mouth enveloped hers, drinking in her sweetness. He plunged his hands into her hair, loving the way the curls wrapped around his fingers. Still his dream didn’t fade.
“Hey, Dinozzo—” came a discordant note out of the soporific waves. “I want to talk to my nephew. When are you going to get up? Do you know how late it is?”
Dizo realized his fantastic dream had ended. He couldn’t bear it. The alcohol he’d consumed last night was supposed to have wiped everything from his subconscious. Instead a silken pair of arms had transported him to a place where he’d been given a taste of paradise.
On a groan he started to get out of bed, but felt something warm and soft lying next to him, preventing movement. He opened his eyes that were having trouble focusing and discovered a female body lying facedown next to him. The cap of glossy black curls looked shockingly familiar.
His jet-black eyes took in the trail of his clothes and her shoes and jacket starting at the door and ending at the bed. The sheet partially covering both of them revealed that the woman he must have picked up outside the bar last night was wearing a pale yellow and white flowered tank top. With trembling hands he carefully turned her over.
Holy mother of God.
Giannina.
He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
Slowly her black-fringed lids fluttered open. Those brown eyes so fabulous because of their burgundy hue stared into his.
“Dizo—” came her urgent cry. Like a cat preening in the sun with delight, she stretched without inhibition and wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her warm, sweet breath on his lips. Then it was the dream all over again as her mouth took him to that place he’d never wanted to leave.
This time there was a loud knock on the door bringing him fully awake. “Dinozzo! I’m getting worried. If you’re not up on the count of three, I’m coming in.”
Diavolo!
None too gently Dizo pushed her against the mattress. The second he threw the sheet over her head his uncle walked in.
“Your papa has already phoned twice. He has a mes—”
That was all that came out of his uncle’s mouth. Scratching his balding head, he took in the scene of what could only be labeled wanton desire with his-and-her clothing and blankets scattered, pillows askew. Their gazes locked in silent communication.
His uncle cleared his throat. “I’ll tell your father you’ll call him later.” He closed the door.
Muttering a curse, Dizo levered his tall, well-honed body off the other side of the bed. By some miracle he was still wearing his pants. While he was still disoriented, Gina peeked out from beneath the sheet covering her head. His heart slammed into his ribs to see her beautiful face framed by her disheveled curls. One dangled in the middle of her forehead. She was a living, breathing miracle.
In a minute he would demand answers, but for the moment all his befuddled brain could do was try to digest the fact that Princess Regina Schiaparelli Vittorio of Castelmare had spent what was left of the rest of the night in bed with him. Damn if he hadn’t been so drunk after leaving the tavern, he hadn’t been able to distinguish fact from fiction or realize that the divine pleasure she’d brought him was no dream.
She started to get up, pushing the sheet completely away. As she slid her shapely legs to the floor and rose to her feet, the yellow skirt that matched her top fell to her knees. She could wear any color and look gorgeous, creating a picture of summery elegance and sophistication only she could carry off.
Everything she bought or had made to wear was exquisitely cut to play down her curves, but he wouldn’t be a man if his senses didn’t quake at the sight of her voluptuous figure.
With unsteady hands he reached in the drawer for a clean T-shirt and pulled it down over his bare chest. “Explanations can come later,” he muttered. “What I have to do right now is get you out of here before my uncle learns who you are.”
“I don’t care if he knows.”
“You don’t mean that,” his voice grated. You can’t.
She was about to be married to the king of Pedrosa. In order to get near her, let alone touch her, you had to be royalty yourself. She was off-limits. Forbidden. That had been drummed into Dizo’s brain from the moment his father had taken the gardener’s job at the palace years ago.
Before her betrothal, more than one prince Dizo knew of had been after her. His brothers had kept him up on the palace gossip. From rumors they’d learned Gina’s mother had always favored the Spanish speaking Prince Nicolas, now king since his father had stepped down.
Dizo had seen him walking on the grounds with her. Occasionally they’d gone horseback riding. Many was the time Dizo had wished Nic’s mount had thrown him and broken his arrogant Catalan neck.
Gina’s expressive eyes glinted with pain. “You mean you don’t want me to mean it. Is that because you’re getting married at the end of the summer?” She faced him with the same forthrightness that had always been her trademark. Gina was only five feet five, but there were times like now when she took on invisible stature.
A tight band constricted his breathing. “Who told you that?”
“Your father. Who else? Is it true?” Her voice shook.
He grimaced. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“Then it is?” she cried. Her face suddenly lost color.
Gina… “It’s no secret you and I have always been attracted to each other, but that was all it ever could be. We both have to get on with our lives and right now it’s first things first.”
In spite of the tears glinting on those long black eyelashes, a daring smile broke the corner of her provocative mouth. “How do you propose I exit the room without your uncle seeing me?”
Dizo picked up her sandals and handed them to her. “Put these on and I’ll help you out through the window. There’s a fruit shed maybe a hundred yards from here. No one will be around at this time of day. Hide in there and wait for me till I come with the truck.”
If anyone knew she’d been here, in his bed, her reputation would be tarnished beyond all recognition. He didn’t even want to think how King Nicolas would react when he found out. Lucca would have every right to fire the entire Fornese family and shuttle them back to Sardinia. All the goodwill Dizo’s father had built up over the years with King Rudolfo and his family would be destroyed.
The media would have a field day with Gina who up until this stunning escapade hadn’t done anything to sully her name. Much to their frustration they’d never caught her in anything salacious. She’d remained as white and pure as the proverbial driven snow.
Until now…
After she’d slipped into her sandals he lifted the short-sleeved jacket to help her finish dressing. It took all his strength of will not to pull her back against him and finish what she’d started while he’d thought he was dreaming.
The untouchable twenty-six-year-old Princess Regina no longer bore that label. Her swollen lips
