“Because you know I want to kiss you. The other morning while we were on the sea floor uncovering the mouth on that head, I was reminded of you. When I kissed you on the boat, I was half out of my mind with desire. My motives are ulterior, but intensely personal.”
“No, Rini. We mustn’t. Not out here where Bianca can see us.”
“I must, bellissima.”
He curved his hand against the side of her face and turned it toward him. Obeying blind need, he covered her trembling mouth with his own. She tried to elude him, but he drove his kisses deeper and deeper until her little cry allowed him the access he craved. Maybe he was dreaming because she slowly began returning his kisses with a heart-stopping hunger that caused him to forget everything except the heavenly woman in his arms.
His hands roved over her back and shoulders while they gave and took pleasure from each other’s mouths. He felt her fingers slide up his neck into his hair. Every touch fed the fire enveloping him.
“Alessandra,” he moaned. “I can’t get enough of you. Do you have any idea how much I want you?”
“I want you, too,” she confessed, covering his face with kisses.
“During the dive I was dying to grasp your hips and pull you into a secret cave where we could make love for months on end.”
“Our wet suits would have presented a problem.”
“But not now.” He eased her down on the swing, where he had the freedom to look at her to his heart’s content while he kissed the living daylights out of her.
Rini had never known this kind of all-consuming desire before. The way she responded to him let him know something earthshaking had happened to her, too. She’d already had one love affair in her life, but it had been a long time ago. He was thankful it hadn’t worked out because he was convinced she’d been reserved for him.
But what if she couldn’t handle what he needed to tell her? He kissed her nose and eyelids. Before things went any further, she deserved to know the whole truth about him. Though terrified of her reaction, he couldn’t stop now.
“You’re the most divine creature this man has ever met. Since your aunt wanted to know my intentions toward you, it’s only fair I tell you something about me first.”
“You don’t have to do this, Rini. You don’t owe me anything. Please. I never dreamed my aunt would get personal with you like that.”
“I’m glad she did. It woke me up to something I’ve been unwilling to face for years.”
Her anxious eyes searched his. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve remained a bachelor for a reason.”
“If you’re allergic to marriage, you’re not the only man. Until my father met Mother, he decided he’d always be single.”
“That hasn’t been my problem. In truth I’ve never gotten to the point in my adult life when I needed to state my intentions. But with you, it has become necessary.”
She lifted a hand to caress his jaw. “Why?”
He kissed her succulent lips. “You’re not just any female I happen to have met. I’m not talking about the fact that you were born titled from both sides of your illustrious families. This is something that affects you as a woman. Don’t you know you’re head and shoulders above any woman I’ve ever known? Your pure honesty demands the same from me.”
“Papà said my aunt was impressed with your honesty.” She shivered. “What honesty is that? If your intention is to frighten me, you’re doing a good job.”
“Frighten might not be the best word.” He sat up and got off the swing. “What I tell you will change the way you view me, but this has to come from me. I’ll understand if you say it’s been nice knowing you before you go your own way.”
“For heaven sakes just tell me!”
Rini had angered her. This was going wrong. “From the time I could remember, I played soccer. By seventeen I was playing on a winning team with my friend Guido. On the day of the championship game, I got injured. At the hospital tests were done and I was told I was infertile. Over the years I’ve undergone tests, but the diagnosis is always the same...”
Her haunted eyes had fastened on him. She didn’t move or cry out, but he saw pain break out on her face.
“Like anyone, I grew up thinking that one day I’d get married and have children. It was something I took for granted. Even after my first diagnosis, I didn’t really believe it. I thought that surely in time the problem would go away and I’d be normal like everyone else. But every year I was tested, I was told that nothing had changed.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, sounding agonized.
“So am I, Alessandra, because the diagnosis has impacted my life.”
“So that’s why you left me without saying goodbye? You thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it?”
His lips thinned.
“Of course a woman wants babies with the man she marries. But there are other ways to have children.”
“It’s not the same. The other day when I was telling you about Valentina, you said you couldn’t wait until you could have your own baby. It’s a natural urge to want to procreate.”
“Yes, but—”
“But nothing. I can’t give any woman a baby, so I’ve been living my life with the reputation of being a dedicated bachelor. No one but my doctor, and now you, know I’m infertile.”
“It happens to people, Rini. How tragic that you’ve let it rob you of the joy of life! It kills me that your fear has prevented you from settling down with a woman because you can’t give her what you think she wants.
“I know you’d make a marvelous father, Rini. That’s why there’s adoption. Thousands of couples do it. For you to have lived your life since seventeen with such a dark cloud hanging over your head doesn’t bear thinking about.”
“You’re very sweet, Alessandra, but you’re not in my shoes.” Her incredible reaction was all he could have hoped for and let him know her support would never be in question. His doctor had told him the right woman would be able to handle it.
But there was still something else to keep them apart. All of it stemmed from his conversation with her aunt and her implied warning. Even now he held back, thinking it was better that she believe his infertility presented the biggest problem for them.
Alessandra stared at him. “What you’re saying is that you’re going to let this stand in the way of our having a relationship. If you really mean that, then you need counseling before you deny yourself the greatest joy in life.”
“Therapy won’t help me,” he responded bleakly. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Combined with the conversation I had with your aunt, a relationship with you won’t work.”
“We’re back to my aunt again?”
