.
Her orgasm smashed into her, a wave of unyielding pleasure that swept over her in a rush. She cried out, back arching, body bending upward, straining for more. Adam continued to move, his thrusts harder and more erratic. Natalia opened her eyes to watch him in the dark predawn, and knew he watched her as he pounded into her slick bo
dy.
Rearing up, she curled one hand around the back of his head and tugged him to her, kissing him hard as her other hand slipped between their bodies and teased her clit. She wanted more, wanted to feel the pleasure he gave her crash through her before he came.
Natalia heard him growl as she touched herself, her fingers brushing the base of his cock with every thrust. He drove harder into her body, faster.
“Yes,” she breathed, her heels pressing against his back to drive him closer. “Adam,” she chanted.
Again her orgasm broke over her and she gasped his name, body trembling against his. And then he stilled, head thrown back, fingers iron-like on her hips as he found his own release.
When he collapsed atop her, Natalia held him to her, legs still locked around him, body humming in ecstasy.
Chapter Ten
When they’d woken that morning, the late morning sun streamed through the windows. Natalia had stretched and tugged Adam with her to the spacious ensuite. They’d taken a leisurely bath with soft whispers and gentle caresses.
It was a lazy morning—a lazy sexual morning—and one Natalia found she easily wanted to get used to. The reason for their impromptu trip across the country seemed so far away, with Adam’s chest behind her, his warm, wet hands sweeping over her hips to dip teasingly between her legs.
For now, Natalia pushed that reason, and Carlo, further into the recesses of her mind. They needed food, but more importantly, they needed clothes. Adam took her hand, a comfort she hadn’t realized she’d grown so accustomed to, and they decided on a quick shopping trip.
Later that afternoon, she stopped in one of the boutiques and found her own line, selecting several Principessa Natalia items. It annoyed her she needed to pay retail for her own designs. Adam laughed at her grumbling, but his appreciative gaze told her her choices had been perfect.
After one quick stop to a men’s store and to the market, they’d returned to the villa laughing and carefree.
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