“How about lunch at that café by the beach?” he asked, his lips nuzzling the soft skin across the nape of her neck.
“Sounds perfect,” she breathed, one hand coming up to hold his head in place.
Adam turned her in his arms and kissed her. It wound through her in lightning-fast pricks of need, and she moaned against his lips. Pulling back, his gaze darkening, his own breathing harsh, he grinned wickedly at her.
If not for the fact that she was starving, Natalia was tempted to forget their late lunch and have Adam instead. But he stepped back, that wicked look undiminished, and turned for the clothes they’d just purchased.
With a resigned sigh, Natalia pulled out a red sundress with wide shoulder straps that cinched just beneath her breasts and flared around her thighs. She tugged on a pair of matching red wedge sandals and turned just in time to see Adam do up the buttons on his shirt.
Her mouth dry, she watched intently as he rolled up the sleeves to just past his elbows. Dio mio. No man’s arms should look that good.
She jerked when his fingers wound through hers, and tried to bring her thoughts back to the matter at hand. Food. Not the way his fingers slid over hers, or the way his gaze held hers, or even how his low rumble of laughter made her want to forget food altogether.
Again that warmth from before spread through her chest, and Natalia wondered just how big of a mistake this affair was.
Hand in hand, they walked out of the house and down the street, toward the shops lining the beach. It was a warm sunny day, with a lovely breeze off the Ligurian Sea. Natalia slipped on a pair of sunglasses she’d bought at the boutique and with a sigh, she rested her head against Adam’s shoulder.
If this was a mistake, she’d deal with it later. For now, she planned to enjoy Adam, and Portofino, to the fullest.
“How about a gelato while we walk?” Adam asked, his lips brushing the top of her head.
Looking up, Natalia smiled and nodded. “I’ll be window shopping.”
She watched him walk away, the way his jeans hugged his bum. And she thought he looked good in suits, but Natalia had to admit—she was jealous of the way that denim hugged him. Licking her lips, she shook herself and wandered to the shop, scrutinizing the cut of a distinctly non-curvy design.
Not bad, not exactly up to her standards, and she had a feeling the material was cheap, but the way it hugged the hips wasn’t bad. With a shrug and a wave of dismissal, Natalia turned to the stand.
A thin, tall woman smiled up at Adam. The other woman was dressed in a pair of gray shorts that barely covered her ass and a raggedy tank top that did nothing for her figure. The woman’s fingers danced along Adam’s forearm. Natalia couldn’t see the other woman’s expression from across the street, but the body language left nothing to the imagination.
Hot jealousy slammed into her, shocking Natalia to her very core. Before she realized what had happened, she’d stalked across the street.
Up close, she saw that the other woman’s outfit was made of the same cheap material Natalia suspected of the dress in the shop window. Scowling at this double offense to fashion, Natalia tried to tell herself it was that, and not the way she tried to curve her body into Adam, that incensed her.
Natalia didn’t really believe that. It did reassure her when Adam shrugged off the woman’s touch and barely looked at her as pieces of the woman’s conversation about Portofino’s beauty drifted to her. No, Natalia didn’t believe her flimsy excuse at all, especially when the first thing she did when she reached Adam was lean up and kiss him.
Taking the gelato from his hand, she turned to the woman, eyebrow raised, chin tilted, and shoved her sunglasses onto the top of her head so the woman received the full force of her glare. “Portofino is beautiful for lovers,” she said in a low, smooth voice.
Winding her arm through Adam’s, she looked up at him with a coy smile. She saw amusement in his gaze as he looked down at her.
“Oh, I see,” the woman said in French-accented English. “When you tire of Italian sausage, come see me at the Hotel Portofino.”
Tossing her gelato in the woman’s face Natalia sneered. “Get out of here, you dirty little French scum. No one wants to be with a woman who’s just bones.”
Natalia took a step forward, prepared to—what? Defend Adam? Her place with Adam? Herself, curves and all? Yes.
Adam’s hand grabbed hers, and he tugged her against him. His smile, a delighted little cocky grin, did strange things to her insides. The other woman gave an incensed gasp, but Natalia didn’t bother to look at her. She watched Adam, who grinned back at her.
His lips pressed briefly to hers, and he offered her his gelato. “I only want to be with you.”
His words were soft and direct. Without another word, he led her farther down the street and toward the café at the end of the curve where they planned to lunch.
“I know I don’t have to worry about you defending yourself,” he said, amusement coloring his tone.
“Uh!” She threw her free hand in the air in exasperation. “Women like that need to wear a sign declaring them royal bitches. I loathe and detest them. They try to make women who are not rail-thin feel like they’re less than attractive.”
She made another disgusted sound and bit into Adam’s gelato. “It’s stupid. Every woman has something different to offer.”
Then, stopping him in the middle of the sidewalk, she turned to face him, gelato forgotten. “I have curves,” she told him in what sounded like a challenge to her own ears. “And plenty of them.”
He cupped her cheek, effectively stopping anything more she wanted to say. “And I love, desire, and enjoy each one of them.”
The sincerity in his voice made the rest of her words vanish on her tongue. Sniffing, though no longer indignant, she grinned up at him and nodded decisively. “As you should.”
“There’s so much about you I desire,” he admitted, his voice rough.
“And you, Signore Clayworth, are rather delectable as well.” She closed the distance between them.
His hands tangled in her hair and he kissed her. Not a soft, polite kiss for public, no. A hard, hot kiss that spoke of promises and slow tasting and the knife’s edge of passion. The gelato fell to the sidewalk, but Natalia didn’t care. She combed her fingers through his hair and held him to her, opening her mouth to his, opening herself to him.
“Let’s get takeaway,” he said, but his tongue ran over her lips.
How was she supposed to think when he did things like that? What was the question?
“Yes,” she moaned. “Takeaway sounds perfect.”
By the time they ordered from the small café and walked back to the villa, Natalia’s body hummed with need. Adam had been a perfect gentleman—his hands hadn’t wandered, he hadn’t kissed her as they waited outside along the narrow walkway between street and beach.
But he’d talked. Just loud enough for her to hear, Adam had whispered all the deliciously erotic things he wanted to do to her once they returned to the house. His breath was warm on the skin of her neck, and though he’d stood behind her as they looked out over the perfectly blue sea, he hadn’t teased her.
Anticipation thrummed through her, hot and sharp. Natalia swallowed and kept her pace even next to his, as they returned to the villa. Her sex was slick with need, and she couldn’t take in a full breath.
The instant she unlocked the villa, she pulled him inside, turned around, and kissed him.
Natalia distantly heard their bags of food drop to the floor, but she didn’t care. She heard a moan, low and harsh, and it went straight through her. They weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. She didn’t care about that, either.
Adam’s hands cupped her ass, pulling her tight to him as his mouth devoured hers. He walked her backward into the front living room, his hands teasing her warm skin. Natalia shoved his shirt off, letting it fall to the floor, and kissed her way down his neck to his chest.
With a growl he lifted her dre
ss, tugging it over her head and tossing it away. Shivering, she boldly met his gaze.
“I love your body,” Adam said as he kissed across the cup of her bra. “I love how you aren’t afraid to stand up for yourself.”
He knelt before her and slipped his hands beneath her panties, sliding them over her legs. His mouth followed a trail down her leg, carefully lifting one then the other and tossing her panties atop the dress.
With her breath trapped in her chest, heart racing wildly, Natalia knelt in front of Adam and quickly undid his belt buckle and trousers.
“I love how you want me,” she murmured confidently against his mouth as she tugged his trousers over his hips and pushed him to the floor.
She wanted this man. Wanted him every single time she laid eyes on him. Not simply because he was the sexiest banker she’d ever seen or her very own chiseled Roman statue. Natalia knew without a doubt that every time he looked at her, he was transfixed. Mesmerized by all of her.
And there was very little that was sexier than that, than having a man so riveted.
Climbing atop him, she stilled. Damn. They didn’t have protection. It was upstairs on the bedside table, and she hadn’t thought to grab a couple before they went shopping. Natalia hadn’t planned to seduce him on the beach.
“Pocket,” Adam muttered, reaching across the floor for his trousers.
Natalia wanted to say something witty and sassy about always being prepared for how he wanted to seduce her on the beach or in a cove. The words were trapped in her throat and all she could manage was to grab the condom and roll it over him. In one smooth move, she sank over him, hissing at the feel of him filling her.
Stretching across his chest, Natalia kissed him. She moved slowly, trying to draw this out, to build the pleasure. But then his hands cupped her breasts, fingers teasing her nipples, and all thoughts of slow and teasing vanished.
She rocked hard down on him, taking him deeper and deeper with every movement. Her fingers curled into his chest, nails leaving little marks over him, and still she moved harder. Adam’s fingers found her clit and stroked her until Natalia cried out her completion, grinding hard against him.
With a growl, he flipped them over and pounded into her. His fingers dug into her thighs, the backs of her knees, pushing them to her chest. Again her orgasm built, and Natalia urged him on. Met him thrust for thrust, dug her heels into his back.
One hand found his and she curled her fingers around his. With a growl he came, her name falling from his lips in a beautiful chant of her name. A second orgasm rushed through her, a quick wave of pleasure, as Adam stilled and collapsed atop her.
Gathering him close, she kissed the side of his jaw as he buried his face against her neck. Eventually he rolled off her and disposed of the condom. When he returned, naked and glorious, he carried their takeaway. Natalia slipped on her dress but didn’t bother with a bra and panties.
They ate on the floor, boxes of salad, dumplings, and noodles from the café spread around them as they leaned against the sofa.
Natalia expertly swirled noodles around her chopsticks and ate them. Adam watched her, and she felt a low buzz of electricity rush through her at the force of his stare. Chewing the noodles, she grinned.
“Envious of my prowess with chopsticks?” she asked. Scooping up a dumpling between her chopsticks, she offered it to him.
His gaze on hers, he leaned forward and took the dumpling. Watching her, he chewed it but didn’t pull back. “Not envious,” he said in that low voice that curled through her. “I just want every bit of you.”
Glancing up at the ceiling, she pretended to think for a moment. Smiling again, more relaxed than she ever remembered being, she said wickedly, “I think you’ve had every bit of me.”
His laugh was low and inviting, and he closed the short distance between them to press his lips to hers. “What are you going to do when this is over and we send the names of the bad guys to the good guys?”
Natalia blinked. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Shrugging, she didn’t move back, didn’t retreat, but wondered if he had. “Oh! And we’re no longer in beautiful Portofino enjoying Chinese takeaway?”
Adam nodded but remained silent, his gaze steady on hers. Waiting.
“I’ll be in Milan,” she said as if it didn’t matter. Natalia was afraid it truly did, but she kept her voice neutral. “Or New York or Paris.” She waved her free hand and concentrated on her food with an intensity the dumplings didn’t need. “Or some other place, designing, selling, expanding my business. There’s always much to do. And you?”
She turned to look at him, hoping her gaze didn’t betray her with how desperately she wanted to know his answer. “You’ll be receiving praise and likely a promotion in the Commission.”
He shrugged but didn’t move back, and the force of his gaze remained heavy on hers. “Yes, likely, and it all might pull us in a different direction.”
Yes, likely it would. Natalia cleared her throat and said, “I expect our love affair is not traditional.”
Another shrug, a restless roll of her shoulders. She took another dumpling and chewed it slowly as she gathered her next thoughts. Swallowing, she turned to face him. “Don’t feel badly if we don’t see each other again. Such are the ways of life.”
Natalia laughed and leaned over to press her lips to his. “But this has been a most memorable affair.”
His hand cupped her cheek and he asked quietly, “What if I want it to be traditional? And I want to be in your life whether here, Milan, Paris, or wherever?”
Surprised, she blinked at him. She hadn’t expected him to give them much thought beyond a brief fling or an adventure.
Adam’s laugh was still low and intimate. “Don’t be surprised that you’ve captivated me in such a short time. I don’t think there’s another woman out there like you, and I know I’d like to be the lucky man by your side. Who else would’ve jumped into this adventure with me without thinking twice?”
With her heart pounding, mouth dry from emotions she couldn’t name, Natalia stumbled back and stood. She swallowed and took another step back, looking down at Adam, who continued to gaze evenly up at her.
But his gaze was open, so different from the first time they’d met. Now, mere days later, he had opened to her, kept none of his emotions behind a wall.
“Adam,” she said harshly, more so than she’d planned. “Don’t trifle with me.”
In one smooth move, he stood beside her and took her hand. “How many British men do you know would trifle with a beautiful, strong-willed, fiery Italian woman?”
Licking her lips, she tilted her head and studied him. All she saw was his seriousness, the passion in his gaze, the feel of his hand around hers. He wasn’t joking, wasn’t trifling. Natalia opened her mouth to say something—she had no idea what, no idea what emotion she felt so prominently.
The shrill ring of her mobile shattered the intimate moment.
Unsure whether to be grateful for the intrusion or curse it, Natalia bent to find her purse and mobile from where they’d tossed it earlier in their haste to have each other.
Rosina’s sobbing, hysterical voice echoed loudly over the line. “Carlo’s been shot.”
Chapter Eleven
They took the first train back to Milan. The nearly three-hour ride from Portofino seemed interminable, but Natalia hadn’t wanted to call Rosina again and demand answers the other woman hadn’t been capable of giving.
Now, stepping onto the sidewalk in the early evening, Natalia looked around for a taxi. She felt Adam tug her to the side, and climbed into the car he’d flagged down. The taxi ride to the hospital was just as quiet as the train ride had been.
She felt guilty for enjoying herself on the coast with Adam, guilty for seducing him, and guilty for not giving Carlo another thought after last night’s meeting. And now he’d been shot and Natalia knew, despite her words to Adam about the car that had nearly hit them last night, what happened to Carlo was no acci
dent.
Natalia led Adam to Carlo’s room, where Rosina sat in a chair. She looked tired and drawn, her fingers gently stroking his hand in the quiet. Carlo’s eyes were closed, but she didn’t think he slept. His face wasn’t relaxed at all, the lines too harsh. Hesitating at the doorway, Natalia looked to Adam, who cleared his throat and softly knocked.
“Oh, thank the gods,” he gasped and tried to sit up in the bed. “You’re here.”
The bandage was just visible beneath the hospital gown, and when Carlo struggled to sit up, the machines beeped at him. Rosina tutted and moved to help him, but he waved her off.
“I need help,” Carlo gasped. “We need help.”
Natalia quickly crossed the room, guilt mixing with compassion. What had she involved her friend in? What had he involved himself in?
“How did this happen?” she demanded as she moved the pillow to a better position. “What did you do, Carlo?”
“I did nothing!” he insisted with a scowl and a glare that moved between her and Adam. “Except trust you.”
Adam quickly crossed the room and angrily gestured for Carlo to lower his voice. “I thought,” he said in a cool, quiet voice, “you said they wouldn’t know it was you who took the information.”
Natalia looked up at Adam in shock at his cold tone, but his eyes burned. He felt as guilty as she.
“I don’t know how they could have known!” Carlo insisted. His fingers curled into the hospital bedding as he gasped for breath. “How they could’ve found out! But you need to help us—you must take us somewhere. Hide us!” His voice rose with each frantic word, hands flying impatiently as he spoke. Rosina, her eyes wide with her own fears, tried to quiet him, but he was beyond help.
“You must protect us!” Carlo continued. “I gave you what you wanted.”
Adam took another step closer. His gaze met hers, and Natalia saw the helplessness in the dark eyes. He looked back to Carlo and shook his head, a quick jerk. “I don’t know what I can do for you right now.”
She quickly rounded the bed and put a hand on Adam’s arm. The muscle beneath her touch was rigid, and it was only then Natalia remembered Adam had no support. It was why they’d gone to Portofino in the first place. His MI6 contacts couldn’t, or weren’t going to, do anything for several days yet.
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