‘Why not? Were you worried about our letters being censored?’
‘No. I was afraid if I said too much ... if I declared my feelings for you, it would ruin our friendship.’
‘Is that what we have, a friendship?’
He traced his forefinger along the chequered pattern of the gingham tablecloth beneath us. ‘I do not know what we have, Romily, only that it feels wonderful and I never want it to end.’
His hand moved towards mine so that our fingertips were touching. Once more that spark of electricity fizzed through me causing my heart to race and my mouth to turn as dry as the champagne we were drinking. My gaze locked with his, and with my body zinging with the kind of desire I hadn’t felt since being with Jack, I didn’t know how much longer I could continue in this virtuous manner. I tilted my head, just the slightest of movements, and it appeared to be all the signal he needed.
When our lips met, the passion between us ignited spontaneously, putting us both in danger ofself-combusting. Our hands, no longer tentatively touching, explored each other’s bodies with an urgency that matched the fervour of our kissing. But when he entered me, he did so with a more measured tenderness. Impatient for that soaring moment of euphoric release that I knew I was seconds away from, I urged him on.
‘Slowly,’ he whispered, cupping my face in his hands, ‘I want to remember this always.’
At the mercy of hisself-control, he kept me teetering on the brink until finally in an explosion of mutual climax, we clung to each other as one complete body. Then with tears in our eyes, we stared at each other as though we couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
‘Ti amo,’ he murmured. ‘I love you.’
I never thought to hear those words again, or utter them myself, but I wiped the tears from his eyes, and mine, and told him I loved him. ‘Ti amo, Matteo.’
We lay for some minutes in the warm sunshine, basking in the exquisite bliss of what we had just done. ‘I can’t believe you’re really here in my arms’ he said. ‘I shall wake up in a minute and find it was just a beautiful dream.’
Thinking it would be wonderful to lie here for ever, I sighed like the most contented of cats who had got more than her share of cream.
‘I’m so happy I could sing!’ I suddenly exclaimed.
He lifted his head. ‘And what would you sing,mia cara?’
I grinned. ‘I don’t know. But I’m sure I’ll think of something.’
‘I’m sure you could. You are, after all, the most beautiful and amazing woman I know.’
‘Well, that’s true, of course. I am incredibly beautiful, and fantastically amazing.’
He laughed. ‘Dio mio,how can I ever let you go now?’
‘You don’t have to let me go. Not if you don’t want to.’
His expression changed, and he suddenly looked painfully solemn.
‘What is it?’ I said.
He sat up and like the gentleman he was, smoothed down my rumpled dress so that I looked a little less in disarray. ‘It’s this war,’ he said quietly, his back to me as he faced the river. ‘It is going to tear us apart.’
‘Not necessarily,’ I replied, raising myself up so that I was sitting next to him.
He twisted his head round to look at me and my heart missed a beat at the sadness in his eyes. ‘I wish you didn’t have to leave,’ he murmured.
‘I wish I didn’t have to either, but I’ll come again just as soon as I can.’
‘You are a famous lady novelist and a pilot with the ATA, what do you see in a man like me?’ he asked when we were retracing our steps back to where he was needed to help the lumberjills. ‘I have nothing to offer you,’ he continued, ‘I’m just a prisoner of war who has to work like a peasant.’
‘Oh Matteo,’ I said, ‘don’t speak that way. That day when you pulled me from the wreckage of the Walrus, you saved my life. And in so many ways,’ I added.
‘So you love me out of gratitude?’
I stepped in front of him and pressed my finger to his lips. ‘Shh ... ’ I said, ‘don’t spoil our brief time together. Just accept that fate brought us together.’
And fate might separate us, was the thought that kept me company during my lonely drive home to Island House.
