‘It was a difficult time, not only for me, but for my parents. My mother cut down on her legal work so that she could be with me while I was in hospital.’ She bit her lip. ‘I was a teenage girl, and the thing that upset me the most was when my hair fell out as a result of the chemotherapy. But I was lucky, the treatment worked and I was finally given the all-clear two years later. I was able to go to university and get on with my life, but I’ll always be grateful that I was given a second chance and I am determined to make the most of every day of my life.’
She stared at Nicolo. ‘I know you suffered terrible injuries in the fire, but your life was spared, and I wish you could seize every day, every moment.’
He was silent, and when he finally spoke his voice shook with a strange intensity, as if it had been wrenched from his soul. ‘Do you?’
Sophie’s eyes flew to his, and her heart missed a beat when she saw desire glittering in his gaze. Instantly she felt a fierce hunger rip through her body, a need so great that it made her bones ache and her blood pound through her veins. The air between them trembled with raw emotion.
Nicolo was still reeling from what Sophie had told him. Like him, she had faced her own mortality when she had been little more than a child. It explained her compassionate nature, he mused, feeling a strong wave of admiration for her. The fact that Sophie had survived her terrifying ordeal was, he was sure, due in no small part to her sheer determination not to let cancer beat her. He felt a connection to her on a deeply personal level and he was ashamed that he had scorned her cheerfulness. Certainly he understood her mantra to ‘live for the moment.’
‘What would you say if I told you that I’m desperate to seize this moment, and make love to you as I have wanted to do since the day you arrived here?’ he said roughly.
Sophie’s heart missed a beat when she saw the feral gleam in Nicolo’s eyes. It was as if they had both laid bare their emotions, and she felt vulnerable and yet excited by the sexual chemistry fizzing between them.
‘You threw me out of the house,’ she reminded him shakily.
‘Because I recognised the threat you posed to my sanity.’
Nicolo swore savagely and pulled her hard against his chest. ‘I’m no good for you,’ he growled. ‘But God forgive me, I can’t fight this any longer. I have to have you, Sophie.’
When he had caught sight of her walking across the garden, an ethereal figure in her silvery-grey silk dress and her golden hair rippling in the breeze, he had known that the battle was over. He could not deny his desire for her, especially now he knew that she had almost lost her life to cancer. Life was frighteningly fragile, and he was thankful that her life had been spared.
Sophie was not like the countless women he had taken to bed during the years when he had been a playboy. He looked back on his behaviour with shame and had vowed never to have casual sex again. But Sophie was different. She evoked an emotional response in him that he had never felt before. Right now Nicolo was not ready to define exactly what he was feeling. All he knew was that Sophie had crept beneath his defences. He threaded his fingers into her long honey-blonde hair, capturing her while he brought his head down and kissed her mouth as if he had been starving for a long, long time, and she was his salvation.
Sophie could not have resisted even if she had wanted to. The moment Nicolo’s lips claimed hers she surrendered to the wildfire passion which exploded between them. His mouth moved with firm demand over hers, tasting her, taking her unguarded response and building her desire as he boldly pushed his tongue between her lips. Her brain registered that this was madness, but her body did not heed the warning. Molten heat pooled between her thighs as he moved his hands restlessly over her, tracing the shape of her hips and breasts.
When he lifted her into his arms she linked her hands around his neck and kissed him with such sweet intensity that he gave a harsh groan and strode out of the room and up the stairs, heading towards his bedroom with a purposeful intent that made Sophie tremble with anticipation.
The room was shadowed with the soft purple darkness of night newly arrived. Through the open window Sophie heard a blackbird singing its last song of the dying day, but she barely registered the sweet serenade for her whole being was attuned to Nicolo. She heard the swift, ragged sound of his breathing mingled with her own shallow breaths, the soft slither of silk as he unzipped her dress and it fell to the floor. Her heart thudded as he laid her on the bed and knelt over her, his hands deftly removing her bra while he kissed her mouth, her throat, pressing lower until he flicked his tongue across one of her nipples and she gave a soft cry of delight.
The ache low in her pelvis was growing ever more insistent. The exquisite sensation of Nicolo suckling each of her nipples in turn fuelled Sophie’s impatience to take the hard length of his arousal deep inside her. She lifted her hands and undid the buttons on his shirt before sliding it from him. In the darkened room she could not see his face clearly and could only make out the shape of his formidable shoulders and broad chest.
She reached out her hand and found the switch on the bedside lamp.
Nicolo stiffened as they were both illuminated in the lamplight.
‘Turn the light off,’ he said roughly. ‘I’m sure you don’t want to see my disfigured body. I could leave my shirt on if you wish?’
Sophie heard the vulnerability in his voice that he could not quite disguise, and her heart turned over. She deliberately ran her hands over the mottled skin covering his arm and one side of his chest.
‘I’ve seen your scars before and I didn’t pass out in horror,’ she said strongly. ‘They don’t make any difference to the way I feel.’ Cupping his face in her hands, she looked steadily into his eyes. ‘You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever met and I’ve never been so turned on as I am right now. I want to watch you make love to me,’ she said huskily.
‘Sweet Jesus, Sophie …’ Nicolo’s throat moved convulsively. He felt unbearably moved by her words and by the honesty blazing in her eyes. Her insistence that she was excited by the thought of watching him make love to her healed the wounds inside him that had hurt far more than his physical injuries.
He moved his eyes down her body and a fierce, almost barbaric need to possess her swept through him. She was so beautiful. He traced his hands over the satiny skin of her shoulders, down to her firm, rounded breasts with their dusky pink nipples jutting provocatively, inviting him to caress them. He loved the little whimpers she made when he kissed her breasts, loved that she was so responsive to his touch.
He trailed his fingers lightly over her stomach, moving inexorably lower to discover the silky skin of her inner thighs. He was shaking with the force of his desire, but an unwelcome thought pushed into his brain and he could not ignore it. Cursing beneath his breath he snatched his hand from her body.
Sophie was confused as she stared at Nicolo’s tense expression. She wondered why he had stopped. Her stomach swooped as she remembered how he had rejected her in the walled garden, and her insecurities returned with a vengeance. Maybe she did not turn him on? Why else would the glittering desire in his eyes have faded?
‘What’s wrong?’ she whispered, trembling with tension. If he rejected her for a second time, she did not think she could bear it.
He gave her a rueful look. ‘I don’t have any protection. I’m sorry, angel, but I’m sure neither of us wants to risk an unplanned pregnancy.’
‘Oh,’ Sophie murmured as comprehension finally dawned. Relief swept through her that the reason Nicolo had halted making love to her was not because he did not desire her. The hard, hungry kiss he dropped on her mouth proved quite the opposite, as did the hard ridge of his arousal she could feel pressing against her thigh.
‘I don’t believe it.’ He groaned as he rolled onto his back. He caught hold of her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her fingers with an unexpected tenderness that swirled around Sophie’s heart. ‘The chemist in the village is shut, but there’s a garage on the main road that
might sell condoms. I could be there and back in fifteen minutes, if you’ll wait that long.’ A tremor ran through his aroused body. ‘I’m not sure I can,’ he said with feeling.
Sophie took pity on him. ‘You don’t have to wait, or drive to find an all-night chemist. The fact is—’ she swallowed ‘—the fact is there’s no risk of me falling pregnant. The chemotherapy left me infertile.’
Nicolo felt a curious little tug in his chest. He lifted his hand and brushed her hair back from her face. ‘That must have been pretty devastating news.’
‘To be honest, having survived cancer, being told that I’d probably never have children didn’t seem like end of the world. I was just glad to be alive.’
Once again Nicolo felt admiration for Sophie’s optimism and her refusal to feel sorry for herself. ‘You’re amazing,’ he murmured softly as he drew her face down to his and claimed her mouth in a kiss that quickly became intensely erotic. He recalled how she had said that he turned her on, but he had not even begun yet and he resolved to give her the most pleasurable experience of her life.
With her doubts allayed, Sophie relaxed against the pillows and curled her arms around Nicolo’s neck as he continued to kiss her mouth, her throat and her breasts. She could not control the tremors that shook her body as he stroked his fingertips across her stomach and then moved lower, brushing lightly over the strip of silk between her legs. Desire tugged low in her pelvis. When he pulled her knickers down she lifted her hips to aid him and released her breath on a ragged sigh when he pushed her thighs apart.
She was glad she had insisted on leaving the lamp on when she saw dull colour flare along his cheekbones as he looked at her. She could feel moist warmth between her legs and knew he must be able to see the evidence of her arousal.
Wantonly she spread her legs wider and heard him give a feral groan that increased her excitement to a feverish need. She caught her breath as he gently parted her and probed her eager flesh with one finger and then two, pushing deep into her and exploring her with a devastating efficiency that turned her bones to liquid.
She was ready for him, and her disappointment when he withdrew his fingers was mingled with relief that he must surely now intend to make love to her fully. But instead of positioning himself ready to take her, he bent his head and she felt his breath stir the narrow strip of golden curls that hid her feminine heart as he bestowed a shockingly intimate caress.
Sweet heaven! Sophie arched her hips involuntarily, seeking even greater pleasure from his sensual foreplay. She felt her internal muscles tighten, and she gasped, gripping his shoulders as she fought the first spasms of her orgasm. What he was doing to her with his tongue was good, unbelievably good, but her body demanded more and was desperate for his ultimate possession.
Nicolo sensed her frustration and was aware that his own need was building to a fierce urgency that could only have one conclusion. He made a raw sound deep in his throat as he felt Sophie’s fingers curl around his swollen shaft, and when she began to move her hand rhythmically his jaw clenched as he sought to control the hot tide of desire that threatened to overwhelm him.
He pulled her hand away and gave her a wry smile. ‘Not this time, angel, or this could be over embarrassingly quickly.’
Once again the faint vulnerability in his voice tugged on Sophie’s heart. But when she looked at him the hungry glitter in his gaze caused her stomach muscles to tighten. His eyes held hers as he lifted himself over her and pressed forward so that the tip of his erection rubbed against her moist opening. She felt a brief flare of doubt when she realised just how big he was, but her eager body was receptive and when he thrust into her she gasped with pleasure as he filled her.
Dimly the thought came to her that this was what she had been made for, with this man. Her highwayman demanded her complete capitulation and she gave herself to him willingly and allowed him to plunder her body with his powerful strokes, each thrust more intense than the last.
Her passion matched his and she lifted her hips to urge him on, to thrust deeper, harder, faster, hurtling them both towards an ecstasy that could only belong to two bodies moving in total accord and two souls linked unescapably.
Sophie could feel herself slipping into a state where conscious thought was obliterated by exquisite sensation. Nicolo’s driving rhythm dominated her mind and her body and she gave a choked cry as the first ripples of her climax caused her internal muscles to clench and unclench in tremulous undulations.
She was near, so near. Keeping her eyes wide open, she watched him making love to her and felt a fierce tenderness for this scarred, enigmatic man who was haunted by his past.
‘Let go,’ she whispered against his lips. He stiffened, his big body shaking with tension as he stared down at her, and then he drove into her with a shockingly powerful thrust that made Sophie cry out as her body splintered and she was swept up in a rapturous orgasm. The tremors shuddering through her came in wave after wave, and in their midst she heard Nicolo give a hoarse groan as he reached his own nirvana and spilled into her.
CHAPTER NINE
DAWN WAS A long time coming. It seemed to Nicolo that a lifetime had passed before the stars outside the window went out one by one and the sky slowly lightened. He knew he should get out of bed. His reluctance to move away from Sophie’s warm body was a stark reminder of his stupidity, yet it took all of his willpower to slide out from beneath the sheet.
He did not remember falling asleep last night. If he had been thinking straight he would have got up immediately after they’d had sex. But clearly his brain had not been functioning, he thought derisively. If it had, he would not have slept with Sophie, and he would not now be trying to extricate himself from her arm that she had looped around his waist, and from a situation that he should not have allowed to happen.
He pulled on his robe, but instead of heading for the bathroom and a cold shower, he stared down at her rose-flushed face and her honey-gold hair spread across the pillows and his gut twisted. She was so very lovely—inside and out. Sophie’s beauty was not superficial; it went to her very core. It was hard to believe that he had found her bright and cheerful nature irritating when she had first arrived.
It would have been better for both their sakes if she had driven away from Chatsfield House and not returned, he thought grimly. When he had woken sometime after midnight and found her curled up against him he had sensed he was in trouble. For all Sophie’s assertion that she believed in seizing the moment, he had a feeling that even while she was sleeping she was making plans for their relationship which involved expectations he could not fulfil.
He had too much baggage. He was too screwed up by his past to be able to offer any woman a relationship. Eight years ago, when he had given up his wild, womanising ways and turned his life onto a different track, he’d had to face the fact that his selfish behaviour had hurt a lot of people. He did not intend to risk hurting anyone else. His work for the burns support charity was his focus now. Becoming involved with Sophie would be a distraction he neither wanted nor needed.
Sophie knew where she was before she had opened her eyes. As she stirred awake she instantly recalled the previous night that she had spent with Nicolo, and a sense of well-being swept through her when she remembered his unexpected tenderness as he had made love to her.
She supposed she should not be surprised. Sexual awareness had simmered between them from the moment he had accused her of trespassing on his property. Last night it had exploded in a firestorm of passion that brought a rueful smile to her lips as she thought of her ardent response to him.
She was twenty-six, she reminded herself. Too old to blush like a schoolgirl as memories of Nicolo kissing every part of her body filled her mind. Maybe the next time they made love she would gift him the same pleasure.
Shocked by the erotic images inside her head, she lifted her lashes and discovered that she was alone in the bed. She immediately saw Nicolo standing by the window, dressed in his customary black jean
s and leather boots and a loose-fitting white silk shirt. She was disappointed that she had not woken in his arms. Remembering the sensual pleasures they had shared last night caused molten heat to pool between her thighs, and she longed for him to come back to bed and make love to her again. But something about his rigid stance sent a prickle of unease through Sophie.
‘Good morning.’
He swung round at the sound of her voice but did not return the greeting or her tentative smile. The early morning sunlight threw his chiselled features into sharp relief. His face looked as though it had been carved from granite, Sophie thought, feeling chilled by the hard gleam in his eyes.
‘I’ve made you some tea,’ he said unexpectedly.
As he walked towards the bed she noticed a tray bearing a teapot and cup and saucer on the bedside table. She should have been touched by his thoughtful gesture, but her instincts were telling her that behind his calm facade Nicolo was incredibly tense.
‘Shall I pour you a cup?’ he said abruptly.
‘In a minute.’ She forced the words past the lump that had formed in her throat. She did not understand why the tender lover of last night had disappeared and been replaced with a remote stranger. Glancing at the clock, she was shocked to see that it was nearly ten o’clock. She had never slept in so late in her life, but it wasn’t surprising after the energetic night she had spent making love with Nicolo, she thought ruefully.
‘I must get up,’ she muttered. Unthinkingly she threw back the sheet and tensed as she remembered she was naked. Colour flared in her cheeks as she glanced down at her body and saw its treacherous response to Nicolo, her nipples immediately hardening in provocative invitation.
She could not prevent her eyes from darting to him and she drew a swift breath when she glimpsed a look of raw, possessive hunger in his eyes before his lashes swept down and his expression became hooded. It should have helped to know that he still wanted her, but it was beginning to dawn on her that while for her last night had been a magical and emotive experience, for Nicolo it had just been sex.
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