turned away from her, shielding his expression from her as he laid the tablet down. ‘Are you sure that’s what you come for? To talk?’ His eyes narrowed and he linked his hands together over his hard, ridged stomach. Despite his stance, he reminded her of a hunt-mode predator, ready to pounce with merciless precision.
Her fingers clenched on the doorknob. ‘Yes.’
He nodded, grabbed the corner of the sheet and drew it back. ‘Then, by all means, make yourself comfortable and let’s...talk.’
She didn’t need to look to know he was naked. Cesare slept in the nude. ‘Are you...are you going to put any clothes on?’
‘No.’
‘Cesare...’
‘I don’t know what that would achieve. I told you what happens to me when you enter my presence. Clothed or in flagrante, the effect is the same.’
Desire punched a hole in her belly. Dangerous, treacherous desire. She needed to leave, only she couldn’t move. ‘But...’
He sighed. ‘I don’t want to have this talk with you all the way across the room, Ava. Come here, it’s much more comfortable, I promise,’ he murmured silkily.
She shook her head and pulled the door open, her bravado deserting her. ‘You know what? Maybe this wasn’t a great idea. It’s way past midnight and...I can’t deal with you this way. We...we both need to get some sleep. We’ll talk in the morn—’
Quicker than she’d ever imagined it possible for him to move, he sprang off the bed, shot across the room and slammed his hand against the door. Her gasp was strangled in her throat as he pressed his hot, bristling naked length against her back.
‘Oh no, Ava mia. You do not get to flounce off for a second time,’ he breathed hotly in her ear.
‘I don’t flounce!’
‘No. You sway. You mesmerise. You capture and hold my attention until I feel like I’m drowning in your seductive beauty.’
‘I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about...’
‘Oh sì, you do. Or you wouldn’t be here now. I’ll give you what you want, tesoro mio. We will have that talk. But there’s a very high possibility that you’ll hate me when we do.’
She gasped and turned within the circle of his arms. ‘Why would I hate you? You said there’d been no one else!’ A sickening feeling invaded her at the thought that he’d lied about that.
His eyes burned into hers. ‘I meant it.’
Relief poured through her. ‘Then what else could there possibly be? Unless you’re about to confess you’re some psycho serial killer?’
Her comment didn’t lighten the mood as she’d expected. Instead his jaw tightened, then released. ‘I did have homicidal thoughts about Mario tonight. In fact, I had unholy thoughts about every man at the party who dared to look at you.’
‘I’m surprised you had a chance to notice, seeing how you were so enamoured of Giuliana’s bosom.’
He shifted even closer until his granite-hard arousal pressed against her pelvis. He gave a low, deep laugh. ‘It seems we’ve both been clawed by the sharp talons of the green-eyed monster.’
Pain stabbed through her desire. ‘Jealousy would imply that we care for each other, Cesare.’
His smile slowly faded, replaced by a growing hunger as his gaze slowly raked her face as if imprinting it on his brain. ‘Sì, it would. I never denied that I care about you, Ava.’
‘But only sexually?’
‘Don’t underestimate the power of sex, mia cara. It has brought down kingdoms and ruined powerful men.’ As if to emphasise its power, he leaned into her.
‘So far you’ve managed to remain untouched by it,’ she croaked.
His thick arousal registered boldly against her belly at the same time as his mouth settled heavily over hers.
The power of thought instantly deserted her. This kiss was nothing like they’d shared in the car. This was a full, unapologetic assault on her senses, a bold display of Cesare’s power and the firm intent of what he meant to happen between them. His tongue stroked boldly against hers, performing a dangerous dance that had only one destination.
Heat swelled and rocketed straight to her core. The shock of how quickly her body reacted to him made her head spin, but even that reaction was ruthlessly swept aside under the torrent of need building inside her.
Her fingers encountered Cesare’s naked torso. Her nails bit deep and she revelled in the groan that shuddered through him.
He raised his head, his breathing harsh in the darkened room. With a quick dip, he licked her tingling lips. ‘I’m far from untouched, cara. Hasn’t it always been this way between us?’ he demanded thickly. ‘One touch and the whole world burns up?’ As if to demonstrate, he ran a lazy finger down the side of her neck.
‘Yes.’ Her moan brought a satisfied smile to his face.
Bringing his hands onto her shoulders, he eased the robe from her. The gown followed, but she barely felt it slither off her arms to fall to the floor, entranced as she was by the molten heat in his eyes.
With unsteady fingers, he traced a path from her neck, down between her breasts to her belly until he grazed the top of her thong.
Words, murmured in Italian appreciation, tumbled from his lips.
‘English, please. I need to understand what you’re saying.’
He repeated the raw, explicit words. When her face flamed, he laughed and reverted to Italian. Every syllable touched her skin like a kiss, making her limbs lust-heavy until all she could do was sag against the door as his touch drummed a beat of desire through her.
‘Cesare,’ she sighed, unable to form a more coherent sentence past the sweet benediction of his name on her lips. Gathering every last ounce of strength, she pulled back. ‘We...we still need to talk.’
He dropped another hungry kiss at the corner of her mouth. ‘We will. But I need...we both need this before we do. And, whatever happens, Ava, please know this now. I’m very sorry I hurt you.’
Tears gathered in her eyes and clogged her throat. When they spilled onto her cheeks, he wiped them away with his thumbs.
With a sigh, he scooped her in his arms and carried her to the bed.
Sheets warmed by his body immediately engulfed her in his scent. When he stepped back and she saw, really saw him—naked, magnificent and needy—desire dragged through her belly, amplifying the power of her own need, propelling her to reach for him, to make sure he was real and not a figment of her fevered imagination.
‘Come closer.’
He complied. She reached up and traced the sculpted lines of his face, from hollowed cheek, over smooth lips to the rough shadow of his stubble. When she made another pass
