If he’d known who she was, he wouldn’t have touched her, regardless that doing so would anger Renzo. He might be bad, but he wasn’t that bad. Or, he was that bad, but he wouldn’t have been able to do it when he remembered her as a shy teenager, hiding behind her hair and gazing at him with puppy dog eyes when she thought he wasn’t looking.
She’d been sweet, shy and so very innocent. Her adoration had amused him at the time, though he’d been careful not to let her know that he knew how she felt.
She didn’t gaze at him that way any longer, and he found he missed it in a perverse sort of way. She’d worshipped him once, and now she did not. Now she looked cool and almost indifferent at times. He was certain, however, that she was not.
“What are you reading so intensely?” he asked, determined to change the subject in an effort to get himself under control.
She looked down at the eReader as if she’d forgotten it existed. What she said next was not even close to what he’d expected her to say. “Oh, just a journal article on rational option pricing and derivative investment instruments.”
Nico blinked as he dredged up memories of university. “You’re reading about financial engineering?”
He should have realized there was more inside that lovely head than he’d assumed, considering the way she’d gone after the financial arrangements in the prenup. She’d been a tiger. He’d thought she was just very savvy, but now he realized it was something entirely different.
It turned him on in ways he hadn’t imagined. And it made him wonder about those investments she’d mentioned. Not because he thought she’d made a fortune, but because he was suddenly curious.
She looked fierce. “And why is that so hard to believe? Not that you’ve ever asked, but I have a degree in finance. With honors, I might add.”
No, he hadn’t asked. Why hadn’t he asked? Because he’d thought her expertise was in shopping and looking pretty, that’s why. It was the sort of thing he was accustomed to from the women in his life. Not that he didn’t have seriously smart women working for him, but he’d never actually dated any of them.
“That’s impressive,” he told her sincerely. “I’m surprised you aren’t working for your brother with that kind of résumé.”
She looked angry. “Yes, well, Renzo has certain opinions about what I should be doing. And working for him was not it.”
“Then he is a fool.”
Her eyes were suddenly sharp. “Really? Does that mean you’d consider allowing your wife to work in the finance department of Gavretti Manufacturing?”
He flicked an imaginary speck of lint from his tuxedo. “Perhaps. One day.” He had no intention of letting her anywhere near his financial department. She was a D’Angeli, and he didn’t kid himself that her loyalties had suddenly switched when she’d said her vows.
Still, if he’d been Renzo, he would have used her expertise. He could say that honestly. He always used the best tool for the job.
“I suppose I can’t ask for a better answer,” she said. Then she laughed, the sound so light and beautiful that it pierced him in unexpected ways. “I bet you thought I’d tell you I was reading a romance novel, or perhaps a tome that everyone claims to have read but really haven’t.”
He couldn’t help but smile in return. She was infectious when she laughed. “Such as?”
“Oh, Ulysses maybe. Or Moby-Dick. Something giant and meaty and excruciating in the extreme.”
Nico put a hand over his heart in mock horror. “I happen to like Ulysses.”
The corners of her mouth trembled as she worked to keep a straight face. “Then I am sorry for disparaging it. I’m sure it’s a fine piece of literature.”
“You aren’t sorry,” he said, enjoying the way her face lit up with mischief.
She gave up the pretense and laughed again. “No, not really.”
“Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’ve never actually read Ulysses. I was just teasing you.”
She shook her head. “That’s very bad of you.”
He took her hand in his, his thumb ghosting over her palm. He could feel the tremor that ran through her body. An answering thrill cascaded within him. Soon, he would take her. He had to.
“I like being bad,” he murmured as he nibbled her pretty fingers. “I excel at it, in fact.”
Her only answer was another shiver.
CHAPTER NINE
TINA was on edge in a way she hadn’t been since the night she’d met Nico in Venice. That night, when she’d gotten into the gondola with the enigmatic stranger, she’d known they would end up in bed together even if she hadn’t fully admitted it to herself.
Tonight, she was admitting it. And she wanted it so desperately her skin tingled with anticipation. It didn’t matter that she’d been furious and hurt earlier. Nothing mattered except that she’d stood in that tiny chapel and promised to love, honor and cherish until death do us part, while her heart thrummed and her palms sweated and the man standing beside her gazed at her with piercing silver eyes.
They were in this together now, officially, and tonight was their wedding night. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. She was a married woman, the marchesa di Casari, and her family had no idea. Guilt slid deep into her bones. Renzo would hit the roof when he found out. Thank God that wouldn’t be for another couple of weeks at least—more if she was lucky. Still, she had time to figure out how to tell everyone what she’d done.
And time to get to the root of the problem between Renzo and Nico. If she could just understand that, she could help to fix this thing between them. She didn’t expect they would be best friends ever again, but if they could at least be in the same room together without wanting to kill each other, that would be a start.
The plane had landed half an hour ago now. She’d thought they were returning to Castello di Casari, but instead they were in Rome. She expected that Nico had a huge villa somewhere in the city, but rather it was an exclusive apartment overlooking the ancient rooftops and splendid ruins.
There was no staff waiting to greet them, no Giuseppe with his kind smile and brisk efficiency. There was only Nico, and the lights of Rome spread out like a carpet of fireflies.
She felt suddenly awkward as she stood in the darkened living room and watched Nico prowling toward her, his dark good looks emphasized by the formality of the tuxedo. He’d undone his tie a while ago, and unbuttoned the top couple of buttons of his shirt to give a tantalizing glimpse of bronzed skin.
She focused on that slice of skin until he stopped in front of her and her eyes drifted up to meet his. It jolted her again just how very handsome he was, with those piercing eyes and perfect cheekbones.
He took her hand in his without breaking eye contact, placed it on his shoulder.
Then he did the same with the other one, placing it on his opposite shoulder as her heart thrummed and her body warmed to dangerous temperatures.
“Alone at last,” he told her with a wicked smile that made hunger slide into her veins.
“So it would seem.”
“I want you, Tina,” he said, dipping his head to place a soft kiss on her cheek. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as his mouth traced a path along her jaw and down the column of her throat. “Too much,” he murmured against her skin, and the vibration of his voice dripped into her bloodstream like pure adrenaline. “I’ve thought of nothing but this for hours now.”
A thrill rocketed through her. “I should tell you no,” she said on a little half gasp as his lips found the sweet spot behind her ear.
“It’s inevitable, bella. You want me as I want you.”
“I might,” she admitted. “But I’m not exactly thrilled with how you’ve treated me.”
He lifted his head to look at her. “The prenup was necessary. You know that.”
She shrugged, but she didn’t remove her hands from his shoulders. “I do know. But you could have picked a better time.”
He sighed, his palms sliding along her hi
ps. “It wasn’t ready before then. It takes time to put together a document of that size.”
“I realize that, Nico. I’m not stupid. But you could have told me earlier that we’d be dealing with it at some point.”
He dipped his head and ran his mouth along the column of her throat while she tried not to moan or fall apart in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have mentioned it.”
She sighed. She had an apology of her own to make. “Thank you for getting the dresses. It was nice of you.”
His hands slipped around to cup her bottom. “I thought you were angry over that.”
Tina swallowed as heat swirled inside her belly. “I was. But I realize you were trying to be nice. You just went about it in a typical male fashion.”
He pulled back to look down at her. “A typical male fashion?”
She nodded as she gazed up at him. “Yes. You assumed I would be happy so you proceeded without consulting me.”
“And you would prefer I consult you in the future about decisions of this nature?”
“About decisions that involve me. Yes.”
He dipped his head and ran his tongue along the top of her bodice. “And what about this, Tina? Do you wish to continue? Or shall we say good-night here?”
“Nico,” she breathed.
“You have the power to say no,” he told her. “I want only a willing wife in my bed.”
Tina shuddered as he pulled her against him, the evidence of his need for her pressing into her abdomen. He was hard, ready, and liquid heat slid through her in response.
“I think I’m ready,” she said, a shiver running through her because he’d asked. He’d asked.
“Think? Or know? Because I don’t want any ambiguity, cara. Choose me now, or go to bed alone.”
He was truly asking what she wanted—and she was a goner.
“I know. I know.” Tina wrapped her arms around his neck at the same moment his mouth sought hers, capturing it in a kiss so scorching she nearly melted from the heat. She moaned when he slid his tongue against hers, and her knees suddenly felt as if they were made of water.
She was hot and ready, like a pot that had been on the burner all day—and Nico seemed to know it.
Her pulse thrummed in her ears, her throat, her breastbone, pounding out a beat that made her dizzy while his tongue licked into her with such devastating skill that all she could do was cling to him.
He made her feel so much. So many conflicting emotions crashing through her along with a healthy, hungry appetite for what they were about to do. How could she want him so acutely? And how could he be so very bad for her at the same time?
Nico pulled her hips against his again, until she could once more feel the evidence of an impressive erection.
Tina whimpered. Just like that, it was suddenly too much to wait even a minute more. She’d decided to do this thing, and there was no going back.
She ripped at the studs holding his shirt closed until he laughed deep in his throat and shrugged out of his jacket, letting it fall where he stood. Then his hands came over hers, helped her tear the shirt open as studs popped and flew.
Her hands were suddenly on his hot flesh, her palms sliding along his skin, learning the texture of him once more. He was so hot, so hard and muscular, and she wanted him naked before another minute passed. She couldn’t think about anything but him. He drove her crazy with need.
She tugged the shirt from his trousers and then went after his belt and zipper while Nico fumbled with the buttons at her back. She could feel his frustration mounting with the tiny buttons.
He broke the kiss and turned her in his arms. “Don’t rip them,” she gasped.
“I won’t.” His voice was clipped, rough, and it made her tremble. Soon the bodice began to loosen, but he lost patience and turned her again, pulling the front of the gown down just enough so that her breasts spilled freely into his hands. Her nipples were hard little points that he flicked with his thumbs while a deep shiver rolled through her.
“Dio, you are so beautiful.”
A skein of pleasure uncoiled in her belly, along with the bone-deep need that made her sex ache. Niccolo Gavretti had said she was beautiful. Nico, the notorious playboy, the man she’d mooned after as a love-struck teenager, had just said she was beautiful. It was a dream come true in some ways.
She wanted to tell him that he was beautiful, too, but his mouth captured hers again, driving all thoughts from her head except one: need you now.
His mouth was questing, demanding, and she responded in kind, her heart hammering, her skin on fire as she tried to get closer to him. He gathered fistfuls of her skirts, shoved them up her hips so he could hook his fingers into her panties and push them down until gravity took over and they fell to her feet.
Tina was never so glad she’d not worn garters as she was at that moment. “Now, Nico,” she said against his lips. “Now.”
He guided her backward until she bumped into something. Before she could tell what it was, he lifted her and sat her down on a table. She was so focused on him that she had no idea where they were—dining room, kitchen, living room—and she didn’t care. All she cared about was this man and this moment.
Tina wrapped her legs around him as he pushed her thighs open and stepped between them. His hands were on her hips, holding her in place as their mouths fused again and again, their kisses drunken and hot and utterly addictive. She fumbled with his zipper, jerked it down with shaky fingers. And then her hands were in his trousers, freeing him.
He groaned as she wrapped her hand around him, slid her palm along his hot, velvety shaft. He shoved her skirts higher and pulled her hands away from his body. She made a sound of disappointment, but a moment later she felt the blunt head of his penis pressing into her and every last thought flew out of her mind.
He cupped her bottom, tilting her backward slightly before he thrust deeply inside her—it wasn’t a sudden movement, but it was overpowering in its intensity. One moment she was craving him, the next he’d filled her. Tina cried out in surprise and pleasure, and his entire body stilled.
“Have I hurt you?” His voice was rough.
Yes, she wanted to say. Yes.
But the pain wasn’t physical. “No. Please don’t stop.”
His laugh was ragged. “Stop? Not possible, tesoro. Not possible.” He leaned forward and kissed her again, and she could feel his body pulsing inside hers. Had it been this exciting the first time? Had she wanted him so desperately that she’d been willing to do anything to have him?
Possibly, but it didn’t matter. This was what mattered. Now, when he was inside her, his entire being focused on her. He was the kind of man who knew how to make a woman’s body sing, and she knew this night would be even better than the first because she wasn’t as naive as before. Because she knew what to expect—and she craved it.
Craved him.
Tina didn’t want to let him go, as if she would wake up and find it had all been a dream if she did. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body bending into him as he began to move. Their tongues tangled as he stroked into her with such skill she wanted to weep.
She knew he tried to be gentle, but it wasn’t really possible.
For either of them. They were joined together with no barriers between them this time—and they’d waited for two long months to be in this place again, though they did not know it was what they’d been waiting for.
Nico pushed her back until she was supporting herself on her hands, her back arching, her breasts thrusting into the air for his pleasure. His lips closed over an aroused nipple, spiking the pleasure within her until she wasn’t certain she could hold out another second.
“Nico,” she gasped, her senses filled with him.
Deep within her, the explosion began to build. His lovemaking was raw, powerful, almost desperate, as if he’d held back for far too long and even now perched on the edge of his control. His fingers dug into her hips as he held her hard and dro
ve into her.
Tina dragged her eyes open to look at him, to look at the picture they made. He bent over her body, the ruins of his shirt clinging to his broad shoulders. His skin glistened with moisture and she lifted a hand to rake it through his hair. He dragged his mouth across her breasts then, his lips closing around her other nipple. Tina clasped his head to her with a soft moan, loving the sharp, sweet spike of pleasure that tugged at her. Her breasts were so much more sensitive than they’d been only a few weeks ago, and she cried out as his tongue swirled and teased and tormented.
He drove her relentlessly, almost savagely, until she shattered with a sharp cry, her entire body clenching with the force of her orgasm. Her legs tightened around him, as if she was afraid he might try to leave her.
But he didn’t leave. And he didn’t stop, gripping her buttocks in his hands and lifting her to him until the new angle made her breath catch once more.
“Again,” he said, the muscles in his neck and chest and abdomen corded tight as he held her up and drove into her.
Tina lay back on the table, her arms over her head in helpless surrender, her eyes closed as she pushed her hips up to meet him. She was a creature of pleasure now, a being who existed for this alone. He came down on top of her, the fabric of her dress rustling, no doubt wrinkling hopelessly.
She didn’t care.
He dominated her with the strength of his body, and she wrapped her legs high around his back, tears squeezing from her closed eyes to leak down her temples and into her hair.
It was too beautiful, too perfect to be with him like this. He destroyed her. And she was far happier than she should be.
“Tina,” he groaned. “Dio, don’t cry.”
He threaded his fingers through hers, his mouth seeking hers once more. He kissed her far more sweetly than she’d thought he was capable of at that moment. Fear swirled in her belly then. Everything about being with him felt right—but did he feel it, too, or was this simply the consummate ladies’ man doing what he did best?
Tina squeezed her eyes tighter. She couldn’t think like that. She simply couldn’t. They were married now and they had a child on the way. He was hers.
Revelations of the Night Before Page 10
