“I see I must tell you everything,” he said, his expression grave. “There was an accident, as you were told, but there was more to it than that.”
“I knew it!” Suzanne exclaimed. “Dana’s not hurt, is she?”
“By no means. She merely became involved in a family quarrel through no fault of her own. It was clearly necessary to provide protection for her.”
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Dana?” Caryn demanded. “The one I know can pretty much take care of herself.”
“I would agree up to a point,” he answered with a wry smile, “especially now. But I did not know her that well in the beginning. Even if I had, the risk was more than I could allow.”
“More than you could allow? For Dana?”
Once more, he side-stepped the issue. “That is behind us. Now Dana has need of her friends. You are comfortable here, I can see, but you could be even more so on the island. You would have free run of the property, a village to explore, and a beach mere steps away that is as private as it gets.”
“And you’re offering all this to us—why? I mean, why not just bring Dana here where she’s supposed to be? Why rope us in on this deal?”
He took a deep breath because this was the crux of the matter, the thing he needed of them. “If she leaves, she may never return. If you come to her, she may stay for your sake if for no other reason. She could remain at least as long as your holiday lasts.”
Suzanne was watching him, her gaze penetrating. Then a smile curled one corner of her mouth. “You don’t want her to leave your island.”
“No, I just—” He lifted a hand and then let it fall. “No.”
“Well, well,” she said with soft intrigue in her voice as she swung to share a long look with Caryn. The two turned back to look at him again.
“Two weeks,” Caryn said while speculation sat on her severe features. “That’s all we had, and several days are already gone.”
“Perhaps an extension can be arranged,” he suggested. “It would cost you nothing, you understand, so your funds may last longer.”
There was more, though he prevailed in the end. But of course he had to wait in a frenzy of impatience while Dana’s friends showered, changed and packed. To expedite matters, he canceled the remainder of their rental on the villa and saw to it the total charge was billed to him. He wasn’t sure their luggage, so heavy it might have held iron bars, would not put them over the helicopter’s weight limit, but they made it by a hair.
The sun was coasting down the sky by the time they were airborne. Andrea, watching it descend, felt his heart sink as well. Dana had been virtually alone at the island for some time now. He would be lucky if she spoke to him when he landed. The last thing she would do was welcome him home.
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The first person to step out of the helicopter was a woman. Dana watched that careful descent with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. That was until she recognized the shapely calves, platform sandals glittering with sequins, and petite figure in crop pants and a lime green shirt tied under the bust. Those things added up to only one person.
“Suzanne!”
She almost stumbled on the steps as she pelted down from the terrace and ran headlong across the lawn. By the time she reached the helipad, Caryn had appeared, looking her usual svelte self in a black jumpsuit with a leopard belt. Dana caught them both in the same hug, holding tight. She hadn’t seen them since before she left the States. A time or two lately, she hadn’t been sure she’d ever see them again.
“What are you doing here?” she cried, releasing them as she saw Andrea waiting behind them. He looked more than a little harassed after time spent with her friends, which might have been amusing if she wasn’t so grateful to him. “How did you— I mean, I know how, but—”
“We were abducted,” Suzanne said with laugh. “Weren’t we, Caryn? Swept up and transported here by Andrea with hardly a by-your-leave. One minute were looking at each other and thinking he was crazy, and the next we were off!”
“He just came and got you?”
The question was directed toward Caryn, but she met Andrea’s eyes as she asked it. He appeared uneasy and a little flushed, as well he might.
“Just like that,” Suzanne said with a low laugh that held a trace of amusement. “He walked up to us and said he’d come to take us away.”
Caryn took Dana’s hands, however, swinging them a moment. “He said you needed us.”
Stupid tears burned Dana’s throat and rimmed her eyes, though she tilted her chin to keep them from falling. “That was—very thoughtful of him.”
“Wasn’t it,” Caryn said, shaking back her dark hair, though there was speculation in her voice.
Dana met the rich green of Andrea’s eyes again for a moment, but they gave nothing away of what he thought or felt. Still, it caused him to clear his throat and glance at the other two before he spoke.
“If you will pardon me, I will see that guest rooms are made up, and also send Tommaso for the luggage. Please make your way into the house, all of you, when you are ready.”
They watched him go. Dana because she didn’t understand what he was doing, the other two with unconcealed admiration.
“Oh. My. God.” Suzanne heaved a breathy sigh. “I’m not quite sure where you found him, Dana honey, but you did good! I do believe he may be the most gorgeous hunk of manhood I’ve seen in my life.”
Dana had to agree though she wasn’t entirely sure she liked hearing Suzanne say it.
“And he comes with his own private island. All I can say is wow. Wow. Wow.”
“We get it, Suzanne, he’s something else.” Caryn’s lips twisted. “Just what, I’m not sure yet.”
“What do you mean?” Dana knew she sounded defensive but couldn’t help it.
“Pay no attention to her,” Suzanne said with a wave of one hand. “She thinks he’s too handsome for his own good, as if there could be such a thing.”
Caryn didn’t bother to reply to that. “I don’t know that I believe his story, for one thing. Though I have to say you look as if being kidnapped agrees with you.”
“It wasn’t like that, not really.”
“No? Well how was it then?” Caryn linked arms with her and turned toward the grouping of lounge chairs on the terrace. “We want to hear all about it, every single second, minute and day.”
It didn’t quite come to that, but was close. Dana left out the more personal parts, though she feared, seeing the wry smiles exchanged by her friends, that they were able to read between the lines. Suzanne and Caryn asked few questions, but they were the right ones. They wanted to know if she was all right, if anything had happened they should know about or that she didn’t want. Also if they were intruding, or if she was all right with them being there.
Dana was glad to have them with her, of course she was. She was delighted Andrea had decided to share his island with them. She was pleased they were impressed by it, exclaiming over the Olympic-sized pool, the villa that commanded the island from its hill and the endless vista of the sea. She looked forward to showing all of it to them, also to long days of soaking up the sun and sea air. It was what they had talked about, dreamed about when they set out for Italy, though never in such a luxurious setting.
Yet the fact that they were at the villa was something of a mystery. She had no idea what Andrea meant by it. The two of them had said their goodbyes. What had been between them was over. They were supposed to go their separate ways instead of prolonging the agony.
What did he want from her while her friends were on the island? Did he intend to continue where they left off, making love whenever and wherever? Or would he become the perfect host, seeing to the comfort of his guests with no expectation of more.
It almost seemed it would be better if she was alone with him. She had grown used to speaking her mind whenever she pleased. It chafed her to be prevented from doing it now, also to be compelled by good manners and friendship to sit talkin
g of everything under the sun except the questions that burned in her mind.
Of course, Andrea might not intend to stay now that her friends were here. He could easily fly away and leave them on the island without explaining himself at all.
Tommaso, grinning shyly at the American ladies, came from the house to bring in the luggage. Luisa emerged to tell Suzanne and Caryn that their rooms were ready and they must feel free to rest before dinner, to swim or enjoy a drink on the terrace. The meal would be late by their standards so there was ample time for any of the diversions offered.
Dana went inside with the other two to see the rooms allotted them and make certain they had all that they needed. She might have stayed talking, but caught a glimpse of Andrea from the guest room balcony. He was leaving the house and terrace, walking down the steps toward the beach.
With a quick promise to join Caryn and Suzanne in the living room when they had freshened up, she went quickly back out, moving in the direction he had gone. Guaio, grooming his feet at the top of the steps, turned his head to watch her pass and then got up to glide soundlessly after her.
Andrea stood in the cove with his hands thrust into his pants pockets, staring out to sea. The last rays of the setting sun turned the white outfit he wore to shades of gold and rose, orange and bronze. It gilded him like an ancient Roman statue of the kind they painted to be life-like yet that were larger than life.
She paused for a moment, struck anew by the unreality of being there with him, of being in love with someone so alien, so different from anyone she had ever known or ever thought to know.
That was until Guaio twined around her ankles, rubbing against the legs of her jeans.
Until Andrea turned and saw her, and his lips curved into a smile.
“Everything is all right with your friends?” he asked, his voice deep and beautifully accented against the backdrop of the whispering waves.
“It seems so. They are most impressed and ecstatic to be your guests.”
“Even Caryn?”
Her smile was brief. “Even Caryn, at least underneath.”
“And you? You are happy?”
“I’m glad to see them, if that’s what you mean. It was incredibly thoughtful of you to arrange it.” She paused. “But I don’t quite understand. Why did you do it?”
He hunched a shoulder without quite meeting her eyes. “You were on your way to have a holiday with your friends when we met. You can do that as well here as in Positano. You said you were anxious to see them, and so I brought them to you.”
“Andrea,” she said with exasperation, “you can’t go around abducting women just because you think you know where they need to be.”
“No?”
“No! “ She had already answered him before she saw the smile that lurked in the depths of his eyes.
“But cara, your friends could not wait to join you after I explained everything to them. They were worried about you, so worried they were almost ready to go to the police. This makes it a good thing I went to Positano.”
“Maybe, but I could have set their minds at rest by going to them instead.”
His face turned grim. “You wanted to go.”
“I was never supposed to stay!” she cried in frustration at her failure to get through to him.
“Because I abducted you instead of asking you politely to come and stay with me? You are the only woman I have abducted, cara. You, alone. And I’m not sorry for it. You were safer here. Admit it.”
“Well, yes, all right. But don’t you see that makes no difference? I don’t belong here. I-I never did.”
“But you could if you wished it. This could become the house beside the sea for which your heart yearns.”
She was unbearably touched that he had been listening, really listening, when she spoke of that dream, also that he had remembered it.
She was also afraid to accept his meaning, so afraid she could be wrong.
“Andrea—”
“You wanted to leave here, wanted to leave me,” he went on with a hint of anger rising in his voice. “I thought you might stay longer if I brought your friends. It would give us time to know each other better, perhaps time to care.”
He had not wanted her to go. Her throat closed tight so it was impossible to speak as she recognized that much. She could only gaze at him while the wind ruffled his hair, teasing errant strands free so they fell forward onto his forehead.
“I know it has all been too fast, too furious with all that has happened. We are from different countries, different places, and different lives. You barely know me, and what you have seen has not been all that good.”
She made a small sound of protest, but he disregarded it as he went on. “I have been as you said before, arrogant and too fond of having my own way in everything.” He raked his fingers through his hair and then clasped the back of his neck. “Given time, I might change your mind, might show you more of who I am and how much we are the same despite the differences. But I can’t do that if you go away and forget me.”
“As if I could,” she said on a watery chuckle.
“It isn’t funny,” he said with a scowl.
“It is to me. Oh, Andrea, don’t you know you are unforgettable?”
He watched her for long seconds, his eyes growing darker while his face either changed color or else the sunset painted it. Finally, he said, “You are saying—does this mean you don’t mind staying? I am forgiven for going away today without you after saying I would take you with me?”
“Of course. I would have stayed earlier, you know. All you had to do was say you wanted me.”
“Oh, I want you, cara, more than I want life itself,” he said, taking a hasty step toward her. You are my tesoro, my heart’s treasure, my love who makes my life complete. Without you, I cannot live, nor will I try, not if I have to move heaven and earth to keep you beside me. Ti amo, I love you, Dana. I said this to you once, but you did not understand, and then—”
“And I have loved you from the moment you walked out of the mist on the coast road, Andrea. I love that you’re different, so very Italian, and even love that you are so arrogant and certain of what you want that you take it as a right. I love you, and want only to be with you.”
His face reflected the last light of the sun that was dipping lower into the sea as he swept her into his arms. He held her close and his kiss was warm, tender and filled with promise. And he did not let her go as he whirled with her over the sands with the wind in their hair and the night shadows gathering around them.
Until he stopped, lifted his head.
“Perhaps an evening swim, tesoro? You would like that?”
She would indeed, but saw the need to be practical. “Now? But what of Caryn and Suzanne waiting for us on the terrace? And what of bathing suits?”
“Your friends are lovely ladies, but I do not invite them,” he said with laughter shining in his eyes.
“No?”
“No.” His voice was firm. “Perhaps I will send for friends of mine, Italian heartthrobs so you would say, to entertain them while they are here so I may be alone with you.”
“Who told you—”
“Your friend Suzanne, who else? She thought it should be part of her entertainment while here, and I agree.”
“She would!”
“Yes. But for now, I see no need for suits for our swim. It is a private beach and almost dark. Do you not agree, cara?”
He was irresistible in that mood, or at least he was to her. He wanted her, only her, and that was all she needed. Smiling into his eyes with daring of her own, she gave him the answer he wanted. “Yes, I do agree. With all my heart.”
With a shout of triumph, he stripped off his shirt and flung it on the sand. His pants followed, and her shirt, jeans, and all the rest. He picked her up again and ran splashing into the sea while Guaio retreated from the water droplets and then sat on guard with his tail curled around his feet.
They cavorted then, free and a little
wild in their joy. He dove around her, sliding along her body. He cupped her, caressed her until she was breathless with need. He caught her, turned to his back and drew her along the firm, slick lines of his body with its faint abrasion of hair here and there.
“I will be our dolphin if you will ride, cara,” he said, his voice deep and true.
She smiled at the thought while daring rose inside her. Still, she hesitated. “I would drown you.”
“It is a chance I am willing to take.”
Irresistible.
“If you are sure.”
She eased upon him, taking him inside her. He was an amazing combination of cool and hot, though he was soon as warm as she was where she held him. He took her mouth, surging backward with her, staying afloat she knew not how as her senses melted away along with all consciousness of her body.
Once they sank beneath the waves, kissing still in the swirling blue depths. Rising again, they breathed and laughed, and he whispered in her ear, his smile against her face.
And free, beguiled and infinitely loved, Dana rode.
END
About the Author
Since publishing her first book at age twenty-seven, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Blake has gone on to write over sixty-five historical and contemporary novels in multiple genres. She brings the story-telling power and seductive passion of the South to her stories, reflecting her eighth-generation Louisiana heritage. Jennifer lives with her husband in northern Louisiana.
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Jennifer would love to hear from you! Other places to connect with her:
Website: www.JenniferBlake.com
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Twitter: @JenniferBlake01
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The Amalfitano's Bold Abduction (The Italian Billionaires Collection) Page 17