He growled as he ripped her shirt over her head and threw it to the grassedground at their feet. They knelt as one, hands running over bodies, mouths tasting and tormenting, fingers teasing.
When he was naked, and his arousal was before her, she cupped it with her fingers and stared up at him nervously. “I want to … I’ve never … but I want to …”
“Yes?” He asked, his eyes narrowing as she lowered her mouth and took him within. He swore under his breath as she flicked his length with her tongue and sucked him until he could hardly stand it. She pushed at his shoulders, so that he was lying down on the grass and she was able to take more of him into her warm, moist mouth.
He swore louder, his fingers tangling in her hair and holding her where he needed her. He felt himself beginning to lose control and he pulled her away, lifting her higher so that he could see her face. Her pupils were dilated, her cheeks were pink and her lips were so delightfully swollen. He stared into her eyes and he no longer saw Augustine. He saw Kate, and he saw his own soul too. Here, on the brink of the rose garden, where the spell of his parents’ love was perhaps at its strongest, he realised that he was the one in danger.
He had never loved a woman.
And yet he knew he could easily come to love Kate.
“I don’t want to stop,” she complained, dropping her lips to his chest and running kisses across his flesh.
“Nor do I, but believe mecara,things were about to come to an abrupt end if you’d kept going.”
Her smile was beautiful. The evening sun bathed her in a golden glow and he lifted his hands to her breasts. He traced circles around her nipples, and sighed at the splendour of that moment. She ran her tongue from his chest, lower still, back to his erection.
“We have all night, don’t we?” She murmured, and once more she took him deep into her mouth. The sight of her fair head moving as she teased his shaft was too much.
“Kate,” he groaned, trying once more to ease her away. But she caught his hands in hers, tangling their fingers together, so that she could hold them to the side.
He was losing every single hint of control. He was powerless to resist her seduction. For the first time in his life, Benedetto lost command completely and he discovered he loved it. As the sun finally dropped over the last hill, taking its warmth with it,they shared something that was new and different for both of them.
It was the beginning of the change that must, surely, have led to the end.
* * *
The tomatoes were perfect. She squeezed them one by one, feeling for the best, but they were each a testament to this country’s ability to produce fantastic fruit. She settled on a couple of large orbs with a mottled red and purple flesh and smiled at the vendor.
“Just these,” she slipped easily into Italian as she passed the two pieces over to him. He weighed them then wrapped each one in brown paper before placing them into a paper bag.
The markets were busier than the previous day. She handed some money over to him and angled her head to look along the collection of tents. They were all different colours, some selling fruit, others selling cheap trinkets, some with leather jackets and many with wine.
She stopped three shop fronts down and chose a sourdough baguette and a couple of almond croissants, then walked diagonally across to select four perfect dark chocolate truffles. Finally, she purchased a bottle of Prosecco, her lips ghosting into a smile as she remembered the way they’d met.
You will learn to like doing what I say. A shiver ran down her spine now at the arrogant assertion. And yet he’d been right. Kate would have followed him to the ends of the earth.
The basket of the bicycle was overflowing but she made one more stop before turning it back towards the villa.
It was still early. The sun was up, but it was cold. Too cold to be wearing a flimsy shirt and the jeans he’d been wearing the day before. She must have looked like a street urchin, she thought with a grin, pushing her fair hair out of her eyes as the bike began to pick up speed. The ride was not an easy one, for the villa was perched high on a hill and the path wound for several miles at its base before veering steeply up hill. But at each hairpin turn she had an exquisite vantage point of the countryside below, and the little town quickly took on fairy village proportions. Even the markets looked a little like an elaborate toy she might have played with as a child.
Her smile was etched onto her face. She could have burst into spontaneous song.
They’d slept in the hammock overnight, quite by accident. The stars were so clear out in the Tuscan countryside, and the evening though cold was crisp and dry. With the thick feather duvet from his bed, they’d lain together to look up at the heavens. Only Kate was exhausted and she’d drifted off to sleep, her head on his chest. She’d slept better than she had done in years.
Something about his proximity made her feel safe and at ease. She hopped off the bike at the start of the driveway, opting to walk it along the path instead. If he were still asleep she rather liked the idea of surprising him. She propped the bike and the basket of goodies against a thick oak tree trunk and tiptoed to the hammock. But she saw from a distance away that it was empty. With a frown of disappointment, she put her hands on her hips and looked towards the house.
He was stepping through the front doors at that exact moment and she saw him before he noticed her.
Her heart skipped a beat.
He was wearing the tuxedo again; his hair was wet and brushed back from his face. His expression was completely unreadable — but she knew he was lost in serious thought, and that the thoughts were not pleasant. She moved back to the bike and began to ride it up towards the house. She had almost reached him when finally he looked up.
His smile was perfunctory and did not reach his eyes.
“Good morning,” she put the brake down and stepped off the bike. Though she smiled, anxiety was beginning to brick a wall in her tummy. “You’re up.”
He nodded and ran a hand over his chin. It was stubbled after two days without much in the way of amenity. “I thought we should head off early to beat the traffic.”
