I’ve changed my mind, Leo?’
Leo watched her for a moment, moving his hand to rest it casually on her thigh. ‘I think that maybe you need to spell it out for me, carina. In case I am getting the wrong idea.’
With shaky fingers she rested her hand on top of his. Anchoring him there. This was madness. She was supposed to move away, to make a snarky comment or give him the cold shoulder. Not hold his hand like a wanton.
That was the problem, though. She felt wanton.
She felt more sexually charged than she had ever felt in her entire relationship with her ex-fiancé. With Dan it had been mutual respect, puppy love.
This was raw lust.
He was completely still, watching intently for her reaction. She could feel his gaze burning through her. She stopped thinking, grabbed the front of his shirt and pressed her lips hard to his.
LEO FELT THE LAST remnant of his restraint disappear in a haze of heat, as he ran his hands up her sides, his mouth devouring hers. All the pent-up frustration came pouring out of them both as her hands found his hair and she ran her fingers through it, anchoring his head close as he leaned down to kiss her neck.
He began to undo the top few buttons on her blouse and felt her hesitate.
He raised a brow in silent question.
She answered by pulling his head back up and kissing him again. He growled low in his throat, lifting her off the seat and onto his lap. He moulded her curves to him, bunching her skirt up high on her hips and running his palms down the length of her thighs.
‘God, you are perfect.’
He groaned, cupping both breasts in his hands and kneading gently. He tilted his hips upwards, moulding their bodies together in a way that made her gasp. He could feel the moisture between her thighs already. She was hot and burning for him.
‘We shouldn’t be doing this back here,’ she breathed. ‘The driver might see.’
He ignored her whisper and moved against her again, smiling when she groaned even louder.
‘I think you’re enjoying the risk.’
‘Yes...’ she murmured, her eyes closing in a sensual haze as he moved against her in a steady rhythm.
Leo felt victorious as he watched her lose control and give in to the pleasure he was giving her. He pulled her bra down part way, exposing her nipples to him.
‘Beautiful...’ he murmured, taking one hardened peak into his mouth, then the other.
The limo drove onto rougher terrain and their bodies moved together with the vibrations as he feasted on her as if she was a dessert. His erection moved against her core, torturing them both with the delicious friction.
He vaguely heard Dara curse, felt her body grow tense as he bit down gently on her nipple. Her sudden shuddering release took them both completely by surprise, making her collapse on top of him in a daze of ragged breathing.
‘Dio, that was the most erotic thing I have ever seen,’ he murmured, kissing a trail down her neck.
Dara sat astride him, with her hands still clasped behind his neck. He shifted under her, painfully aware of his rock-hard erection still pressing insistently against her moistened underwear.
She shifted back on his lap, her cheeks rosy from the effects of her orgasm. Her shy smile was breathtaking as she reached down, placing her hand on the hard ridge of his jeans and biting her lower lip as he groaned in response.
Seeing, once again, how much he affected her was more than he could handle. It was like a drug. Now that he had tried it, he just wanted more. The thought of taking her here on the back seat of the limo, in the darkness, almost made him come on the spot.
With extreme restraint Leo placed his hand on top of Dara’s, just as she began to lower the zip of his jeans.
She froze, confused as to why they were stopping.
‘We are just about to arrive back at the palazzo,’ he said, smiling at her evident disappointment.
He had succeeded in his efforts to seduce her. She was now his for the taking. And yet he felt the unfamiliar tug of his conscience, threatening to rain down on his lust.
Dara slid off his lap and began closing the buttons of her white blouse with shaky fingers. Her hair was in a tangle around her shoulders...her skirt had twisted around her waist. He had ravished her in the back seat of a moving vehicle and now, in true Valente fashion, he was planning on taking what he wanted before casting her aside.
She would want nothing more to do with him if he took his uncle’s deal. Umberto’s words repeated in his mind: he was just like his father. The thought gave the same effect as if he had just doused himself with ice water.
She smiled seductively at him as they walked side by side up the marble steps of the palazzo.
Leo hesitated just inside the doorway. ‘I think...that you should make your own way up from here.’ He avoided her eyes.
‘You’re not coming upstairs?’ she asked, confused at his sudden coldness. She’d clearly presumed they would continue their encounter, after what had just occurred in the limo.
She didn’t realise that it was taking every fibre of his self-control not to carry her up to that ridiculously erotic bed of hers and make love to her all night long. Her lips were rosy from his kisses, her hair deliciously mussed. And once again that lacy bra was taunting him through her crisp white shirt.
‘I have some things to get done before we head down to Ragusa tomorrow.’
He avoided her gaze, motioning to the valet, who handed him the keys to his Porsche. A drive might clear his head of this ridiculous guilt. And rid him of the ghosts that taunted his every thought.
‘Will you be gone long?’ she asked.
Leo continued to walk away, refusing to turn around in case he changed his mind. ‘I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow, Dara. Sleep well.’
* * *
Their drive to the province of Ragusa was made mostly in silence, except for a brief stop for lunch at a roadside café. In less than three hours they reached the shores of the Ionian sea, and a further twenty minutes saw them make their way up the long stretch of coastal road and enter the small sleepy town of Monterocca.
They continued around the winding road to where the cliffs began to lower to sandy beaches and small fishing docks. As they turned the final bend around the headland Dara took a deep intake of breath. It was spectacular.
The castle stood high on a rocky promontory, dominating the surrounding landscape with its high turrets and imposing boundary walls. As they drove through the stone pillared entry Dara felt suddenly dwarfed by the enormity of the place.
She had only seen pictures before now,
