“He seems fine. You know Mama will keep a close watch on him.”
Relief washed through her. She’d never be able to handle it if she was responsible for him having another attack. “Good. That’s good to hear.”
“In the meantime, Alex said you had an idea to manage this situation? Want to let me in on it?”
She opened her mouth to speak but no sounds came out. Her mouth dropped open more as she took in the sight of Rio striding from the bathroom, a towel slung low on his hips, his body still dripping with water.
She wanted to lick off every drop. Slowly. From the bottom and work her way up.
“Sarah? You still there?”
Focus, Sarah! “Huh? Oh! Yes. I’m here. I’m still ironing out the details.”
His voice was careful, yet hesitant. “Maybe you should run it by me first.”
“And maybe I shouldn’t. Bye!”
She hung up, her eyes still fixed on Rio who was approaching her. He leaned down, putting his hands on the arms of the chair, boxing her in. His towel slipped lower and gaped slightly, revealing his long, meaty thigh.
She wanted to fan herself again.
“There’s that look again, bella.”
His skin was still hot from the shower; she could feel the heat of him even without his touch on her. His nipples were so close to her lips. All she had to do was lean forward, and…
Focus, Sarah!
She sat back in the chair, the only way to get some feeble distance from his pull. “We should discuss my idea. About faking a relationship.”
That sinful grin was back. “I’ve got some ideas, too. For example, to fuck you in this chair, would I be able to spread your legs wide enough, or would I need to lift them up, so they were slung over my shoulders?”
The throbbing started, and her legs clamped together.
“Or should I turn you over, fuck you from behind while you’re on your knees?”
More throbbing. Definitely more throbbing.
God. How could he affect her so much? Usually, she was the one causing men to go weak, drawing them in and having her way with them. She’d never met a man with this power over her body.
She was surprised to realize she loved it. She’d never loved it before. She shouldn’t love it now.
She had to focus, take control of this conversation. “Maybe you should get dressed before we hammer out the details.”
His finger traced her lips. “Your lips move in the most delightful way. Did you know that?”
“W-what?” The word caused her mouth to pucker against his finger and he slipped it inside.
She sucked it automatically, tasting the clean, salty tang of him.
“Beautiful,” he murmured and withdrew his finger. It slid down her chin, then under it, then continued down her neck.
Her breath hitched. “St-stipulations. You said you had some stipulations.”
His finger moved along her collarbone, pausing at the top of her cleavage. “Yes, I did. Are you sure you’re ready to hear them?”
She nodded.
He stepped back and whipped the towel off his hips. “All right. Let’s get started.”
* * *
Rio caught one second of Sarah’s shocked expression before he lifted the towel to his head and started drying his hair.
When he shifted to drying his body, her eyes had taken on that semi-dazed look that he was coming to adore.
A look he’d caused.
He couldn’t begin to explain why that made him feel like such a…man. Just the idea of her—normally so confident and in charge—going fuzzy at the sight of his nude body made his cock twitch.
Something her eyes didn’t miss, either.
He grinned.
In the shower, he’d been thinking of her proposal again and the stipulations he’d require. One of them involved her body, but he had to know if she was amenable to it. Based on her current reaction, she just may be.
The month they’d spend together wouldn’t be all business. Beyond the physical, he was intrigued by her. He wanted to know more about her, what made her tick, where her strength came from.
He ran the towel carelessly over his arms, then tied it back around his hips. “So, where shall we start?”
“Huh?”
“Your plan?”
“Oh. Right.” She cleared her throat and straightened in the chair. “Right. Well, you mentioned some stipulations in the car?”
He nodded, a lock of his still-wet hair falling forward; he pushed it back with a swipe of his hand. “I do. I should say first that I think it’s a good idea. People do love a royal romance. It may be difficult, however, to fake that we’ve been together for some time already.”
Her eyes, which had been watching his muscles move as he’d lifted his arm, now swung to him. “You’re probably right. We’ve—at least I’ve—dated in the past few weeks and months, and the press have caught some of them on camera.”
He glanced to the side and thought back on his life the last several months. He had never dated seriously—couldn’t with the family he had, as they’d eviscerate any woman he was with, either emotionally, financially, or otherwise—so they’d be safe on that score. Casual dating was something else entirely, however.
He faced her again. “We don’t need to say it was a long romance. We can say we met and started dating, and only recently decided to make a commitment to each other. I haven’t been with anyone—or been seen with anyone—for at least two weeks. You?”
Her brow wrinkled as she thought back. “Um, I had a date last week. I don’t know if the press got pictures, but I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“Then a week. There must have been one party or charity event we both attended prior to last night; I’m sure we can find it. We dated casually. A week ago, we committed to each other, but to stave off the press we attended last night’s charity ball separately but were found out.”
“It could be plausible enough to fool people. I couldn’t lie to my family though.”
“That’s the difference between your family and mine, bella.”
“What’s that?”
“I fully intend to lie to mine.”
She looked momentarily stunned. “You want to lie to your parents?”
God, yes, he wanted to lie to his parents. “If we can fool them, there’s a good chance we can fool everyone else.”
She seemed unsure, but nodded. “Okay.”
“Faking it would mean we’d have to act like a couple.”
Her dubious expression didn’t quite fade. “Yes, I suppose so.”
He gave a wicked smile in warning before grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the chair. He plastered her against him. He was already semi-hard, something she couldn’t miss and something, he was realizing, he often was around her.
She was breathless and wide-eyed, and fuck if that didn’t turn him on more. “Vittorio.”
He brushed his lips against hers, barely a touch, and her body melted against him. Her hands came up to rest on his biceps, his hands fisted in her hair. “A couple in love would hold each other like this, wouldn’t they?”
“Uh-huh.”
He hid his smile against her neck and nuzzled. “A couple in love would kiss each other, wouldn’t they? On the neck.” He pressed a kiss there. “Behind the ear.” Another kiss. “On any inch of visible skin.” He worked his way along her jaw, to her chin, cheek, and again the faintest brush on her lips.
She mewled and pressed closer.
“Should we practice kissing now?”
“God, yes.”
At his chuckle, her eyes widened, and he laughed louder. “Didn’t mean to say that out loud?”
She shook her head, clearly wary of speaking again.
“I’m glad you did.”
Unable to resist any longer, he tilted his head and claimed her mouth.
The kiss was long, hot, and wet. He tasted the lingering coffee on her tongue, and that unique flavor that was all her. She was sharp
and addictive. She’d been that way last night, too. He was almost relieved that, in the light of day, he hadn’t imagined it. He hadn’t imagined the craving he had for her.
He pulled away. His cock was shifting under the towel, his breath was in sharp gasps.
Her breath was a whisper, more words not meant to be spoken aloud. “What do you do to me?”
“Only what you let me, bella. Always, only what you let me.”
Her breath caught, and her eyes cleared. “Oh.”
He massaged her head a little until she relaxed again. “What are you thinking?”
She licked her lips, and an emotion he couldn’t quite name was working in her eyes. Eventually, she spoke in a low voice. “That kiss didn’t feel fake.”
His body locked. He’d felt that way, too, but he never planned to say it. He wasn’t one to put himself out there, not with women. Yet…
Sarah was different from all the rest, wasn’t she?
“No, bella. It didn’t. It wasn’t.”
They watched each other for long moments before she stepped away. His hands fell empty to his sides, and he felt naked in more ways than one.
She cleared her throat, her eyes on the floor, her hand toying with the edge of her dress. “So. Fake relationship. What were your stipulations?”
She was talking about faking it again. They’d just shared a real goddamn kiss, just like they’d shared last night—a night she didn’t remember, he reminded himself—and she was making herself clear.
She didn’t want him.
She wanted an image of him—or, rather, an image of them together.
He could do that, couldn’t he? He’d been pretending, in one way or another, for most of his life. “All right.”
She gave him a sidelong glance, then looked away. “All right?”
“Sure.” He walked over to her, tilted her chin up. “But let’s get some things straight first.”
She swallowed. “Like what?”
“You want to fake it in the real world, I can do that. Be seen with you, go to events with you. But what we do together, when we’re alone? That’s between us. And that’s real.”
Her brows wrinkled. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“One of my stipulations: I want a physical relationship.”
Her body locked. “And if I don’t?”
“Sarah, I enjoy sex. I enjoy kissing. I very much enjoy both of those with you. A month—if that’s what you want—is a long time for me to go without either. Are you telling me that you, who seem to have as active a sex drive as me, don’t feel the same way?”
She frowned, considering, then slid on her smooth political face. “Fine. I can agree to that. But as I mentioned in the car, you’ll need to be at my disposal for the next month and attend events I need you to attend. Of course, I’ll attend things with you—business dinners or whatever—but I call the shots.”
Well, well, well. For all the control she lost in bed, she seemed to make up for it by trying to control everything else. The side of his mouth quirked up and he leaned closer. “That’s fine. You can be the boss out there. But when we’re alone, I call the shots.”
Her eyes popped wide. “Excuse me.”
“You’ll like it. Trust me.”
“I’m not going to—”
He cupped her nape and squeezed gently. “I’d never do anything you didn’t want, bella. Never. Not ever. This is not about that. You can trust me with your body. Everything I do to you, with you, is about pleasure for us both. If you remembered last night, you’d know that’s true.”
“But I don’t remember.”
“Then you’ll just have to trust me. Another condition, somewhat related: both of us remain discreet.”
“In what sense?”
“In the sense that we’ll both hear things—I’ll hear you conducting Vallerian business, and you’ll hear things from me as well—and neither of us will repeat them. I’ve signed your NDA, now you sign mine.”
She pursed her lips and nodded.
“Another condition—”
“There’s more?”
“My past is mine. I don’t need to reveal it to you. No doubt your family already knows—their ability to gather intelligence is legendary, after all—but I won’t share anything unless or until it becomes an issue.”
Her brows drew together. It was a look of concern he didn’t deserve, but she nodded again. It was possible she already knew, or her family did at the very least. There wasn’t anything he could about that, except refuse to speak about it.
“Well? Any more conditions?”
“Only that either of us can add more conditions later, if needed.”
“I can accept that.”
“Shall we shake on it?”
She glanced down at the lack of space between them, which would make a handshake difficult, then back up at him.
“Or shall we kiss on it?”
Her eyes dropped to his lips.
“A kiss then,” he murmured. “A kiss on the lips? Or on my cock?”
Her eyes shot down to his tented towel, then up to his eyes.
His eyes raked down her dress. “Or perhaps I should kiss another set of lips you have?”
Her eyes went to his lips again.
“Pick a place, my princess. We need to seal the deal.”
She glanced at the door, then jerked when the phone still in her hand vibrated. “I, I need to make some calls.”
She wanted him, but she wasn’t ready to trust him yet. He had patience. He could wait. “Then we’ll seal the deal later.”
He tore off his towel and let her gaze linger on his nude body again for a few moments.
Then he threw the towel at her.
It landed over her head, shielding him from her eyes. “You’ll need that if you’d like to take a shower. Unfortunately, the cleaning staff hasn’t been through yet this week, so I only have the one towel left. You don’t mind using the same one I used on my wet, naked body, do you?”
He heard a yip under the towel and smiled. He stopped at another section of wall, opened it to reveal a small closet, and began pulling out fresh clothes.
She slid the towel from her head and yipped again at the sight of him still undressed.
He walked back to his desk and dropped his clothes on top. “Do you need help with your dress?”
She clenched the towel like a lifeline and shook her head quickly. “No, um, no, I can manage.” She grabbed her suitcase, which the agents had brought up from the car, and disappeared into the bathroom.
He waited until he heard the shower start before he got dressed, just in case she changed her mind.
Sadly, she didn’t.
Chapter Four
Sarah spent an inordinate amount of time in the shower. His smell was everywhere, and it was addictive, to say the least.
God, what was she doing?
What were they doing?
Faking a relationship by day and then at night…well.
She couldn’t remember everything about last night. Just bits and pieces that only made her more curious about how they’d been together. She wanted him in bed again, so she’d agreed.
Control.
That’s what he wanted. He already controlled her body, even if he didn’t realize it. She’d never given up control like that before.
She’d never had a reaction like that to a man at all.
Being a royal in line for the throne—even fifth in line—meant controlling so many aspects of their lives. They had to look just so and act just so, and all of that took careful planning and preparation.
Control.
What they said, how they said it—all of it was important and so much of it was practiced. Last night, she’d finally let go a little and celebrated. Now, because she’d lost a little control, her job, her reputation, and her family’s and country’s reputations could be at risk. The stakes were suddenly and painfully higher when she also considered the role the Council could play in all this.
She’d always been discreet with her past relationships, whether they’d been just sexual or something more. The press may have pictures of her at dinner, or out with an acquaintance, but these pictures were different. The press almost expected those, given her past behavior.
Her plastered against Rio while they danced—or even kissed—those were new, different, and unexpected.
God, she’d been so stupid. She should have kept better control of herself last night. She should have drunk less, and kept her hands to herself, at least until they’d gotten back to his room.
There was no point in looking back. They could only move forward. A fake relationship would go a long way to soothing irritated Italian prime ministers and conceited Council members. She’d control the situation during the day and at night, she’d give up control.
Even though she didn’t remember what it felt like to be with him, she had a feeling she’d liked it. Her reactions to him could hardly mean anything else.
She’d never tried giving up control in bed before. Other men always wanted the princess in charge—in bed, at least—that was their fantasy, and she’d given them that.
Yet, she wouldn’t mind letting go for once, letting someone else take charge. Over the next month, she could see if it was something she liked and might want to look for after they parted ways.
She liked sex. She wouldn’t apologize for that. However, there were things she hadn’t tried yet, things she’d like to explore. She trusted Rio enough to try those with him. She wasn’t anxious about it, not with him. She was more nervous, tense with anticipation.
One month.
God, one month.
What had they just agreed to?
When she finished her shower and came out, he sat at his desk dressed in casual pants and a light, form-fitting sweater.
His eyes shifted from his monitor to her and he frowned. “Do you need a hair dryer? I have one, I believe?”
She shook her head. “It’ll be better if it air dries. Are you working?”
Sarah & Vittorio (Royals of Valleria #9) Page 6