Married By Christmas Bundle: Anthology

by Carol Marinelli

  Unable to hold back any longer, his will-power and desire finally sent him hurtling upwards into a vortex of pleasure so profound that Cristiano sensed himself unravelling as though he might never stop. The sensation was like the most heart-pounding ride through dizzying white water rapids that he could ever imagine.

  ‘Madre mia!’

  ‘Are you all right?’

  The ravishing girl in his arms was looking slightly concerned, and Cristiano smiled at her wryly, thinking whimsically that she resembled a beautiful fairy princess from tales of myth and legend with her long rippling hair and bewitching eyes. She had certainly woven a spell around him… There could not be many men alive who would resist such shimmering and innocent beauty given the chance, Cristiano speculated.

  ‘All right?’ he answered, his glance gently mocking. ‘Do you know how you have made me feel? Estupendo! Wonderful! Like I could climb a mountain or walk the Great Wall of China non-stop without rest! You have made me a slave to your beautiful sexy body, Dominique, an addict for the taste of your sweet honeyed lips…And most of all…’ He sensed the catch in his throat as he coiled some of her dazzling hair round his fingers. ‘You have made me hungry for more!’

  I think I’m in love. Regarding the gorgeous sable-haired Spaniard who had just made love to her with all the passion and wild beauty that her wounded heart could ever have hoped for, Dominique had the stunning revelation that that same heart was even more vulnerable than she’d feared. Because it was too late now for regrets, or to rein in her emotions where Cristiano was concerned—even if he expected her to. And how was she supposed to stay here in his house, with his family, knowing that her love for him would probably never be reciprocated? That his heart belonged for ever to his wife and baby who had died so tragically?

  Anguished, she knew she had probably landed herself in the deepest hot water that she had ever been in—and that included becoming an unmarried mother. She’d thought she had found a safe haven at last from all the past hurt that had wounded her, and the thought that she might have to leave that haven practically as soon as she’d arrived made her feel sick to her stomach.

  All she could do was leave the outcome to a greater force than her own mere will. Learning to trust again was not something that came easily after what she had been through, but why not give it a try for once? she thought.

  As the moonlight beaming in from the open window touched Cristiano’s head and shoulders with an almost ethereal glow—and with Christmas just around the corner—she asked herself if there had ever been a better time in which to make a heartfelt request of the Divine?

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE sensation of a silky hirsute leg rubbing up and down one of her own bare legs beneath the bed-clothes caused Dominique’s eyes to ping open in heart-racing shock. Caught between the land of sleep and wakefulness, for a moment she forgot where she was.

  As the beautiful bedroom with all its fine antiques and luxurious furnishings came into view in the softly smudged morning light—instead of the shabby bedsit she’d grown used to—reality hit with a vengeance. And—more importantly—the reality of just whose leg was rubbing up and down against hers.

  Turning her head, Dominique came face to face with a pair of smouldering dark eyes that would warm up a statue on a freezing winter’s night. And right now, with the look Cristiano was giving her, Dominique was anything but an inanimate block of stone…

  ‘Buenos diás.’ He smiled, placing a deliberately sexy little kiss on her startled mouth.

  ‘I thought—’

  ‘What did you think?’ He cupped her face and his leg inserted itself silkily between her thighs.

  The melting sensation that made her feel like marshmallow was stealing through her body again, and Dominique struggled to give her thoughts voice. ‘I thought—I didn’t expect to find you still here,’ she admitted, and there was a husky cadence to the words that finally emerged.

  ‘Did you want me to leave?’ he asked, tanned brow furrowing.

  ‘No…It’s just that…’ Struggling to contain her embarrassment, Dominique sighed. ‘I thought you might not want anyone else to know…That we were together, I mean.’

  ‘Why would you think that? Do you imagine I am ashamed of being with you?’

  ‘No…But—what will your family think when they find out, Cristiano? What if they think that I deliberately—?’

  ‘Seduced me?’ he interjected, his dark brows wriggling comically like a pantomime villain.

  Despite her anxiety, Dominique couldn’t help but smile. ‘I just want them to know that I’m not some manipulative little gold-digger. I would die if I thought they believed that for even a second!’

  ‘If you were a gold-digger, do you think you would even be here right now? Do you not think I would have recognised that right from the start? You did not even want to talk to me when I first came to your flat! Much less try and get money from me!’

  ‘As long as your family know I am only here because of Matilde…because I don’t want her to miss out on having a family who really love her.’

  ‘I do not even have to tell them that…They can already see for themselves the kind of woman you are, Dominique.’

  ‘And they do know that I didn’t deliberately get pregnant to try and trap Ramón? It was an accident, you see. He—’

  ‘I do not want to talk about Ramón!’

  The anger in Cristiano’s voice as well as the tension that rolled off his body, made Dominique recoil for a moment.

  ‘I am only too aware of how my reckless cousin could behave. You do not have to draw me a picture! I am sorry if it hurts you to hear it, but it is a wonder he did not father many more children out of wedlock than just Matilde! Deep in her heart Consuela knows it too.’

  ‘It doesn’t hurt me.’ Her slender shoulders lifted and fell in a weary shrug. ‘Not any more. Please don’t be angry because I brought up the subject. I just want things to be out in the open…for there to be no doubt I’m here for all the right reasons. I was just afraid of what Consuela and the others would think if they found out we had slept together. You must understand my fears?’

  Driving his hand through his already tousled black hair, Cristiano looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘No one is going to think any less of you, Dominique. You will have to trust me on that. In fact, I know they will be glad that I have such a close bond with you. There is nothing to worry about. Truly. Now, come here…Have I not said that I will protect you and take care of you?’

  He dropped another lingering kiss on her softly parted lips, as if to seal his assertion, and a sigh of pleasure helplessly left her. But at the back of Dominique’s mind she wondered exactly what Cristiano meant by vowing to protect and take care of her. After making passionate love to her for most of the night, did he still view her welfare as something he was interested in merely out of a sense of duty and honour, because his cousin had made her pregnant and her child was a Cordova?

  Even though his arm was lying possessively across her middle, Dominique moved to push up into a sitting position. If the truth were known, Cristiano was probably just as commitment-shy as his cousin. Doubly so because of what had happened to his wife…Her stomach turned over in dismay. Her wish that there might be a chance for them to enjoy a proper relationship was probably just a foolish pipedream, and one she should quickly put aside unless she wanted to make herself thoroughly miserable. It was nearly Christmas, and she at least wanted the opportunity to try and enjoy the season in this magical place before she had to face any more heartbreaking reality.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I need to put the bottle warmer on for Matilde’s feed.’ She glanced down at the wristwatch she wore out of habit most nights. ‘She’ll be waking up soon.’

  Grasping the swathe of silken hair that spilled down over her breasts, Dominique started to swiftly plait it. At the same time, she glanced over to where her baby lay in peaceful slumber.

  Cristiano slid his arm coaxing
ly round her waist. ‘She is not awake yet. There is still time to wish each other good morning properly…sí?’

  His warm lips found the spot between Dominique’s shoulder and neck and his teeth nipped gently. Her treacherous body responded immediately, her breasts growing heavy and her nipples stinging with avaricious need to feel his hands and mouth there. But, as delicious as Cristiano’s seductive touch was, she knew she was going to have to distance herself a little today out of sheer self-preservation. Making love with him had left Dominique much more vulnerable to being hurt by him than before, when their relationship had been purely platonic… He had rocked her world to its innermost core, and the repercussions were already making themselves felt.

  ‘I’m a little…tender,’ she told him. It was no contrived excuse. Her lover had been mindful of her welfare, but at times passion had dictated he was not always as gentle as he might have been.

  ‘I am sorry if I hurt you, mi ángel…Forgive me.’ Cristiano’s glance was rueful. ‘Next time I will try not to be so demanding. But I cannot minimise the passionate effect your beautiful body has on me, Dominique…Not when every touch makes me burn for more and robs me of the desire and will to even get out of your bed today!’

  Thrilling at hearing him say there would be a next time, Dominique stored away the little bubble of joy that burst inside her and scooted to the edge of the bed.

  ‘I’ll go and sort out the bottle warmer, then get a quick shower before Tilly wakes.’

  ‘Very well.’ Behind her, Cristiano lay back on the pillows with his arms over his head, deliberately—or so it seemed to Dominique’s hungry eyes—not pulling up the sheet to cover his awesome bare chest, as if to show her what she was missing. ‘If you must desert me I will lie here until my other favourite girl awakes!’

  Everyone seemed in particularly high spirits that morning, and Cristiano was no exception. Being with Dominique and Matilde—or Tilly, as her mother so affectionately called her—affected him profoundly. Apart from arousing his deepest male instincts to take care of them both, just being in their presence lifted him out of the dour and humourless mood that for too long a time since Martina’s death had been an unhappily frequent visitor.

  Now, as he instructed the crew that were so carefully carrying the huge Christmas tree into the family living room as to where the tree should be placed, he found himself anticipating Dominique’s childlike awe when she saw it with mounting pleasure. And when he was alone again after the men had gone, and his mother, aunt, sister and Dominique were all in the kitchen, helping to prepare food for the family’s special ‘arrival of the tree’ lunch, Cristiano allowed himself a few moments of quiet reflection about what had occurred the previous night.

  In Dominique’s arms he had not just found the physical satisfaction his body craved, he had also found a woman who—although she had been badly betrayed—had not closed the door on being with a man again, and had given him a tantalising glimpse of what it could be like if Cristiano were to commit to her on a permanent basis. His nights would be filled with the most intensely passionate loving, he didn’t doubt. And his days—his days would be filled with thoughts of going home to her loving arms whenever he was away from her, and when he was with her he would not want for anything but her and sweet Matilde.

  The idea was temptation personified… Yet even as he considered it Cristiano knew a most terrible dark fear as well—the fear of losing Dominique and Matilde as he had lost Martina and their baby, and also Ramón, another family member he had vowed to watch out for and protect. What if he failed Dominique and her child as he had failed them? It did not bear contemplating. Cristiano knew he would be drained of everything if that happened. Every positive, hopeful aspect to his life would be gone. He had already been down one of the darkest roads of life, and he did not want to go down one as soul-destroying again. For the sake of his sanity he could not risk it. He simply could not…

  ‘Your mother told me I could come and take a peek.’

  The woman Cristiano had been contemplating with such passionate fervour arrived in the room with her baby in her arms, and the vivid blue eyes that could rarely conceal her feelings were already alight with wonder at the sight of the magnificent Christmas tree.

  ‘Oh, Cristiano! It’s so beautiful—and the smell of pine is just divine! But it’s so high! How on earth are we going to put the fairy or the star on the top?’

  His arm automatically sliding round her slender waist, Cristiano grinned, planted a loud kiss on the baby’s downy cheek and then did the same to her wide-eyed mother. ‘Some poor idiot will no doubt have to risk a broken neck to climb up a ladder and place it there—that is how!’

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘You may well say oh, señorita!’

  Unable to resist her adorable expression, Cristiano kissed Dominique again—only this time his mouth moved over her lips instead of her cheek and lingered there. They had the completely ravishing taste of vanilla and honey combined, and he passionately wished that he could take her back to bed and stay there for the rest of the day.

  ‘Cristiano?’

  ‘Hmm?’

  ‘I have a favour to ask…’

  ‘Of course.’

  At that moment Cristiano would gladly have given this woman the world if he could. Glimpsing both hope and excitement in her otherwise serious expression, he felt a flare of warmth fill his belly.

  ‘I need to buy some gifts…for your family. Would you be able to take me somewhere so that I could do some Christmas shopping?’

  He was about to easily agree when he remembered something.

  ‘Elena is going into town this morning…she mentioned it to me earlier. And we are having a late lunch today, as opposed to an early one, so there is plenty of time. You should go with her. She would be glad to take you, and it would be nice for you to spend some time together on your own. Matilde can stay here with me. Here…let me take her.’

  Having no qualms whatsoever about taking care of the infant he was becoming more and more attached to as the days went by, Cristiano put out his arms for the smiling baby. When Dominique released her, Matilde babbled away at him as though certain he understood her perfectly. After positioning her small body safely against his chest, he reached down into his back pocket for his wallet.

  ‘You will need some money,’ he said, taking out several notes and holding them out to Dominique.

  ‘No, I won’t!’ She looked aghast. ‘At least, not yours! I do have some money of my own, you know! Do you think I would seriously contemplate buying your family presents with money you gave me?’

  Knowing she had her principles about things—one of them apparently being to take as little as possible from Cristiano—he slowly and reluctantly returned the notes to his wallet and placed it back in his pocket. But, again, he needed to let her know that it was her right to be supported and helped by him.

  ‘I did not mean to offend you, querida…I merely wanted you to have what you needed without worry. Tomorrow, when I return to my office, I want you to come and meet me for lunch. Elena will bring you. When you are there I will take you over to the bank and set up an account for you to use straight away. I will also get you to sign some legal documents which will give you access to Ramón’s money and assets, which—as I explained before—you and Matilde are now entitled to.’

  She flushed at that, and Cristiano sensed the mental tussle going on behind those clear blue eyes about accepting something she perhaps believed she did not deserve. He personally knew plenty of people—especially in his line of work—who were definitely not possessed of such admirable humility when it came to taking what they believed was due to them. They could learn a lot from Dominique, he was certain… Frankly, it still astonished him that she expected so little from her baby’s father’s family.

  ‘Are you sure you’ll be all right with Matilde?’ Capturing the end of her plait and staring down at it for a moment, she obviously thought the whole situation was too awkward to comment
on further. ‘I’ve left her bottle in the kitchen with Consuela, and there’s also a bag with all her baby stuff in. Everything you’ll need is there.’

  ‘We will be absolutely fine…won’t we, pequeña?’ Gently he drew the pad of his thumb across the deep little cleft in the infant’s chin and grinned with delight when she grabbed his thumb and tried to chew it. ‘Just go and enjoy your Christmas shopping, and I will look forward to seeing you at lunch.’

  ‘All right…and thank you.’

  ‘You are most welcome.’ His gaze met and held Dominique’s with sudden unguarded longing and, seeing by her rapt expression that she felt the same exquisite demand in her body too, he willed her to go find his sister before he dispensed with common sense entirely and persuaded, even begged her to come back to bed with him instead…

  ‘It is very sweet of you to want to buy my family gifts for Christmas, but they really do not expect it, you know!’ Stirring her coffee, Elena studied Dominique with a concerned frown as she sat across the table from her in the small busy café.

  Glancing down at the two shiny carrier bags at her feet, Dominique sighed contentedly. She had taken enormous pleasure in spending the small amount of cash she had kept by for just this purpose, and would not be denied the satisfaction it gave her. The Spanish town was littered with the most individual and interesting little shops, selling everything from ceramics and lace to wood carvings and swords. The art of sword-making had not died out with their Moorish ancestors, Elena had told her. It still thrived today.

  Browsing alone for a while, when Elena had left her to do some shopping of her own, Dominique had loved the sense of freedom and excitement it gave her. For once she was anticipating Christmas with something close to joy. Apart from being with Cristiano, she would also be spending it with people who genuinely desired her and her baby’s company and cared about their welfare. The small, inexpensive items she’d bought would not bowl anyone over, but it was the thought that counted, and Dominique had wanted some way of saying thank you for the hospitality and total loving acceptance that had been accorded her and Matilde since their arrival.