Considering the radical responses from the rest of her body, it seemed doubly odd that her heart rate had slowed down to a snail’s pace, beating as sedately as if she was asleep. But it wasn’t until she let her hand slip from around his neck and her palm settled on his chest that she understood the full impact of it because Simon’s heart was thumping just as lazily as hers was. It wasn’t sexual, Lilly thought with some surprise; that was the key factor in what made this kiss so different.
Oh, she was warm and tingly all right, and there were at least a million or so butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, but there wasn’t that frenzied sexual need to strip him naked and have her wicked way with him. There was just…the kiss; a deliciously gentle, fairytale kiss that made her believe in castles and knights and happily ever after. That’s when Simon lifted his head, and with only a few whispered words, managed to burst her soaring bubble of dreams and send it plummeting to the ground.
Chapter 7
“Sleep with me tonight, cara mia.”
A good dousing in ice water couldn’t have cooled Lilly off faster. She pulled away from him, her voice as chilled as the blood in her veins. “I can’t believe you, Simon Vittorio!”
Genuinely confused by the abrupt change in her demeanor, Simon wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. “I did not mean to upset you, Lilly. I only thought if we slept together…”
“Oh, I know what you thought and what you were thinking with,” she said caustically.
Simon’s lip twitched but he didn’t dare let himself smile, though it was incredibly difficult not to. Lilly was exquisite when she got her temper up, and right now she looked as if she would just as soon strangle him as look at him. Obviously she’d misunderstood, and he probably should have tried to clear it up right away, but Simon was not a man to deny himself pleasures, and the temptation to see just how worked up she’d get was simply too much.
He smiled indulgently, speaking to Lilly as if she was a temperamental child. “Now cara, do not upset yourself.”
She met his composed gaze with a murderous glare. “Upset myself? I am not upsetting myself, you are upsetting me! You suck me in with this beautiful speech about how grateful you are to have me in your life and how real your feelings are and then turn right around and negate everything you said by asking me to have sex with you. Your arrogance is unbelievable, and I have no intention of…” Lilly’s tirade ended in a surprised squeak when Simon pulled her up hard against his chest.
“Madre di Dio,” he growled softly, “you are the most exciting woman I have ever known.”
Lilly planted her hands on his shoulders to keep him from kissing her. “And you, Simon Vittorio, are the most infuriatingly thick headed man I have ever known! I don’t want to kiss you,” she gritted as his mouth drew nearer in spite of her efforts to hold him back. “Damn it, Simon, I’m not one of your fawning starlets who’s just dying to tumble into bed with you.”
She was struggling in earnest now, for all the good it did her, but she was furious at him for ruining everything and making her feel like an even bigger fool than she did before.
“Mio tesoro, my darling, stop fighting me. We both know you want to kiss me,” he goaded her.
Lilly let out a frustrated growl. “Kissing isn’t the problem, it’s what the kissing leads to. Or rather what you were hoping it would lead to.”
“You amuse me, Lilly. I do not recall asking for anything more, nor did I do anything to suggest otherwise.”
“What?” she squeaked incredulously. “How can you say that with a straight face? You asked me to have sex with you!”
“You are mistaken, carissima.”
Lilly’s temper blew sky high. “I know what I heard, and there aren’t too many ways to interpret what you said. Oh, I don’t blame you for trying. God knows I made it easy enough for you the first time, it’s just that I thought you were different. But of course you’re not,” she laughed derisively. “You’re a man, oh boy are you ever, so naturally you think with your…”
Lilly gasped when she suddenly found herself staring up into a pair of incredibly dark eyes. How had she ended up on her back with Simon looming over her?
“Essere tranquillo,” be quiet, he ordered. “You and I need to work on our communications skills with one another, my little wildcat. I did not ask you to have sex with me.”
“You most certainly…” Warm lips and a brief but passionate kiss cut her off.
“You will listen to what I have to say or get more of the same for each interruption,” he warned. Lilly opened her mouth then quickly clamped it shut again. “Very wise decision.” Simon chuckled when she lifted her chin obstinately, pressing her lips even more tightly together. “I should have phrased it differently, then perhaps you would still be kissing me instead of fighting me. When I asked you to sleep with me tonight, that is exactly what I meant.”
“I don’t believe…” Damn, his punishing kisses were turning her insides to mush and she didn’t want to be turned into mush, she wanted to stay mad at him.
Simon reluctantly ended the kiss, though he had faith Lilly wouldn’t be able to maintain her silence for long. He studied her face for a moment; flawless skin that felt like silk beneath his fingertips, stubborn little chin and high cheekbones, lips that tasted like heaven, and those big baby blues of hers. Was it possible to fall in love all over again each time he looked at her? He didn’t dare let his thoughts stray to her body, not when he was bent on convincing Lilly he wanted more from her than just sex.
“When the doctor removed the bandages and I was told my eyesight had not been damaged, do you know what my first thought was?” Simon hoped she’d say something so he could kiss her but she merely shook her head so he continued. “I thought…how wonderful it would be to sleep with you, to hold you in my arms and kiss you good night. I wanted your beautiful face to be the last thing I saw before I fell asleep and to open my eyes in the morning to the same lovely vision.”
“Oh, Simon,” she whispered ruefully, “is that really what you meant?”
“Si, mia bella. I have never spent the night with a woman before, but I could think of nothing else from the moment the bandages were removed.”
The warmth in Lilly’s eyes faded. “You’ve never spent the night with a woman,” she repeated in a tone that was flat and disbelieving.
“Not the entire night, no. I make no excuses for the number of lovers I have taken, but I promise you none of them meant more to me than a warm body to pass the time with. I have never invited a woman into my own bed, it was always their place we went to, and I never once stayed until morning.”
Lilly wasn’t entirely convinced. Oh, she believed that he’d never brought a woman to his own house because it was easier to avoid any issues of commitment if he could get up and leave when he wanted to. And she believed he’d never stayed until morning and that he’d never allowed himself to feel anything for any of them. What she didn’t have complete faith in was his reasons for asking her to share his bed.
“So…when you asked me to sleep with you, was it your bed or mine you had in mind?”
Simon grinned. “Cara, this is my house, both beds belong to me.”
“My point exactly. It’s not as if you could suggest we go to my place since I don’t have one, and even if I did, commuting wouldn’t be very practical considering we’d have to travel by helicopter or boat. So you really had no choice but to…”
A low growl vibrated in the back of his throat. “You are trying my patience woman. Why is it so hard to believe that my feelings are sincere?”
“It’s because of all those other women,” she said miserably. “There’s nothing glamorous about me. I’m not especially beautiful, and except for the fact that I happen to be the only single female on the island that’s not married or related to you, I just don’t understand how you could be attracted to me.”
Simon considered that for a moment. “Let me try to explain so you will understand. All those other women�
��they were like shiny stars and I was fascinated by them for a short time, but they were not unique, Lilly. Each star was just the same as the last so I moved on, searching for one that was different, special.” A soft smile curved his lips as he gazed down at the rapt expression on her face. “You, my darling Lilly, outshine every woman I have ever known. If they are stars then you are the sun, blocking out their insignificant light so that I see only you.”
What defenses could she possibly muster against something that? His words, the husky rasp of his voice, the tender look in his eyes; they all conspired together to strip away the last layer of resistance. Lilly slowly inched her arms around his neck and drew his mouth down to hers. She was tired of fighting it, tired of pretending she didn’t want him more than her next breath. She belonged to him, had been his for the taking from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him.
Having accepted that she would be Simon Vittorio’s woman for as long as he wanted her, Lilly raised the white flag and surrendered her heart.
***
Lilly’s eyelids fluttered open, a groggy smile playing on her lips when she discovered Simon propped up on one elbow, eyeing her as if he was ravenous and she was breakfast. A jolt of electricity zinged through her body when one long finger made a feathery trail down the side of her face then coaxed her chin up so her mouth was in a prime position to be kissed. Except he didn’t kiss her, he simply fixed his gaze on her lips until the heat of it sent shivers racing up and down her spine.
“Are you waiting for an invitation?” she asked, surprised by the sexy husk in her voice.
Simon’s focus moved from her mouth to her eyes, his breath hitching in his throat for a moment to see such undisguised desire in their depths. He’d promised Lilly there would be nothing sexual about sleeping together, that it was all about the intimacy of holding each other and giving her a part of himself he’d never even offered another woman before. But now he wasn’t sure he could hold to his end of the bargain, not if he kissed her the way he wanted to…or the way her eyes were begging him to.
“Perhaps I should ask what the invitation entails before I decide if I should kiss you or not.”
A searing heat shot straight through her, and for the first time in her life, Lilly didn’t even consider doing the sensible thing. Because doing the sensible thing meant leaving Simon’s bed for the safety of her own room and giving up the incredible warmth of his body. She wanted to lose herself in his kisses and experience once again the rapture of making love to him. She wanted Simon to touch her, to feel her skin tingle when his calloused hands glided over her skin, and she wanted him to make this torturous ache between her thighs to go away. It was her decision, he’d made that clear, but she’d already made her decision the night before. She belonged to him, and right now she needed him to make that possession complete.
Lilly giggled at the disappointed look on his handsome face when she pushed him back, but it was quickly replaced with a triumphant smile when she made her intentions clear by peeling off her nightie and matching panties. He whispered her name on a sigh, his dark eyes growing even darker when she boldly straddled him and took him inside of her.
She was ready for him, her slick moistness making Simon’s entry only slightly uncomfortable as her sore muscles stretched to accommodate his size. He was impossibly hard, and the friction of his rigid flesh against her much softer inner muscles made her moan out loud as she began to gyrate her hips.
Tiny explosions erupted throughout her entire body as if someone was setting off charges, blasting her relentlessly until they melted into one huge fiery burst of scorching flames. She rode him through it, a second climax beginning to mount even before the first one had wrung what it could from her. Spurred on by the needs of her own body and the rasping pleas from Simon to have mercy on him, Lilly abandoned the measured rise and fall of her hips, impaling herself on him with an untamed fury that should have embarrassed her. Instead it made her feel wild and free, their primal mating more exhilarating than anything she’d ever experienced. It wasn’t until much later, after they’d made love for a second time then bathed and prepared to eat breakfast that it hit Lilly. They hadn’t used protection.
She dropped down into the chair beside Simon, her legs suddenly too wobbly to hold her up, and watched in numbed fascination as he devoured his food with vigor. It hasn’t occurred to him yet, she thought. It couldn’t have, otherwise he’d be sitting there with his stomach churning like hers was and beating himself up for being so irresponsible instead of plowing down his breakfast like there was no tomorrow.
Lilly mentally counted back the days to her last cycle and grimaced. Not that she was an expert on ovulation, but she’d taken a course in Human Growth and Development as part of her major in college. If memory served her right, she and Simon had made love three times smack dab in the middle of her most fertile period. She cast a furtive glance at him, wondering how he was going to react to the news he could very well have fathered a child in the past twenty-four hours.
Simon swallowed down the last of his eggs, immensely pleased with how the morning had unfolded. He reached for his coffee and lifted it to his lips, noticing for the first time since they’d sat down that Lilly hadn’t so much as taken one bite of her food. Oh, she was putting on a good show of shuffling it around on her plate but it was obvious she was lost deep in thought and wasn’t conscious of what she was doing.
Sipping at his coffee, Simon studied her face over the rim of his cup, his brows drawing together at the pallor of her skin and the nervous way she kept biting her bottom lip. She couldn’t be having any doubts about how he felt for her, not after they’d made love twice that morning. Unless…unless it was her own feelings she was having doubts about. Simon lowered his cup to the table and leaned back in his chair.
“You are not eating, cara, do you feel ill?”
Lilly stopped toying with her food and clutched her hands in her lap, unable to make herself look at him. “Simon, I…I think we need to talk.”
Simon’s breath caught in his throat, fear curling into a tight ball and settling in the pit of his stomach. “It is never good when a woman wants to have a talk,” he forced a lightness to his tone he certainly didn’t feel. “Inevitably, it ends with the suggestion that they remain friends.” His chest tightened when he failed to get a response from her. “Lilly…if we are moving too fast, we can slow it down. I did not plan what happened between us this morning so if that is what worries you…”
“No, it’s not that.” She drew in a shaky breath and lifted her head to meet his questioning gaze. “Simon, we didn’t use anything.”
“Use anything?”
“When we…were in bed, we didn’t use anything. Protection,” she said pointedly when he looked even more puzzled.
The relief that she wasn’t trying to end their relationship was so enormous, Simon let out an audible sigh. “Is that all? You looked so serious…”
“This is serious.” Lilly’s voice rose in panic. “It was a mistake, a horrible mistake. It was stupid and irresponsible and…and I don’t think we should have sex anymore!”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I believe that is the equivalent of closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out, is it not?”
“How can you be so glib?” Close to hysteria, Lilly tried to drive home just how grave the situation was. “What if I’m pregnant, have you thought about that? I counted back the days, you know, and the timing is just perfect for it.” In full panic mode now, the pitch of her voice began to escalate. “We couldn’t have picked a better time. I’m ripe as a Georgia peach, and all anyone has to do is look at you to know your marauders wouldn’t have any problem hitting their mark. This is a disaster, a damn train wreck is what it is…”
“Cara,” he said softly, prying her hands from her lap, “would it be so bad, carrying my child?”
Lilly’s heart slammed against her ribs. “Wh-what?”
He leaned forward, locking his e
yes to hers. “What is it that frightens you, that you may be pregnant or that I am the father?”
“Both,” she admitted.
“You do not think I would make a good father?”
“I think you’d make a wonderful father…when you came around.”
“What do you mean, when I came around?”
She’d hurt him. Not that he’d allowed any inflection in his tone to give him away, but she’d seen it in his eyes; just the slightest flicker before he’d shuttered it. Maybe she shouldn’t have added that last part, but it was out of her mouth before she could stop it. And the truth was, it did frighten her to think of him floating in and out of her life. She’d had no illusions about the two of them. Simon was enamored of her now and she’d grabbed at the chance to be with him for as long as she could, but she knew the day would come when he would grow tired of her and she’d reconciled herself to that fact.
VITTORIO'S WOMAN Page 9
