Julia laughed but to her own ears it sounded brittle and unconvincing. ‘You! You flatter yourself!’
‘Do I?’ he murmured, his eyes flicking to her full mouth.
Abruptly, the atmosphere in the car changed. Julia drew her breath in sharply, wanting to look away but unable to tear her eyes from his lazy inspection of her face. She felt mesmerised, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car. Her lips parted and he raised his hand to trace the contours of her mouth.
‘Stop it, please, Riccardo,’ she mumbled weakly, and he gave a low, sexy laugh.
‘Sure. But only because I can think of better places for my finger to be.’ He removed her spectacles and placed them on the walnut dashboard, almost expecting her to pull away from him and not knowing what he would do if she did that. He didn’t trust himself to behave like a perfect gentleman.
‘Do you want to know where I want my hand to be?’ he asked softly, and Julia shook her head dumbly and muttered, ‘No.’
‘Then you’ll stop me, will you?’ He slipped his hand under her shirt and hooked his finger under her bra, tugging gently until her breast popped out, and without taking his eyes from her face, he stroked her nipple, feeling his own arousal surge as his finger grated over the tightened bud.
Riccardo buried his face against the side of her neck, nipping her skin until Julia thought she would pass out from the twin sensations of his mouth against her skin while his finger rubbed her sensitised nipple.
She wanted to drag herself away from this madness, but her brain seemed to be wrapped in cotton wool.
He was taking advantage of her, proving a point, proving to them both that the craving she felt for him was beyond control, but she was powerless to resist. As soon as he laid one finger on her, her body went up in flames, and her hunger for him fanned the flames until the only consuming thing in her head was having him.
She arched back with a shuddering sigh, and he bent to lick her stomach while his hand slipped beneath her skirt and he felt the soft flesh of her parted thighs.
She was certain that he would be able to hear the furious hammering of her heart as he nuzzled upwards until he found her nipple with his mouth and he began pulling on it, sucking her breast into his mouth as she caressed his dark, bent head. His exploring finger had now insinuated itself down under her briefs and began rubbing erotically into her, drawing her feminine moisture up to dampen the throbbing bud of her womanhood.
Twisting to her side, Julia groped until she found the zipper of his trousers and tugged it down, grappling with the button on the waistband and feeling a surge of satisfaction as he groaned and helped her in her efforts towards his rigid manhood.
As her hand clasped around it he groaned again, his breathing as uncontrolled as her own.
Had Riccardo been right? Had she only ever sought out the gentle, unassuming men because deep down she had felt that they were all she could aspire to? Unthreatening men who politely kissed her and fumbled with her body as though embarrassed at being in female terrain? Had she steered clear of aggressive, dominant males, men like Riccardo, although she had never actually met anyone quite like him, because of her own lack of self-esteem in how she looked? Surely not… Yet here she was, turned on and utterly incapable of turning herself off!
She only removed her hand to wriggle out of her under-clothes, scarcely believing what she was doing, eager to resume her exploration of his body. With a little shove, she pushed his head away from where his mouth was fastened to her nipple, nipping it and licking, and with her free hand she shakily undid the buttons of his shirt and ran her hand over his taut stomach before she flicked her tongue over his flat brown nipples.
This couldn’t be happening, yet it was. The windows were misty but she still felt her instinctive modesty kick in when he commanded her to sit on him.
‘I can’t! We’re in a car park,’ she gasped and he gave a low growl of amusement.
‘So what? No one’s around and God, I want you. Now!’
Julia wondered whether slightly built frames were fashioned for making love in small places. Or maybe her own frantic need was sufficient to expedite what he had demanded. Her skirt, twisted around her, barely hampered her lithe transference from her own seat to his and she felt the thrust of him in her with exquisite, searing pleasure. Every pore in her body was tingling for satisfaction and all modesty was thrown to the winds as he freed her of her jacket and ordered her to take off her camisole and bra for him so that he could see her as they made love.
She heard his sharp intake of breath as her breasts were exposed and felt a heady, dizzying wave of power as his eyes raked over her nakedness. She leant forward so that her breast dipped towards his mouth and slowly began to move on him, watching with heightened senses as his tongue flicked to capture her nipple in his eager mouth.
He slipped his hands around her waist and her movements quickened until they were soaring, beyond caring who might pass by and be curious at what was going on in the expensive Jaguar with the steamed-up windows.
Julia felt her shuddering peaks of excitement ebbing and rising once again, and then, drained, she fell against his broad chest, wanting nothing more than to snuggle into him and let her spent drowsiness take her away.
Riccardo stroked her hair. God, he had just had the most intense orgasm he could remember, and he could take her again. What the hell was this all about? He sighed, perplexed, and she straightened, her languid gaze focusing finally on his face.
‘My God,’ Julia whispered. She was suddenly aware of her state of undress and began to edge off him, but his big hands covered her hips, holding her firmly in place. He looked at her, then lowered his eyes to roam over her upper body. Her breasts were perfectly proportioned for her slight body, pert and upright, with big, rosy nipples. Just looking at them made Riccardo stir in automatic response. He reached out and inserted his finger under one, gently stroking, then he blew and watched her nipple tighten as it reacted to his breath.
‘Riccardo, no.’
‘You doubt that I could give a repeat performance?’ he drawled, catching her eyes with his. ‘Believe me, I could.’
She could believe him. Not only was he the epitome of virile man, but she could also feel him hardening inside her, filling her out. Julia could have stayed where she was, pleasuring herself in his rampant feasting of her body, but the niggling doubts that had been cast aside when passion took over were now making themselves felt.
They had just made love, but why was it, when she looked at him, that the last thing stamped on his face was love?
She slowly lifted herself from him and slipped back into her seat, reaching out for her spectacles, but instead of putting them on, she held them loosely on her lap.
‘What is it?’ he asked sharply, turning to her.
‘Nothing.’ Everything, she thought. She had just performed the most intimate act that could exist between a man and a woman but that was where the intimacy stopped. He had seduced her with his tongue and with his body, but not because he loved her or even cared about her.
He had talked around her accusations, had tried to make her feel as though she had misjudged his intentions, but now, when Julia thought about it, she realised that he had not denied any of the things she had hurled at him. He had not denied his intent to seduce her as a payback.
She bent over and began putting on her top, all too aware of her vulnerability as she struggled into it, her breasts dancing and almost hurting as his eyes raked over them.
Then she gathered the rest of her garments, shamelessly thrown off in the heat of passion.
Riccardo watched and waited. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know where this situation was leading. He knew where he wanted it to go. He also knew that to push his point would meet with a blank wall.
‘We really should go, Riccardo,’ Julia said.
‘You’re doing it again. Why don’t you say what’s on your mind instead of giving me your British reticence? We’ve just made l
ove and—’
‘It means nothing.’ It hurt to say it, but she had to. She had given herself to a charmer, to someone whose intentions were questionable at the best and downright cruel at the worst. She had ignored her better instincts and had melted at his touch and she was not about to put herself in line for his eventual gloating.
‘No, it means we gave in to a moment of curiosity…’
‘A moment of curiosity?’ Riccardo’s voice was grimly cold and Julia flinched, but reminded herself of what she meant to him. She was the woman who had sided with the enemy and deprived him of his child, she was the mousy, brown-haired sparrow to whom, as he had casually informed her at their first meeting, he could never be attracted. Because he went for blondes. Blondes like Caroline, like Helen, like heaven only knew how many other woman discarded somewhere along the way.
Blondes because maybe, for him, the only woman he had really ever loved had been blonde. Blonde, childlike Caroline, who had finally broken free of his invasive personality.
Julia felt a stab of jealousy and pain rip through her, leaving in its wake the shattering realisation that what she wanted from him was not just sex, but much more. Because what she felt for him was not simply physical attraction, but the dawning of an emotion that ran far deeper.
She steeled herself. ‘Sure. You’re a man of the world.’ She shrugged and continued to stare blindly out of the window, not trusting herself to look in his direction. She had already discovered, to her cost, what he could do to her with just a glance. ‘You know how powerful curiosity can be, and,’ she continued lightly, ‘you were curious about me. Angry as well, but curious too. Maybe because I am so different from the kind of women you’re accustomed to dating.’
‘And you?’ he asked softly, giving nothing away. ‘You seem to have explained my motives to yourself, so care to explain your motives to me? Or shall I follow your lead and just take a pot-shot?’
Julia would not succumb to arguing. He won every argument. He could twist her words into knots and leave her floundering.
‘Me?’ she mused, eyes still averted. ‘I was curious too, believe it or not. You were right. All the men I’ve ever dated, not that there has been a long line of them, have been just the opposite of you. Perhaps I was just curious to discover what a man like you had to offer…’
‘A man like me…’
‘You know…tall, dark, handsome, powerful, the essence of every teenage fantasy.’ She sneaked a sideways glance at him from lowered lashes and shivered at the icy expression on his face.
But she had to do what she had to do. To protect herself. Or else she would find herself as putty in his hands, taken and then discarded, and she knew that she was just not sophisticated or world-weary enough to deal with the heartache that would inevitably follow. What ingrained expertise and control she possessed was reserved for her working side. Her emotional side, as she was fast learning, was full of holes.
‘I see.’
‘We’re both adults, these things happen. I just think we should put it all down to experience.’
He could still feel the melting compliance of her body against his, could still taste the sweetness of her mouth on his own, and here she was, talking about putting the whole thing down to experience! Riccardo wanted to believe that fear and not reason was talking, fear at how he had made her feel, fear that she might find herself in the grip of a passion she could not control, but alongside that wish was a nasty seed of doubt. Julia Nash was not like the other women he had known. Of that she was absolutely right. He could not read her. He might guess at what went on in her head, but he could not be sure.
And he would certainly never run after a woman who spoke of curiosity and experience, even if his gut instinct was telling him to disbelieve what his ears heard and go only on what his eyes read.
His pride slammed into place and he turned on the engine, the tyres screeching as he manoeuvred his car out of its slot and headed towards the exit.
‘So we’ve both had an experience,’ he said mockingly, ‘and now where does that leave us?’
Julia had not thought that far ahead. As always, he was one step in front of her. She remembered they were still playing a game, still hanging on to the pretence that they were dating, so that he could have easy, frequent access to Nicola, until the time was right for their relationship to assume its natural course.
Her mouth went dry with apprehension. It would mean seeing him, being in his company.
‘Perhaps we should tell Nicola the truth now,’ she said quietly. ‘Tell her that you’re her father, and that way we can forget about this farcical pretence about going out.’
Riccardo laughed sardonically. ‘Oh, I see. The time is right now because it suits you, is that it? Now that your adolescent fantasies have been satisfied, you’re happy to break the news to my daughter, even if she might not be emotionally ready to accept such a revelation.’
He braked at a traffic light and she could see the harsh set of his face.
‘She knows you now. It’s not as if she’s seeing you for the first time,’ Julia argued.
‘She lost her mother only months ago, and the only man she ever regarded as a father figure. Suddenly, you intend to tell her that no, we weren’t going out, because I have appeared on the scene and she’s to accept me. And you think she won’t go scurrying into her shell? You think the trust she’s building with me won’t evaporate overnight?’
‘I’m doing you a favour!’ Julia heard the plea in her voice and felt a rush of panic.
‘You mean you’re doing yourself a favour!’ He glanced across at her, his black eyes glittering. ‘Well, it won’t work.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean that I am calling the shots here and I don’t think the time is right. Whether you like it or not, we’re going to carry on playing the devoted couple.’
He sped off from the traffic lights, barely hesitating as he manoeuvred along the streets and around roundabouts.
‘And how long do you think that is going to take?’
‘How long is a piece of string?’
Julia stared, unseeing, through the window and tried to imagine the agony of being in his presence and having to laugh and chat as though he had not rocked her to the very foundations of her being. Ironic insofar as that had been his intention, she thought bitterly. If only he knew.
‘In fact,’ he said slowly, ‘we can’t be too far away from the Easter school holidays. When are they, exactly?’
Julia gave him the dates, wondering what he had in mind. She had no need to ask the question.
‘It might be an ideal opportunity for her to get to know a bit of Italy. She could meet some of her relatives over there. Naturally, I would expect you to come along as well, to ease the ground, so to speak.’
‘That’s impossible.’
‘Nothing in life is impossible. Haven’t you grasped that that is my motto and one I have always stuck by?’
‘And what if one of us finds another partner before then?’ Julia threw at him. As far as she was concerned, it was a far-fetched notion but the only one she could think of that might put a spoke in the devil’s wheel, but far from seeming disconcerted he simply gave a dry laugh.
‘You mean, what if I bump into one of those blondes to whom I apparently have no resistance?’
‘I mean, what if I meet someone?’ Julia flung back at him, and a thick silence ensued, which she feverishly felt was laden with implied disbelief. God, he must have thought that he could snap his fingers and she would jump, because she was no stunner. And was it any wonder that he had felt that way? After the impression her mother had inadvertently given him? The impression of a retiring girl, housebound because of her duties to her five-year-old niece, who rarely left the house? No wonder he had taken her to a nightclub. He probably thought that he would show her a little action and perk her life up. In more ways than one! She gritted her teeth in frustration.
‘Oh,’ he said softly, ‘but how easy
is it going to be to go running back to your predictable line of sensitive, domesticated males? You yourself admitted that they are not the object of any woman’s fantasy…’
‘Why, you are so damned conceited…!’ Julia spluttered. ‘And that’s not what I said at all!’
Riccardo shrugged dismissively. ‘Besides, you are not at liberty to do anything with anyone at the moment. Your duty is at my side, holding my hand and putting on a very convincing performance for the sake of my child.’
She hadn’t realised how much ground they had covered and how quickly until the car slowed down and she saw that they were pulling into the short drive that led to the house, which was in darkness. She looked at her watch and realised, with astonishment, that the hours had slipped by. It was now after one and, strangely enough, she was not in the least tired. In fact, she had never felt more wide awake.
‘Which, I believe, will be tomorrow? To take both of you to the zoo? Where you will laugh and give every semblance of being thrilled to be in my company.’ He leant across to open her door and in the process his arm brushed her breasts, which tingled at the brief contact. She was certain that he had done that deliberately but Julia wasn’t going to argue the point. She pushed open the door and scuttled out of the car, almost tripping in her haste to get to the front door.
‘You needn’t see me in,’ she muttered, rummaging in her bag for the key.
‘I wouldn’t dream of driving off and leaving you on your doorstep. What kind of man would I be?’
‘The kind of man you’ve proven yourself to be,’ Julia retorted.
‘You’ve already admitted that you used me,’ he said coolly, ‘so perhaps, then, we’re better suited than you think.’
‘I doubt it.’
A flicker of something shadowed his face, but his voice was neutral when he next spoke, asking her what time he could come and collect them the following day.
Riccardo's Secret Child Page 10