‘You’re so wrong about Robert and me, Cesare. I don’t love him and he isn’t married. I don’t know why you should think he is. Celeste was just being spiteful when she made that comment about my having an affair with a married man. It wasn’t true.’
‘I want you so badly myself, cara, that I cannot think straight. You can have no conception of how I feel just looking at you. And you are wasting it all on him!’ he finished with disgust.
Her eyes searched his face avidly. ‘What do you mean, Cesare? How do you feel about me?’
‘I desire you. You returned my gift to me and I thought I did not stand a chance with you. But that cannot be, you must also feel desire for me or you would not have responded in my arms as you have done on a number of occasions. As I could make you do now,’ he added dangerously.
‘Could you, Cesare?’ she enticed him softly, longing only to be in his arms.
‘Yes!’ he said savagely. ‘But I do not want you to hate me any more than you do now.’
‘I won’t hate you, Cesare.’
‘Oh God! Come here …’ Strong hands grasped her, pulling her roughly against his taut roused body. ‘You have invited this,’ he groaned against her mouth. ‘Remember that.’
She didn’t want to remember anything, she only wanted to feel, to revel in the slumbering sensuality of this man. But it didn’t slumber for long; his hands were doing strange things to her as they roamed expertly over her body. His lips teased and cajoled, making her almost beg for more than those feather-light caresses on her lips.
Finally his mouth parted hers to explore further and his hands were assured against her naked back as they freely caressed her fevered skin. Their thighs and hips were moulded together as they fused in action and he moved against her in slow drugging movements.
His hands moved up over her breasts to cradle each side of her face, moving his lips slowly back and forth across her mouth until she stood on tiptoe and put her hands behind his head to increase the pressure of those pleasure-giving caresses.
‘Cesare,’ she sighed. ‘Oh, Cesare …’
‘Do not speak, cara,’ he replied huskily. ‘Just love.’
Their breathing was ragged and laboured and Suzanne knew that she could never respond to someone else with this abandonment, with this feeling that what she was doing was completely right for her. And there could be no doubt that she had invited this, had asked for these long languorous kisses, had deliberately and sensually aroused him until he could not refuse the invitation of her body.
And he was not refusing, touching her bare skin beneath the thin vest-top that was all the clothing she had on besides her denims. A bra hadn’t seemed necessary when she was only going out into the garden for a few minutes, and Cesare was soon aware of this fact, those long sensitive fingers soon bringing her breasts to full pulsating life.
‘Your body is beautiful, Suzanne,’ he moaned against her. ‘Perfect and glorious.’
‘Cesare, I—’
He stopped her words with his firm mouth. ‘I do not want you to talk, only listen. You have skin as soft as a rose petal, a figure of Venus, beautiful drowning eyes, hair the colour of sunlight. You are—’ he seemed at a loss for words. ‘You are infinitely desirable, my darling.’
‘So are you,’ she admitted.
He gave a low sound of triumph before claiming her lips once more. She thought she would die from the pleasure she was receiving from those expert hands, although her own hands had not been idle. The buttons on the front of his white silk shirt were now all undone to reveal the dark hairs on his chest, and her hands and arms were inside the shirt against his warm skin. She could feel the ripple of muscle at his movements and revelled in his power, just loving the feel of him.
She felt bereft when he removed his lips once more, but did not move his body too, resting his chin lightly on top of her head. ‘You can feel what you do to me,’ he said huskily. ‘Feel the power this body of yours has over me. And you feel the same way about me. When I received back your gift I did not think that was possible.’
Neither had the receptionist. It had been the same girl who had handed her the gift and she had so obviously returned the same gift with just a message to give it to Conte Martino. Obviously she had done so.
‘I couldn’t accept it from you,’ she told him softly.
‘Not then perhaps, but now.’ His lips travelled from her earlobe slowly over to her mouth, tantalising her lips apart to ravish the sweetness within. ‘Mmm, that is good, so good.’
She nuzzled into his neck, loving the clean male smell of him and the tantalising roughness of his skin. ‘I could never accept something as valuable as that obviously was.’
‘Not even if you become my mistress as I once asked you to be?’ He carried on, not noticing the sudden stiffness of her body as she started to draw away from him. ‘You will come back to Venice with me and I will set you up in a house that is conveniently near to the Palazzo arid yet not near enough for you to feel any embarrassment.’
‘I—’ Suzanne licked her suddenly dry lips, searching his face for some sign of teasing and finding none. He Was actually serious! ‘Wh-what do you mean, Cesare?’
He laughed exultantly. ‘I want you to come back to Venice with me. I want to possess you, utterly and completely. You will love my country, it is old and sinking but has a grandeur of beauty not to be equalled. I will take you to the Piazza San Marco, to the Basilica, places all tourists love to see. And I will take you to the Lido—you will love the Lido, it is beautiful there and you can swim if you want to. Perhaps then you will gain some of the colour you have lost.’
She had lost even more during the last few minutes, her cheeks so deathly white that her eyes appeared like huge green pools. ‘I—’
‘You have been ill, I know. But I will help you to get better.’
She pulled away from him. ‘I can’t do what you ask, Cesare, I can’t!’
Cesare grasped her arms, forcing her to look at him. ‘I understand, Suzanne. Oh God, how I understand! But I can make you forget him. In my arms you will—’
She shook off his hold, her happiness of a few moments ago turning to a living hell. ‘Forget who, Cesare? What are you talking about?’
He ran a hand through his light-coloured hair. ‘Robert Thompson. I will make you forget how it feels to be in his arms, how his caresses arouse you. You will think only of me and the exciting things we will do together, the places we will go.’
‘As long as it doesn’t cause a scandal!’ she suggested shrilly.
‘That is as much for your sake as mine.’
‘You’re old-fashioned, Cesare,’ she said bitterly. ‘Lots of men keep lady friends nowadays.’
‘Like Robert Thompson has you? God, you have no idea how much I hate the thought of him touching one inch of you.’ He smiled with effort. ‘But I will put that to the back of my mind. Will you not come with me? You will never have to want for anything again, not anything.’
‘For how long? Until you tire of me? Until you find someone else you desire?’
‘Suzanne!’ he looked shocked. ‘What are you saying?’
‘No!’
‘But why?’ His eyes darkened angrily. ‘You cannot have this Robert, he must always go back to his wife.’
‘As you will once you marry.’ She glared at him. ‘I happen to be slightly old-fashioned about these things myself—I believe in marriage.’
Cesare’s face became a shuttered mask and he visibly withdrew from her, both physically and mentally. ‘I do not believe I mentioned marriage.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ she agreed. ‘I’m not asking you for marriage, Cesare, I’m not asking you for anything. I suppose I should feel flattered that you even desire me, but somehow I don’t feel anything but disgust. You have the wrong idea about my morals, the wrong idea completely.’
‘Think it over, Suzanne. Do not be too hasty in your decision. We could be happy together.’
She shook her head. �
�It’s not for me.’
‘You prefer to be Robert Thompson’s plaything? My God, what do you see in him! What does his wife think of all this? Does she know about you?’
‘For the last time, Robert has no wife!’ she told him savagely, hardly able to believe that a few short minutes ago they had been trembling passionately in each other’s arms. ‘I don’t know where you gained such an erroneous impression.’
‘I heard it from his own lips.’
‘I don’t believe it!’ Robert wouldn’t tell such a lie. He had accepted that she didn’t love him and he was too much of a friend to want to hurt her, Cesare must have misunderstood something that had been said. She only wished she knew what it was.
Cesare shrugged. ‘Believe what you want, I only know what I have heard. So you will not come with me?’
‘No.’
‘Then I will leave you to get this fresh air you say you are in need of. I am sorry if I have offended you in any way.’
‘You haven’t. I suppose I always knew you would suggest something like that. I even invited it.’
‘Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight,’ she echoed huskily.
* * *
‘What do you mean, you’re leaving?’ Celeste demanded. ‘You can’t just walk out on me like this!’
The two of them were lingering over lunch, although neither of them seemed to have much of an appetite. ‘I’m not walking out on you, Celeste, I’m merely going home.’ Suzanne had come to this decision during the long hours she had lain awake during the night, long hours when she could think of little but Cesare.
Celeste’s mouth tightened. ‘I won’t let you do it.’
‘Don’t be silly. You don’t need me here, you have Vidal.’
‘Vidal and I have argued.’
‘You—you’ve what? But why?’ She was genuinely upset for Celeste, believing that she and Vidal would be happy together.
Celeste shrugged casually, but Suzanne could tell she was more worried by this argument than she cared to admit. ‘I should have realised it had all happened too quickly. I’m not usually so impulsive. But anyway, it’s over now.’
‘Over? But—but it can’t be! What happened?’
‘Oh, he told Cesare this morning that we intended marrying, and apparently the haughty Conte flipped his lid. He really laid down the law, said it was too soon, that Vidal was making a mistake thinking of marrying someone like me.’
‘So? You expected a certain amount of opposition.’
‘Of course I did, but I didn’t expect Vidal to baulk at the first hurdle,’ Celeste said in disgust. ‘I don’t want to marry someone who can’t even stand up to his own brother.’
‘I wouldn’t have thought Cesare’s approval Would have mattered to Vidal, he doesn’t seem to like him very much.’
‘That’s all a front. He actually admires his brother very much. Hating him has just become a habit with him.’
‘It didn’t sound that way when he spoke to me.’
‘Well, it is. So, I’ve called a halt to the marriage plans.’
‘But you can’t really mean it, Celeste. I’ve seen the two of you together. You love him, I know you do.’
A flicker of pain crossed Celeste’s face before it was quickly masked. ‘Love!’ she scoffed. ‘I let it cloud my judgment for a while, but it won’t happen again.’
‘I don’t believe you. You can’t just turn off love because it doesn’t quite work out the way you want it to.’ Suzanne should know, she still loved Cesare even after all the things he had accused her of, and his insulting offer.
‘I can,’ Celeste vowed. ‘How do you think I survived the last few years? Well, I’ll tell you. I did it by turning off all emotion.’ She gave a bitter laugh. ‘I must have gone overboard when I finally allowed myself to feel. I don’t love Vidal, it’s just infatuation. He’s fun and I enjoy being with him. That’s all it was, all it ever could be.’
Suzanne knew Celeste was kidding herself, telling herself it was so because she didn’t want to get hurt. Poor Celeste! But who could blame her? Certainly not she; she knew what the pain of loving someone could be like, it was almost unbearable. Better to let Celeste believe what she was saying, although she had the feeling that once on her own Celeste would break down.
‘If you say so,’ she agreed.
‘I do,’ Celeste answered firmly. ‘So how are you making out? Have you seen Cesare lately?’
‘I’ve seen him,’ Suzanne admitted with a grimace. ‘I think that’s over too.’
‘Was it my fault? I did try to explain to him, but—’
‘He wouldn’t listen to you,’ Suzanne finished. ‘I’ve tried to tell him too, but it makes no impression on him. He thinks Robert is the married man in my life.’
‘Ridiculous! I can’t imagine why he should think such a thing. He said as much to me. Robert!’ Celeste made a face. ‘Hardly the sort of man to inspire that sort of impetuous feeling, is he?’
‘Now don’t be nasty, Robert’s a very nice boy.’
‘Exactly. He’s hardly old enough to be married, let alone be having an affair too. Cesare insisted that he heard Robert himself talking about his wife. I told him he was mistaken, but he said he even knew her name.’
‘He does?’ Suzanne raised surprised eyebrows.
‘Mm, Patsy or something like that.’
‘Patsy?’ Suzanne squeaked. ‘Did you say Patsy?’
‘That’s right. Is something wrong?’
Patsy! Cesare thought Patsy was Robert’s wife! Oh, no, she couldn’t believe it!
CHAPTER NINE
SHE would have laughed if she didn’t feel quite so much like crying. Cesare thought Patsy, a harmless cat, was Robert’s wife! He must have heard the two of them talking and come to completely the wrong conclusion.
‘Suzanne! Will you answer me? What’s wrong? Who is this Patsy?’
‘Patsy is a cat,’ she burst out.
‘A cat!’ Celeste shook her head. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘But she is.’
‘How can she be? Cesare is convinced that this Patsy is Robert’s wife.’
‘Yes, and I know how he came to that conclusion. But I do assure you that Robert is not married and that Patsy is no more that a Siamese cat. It doesn’t matter now, anyway. I know Cesare’s interest in me, and it’s no more than a physical thing.’
‘I don’t think so. Vidal said—’
‘Now don’t you start,’ Suzanne interrupted. ‘I don’t want to hear what Vidal did or did not say.’
‘No, you’re right, I don’t want to hear it either,’ Celeste wrinkled her nose.
‘I am leaving. Celeste,’ Suzanne said firmly.
‘This is ridiculous—you can’t leave me now!’
Suzanne stood up. ‘I’m not going to argue with you. I’m leaving with Robert when he goes today.’
Celeste’s eyes became stormy. ‘I won’t let you go!’
‘You won’t stop me,’ Suzanne said calmly before walking out of the dining-room. She only had a little of her packing left to do and a quick telephone call to Robert to tell him she would be accompanying him back to Manchester.
Her mind was firmly made up. The previous evening she had spent hours trying to decide what would be the best thing for her to do. Her heart told her to accept what Cesare was prepared to give, but her mind logically told her that this was the wrong thing to do.
Despite stating that she was an old-fashioned girl who believed in marriage she wasn’t sure that she could stand another face-to-face encounter with Cesare. She would probably launch herself into his arms and agree to anything he suggested.
So she thought it best to remove herself from temptation. There was a chance that Cesare would be returning to Venice in the near future, but it wasn’t a certainty. So it was up to her to leave. It wasn’t as if she could easily avoid seeing him; he was also staying at this hotel and so used the same dining-room as Celeste and herself.
‘Hello, lo
ve,’ Robert greeted her with a grin.
‘Robert!’ she smiled at him. ‘This saves me the trouble of calling you.’
He raised a querying eyebrow once he heard of her plans. ‘Running away?’ he suggested gently.
‘Certainly not! I—’ she broke off at the look on his face. ‘Well, perhaps I am. But what else would you have me do? Go back to Venice with him and be kept in luxury, but also be hidden from respectable eyes? I don’t think so, thank you, Robert.’
‘Maybe you’re right. I don’t—’
‘Suzanne!’ Vidal came into reception, not looking at all his usual self. His hair was windswept and disarranged, and he didn’t look at all sure of himself.
Suzanne hadn’t really spoken to him since she had learnt of his wedding plans. This hadn’t been intentional, she had just been too wrapped up in her own feelings for Cesare to indulge in casual conversation with the man she had once thought to love.
How immature she had been to think that just because Vidal looked as she had imagined her dream man to look that she would immediately fall in love with him. Oh, she had to admit that she had been very attracted to him, but one kiss from Cesare had put an end to all that.
In Cesare’s arms she came alive, her body aflame with pure longing arid desire. Now it was as if any time not spent feeling wonderfully aware of Cesare and his beautifully compelling hands was just time wasted.
Well, it looked as if she was going to be doing that a lot in future. ‘You look upset, Vidal,’ she said.
‘Of course I am upset,’ he said in disgust. ‘Celeste has called off the wedding and now will not even speak to me.’
‘Surely that was only to be expected, Vidal. When you can put Cesare before your own fiancée you have to expect trouble.’
‘But I did not—’ He glared ferociously at Robert. ‘I would appreciate it if we did not discuss my personal affairs in such a public place.’
Robert cursed himself for allowing this man’s damned arrogance to get under his skin. Arrogance seemed to be something the Martinos possessed in abundance. ‘Don’t mind me,’ he said stiffly. ‘I was just leaving.’
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