Claiming My Untouched Mistress

by Heidi Rice

  He touched his forehead to mine, placed his hands on my hips to draw me into his arms, but I could hear the hopelessness in his voice when he said, ‘Yes.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  IF ONLY I could avoid this conversation. I’d spent so much of my life denying what had happened to me. How could the wounds still be so raw, so fresh? But I knew I owed it to Edie. How would she ever be able to trust me again after what I had done, if I didn’t explain why I had done it?

  I’d tried to dodge and avoid, but she’d been brave and determined. And now I needed to be brave too.

  ‘I was maybe five, six, I can’t remember.’ I started to talk as I clung to her, breathing in her scent to give me strength, and balance—as I tumbled into the black hole of memory. ‘The night before, there had been...violence. Her pimp had beaten her. I had tried to intervene and he had beaten me too...’

  Edie shuddered with reaction, her hands settling on my lower back, keeping me upright. ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘I’m here.’

  It was exactly the right thing to say. It grounded me, reminded me that I wasn’t that little boy any more, so scared, so brutalised. I was a grown man, and Edie would never hurt me the way my mother had.

  ‘I think maybe that was the reason she wanted to get rid of me. She cried a lot the next morning. Then she made me dress in my best clothes and took me to the steps of the church where we went to Mass each Sunday.’ I huffed out a bitter laugh. ‘Ironic, no? That a prostitute would go to church?’

  ‘Go on,’ Edie said.

  ‘She told me to wait for her, that she would be back soon. She told me that she loved me before she left me there.’ The bitterness sharpened as I recalled her exact words, and the quiver of emotion in her voice as she whispered the lie in my ear.

  ‘Coraggio, Dante. Ti voglio bene assai.’

  Be a brave boy, Dante. I love you very much.

  ‘I waited, as people came and went. The priest tried to talk to me and then a policeman and a social worker came. It had begun to rain and they wanted me to come inside the church. I went wild. I told them I couldn’t go inside, that I mustn’t leave. I was sure that she would come back because she had promised me she would. And I was scared that if I left that step she would never find me.’ I shook, remembering the tears again, the screams, the rain cold and clammy on my skin, the grunts of the policeman as I kicked against his hold.

  ‘Oh, Dante, I’m so sorry.’ Edie’s arms closed around me and she held me tight, burying her head against my chest. I could feel her tears dampening my shirt. But her anguish didn’t feel like pity any more; it felt like compassion. ‘It must have been so agonising for you,’ she said, her words muffled, ‘and for her.’

  The last part of her sentence struck me and I drew back, all the emotion I had locked away for so long coalescing in the pit of my stomach and plunging into the black hole.

  ‘Why would it be hard for her?’ I asked, but the emotion welling in my throat felt strange and different this time, not jagged and ugly, just weary and tense. ‘She didn’t love me. She abandoned me.’

  Edie lifted her face from my chest. ‘Do you really think so?’

  ‘Of course,’ I said, but the doubt in her voice gave me pause.

  ‘What happened to you afterwards? After she left you?’ Edie asked.

  ‘I went into the foster system in Naples. I found it hard to settle. I was so lonely. I wanted my mother. And then I became angry. That she had left me.’

  ‘But were you ever hit again? Or abused?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ I said. If anything, I was the one who had been abusive, I realised, as I remembered the many families who had taken me in. Hard-working, good people, who had only wanted to help me and whose help I had rejected.

  ‘Do you think it’s possible that she left you there not because she didn’t love you, but because she loved you very much? And she didn’t want to see you hurt again? Her lifestyle sounds as if it was very chaotic; maybe she was trying to protect you?’ Her voice was coaxing and gentle and devoid of criticism—but still I could hear the truth in it when she said, ‘You said she had a pimp who was violent. Isn’t it possible she thought she had to give you up to keep you safe?’

  Something snapped open deep inside me at Edie’s comment. And suddenly all the memories I had kept locked away in my subconscious for years burst out.

  ‘Ti voglio bene assai.’

  How often had my mother said those words to me? Not just that one time, but a hundred times. A thousand? How often had she hugged me and kissed me—tickled my belly and made me laugh? How often had she told me stories late at night, after the men had gone, to help me sleep? I could see her face clearly now in my mind’s eye, the way it had come to me in nightmares, but for the first time I realised how young she looked. She must have been a teenager when she had me. No more than her early twenties when she left me.

  The soreness in my throat began to choke me.

  ‘Dio!’ I swore softly against Edie’s hair as I clung to her. ‘How could I not have seen this before?’ I said, but I knew why. Because I had been determined not to see it, not to trust, not to love, so I could protect myself at all costs. It’s why I had always rejected the truth about my mother, and why I had treated Edie so appallingly. ‘I have been blaming my selfishness and my cowardice on her when the person who is truly responsible is me.’

  Edie grasped my cheeks and forced my gaze to meet hers, until she was staring me straight in the eyes. The love I saw there humbled me.

  ‘That’s rubbish, Dante,’ she said. And I almost laughed at the fierceness in her tone. ‘You’re a good man.’

  No, I wasn’t. But if she believed it, it was enough. At this point, I really didn’t care if I deserved her or not. I would take anything I could get. Anything that she would give me and thank God for it always.

  ‘You were scared and, after what happened with your mum,’ she added, still fierce, still determined to see the best in me, ‘it makes sense you would push me away.’

  ‘Are you saying you forgive me, bella?’ I asked, ready to believe in miracles.

  The torment of the last few minutes, the last few hours and days and weeks melted away as her lips curved into the sweet smile I had become addicted to.

  Warmth spread through me. She was going to give me a second chance. I could see it in her eyes. Dio, but she was utterly adorable. What on earth had I done to deserve her? And what wouldn’t I do to keep her?

  ‘What do you think?’ she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and lifted her lips to mine.

  I didn’t need another invitation.

  I grasped her hips and captured her mouth, thrusting my tongue deep, determined to claim her, to brand her as mine for all eternity.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  DANTE’S MOUTH CRUSHED mine as hope and excitement and a deep welling tenderness blossomed inside my heart.

  He’d come to me, he’d told me he loved me, he’d even told me about his mother—a subject I knew it was very difficult for him to discuss. We were equals. We had a chance now to make this something good and strong, solid and lasting. And I intended to grab that chance with both hands.

  I sank into the kiss, need arrowing through me as the prominent outline of his erection pressed against my belly. Even through our clothing, the thick ridge felt powerful and potent. My sex softened, ready to receive it.

  ‘You will come back to work at The Inferno? And live with me at La Villa Paradis?’ he murmured as his lips caressed my neck and his hands cupped my bottom.

  ‘Yes, yes...’ Joy surged through me at his offer. I wanted to be with him more than anything in the world. And I loved the work I had been doing at the casino. ‘But...’ I tore myself away from him to look into his eyes ‘...you must promise never to freak out like that again when I’m working.’

  ‘Of course, I would never frea
k out at you, bella,’ he said instantly. A flush of heat—and stunned pleasure—spread up my torso and into my cheeks at his easy capitulation and the evidence that he respected me, professionally as well as personally. But then he added, ‘But Galanti is a dead man if he ever smiles at you like that again.’

  ‘Dante, that’s mad,’ I said, because I could see he wasn’t entirely joking. ‘You can’t kill Mr Galanti for smiling at me. It would be very bad for business.’

  But, before I could argue further, he captured the pulse point in my collarbone with his lips and suckled strongly. Arousal shot through me as the liquid tug in my abdomen became a definite yank. And my mind blurred on my last coherent thought.

  Welcome to The Inferno, indeed!

  EPILOGUE

  ‘THAT WAS JOE. We’ve finalised the training course,’ I clicked off my smartphone and shouted to Dante above the hum of the helicopter blades as the big black bird came in to land on La Villa Paradis’s heliport. ‘By the end of this year we should have all the casino staff trained on how to stop the different systems I’ve uncovered,’ I added proudly, pleased with everything I’d achieved in my role as Allegri’s Head of Gaming Systems and Security.

  ‘Excellent work, bella,’ Dante said as he unclipped his seat belt and mine while the helicopter’s blades swished to a stop. But then he scooped my phone out of my hands and tucked it in his back pocket. ‘But there is to be no more shop talk now for the rest of the weekend,’ he said as he hauled me out of my seat and into his arms. ‘Or I will have to fire you.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ I teased back as I banded my arms around his lean waist. ‘I know several other casino owners who would hire me in a second.’

  ‘Then they would have to die,’ he said before leaning down to cover my lips in a possessive kiss.

  The kiss went from amused to carnal in seconds—as it always did with Dante—but just as I became desperate, the heat burning up my torso like wildfire, he pulled away from me, ducked down and hefted me onto his shoulder in a fireman’s lift.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I demanded, suddenly staring at the tight muscles of his backside outlined in worn denim—as he hauled me off the helicopter like a sack of potatoes. ‘Put me down,’ I added, but my protests lacked heat, thanks to the laughter bubbling out of my mouth.

  ‘Be still, woman,’ he said, giving me a playful pat on my bottom. ‘Or I’ll drop you.’

  Ignoring my struggles, Dante marched past the pilot and Collette and her staff, who were watching our antics with amusement. But, instead of heading into the house and straight up to our suite, as I had expected, he walked in the opposite direction, around the side of the chateau, then through the grounds, past the fountains and the follies and the Japanese pagoda. I had to stop struggling, scared he might drop me for real, as he carried me down the steps to our private beach.

  The sun heated my skin and my heart swelled in my chest as I finally landed on my feet again—in our special place.

  It was over a year since we’d first made love in this cove and we always found time to christen it again whenever we escaped to La Villa Paradis from our work in Monaco. It had been a year filled with love and light and laughter, and the occasional passionate argument, because Dante was still the most infuriating man I’d ever met. As well as the most wonderful.

  ‘You’re a menace,’ I said, with no heat whatsoever. ‘I can’t believe you just carried me off like that in front of the staff. As if you were a pirate and I was your captive! They’ll never take me seriously again.’

  ‘The staff adore you, as you well know,’ he chastised me, the twinkle of mischief in his eyes suggesting my punishment wasn’t over yet. A giddy thrill careered through my system. ‘And if you don’t want to be treated like a captive then don’t threaten to leave me.’

  My cheeks flushed as he captured my face in his palms, his fingers caressing my neck and sending erotic shivers to the rest of my body.

  ‘You know it makes me crazy,’ he murmured and I realised the playful spark had disappeared.

  ‘You know I’d never leave you,’ I said. Surely he knew I had only been joking?

  A sensual smile spread across his lips and relief flooded through my system.

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘But I think it is time we made that official. And I wanted to bring you here to make that happen.’

  Huh?

  My eyes widened as he reached into the front pocket of his jeans and produced a small velvet box. He flipped it open to reveal a ring nestled in black velvet—a white gold band studded with tiny emeralds which sparkled in the sunlight.

  My sight blurred and my heart bounced up to bump my tonsils as he sunk to one knee on the sand in front of me.

  ‘My love, my life, my bella,’ he said, his voice gruff and deadly serious now. ‘Will you become my wife?’

  I covered my mouth with quivering fingers as tears of joy seeped over my lids to course down my cheeks—so shocked and moved I could barely speak. ‘Oh, Dante, I...I...I can’t...’

  ‘All you have to do is say yes, bella,’ he said gently, the tiny quiver of uncertainty as his gaze met mine making me love him all the more.

  ‘Oh, Dante...’ I said again. And then I flew at him, throwing my arms around his shoulders and knocking him over. ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ I shouted, so the whole world could hear me. And him most of all. ‘Absolutely yes!’

  His deep chuckles joined my joyous laughter as we rolled over together.

  The sun shone on his waves of dark hair as he rose over me. ‘Damn, I think I’ve lost the ring,’ he said as he glanced at the now empty ring box still clutched in his fist.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said, flinging my arms around his neck to pull him down towards me. ‘We’ll find it, together.’

  He smiled at me, the cool blue of his irises hot with the promise of all the years to come. ‘Yes,’ he said, his voice rich and full of confidence—like my heart. ‘We will find it, together.’

  Then he kissed me, and his lips tasted of safety and security, and love, and sunshine, and happiness... And sand!

  * * *

  If you enjoyed Claiming My Untouched Mistress you’re sure to enjoy these other stories by Heidi Rice!

  The Virgin’s Shock Baby

  Captive at Her Enemy’s Command

  Bound by Their Scandalous Baby

  Carrying the Sheikh’s Baby

  Available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Reunited by a Shock Pregnancy by Chantelle Shaw.

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  Reunited by a Shock Pregnancy

  by Chantelle Shaw

  CHAPTER ONE

  SHE SHOULDN’T BE HERE! Not at her ex-husband’s wedding.

  Sienna Fisher glanced frantically around the packed church, wondering if she could escape without anyone noticing.

  There was not a chance, she decided, her heart sinking. She was wedged into a pew filled with guests, and sitting next to her was the little girl she had found crying outside in the graveyard. Sienna’s maternal instincts had been aroused by the child’s distress and she’d taken hold of her hand and led her into the church via the vestry to find her grateful mother, who was sitting on the other side of her daughter.

  The organist started playing and as the rousing notes of Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba soared to the rafters, a ripple of interest ran through the congregation. Every head turned towards the main door to catch a first glimpse of the bride. Only Sienna stared straight ahead at the broad shoulders of Domenico De Conti, the man she had married in this very church ten years ago.

  Standing with Nico was his younger brother, Daniele. Both men were tall but Nico had the advantage of a good three inches over Danny. Despite a five-year age-gap the brothers had always been close, and it was no surprise to Sienna that Nico had chosen Danny to be his best man again—just as he had done for their wedding.

  Her breath caught in her throat when Nico turned his head. She assumed he would look towards his bride but instead his gaze was focused directly on her, as if some sixth sense had alerted him to her presence. From across the nave, she sensed his shock. Evidently her wide-brimmed hat did not conceal her face as well as she had hoped it would, but she hadn’t planned to hang around long enough for Nico to notice her. She’d just wanted a glimpse of the man she had once been madly in love with before he had betrayed her and broken her heart.