by Annie West
Once that wouldn’t have been a problem. But now…
The woman who was completely off limits grew more tempting by the moment.
CHAPTER SIX
* * *
Allegra sipped her wine and tried for the hundredth time tonight not to stare. The trouble was, Luca was eminently worth staring at.
Her eyes fixed on the play of firelight across the hard, intriguing planes of his face as he leaned towards the vast stone fireplace and added a log to the fire that took the chill off the night air.
The darkness beyond the circle of fire and lamplight was a constant reminder they were alone in the building. Tomorrow it would be busy with decorators and other staff but tonight it was just the pair of them.
A delicate thrill of awareness, of unexplored possibilities, feathered her spine.
It scared her into speech.
‘I like your brother’s wine.’ She lifted her glass in salute, surprised at how little remained.
‘I’m glad. Aurelio is a talented wine maker and his product is in demand. I’m lucky he’s agreed to supply the restaurant here.’ Luca picked up the bottle and topped up her glass.
Strange that they’d got to the end of the bottle and she hadn’t noticed. She didn’t drink much and never around Luca, preferring to keep alert. But tonight, replete from the delicious food that had been provided for them, tired from the long day and the adrenalin spike of her accident, Allegra felt her guard dropping.
Luca sank into the chair beside her and stretched out his long legs in a lazy sprawl. Her mouth dried as she took in the powerful muscles straining the ancient denim of his jeans.
His tailored suits were perfect for his straight-shouldered, slim-hipped frame, but they concealed rather than revealed. Now, so close she could smell the warm, spice scent of his skin, mingled with sweet wood smoke, Allegra was more intensely aware of him than she’d ever been in the office. Preternatural sensitivity made her whole body hum.
Restlessly she shifted, taking another sip of delicious wine.
They’d begun the evening on opposite sides of the fireplace, on two chairs Luca had brought from their bedrooms since the luxurious leather lounges designed for this vast lounge room hadn’t yet arrived.
Through dinner they’d talked, not of work, but subjects they’d never discussed before. About him learning to ski as soon as he could walk. About bike riding, kayaking and hang-gliding. It was as if today had peeled away the professional layers so they felt comfortable revealing more personal interests. They had so much in common it was like speed dating and finding the perfect man.
Her heart thudded.
Luca wasn’t the perfect man. But tonight it was hard to remember he was her employer.
They’d begun sharing photos from their phones. Him of white water rafting in Colorado and she of a ski trip to Austria. Somewhere during the evening Luca had moved the chairs together to make the sharing easier. But now Allegra was hypersensitive to the fact she only had to move a fraction and their elbows would touch.
She shivered. The knowledge they were alone in this place added an altogether new dimension to their easy camaraderie. A piquancy of danger, for beneath the chat and the air of relaxation rippled an undercurrent of attraction.
Always in the past she’d been able to ignore it and bury herself in work. To tell herself the attraction was one-sided and thrust it behind the thick buttress of her reserve. To pretend it didn’t exist.
But tonight… tonight it was impossible to ignore.
Besides, she’d always found it hard to resist the thrill of danger.
‘Allegra, are you all right?’ The husky timbre of Luca’s voice caught at something in her chest and lower, deep down inside.
She turned to find his dark eyes locked on her.
The ripple became a shiver of longing. Of anticipation.
For the expression in Luca’s eyes wasn’t businesslike or even bland. It seared through her with an intensity that turned her bones soft. Heat sparked and shimmered across her skin, and drove hard right to the core of her.
It was the look of a man who saw, not a work colleague, but a woman he wanted.
No, the woman he craved.
Allegra blinked, telling herself she was embroidering. Luca didn’t crave her.
And even if he did… She waited for the sliver of unease to pierce her. For the tawdry reality check of realising her boss was hitting on her.
But it wasn’t like that.
This felt a million miles from what had happened in London.
Luca didn’t make a move. All he did was watch her with those fathomless eyes, his jaw clenched while a pulse ticked hard at the base of his throat. Crazily, she wanted to lean over and lick the spot. Feel the thrum of his blood against her tongue and taste his skin.
A shiver ripped through her from scalp to toe, drawing her skin tight and pulling her nipples into needy points. She felt the scrape of them against her bra with every shortened breath.
Did Luca know? Could he sense the arousal swamping her body?
Common sense told her she needed to leave, make her excuses and head for her room. Remaining here, in this suddenly charged atmosphere, was incredibly reckless. And experience had taught her the hard way to be cautious.
Then Luca’s mouth flattened and his nostrils flared as if he was drawing in her scent.
It felt incredibly intimate.
From the corner of her vision Allegra realised his hands had clenched into fists on his thighs, but he didn’t reach for her.
No, there was nothing tawdry about this. This wasn’t like being trapped next to the photocopier, Sam Parkinson’s whisky breath after his long lunch sour in her nostrils. She stiffened as she recalled soft fingers groping the buttons on her blouse as Parkinson tried to block her escape with his fleshy frame.
‘What are you thinking?’ Luca’s words were so soft they were a caress. She imagined she felt them, tiny puffs of air, feathering her cheek and mouth. Her lips tingled and her already dry mouth turned arid with desire.
She swallowed hard and tried to stuff all the feelings she’d let loose back into the box where she usually kept them.
Except Luca wouldn’t let her look away. He didn’t touch her, didn’t coerce her, but there was no way Allegra could turn her head and sever the connection sizzling in the air between them.
‘Allegra?’
‘I’m thinking about my old boss, in London.’ The words spilled out before she’d considered them and instantly Luca’s head snapped back. His eyes turned blank. His features pared down as she watched, cheeks hollowing and jaw jutting.
‘I’d never hurt you, Allegra. You must know that. You’re safe with me.’ He swung his head around to stare at the fire and immediately she sagged in her seat. It was as if the current of energy running between them had been snapped off. She felt trembly and weak, and sure in the knowledge Luca wouldn’t touch her unless she wanted it. Yet that didn’t make her feel safe precisely. More like…
Bereft. That was the word. She felt bereft.
‘It’s getting late.’ His deep voice sounded as tight as the clamp of her ribs around her overfull heart. ‘I’m going to turn in.’
He moved, ready to lever himself up from the chair but froze when Allegra put her hand on his.
His was much larger and broader than hers. And hard and hot. She swallowed, suddenly overwhelmed by his sheer masculinity.
Luca stilled. She’d swear he wasn’t even breathing.
She, on the other hand, was breathing too fast. Did he hear?
‘Maybe I don’t want to be safe.’
He twisted around, his forehead knotted into a frown.
‘You’re tired.’ Yet he made no move to shift again, or to remove her hand.
‘I’m not tired, Luca.’ Even saying his name felt different tonight. Tasted different.
She circled her dry mouth with her tongue and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Instantly her lips tingled. Did they pout of their own acco
rd? Surely she hadn’t planned that.
A tremor rippled through him. She felt it in his hand and saw it in the flicker of that ebony stare.
Yet he said nothing, did nothing to invite anything more.
Of course not. You just told him today you’d been harassed by your old boss.
Which meant, despite the tension she read in his face, and the hunger in his eyes, Luca was leaving it for her to decide what happened here.
If that was hunger in his eyes? For the first time Allegra cursed her limited experience.
Doubt wove through her. She shouldn’t be doing this. Everything would change if she acted on those secret desires she’d harboured for months now.
Yet suddenly, with a fierce certainty that mocked her hesitation, Allegra knew she needed to do this.
To be true to herself.
For the past year she’d boxed herself in, enclosed herself in a narrow space where she functioned at work but had no personal life. She’d cut out the leisure activities she enjoyed, like riding a motorcycle, until this weekend.
Because Sam Parkinson had claimed it was her smiles, her vibrancy, that had lured him to attack.
He’d blamed her for what he’d done, and though that was nonsense, Allegra had taken on a load of caution, if not guilt. She’d turned herself into someone she wasn’t, repressed herself, to keep safe.
For a year she’d been careful never to show she was aware of Luca as a man rather than a boss.
She was tired of pretending. Pretending to be a machine, not a woman. Pretending not to care for Luca.
She lifted her other hand and placed it along his jaw, feeling the soft brush of his short beard and the hard angle of bone beneath. He swallowed, his eyes so dark the pupils melded with ebony irises and Allegra fell into those velvet depths.
‘Don’t go any further, unless you’re sure, Allegra.’ His voice was a low burr that brushed across her skin like suede.
Sure she wanted him?
Oh, yes.
Sure she needed him, with an intensity that eclipsed anything she’d ever felt for a man?
Definitely.
Sure this was sensible?
She swallowed hard. Who knew what the future held? All she knew was that she admired Luca, liked him, desired him. That if he didn’t hold her in his arms soon she’d burst. She’d put a stopper on her feelings so long. She wouldn’t, couldn’t put it back.
‘Oh, I’m sure, Luca.’
She leaned over the arm of her chair, lifting herself so her face was right in front of his, just a breath away. Still he didn’t move, but there was a coiled energy about him, like an athlete ready for the starter’s gun, or an animal sighting prey, that for an instant made her hesitate.
Allegra had never done this before. Never wanted or trusted any man enough.
But deep inside she knew this was right.
She slid her hand back to spear his short, thick hair possessively. He felt so good!
There was a smile on her mouth as she closed her eyes and fitted her lips to his.
CHAPTER SEVEN
* * *
He was dying, slowly dying of torture.
His whole body was in lockdown. He didn’t dare move so much as a finger while Allegra sat next to him, her slim hand on his, her lovely eyes bright with enquiry and uncertainty.
The women he dated were usually confident, supremely self-assured and not at all hesitant about inviting a man into their bed.
Allegra was different in so many ways, even though he’d always thought of her as confident in her professional role.
It wasn’t just looks or attitude, though they played their part. This was Allegra, the woman he’d appreciated and liked, but hadn’t known at all. The woman who’d tormented his fantasies though he’d tried to deny it.
With her beautiful blue-grey eyes and lush mouth, she was more potently desirable than any fantasy. He smelled her: vanilla, warm female flesh and the slightest hint of musk, and his heart kicked hard into a primitive, urgent tattoo. A needy tattoo.
He wanted Allegra as he couldn’t remember wanting anyone. Sitting still, not claiming her, giving her the chance to decide, was the hardest thing he could remember doing.
Then her hand was on his face, her breath warm on him. Her fingers channelled through his hair and that touch seemed as intimate as any erotic caress. Every nerve ending danced into urgent wakefulness.
He was an inch from pulling her to him, and ending this torment, when she closed her eyes and touched her mouth to his.
The effect was electrifying, even though her kiss was gentle, almost innocent, with her lips still closed. It was enough to sever Luca’s control as his blood surged south and every neuron flashed, his brain demanding more and still more.
Luca hauled her closer, pulling her over the arm of the chair and onto his lap, lashing her tight within his embrace. She was soft and curved, deliciously feminine against his granite hardness, and close wasn’t enough.
Not when he anchored his hand in her fine hair, angling her head for better access. Not when she responded to the slick of his tongue along her mouth by opening her lips and letting him plunge deep.
She tasted of wine and something sweet and unfamiliar. Something that he guessed was simply Allegra. Dimly Luca registered it was a taste he’d happily grow addicted to.
Her hands wrapped over his shoulders and he dragged his palm up, over her ribcage to the swell of her breast.
She stiffened and for an instant he thought he’d scared her, but instead she arched against him, thrusting her softness into his palm. He stroked his thumb over her nipple and she moaned in the back of her throat.
He wanted to make her moan again. To scream his name in ecstasy. He wanted everything with her.
Luca deepened his kiss, mimicking the way he’d like to possess her body. And the sweetness of her response, the way she melted against him, sucking his tongue against hers, sparked wildfire in his veins.
‘I want you,’ he breathed, the sound lost against her mouth. But she heard. He felt the quiver right through her slender body.
She pressed closer, every part of her pure invitation. ‘Then take me.’
It was as if she’d lit dynamite somewhere in his brain. He felt the silent, juddering waves of reaction roll through him, felt his hands tighten possessively on her delectable body. And he realised with shock that he was close to coming just at the sound of her words and the feel of her rounded hip against his erection.
Part of him wanted to strip her naked right here. Another part was all for simply tearing her trousers open and driving into her without niceties like undressing.
But Luca had more control than that.
Barely.
In a surge of movement he rose to his feet, cradling Allegra close in his arms, every muscle and sinew taut with aroused possessiveness.
Instantly her grip tightened, as if afraid he might drop her. Or as if she too, craved contact.
He liked that. He liked her holding onto him as if she’d never let go. And when she pulled her head back to gasp in air he liked the dazed look in her silvery eyes. It was like looking into moonlight, except there was nothing cool about Allegra’s eyes. They burned with a hunger that matched his.
Swiftly, driven by the need to stamp his mark, Luca hitched her higher and bent his head, taking her mouth in a hard, proprietorial kiss. He needed to taste her again, feel that huge, trembling weight of anticipation rising up through her body to meet his.
This time when he lifted his head, she looked thoroughly kissed. Her hair was around her shoulders in glorious waves and her lips were swollen. Her eyes were diamond-bright.
For a moment they just looked at each other, both panting, trying to drag in more air. Then Allegra smiled, slowly, sending his heart spinning out of control and spurring him into action.
Luca strode across the room, through the other reception areas and towards the stairs to the executive suites where beds had been made up for them. Allegra clung
close. The feel of her against him made him lope up the stairs.
Seconds later and he was swinging her to her feet beside his bed. He hadn’t even taken time to turn on the light.
She swayed a little and he put out his hands to steady her. Already she felt different to his touch. Because after carrying her, after running his hands over her lithe body, he knew some of the secrets she hid beneath those boxy suits.
Anticipation licked like fire inside his belly.
‘Let me undress you.’ Another man might have asked. Luca demanded, his voice an unrecognisable feral growl. In the pearly light through the open curtains he saw Allegra’s eyes widen but she didn’t protest.
He couldn’t have survived if she’d said no.
Swiftly he pushed her jacket from her shoulders, then his hands were on her shirt. He had time to register the fact Allegra enjoyed slippery silk against her skin before he tugged the garment from her shoulders and froze.
His prudish PA wore the sexiest bra he’d ever seen. Narrow ribbon straps held up lacy black cups that barely covered her nipples. With each rapid breath she took he waited for a glimpse of rosy pink.
Lust slammed into him. It would be a miracle if he lasted long enough to get a condom on! She drove him crazy and she hadn’t even touched him.
It was as if she read his mind. Allegra reached out, tugging at his shirt, flicking each button undone with a single-minded precision he admired. Meanwhile he reached for the waistband of her trousers.
There was a soft gasp. Of shock? Did he imagine that her hands trembled? The idea made him pause for all of two seconds, till her exhaled breath warmed his chin and she continued with his buttons, fumbling a little now, her eyes on his shirt rather than his face.
Rapidly he undid her trousers and pushed them down her hips. When they fell Luca yanked himself free of his shirt, letting it drop to the floor.
Even in the darkened room she was enough to steal his breath.
