Uncovering the Silveri Secret

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  ‘It’s not just about the money,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe you’re in love with this guy. How can you be? Look at how you respond to me.’

  Bella glared at him. ‘That’s your fault.’

  ‘How is it my fault?’

  ‘Because you’ve done nothing but try it on with me from the moment I arrived,’ she said. ‘You haven’t touched me in years, not since that night when I was sixteen. Why now? Why now when I’m about to marry someone else?’

  His jaw clenched tight as he put his mug down on the counter. ‘You think I haven’t wanted to touch you over the years?’ he said. ‘God damn it, Bella, are you blind? Of course I wanted to touch you. You were too young back then and you were half-tanked with alcohol. By the time I felt you were old enough, your father got sick. And then he died, and when he made me your guardian, that complicated things.’ He raked a hand through his hair. ‘If I’d known what your father had planned, I would’ve tried to talk him out of it.’

  Bella frowned at him. ‘I thought you cooked this up with him,’ she said. ‘Did you really know nothing about it?’

  He sucked in a breath and released it audibly. ‘I knew he was worried about how you would manage your wealth,’ he said. ‘He felt you would be easy pickings for someone who was after your money. He knew you had a soft heart.’

  ‘I didn’t show much of that soft heart when he needed it, did I?’ she asked sadly.

  He tipped up her chin and met her eyes. ‘It wasn’t all your fault, Bella,’ he said. ‘Your father could be very stubborn when he wanted to be. He pushed you away just as much as you pushed him away.’

  ‘Like you do?’

  He dropped his hand from her face. ‘I’m nothing like your father.’

  ‘Yes you are,’ Bella said. ‘That’s why you got on so well. You were kindred spirits. He saw himself in you. I’ve never realised it until now. He had a rough start in life, too. His mother died when he was young; I think he was only about six or seven. He was sent to live with distant relatives because his father had to go away for work. He didn’t like talking about it. It was like a wound he didn’t want anyone else to see.’

  ‘You’ve really missed your calling, haven’t you?’ he said with a sneer of a smile. ‘Just think, if you hadn’t made a career out of doing lunch and shopping, you could’ve have been a psychologist.’

  ‘Go on,’ Bella said, glaring at him in irritation. ‘Mock me. Make fun of me. That’s what you’ve made a career out of, isn’t it?’

  He came up close and grabbed her chin between his finger and thumb. ‘Let’s see how good your psychologist’s skills are, shall we?’ he said. ‘Why do you think you’re rushing off to marry a man you barely know?’

  Bella stared him down. ‘I love him, that’s why.’

  ‘You’re panicking, that’s why,’ he said. ‘You’ve only got a year until a truckload of money lands in your lap. You’re not sure how you’re going to handle it, are you? You’re worried that it will be too much to deal with on your own so you’ve latched on to the first reliable, steady person you think will be able to help you.’

  ‘That’s not true,’ she said. ‘I want to settle down and have a family. I don’t want to be on my own any more. I want to belong to someone.’

  He pulled her up against him. ‘You’re frightened of the passion that’s burning inside you,’ he said. ‘You’re worried you’re going to end up like your mother, flitting from shallow affair to shallow affair.’

  Bella strained against his iron-strong hold. ‘I’m nothing like my mother,’ she protested. ‘I’m not going to marry for lust. Lust doesn’t come into it at all.’

  ‘No, well, it can’t, can it?’ he said. ‘Not when your lust is directed elsewhere.’

  Bella felt the hot probe of his erection. She felt the need rising up in her like a giant, swamping wave. It overpowered her defences. How could she resist him when her body was programmed to respond to him and only him? ‘I don’t want to want you,’ she said.

  He fisted a hand in her hair, his mouth so close she could feel his breath on her lips. ‘Do you think I want to want you?’ he asked. ‘I’ve fought it for as long as I can remember.’

  It thrilled Bella to hear his gruff confession. For so long she had thought he felt nothing for her. His indifference had annoyed her so intensely, but all that time he had been fighting his attraction.

  But what was the point in telling her now?

  Why was he telling her now?

  ‘Don’t you think you’ve left it a bit late to tell me?’ she said. ‘I’m about to announce my engagement.’

  He brushed his mouth against hers, once, twice. ‘Is it too late?’ he asked.

  Bella wasn’t sure what he was asking. She licked her dry lips and looked at his mouth, that sensual, wicked mouth that could make her feel things she had no right to be feeling. She wanted to feel that mouth on hers again. She wanted to feel that mouth on her body, on her breasts, on her inner thighs, on the very heart of her desire. ‘You don’t love me,’ she said, running a fingertip over his bottom lip, her soft skin catching on his evening stubble.

  ‘You don’t love me either,’ he said. ‘If you did, you wouldn’t be promising to marry someone else, now, would you?’

  She sent her fingertip over the contour of his upper lip this time. ‘Would you want me to love you?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s not what I want at all.’

  She stilled the movement of her finger and looked up into his eyes, her heart beating double time at the smouldering look in his blue-green gaze. ‘Then what do you want?’ she asked.

  He cupped her bottom with his hands, bringing her in close to the heated trajectory of his erection. ‘Do you really need to ask that?’ he said.

  Bella felt her breath hitch in her chest as his head came down in slow motion towards hers. She had the chance to step away. She had the chance to say no. She had more than enough time to tell him she had no intention of making love with him.

  But she didn’t.

  CHAPTER NINE

  BELLA closed her eyes just as his mouth touched down on hers. It was one of those brush-and-release kisses that made her senses sing with delight. His tongue flickered against hers, cajoling hers into erotic play. She responded with a shiver of reaction that felt like champagne bubbles flowing beneath her skin.

  He increased the pressure of his lips on hers, the taste-and-tease action of his tongue changing to a more determined thrust and retreat. The primal intent was unmistakable. It made her body hum with longing to feel him inside her, stroking, thrusting. She could already feel the dew of need between her thighs and that little clenching pulse pulling on her inner muscles.

  She gave a soft whimper as he cupped the back of her head as his tongue drove deep into her mouth, his pelvis rock-hard against hers. She was spinning with need, her hands flying all over him to find access to his skin. ‘I want you,’ she whispered breathlessly against his mouth. ‘I know it’s wrong, but I want you.’

  ‘It’s not wrong,’ he said and ran his hands up under her jumper in search of her breasts. ‘It’s inevitable. It always has been.’

  Bella gasped as his calloused hands caressed her. She worked at his shirt buttons, not even caring that one of them popped off and pinged to the floor. She pressed hot kisses to his neck and down his sternum, her hands going on ahead and working on the belt and fastener on his jeans.

  He growled in male pleasure as she finally uncovered him. He was so thick and strong in her hand, silky smooth and already moist at the tip. ‘Bedroom,’ he said against her lips and swept her up in his arms.

  ‘I’m too heavy,’ she protested. ‘You’ll do your back in.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he said. ‘What sort of men have you been dating? You weigh next to nothing.’ He shouldered open the door and carried her upstairs, stopping every now and again to torture her mouth with the heat and fire of his.

  Bella was almost out of her head with need
by the time they got to his bedroom. He laid her on the bed and came down over her, his mouth clamping down on hers. She ran her hands up under his loosened shirt, discovering the planes and contours of his back and shoulders. He was so lean and yet so muscular, his skin warm and dry to her touch. She could smell the hint of man beneath the intricate layers of his aftershave. It called out to the primal woman in her, in a language as old as time itself.

  He leaned his weight on one arm as he ripped off his shirt and tossed it to the floor at the side of the bed. Bella shivered in anticipation as he started to remove her clothes. Her jumper went first, ending up on the floor. Her bra followed, but not before he had suckled each of her nipples through the lace. It was such an erotic thing to do, and the tickly barrier of the lace somehow made it all the more pleasurable.

  He kissed his way down her stomach, dipping his tongue in the tiny pool of her belly button. She felt herself tensing as his fingers started to peel back the lace of her knickers.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, stilling his hand. ‘Am I going too fast?’

  ‘No… It’s just I haven’t waxed recently.’

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I like more than a real woman.’

  Bella held her breath as he gently tugged the lace down to uncover her. She saw the way his eyes darkened with desire. ‘You’re beautiful,’ he said.

  The sensation of his finger outlining her form was unbelievable. He explored her with his fingers, taking it gently, waiting for her to relax before he inserted a finger, then two. He withdrew his fingers and lowered his mouth to her, tasting her in a gentle sweep of his tongue. She breathed in sharply as the sensations took her by surprise. What if she made a fool of herself? It was too intimate. What if she didn’t respond properly? She gasped and tried to pull away.

  ‘Relax,’ he soothed. ‘Go with it. Don’t tense up.’

  ‘I’m not very good at this,’ Bella said, biting down on her lower lip.

  ‘This is about you, not me. It’s your pleasure. You take all the time you need.’

  She lay back as he continued stroking her softly, his fingers gentle and yet sure. He waited until she was totally at ease before he caressed her again with his tongue. He used slow, stroking movements, gauging her reaction, varying the pressure and speed until she felt the sensations ricocheting through her. They came in rolling waves that coursed through and over her, spinning her, tossing her, tumbling her, until she was gasping out loud. ‘Oh, God,’ she said in a rush. ‘That was…unbelievable.’

  He came back over her, brushing her hair back from her forehead with his hand, his eyes thoughtful as they studied hers. ‘You’re not very confident sexually, are you?’ he said.

  Bella lowered her gaze and stared at his Adam’s apple. ‘I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve had sex heaps and heaps of times.’

  His index finger tipped up her chin. ‘How many partners have you had?’

  She looked into his blue-green gaze. ‘Five…’

  He tilted his head. ‘Five?’

  She blew out a little breath. ‘OK, six, if you count the first time, but I never do as it was a complete and utter disaster.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘It was that Christmas I stayed in town,’ she said. ‘I was determined to prove I was mature enough to have sex, contrary to what you had said that night when we kissed. I hate to say it, but you were right; I wasn’t mature enough. It was over before it began. I ended up in tears and the guy left the party with someone else.’

  He smoothed her hair again, his eyes holding hers in a sensual lock that made her insides quiver with longing. ‘I want you,’ he said. ‘I wanted you then and I want you now.’

  Bella locked her arms around his neck, her pelvis on fire where it was being probed by the heat of his. ‘Make love to me,’ she whispered.

  He bent his head to her mouth, kissing her with drugging sensuality. Her spine melted like honey in a heatwave. His erection throbbed with primal urgency against her and she instinctively went in search of it, shaping him with her fingers, delighting in the deep guttural groan he made against her lips.

  His mouth moved to her breasts, subjecting each one to a hot swirl of his tongue before suckling on her. Then, even more pleasurably, he trailed his tongue to the sensitive underside of each breast, making the nerves beneath her skin go haywire.

  Bella writhed beneath him, desperate for that final possession. Her body was slick with want. ‘Please…’ she said.

  He reached for a condom and handed it to her. ‘You want to put it on me?’

  Bella tore the packet with her teeth, took the condom out and carefully pulled it over him, caressing him as she went. He sucked in a breath, pushed her back down and came over her, his weight supported on his arms. He parted her gently, waiting for her to accept him before going further. She became impatient and lifted her hips towards his. He groaned again and surged into her with a long, thick thrust that sent a shiver down her spine.

  He started to move, slowly at first, but then the pace picked up. Bella felt each delicious movement, the friction sending her senses reeling. Every tiny muscle in her body tensed as the pressure built. She could feel her body climbing, straining, crying and screaming out for release that was frustratingly just out of her reach.

  He slipped a hand beneath her bottom and lifted her higher against him, his thrusts even more determined. ‘Don’t hold back, Bella,’ he said. ‘Let yourself go.’

  His other hand went in search of the heart of her need, the tiny, swollen pearl of her clitoris that was so sensitive she could not hold back a gasp as the storm in her body erupted. She gripped him tightly, her teeth sinking into his shoulder as the tumultuous waves picked her up and tossed her into the abyss. Around and around she went, a burst of sensations like a thousand explosions inside her body.

  Bella held him as he worked towards his own release, the thrusting motion of his body sending aftershocks of pleasure through hers. She stroked his back and shoulders, feeling the tight clench of his muscles as he pitched forward into oblivion. He groaned deeply and shuddered, his breath coming out in a harsh gasp against her neck.

  She listened to the sound of his breathing in the aftermath, holding his totally relaxed body against hers. She didn’t want to move. Her body was in such a blissful state of lassitude, every muscle felt like it had been set free. She was floating in a sea of ecstasy, in tune with her body in a way she had never been before.

  ‘I don’t want to move just yet,’ he said against the sensitive skin below her earlobe.

  ‘Nor me,’ she said as she slid her hands over the taut curve of his buttocks.

  He positioned himself above her by leaning on one of his forearms, and the other hand he used to trace a feather-light pathway over each of her eyebrows, her nose, her cheeks, her top lip and then her lower one. ‘You were amazing,’ he said. ‘Truly amazing.’

  Feeling a little out of her depth, Bella focused her gaze on his collarbone, tracking her fingertip back and forth along its ridge. ‘It’s never been like that for me before,’ she said. ‘I’ve never…you know…’

  A frown moved through his eyes. ‘You’ve never orgasmed during sex?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s my fault, I know. I over-think everything and worry about stuff. I get myself in a state. I’m always kind of relieved when it’s over.’

  He cupped her face, his thumb stroking along her cheek in a slow caress. ‘What stuff do you worry about?’

  Bella rolled her lips together. ‘The usual: my thighs, my stomach, my breasts.’

  His frown was incredulous. ‘Bella, you’re beautiful. You’re perfect. How can you possibly worry about things like that?’ he asked.

  ‘I know, it sounds so…so shallow,’ she said.

  ‘Not shallow,’ he said. ‘Just insecure.’

  ‘Yep,’ Bella said with a self-deprecating twist of her mouth.

  His thumb paused in its stroking action,
his blue-green gaze steady on hers. ‘You have no need to be. You really don’t. You’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met.’

  She gave him a tremulous smile. ‘Thank you.’

  He brushed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. ‘This thing between us…’ He paused for a moment. ‘I want it to continue.’

  Bella’s heart gave a little stumble. ‘For how long?’

  He studied her expression for another beat or two. ‘I’m not one for putting a timeline on relationships,’ he said. ‘Let’s just see how it goes, shall we?’

  Bella felt reality slap her in the face. She knew exactly how it would go: he would have his fun and move on. He wasn’t promising her anything—no emotion, no love, no future—just sex. Right from the start, all he had wanted to do was to stop her marrying before she was twenty-five. What better way than to temporarily distract her with the delights of his love-making? But how long would an affair between them continue? Even if it did continue for a few weeks, or even months, he wasn’t going to offer her the things she yearned for most. ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ she asked.

  His brows came together. ‘You’re surely not still determined to go ahead with that ridiculous engagement?’

  ‘Why wouldn’t I?’ she asked.

  He lifted himself away and got off the bed, one of his hands raking a pathway through his hair. ‘I’m offering you a relationship.’

  ‘You’re offering me a fling,’ Bella said.

  His cheek moved in and out as he clenched his teeth. ‘That’s all I can offer you,’ he said.

  ‘It’s not enough for me,’ she said, swinging her legs over the bed to collect her clothes. ‘I don’t want to live like my mother, going from fling to fling. I want to settle down.’

  ‘How can you sell yourself so short?’ he asked, capturing her arm to stop her moving past. ‘You’re setting yourself up for a passionless life. Why can’t you see it?’

  Bella tried to shake off his hold but he held her fast. ‘I want a normal life.’

  ‘What’s normal about marrying a man you don’t love?’ he asked.