“Okay,” she said, snatching her hands back. “Point made. Maybe this... this—”
“Attraction? Desire?” He lifted an eyebrow. “Lust?”
She waved the choices aside. “Those are just varying shades of the same thing.”
“And you’re still experiencing each of those shades, as well as every single one in between.”
He caught the faint breathy sound of air escaping her lungs. “Whatever this is hasn’t run its course at all, has it?” she asked.
“Not even a little.” He massaged the tingle in his right palm. “I could feel you, you know.”
Her brows shot up. “Feel me? What do you mean?”
“When you walked in the room, Ididn’t even have to see you,” he admitted. “I could feel you.”
Her brow wrinkled in confusion. “I don’t understand any of this,” she confessed. “How is that possible?”
He didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. “Is it the same for you? Has it eased off any since that night?”
She wanted to lie, he could read it in the hint of desperation in those huge, defenseless eyes. “Maybe it has.” She moistened her lips. “I’m sure it’s not quite as bad as the other night. It can’t be.”
“There’s an easy way to tell.” He extended his hand across the table once again. “Go ahead. Touch me.”
Francesca hesitated for a telling moment before splaying her fingers and linking them with Sev’s. She gasped at the contact, going rigid with shock. The next instant everything about her softened and relaxed, sinking into what he could only describe as euphoria. Then the next wave hit. Ahot tide of need lapped between them, singeing nerve endings and escalating desire.
“I want you again.” He told her precisely how much with a single scorching look. “If anything, Iwant you even more than last time.”
“We can’t do this. Not again,” Francesca protested. “I’ve already put my job in jeopardy by spending the night with you. If the Fontaines find out it was you at the show, that you were the reason I left, they’d fire me on the spot. Iwon’t risk that. Working at TH is too important to me.”
Didn’t she get it? “You want me to stop?” He lifted their joined hands. “Tell me how. Because I’d love to know.”
She leaned forward, speaking in a low, rapid voice. “What I want is an explanation. Maybe if I understood how and why, Icould make it stop. Why do I feel such an odd sensation every time we join hands? Why does just a touch cause me to go all wonky inside?”
His mouth twitched toward a smile. “Wonky?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Hungry. Lusty. Horny as hell. God, Ican’t even believe I’m saying those things!”
He hesitated, loath to repeat the story Primo had told him. But she deserved some sort of answer, even one as far-fetched as The Inferno. He didn’t believe they were experiencing anything to do with something so fantastical. Or that his grandfather’s Inferno fairy tale belonged just there, in fairy tales. None of that mattered. Regardless of what he thought, she shouldknow.
He forced himself to release her hands, despite an almost uncontrollable urge to sweep her up in his arms and bolt from the restaurant with her. More than anything he wanted to hole up somewhere with acres of bed, twenty-four-hour room service, and a suitcase full of condoms.
“Look, Ithink I can explain this, though the explanation is going to sound a bit crazy.” Nor was this the venue he’d have chosen to tell awoman about The Inferno. But at least a crowded restaurant would give the illusion of safety once she’d fully ascertained the extent of his family’s insanity. He gave it to her straight. “There’s a Dante legend that my grandfather swears is true, about an Inferno that occurs when a man from my family touches the woman meant to be his.”
Her eyes narrowed, but at least she didn’t run screaming from the restaurant. “Somehow I don’t think this is the sort of story we should hash out in public. Do you?”
“Not even a little. My place isn’t far from here. We can talk there, if you’d prefer.”
“Talk?” A swift laugh bubbled free and she regarded him with wry amusement. “That would make a nice change. Idon’t suppose you can promise that’s all we’re going to do?”
He shook his head. “I can’t promise a thing where you’re concerned.” He leaned back, giving her enough room to breathe. Hell, giving them both enough room to think straight. “But I swear, I’ll try. Will you trust me enough to come with me?”
She turned those bottomless dark eyes on him in silent assessment. He’d never met a woman quite so fascinating. She faced the world with elegance and strength and feminine dignity. And though he sensed they wereintegral parts of her, he also suspected they were a shield she used to protect herself fromhurt.
Every so often he caught a glimpse of a waif peeking out, nose pressed to the glass, the want in her so huge and deep it amazed him that one person could contain it all. And yet, he also saw the steely determination that carried her through a life that—if he correctly read all she struggled to conceal—had slammed her with hardship while offering little joy to compensate.
After giving his offer a moment’s thought, she nodded. “I promised to meet you this one last time before we parted company, and I will. Besides, Ialways did like fairy tales even though they never come true.” A tragic smile played about her perfect bow mouth, tempting him beyond measure. Then she surprised him by lifting a hand and signaling the waiter. “But who knows. Maybe this one will be different.”
Chapter Four
