“If they don’t, I shall be sure to make an appearance somewhere notable with this on my hand. That should start the talk.” She frowned down at the ring. “However, I shall have to break the news to my mother first.” Something she did not relish. It left a worse taste in her mouth than actually marrying Luciano.
“Ah.” His arm came around her, and she could give him credit here—he knew the act. Relished it. She still felt shell-shocked. “Shall I expect pistols at dawn then?” he asked, guiding her back toward her gardens.
Serena shook her head. She felt strangely…afloat. Like she was in a dream where she was a fairy-tale princess, and the handsome man in front of her represented some kind of love and future. She could remember a time when she’d had silly little dreams like that. But she’d been small, naive. It was before she’d realized that she would never achieve thatsparkleher mother had. Back when her parents had divorced and split their lives forever, shuttling Serena back and forth like an unwanted gift they could not get rid of without offending someone.That was when she realized all she had to offer was perfection, and maybe that would never earn love, but it would get hersomewhere. It would earn her a place.
She needed to get a hold of herself. It was just a ring. “No, my mother never cared about Valli business. She won’t have any compunction on you being an Ascione. She will insist on a dinner and she will…” Serena trailed off. She didn’t know exactly how to warn Luciano how her mother would be.
Serena had learned how to be perfect in her father’s eyes. How to be what he wanted, more or less. She had been able to work andproveto him that she had some worth.
She had never been able to make that kind of dent with her mother. Serena didn’t allow that to put them at odds, but she did keep a certain kind of distance from her mother. But a life event like this would require dealing with her, lest she make a scene.
No doubt, Luciano wouldn’t even notice. Mother’s barbs tended to be for Serena and Serena alone.
But it had to be done. Mother was the only family she had left. And the whole point was everything needed to seem real to outsiders. Her mother would have to be…somewhat involved going forward.
Serena contemplated the sea for a moment. Maybe she could just run into it and swim until she found a deserted island or simply perished instead. But before she could give any serious consideration to running away, Luciano stopped their forward progress toward her home.
“I’m afraid, there is one thing we will have to do before we head back inside and break the happy news to your mother.”
“What is that?”
He turned her to face him. When she glanced up at him, she saw that his expression was oddly grave. But then his mouth curved. An attempt at a smile. She thought it might have even been an attempt to be roguishly irritating, but it didn’t meet his eyes.
Not as he pulled her body close, so they were pressed together. His heat surrounding them. The smell of the sea, the sounds of the waves, the strange lull of a darkened evening and his hands on her hips. It was like something out of a book or movie. Romantic and…something darker. A strange, twisting need that she might have words for if she wanted to find them.
She didn’t.
“We should seal this deal with a kiss, Serena,” he said, angling his head down so that his mouth was close to hers. So she could feel his breath along with his body. “Just in case those photographersarewatching.”
She swallowed, trying to think of something smart to say. He was right, of course. This was all an act so they had to act, but…
He did not ask permission. He did not brush his lips across her cheek. He pressed his mouth to hers, pulled her body to his.
And devoured.
* * *
It couldn’t be chaste. He’d known that going in. A long lens in the darkness would need a prolonged embrace. They would still likely just be grainy shadows, but a grainy shadow could be used with the right story.
It would need to take its time. It would need…
He lost the thread of his thoughts at the first shudder of her body against his. Something like heat scorched through him. A longing for things he didn’t fully recognize and knew better than to try.
So he focused on what he did recognize. The contours of a kiss. The delicate press of her body, surprisingly soft and small. She held herself in such a way, he’d expected something…stronger, he supposed. A leanness with sharp angles ready to cut him to pieces.
He’d also expected her to be more stiff, to push him away, to resist…even if she eventually gave in.
But there was no resistance in her. Innocence maybe, but she allowed his mouth the enticing tour of hers. When he splayed his fingers wide, swept them up her side and settled just short of her breasts, she shuddered out a sigh that had a newly appointed hunger digging its way deep inside of him.
And because it was there—her parted mouth, a mystery too close to walk away from—he tasted. A stunning combination of the wine from dinner and something unique to this kiss and this moment alone.
He supposed her innocence allowed him to set the tone, and there was a delirium in that. He was in charge. Of this moment. Of tough, icy Serena who was none of those things in this moment. She was soft, sweet and a million other words he’d never once used to describe Serena Valli.
Serena Valli.
It was her name that reminded him of who he was and what this was meant to be. He didn’t jerk back, though he wanted to. But no, this was an act.
No matter what strange detours his brain, or body, had gone down, this was still just an act. So he carefully eased away. First his mouth, then his body. Until cool air swept between them.
