by Sarah Morgan
Izzy sat for a moment, wishing they could just take off again and keep flying.
‘That was the best thing I’ve ever done. And it’s the perfect thing to do for a control freak like you because you can fly yourself.’
‘You’re calling me a control freak?’ He helped her release her harness. ‘This from someone who has a Goal for the Day? Talking of which, what is your goal of today? Better let me know so that I can be prepared.’
‘To resist you.’
Astonishment flared in his eyes. ‘That’s your goal?’
‘Yes.’ Her voice was a squeak. ‘Since I met you I haven’t managed to make a decent work-related goal. Apparently the chemistry messes with my brain, so first I have to resist you and then I can get my life back on track.’ Izzy turned her head and stared at the amphitheatre. ‘So they built a massive arena in the middle of nowhere. Why would they do a thing like that? How did everyone get here?’
‘Izzy—’
‘No, truly, I just want to talk about something else.’ She brushed her hair away from her face, wilting in the heat. ‘And if you could be boring that would be extra helpful.’
‘I’ll do my best.’ His low drawl played havoc with her nerve endings and as they walked up a narrow path towards the amphitheatre she gave herself a stern talking to.
She could not afford to be distracted by a man who had what it took to break her heart. It had been bad enough after Brian and he’d been a complete wimp.
‘So to answer your question, the amphitheatre wasn’t always in the middle of nowhere.’ His eyes were concealed by a pair of sunglasses, but with or without dark glasses he was a man who commanded attention. ‘There was originally a city here, but nothing remains now. It was built by an occupying Roman force to house their gladiatorial games.’ He continued to tell her about the history and she tried hard to be bored but instead she was fascinated. And so were the people around them when it gradually dawned on the throngs of tourists that they had royalty in their midst.
Apparently oblivious to the buzzing excitement created by his presence, he strode towards a group of men waiting by the main entrance to the amphitheatre. Watching the exchange, Izzy realised that his role in the project was far more than just that of a figurehead.
He talked briefly to someone he introduced as the technical director and then to the systems technician before guiding Izzy through a stone archway.
The sheer scope of the ancient building was breathtaking, the seating rising upwards from an oval arena that shimmered under the hot sunshine. It was all too easy to imagine the sweat and fear of the gladiators as they prepared to fight to the death in front of an enormous crowd.
Izzy shivered. ‘So they’re going to rehearse here tonight?’
‘Not a full technical rehearsal. They just want to try out some ideas. It is closed to the public from 6:00 p.m. this evening. The set construction and lighting rehearsals have taken place at an aircraft hangar at Santina Airport. Tonight they just want to play with some new ideas. The production manager and the lighting designer will be here soon.’
‘I’d never given any thought to how much planning goes into a rock concert.’
‘Lighting for this sort of live event is completely different from arenas or festivals.’ He kept the conversation formal but that didn’t alter the chemistry that pressed down on them like an invisible force. She noticed that he was keeping his distance. Not a casual distance that happened without thought, but a carefully contrived space, a deliberate barrier that emphasised the effort required to push back at what pulled them together.
‘And all the money goes to your charity?’ Izzy frowned. ‘So if you do all the charity stuff, what does Alex do? I mean, I know he’s the Crown Prince, but what does that mean?’
There was a long silence and Matteo stared across the arena. ‘It means that eventually he gets landed with it all. The throne and the responsibility.’
Izzy let out a long breath. ‘That’s pretty heavy. No wonder he’s enjoying his freedom. But presumably your parents think it’s time he came home and got on with doing prince stuff.’
His mouth flickered. ‘“Prince stuff” covers a broad range of activities.’
‘I’m starting to understand why the king and queen were welcoming to Allegra,’ Izzy murmured. ‘They think that if Alex is married, he’ll settle down and come home.’
‘They also think a royal wedding would be well received by the public.’
‘But the public love you because you spend your time raising tons of money for worthy causes.’ Having spent her life around selfish people and knowing that she was pretty self-centred herself, Izzy was humbled. ‘You do a lot for other people. I don’t do anything like that.’
‘I don’t have to earn a living. It’s different.’ He lifted his hand and brushed her hair away from her face.
Excitement shot through her and she wondered how such a simple gesture could have that effect on her. Her heart was banging against her chest and suddenly all she wanted was for him to kiss her again. ‘So now you try and persuade rich, influential people to donate to your charity. The articles I read said something about your skills at international diplomacy, which is basically saying the right thing at the right time, isn’t it? I don’t think I’d be very good at that.’
‘You’re probably right.’ His smile was faintly mocking. ‘You, Izzy Jackson, are a walking diplomatic incident.’
Remembering her behaviour the night of the party, she coloured. ‘I’m sorry I drank too much. I’m sorry I sang. I’m sorry I argued with you and forgot to turn off the microphone.’
‘I’m not.’ He was the embodiment of masculine virility, standing there with his jet-black hair gleaming under the Mediterranean sun. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe and her mind raced to all sorts of places it shouldn’t have been going.
‘Y-you’re not?’
‘If that hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have heard your voice or that song.’
She might have believed that was the only reason had it not been for the edge to his tone and the tension visible in his broad shoulders.
Deciding that they both needed distraction, Izzy shielded her eyes from the sun and stared at the top seats. ‘Are we allowed to climb up there?’
‘It’s hot. Do you want to?’
‘Yes. Although I might pass out. The only exercise I get is dancing and I haven’t been doing a lot of that lately.’ But anything had to be better than standing here waiting to be incinerated by the explosive blast of sexual chemistry.
Trying to outrun it she sprinted up the first few steps and was soon gasping for air.
Fixing her gaze on the top, Izzy ploughed on. ‘Must have been hell being a spectator here in Roman times,’ she panted, ‘but at least if I crash to the bottom I won’t be eaten by lions.’
Not even out of breath, he glanced at her in amusement. ‘I’ve never met anyone as determined as you.’
‘It’s one of my biggest faults. As a toddler I was determined to climb out of my cot and I didn’t give up until I managed it—and broke my arm.’ She flopped down onto the top step and tried to suck air into her screaming lungs. ‘I need to start using the gym or something. I’m full of good intentions but something always gets in the way.’
‘You think being determined is a fault?’ He sat down next to her, his leg brushing against hers. ‘I see it as a quality. Life is hard. Without determination it’s almost impossible to achieve anything. You have tremendous drive and focus.’
Izzy realised that despite all the empty space, they’d ended up sitting close together. He was staring down into the arena where the team was working but she sensed that he was no more engaged with what was going on than she was and the raw chemistry terrified her because she’d never felt anything like it before.
He looked at her at the same time she looked at him and that single wordless exchange intensified the feverish burning inside her.
Izzy’s limbs trembled. However powerful the attrac
tion, this was a man who didn’t give anything of himself emotionally and she’d be foolish to forget that.
‘Tell me about your relationship with this Katarina woman.’ The words blurted out of her before she could stop them.
‘How do you know about Katarina?’ His tone lowered the temperature between them by several degrees and she made a mental note that if she wanted to defuse the heat all she had to do was throw in a personal question.
‘I read something.’ She kept her answer purposefully vague and his jaw tightened.
‘You should know better than to believe what you read.’
The fact that she was desperate to ask if it was serious really unsettled her because she knew it shouldn’t matter. ‘Look—they’re waving at you. You’d better go down and see what they want. I’ll stay here.’
The next few hours passed in a whirl of technical preparations, most of which Izzy just observed from a distance. She imagined how it must feel to sing here in front of a crowd of tens of thousands of people. She imagined the darkness, the lights and the excitement of having that many people listening to her.
One day, she promised herself. One day she’d write something so brilliant that it was impossible for people not to take her seriously. And then she felt horribly shallow thinking only of herself and her own career when Matteo’s whole life appeared to have been dedicated to duty and responsibility.
She had no idea how long she sat there lost in her thoughts, but suddenly she was aware that he was back by her side and that the light had faded.
The tourists had long since left the arena and only the lighting technicians remained, preparing for the light and sound show that would take place the following night.
His knee brushed against hers and she gave a little shiver because even that minimal contact was enough to destabilise her.
‘Cold?’ His voice was rough and Izzy shook her head.
‘No.’ This time she kept her eyes forward. ‘Just imagining how it will be with a crowd of fifty thousand.’
He didn’t answer immediately and she knew he wasn’t thinking of the crowd any more than she was.
The urge to touch him was so powerful it was almost painful.
Hidden in the shadows of darkness while the lights played beneath them, Izzy couldn’t help herself. She reached out a hand towards him and was just a millionth of a second away from touching him when common sense gave her the red light. She was about to pull back when her hand was captured by warm, male fingers. And his touch felt so spectacularly good that she couldn’t pull away.
Crazy, she thought. Crazy to feel this way when the man was just holding her hand.
He pressed her hand to his thigh and her palm was trapped against hard male muscle. She felt warmth and power and excitement, and awareness slammed into her.
Suddenly she was holding her breath, wanting desperately for him to kiss her again.
And then his fingers captured her chin and he turned her face to his. For a brief moment she saw the blaze of raw passion in his eyes and then his head lowered to hers. The anticipation was so sharp it was almost painful. His lips touched hers gently, teased and tasted, and she gave a low moan because this had been what she’d wanted since that first night in the turret bedroom.
Her arms slid round his neck just as a beam of light tracked towards them, dazzling them both.
His head jerked back and he was on his feet. ‘Cristo!’
Izzy was dazed. How had they—? ‘That was your fault,’ she croaked, and he jabbed his fingers through his hair.
‘Maybe, but—’
‘Look, I don’t want it to happen any more than you do.’ As jumpy as a kangaroo, she shot out of her seat. ‘I have plans. Goals. Hot sex with you is nowhere on my list.’
In the semi-darkness, his eyes met hers and that look brushed every part of her until her skin was hot and her breathing shallow.
Izzy gulped. ‘I’m getting vertigo up here, so I’m going down.’
His hand closed over hers, his fingers warm and strong. ‘If you’re dizzy someone should hold on to you.’
‘Unless that someone is the reason for the dizziness.’ Her heartbeat going crazy, Izzy extracted her hand from his in the hope that it might help. ‘If it’s OK with you I’ve had enough of this romantic darkness. I’m going to go and stand in a spotlight. You should do the same thing. It might help me to focus on your deficiencies.’ Without waiting for his response, she picked her way down the steps as fast as she dared in the fragmented light.
It would have been so easy to lose her footing and plunge down, down, and part of her felt as if she was about to do exactly that. Ironically she managed the steps perfectly well but then lost her balance on the uneven floor of the arena.
Strong hands caught her as she stumbled and the next moment he’d swept her into the shadow of a stone pillar, away from the intrusive sweep of the lights.
Instead of releasing her, his hands tightened on her shoulders.
‘I have never wanted a woman the way I want you.’ His raw confession acted like a shot of adrenalin and suddenly her heart was pounding.
‘I feel the same way.’
‘I don’t like feeling this desperate!’ The words were dragged from him but even as he spoke, his hand locked in her hair and he powered her back against the nearest hard surface which just happened to be the pillar.
Trapped between rough stone and his hard body, Izzy barely had time to suck in a shocked breath before his mouth came down on hers and he was kissing her with such unrestrained sexual hunger that her body erupted in a burst of flame. This time there was no tantalizing exploration but a full on assault of her senses, the erotic stroke of his tongue deliberate and explicit as his mouth possessed hers and showered sensation over every millimetre of her trembling body.
She’d always prided herself on being in control of her responses but she’d never been kissed like this before and his expertise smashed down every feeble barrier until she was a seething mass of shivering, quivering desire.
Somehow his hands had moved from her hair to her bottom, trapping her against the hard heat of his arousal, and her arms were around his neck as they both instinctively tried to connect every single part of themselves. The sun had set hours earlier so the air had cooled, but their bodies were slick with sweat as they drove each other wild. Desire was thick and molten, dark and dangerous, unheeding of time or place.
His breathing was laboured, and as his hands slid beneath the thin fabric of her top she gave a whimper of encouragement and then jerked as his thumbs boldly traced the straining peaks of her breasts. On fire, Izzy moaned against the heat of his mouth but he was already ahead of her, dispensing with her bra with expert fingers and then employing those same skilled fingers on her sensitive peaks until the ache between her thighs grew almost unbearable.
A beam of light tracked towards them again and with a rough curse he shifted her further into the shadows, using the pillar to protect them from the intrusive beam of the spotlight.
Izzy moaned. ‘Someone might see—’
‘I don’t care if the whole damn Roman army is watching.’ His thickened tone was barely intelligible and then he was kissing her again, his mouth hard on hers, hot and hungry, the lick of his tongue a blatant prelude to an intimacy she craved as much as he clearly did.
She covered him with the flat of her hand and heard him groan.
He slid his hand under her skirt, his fingers finding their target with unerring accuracy.
Sure, clever fingers traced that secret part of her and the pleasure was so crazily intense that she would have cried out had he not already had his mouth on hers.
Drowning in an overload of sensation, she forgot everything except this. Here, behind the cloaking shadow of the ancient pillar it was just the two of them and the contrast between their private world, and the swirling lights of the auditorium somehow added to the intimacy. And it was intimate. What had started as a kiss swiftly exploded into something deeply p
rimitive as the fire between them burned through the restraints they’d imposed on themselves.
Izzy was so lost in that kiss, so focused on what he was doing with his mouth and his fingers, that it came as a shock to feel his hands slide under the flimsy barrier of her skirt and close hard over her trembling thighs.
They were both out of control. Both past the point of caring about consequences.
She was so desperate that even as a tiny sane part of her brain was reminding herself that they couldn’t possibly do that in such a public place, she felt his fingers rip the elastic of her panties.
Crazy excitement collided with shock.
Surely he wasn’t actually going to—
Oh, goodness, he was ….
Dark, intense and terrifying, it consumed them and drove them as they raced towards the inevitable like addicts with no thought to the past or the future. Izzy was a seething mass of sensation. Her pelvis ached, the explosive heat engulfing her as he explored her with erotic precision and careless disregard for their surroundings.
Quivering from head to toe, Izzy’s thoughts blurred. Part of her wanted to stop him, to point out that perhaps they should go somewhere more private, but another part of her was desperate for him not to stop and she wasn’t at all sure she would have been able to anyway. And yes, there was the extra thrill that came from being wanted this badly, by this man.
She felt him lift her and she locked her legs behind his back.
She felt his arousal—smooth, silken hardness against the soft flesh of her inner thigh.
The beam of light tracked towards them again, and again he shifted skilfully, avoiding its path without allowing the threat of exposure to distract him from his purpose.
He supported her easily, the muscles of his powerful shoulders bunched and, as he took her weight, his intention explicit in the deliberate shift of his hands.
Shock sliced through excitement as she realised he was going to take her right there—fast and hard, sex at its most basic, an expression of the most primitive human need—even as she acknowledged that her body was already going along with that, caught up in the same wild craving that was consuming him.