by Tara Pammi
“The only reason Gio told me, I think, is to give me hope. And he was right. After everything she did to you, that you could love that little girl so much made me hope, Raphael. It told me that I hadn’t made a mistake again. It told me that you could love me. And when Gio told me that you had reconsidered Allegra’s requests, that you had agreed to supervised visits, it made me fall in love with you a little more.”
“I did it after our fight, when I realized how much I had hurt you. Allegra and I hurt each other throughout our marriage. If there was any chance for you to forgive me, to love me again, I realized I needed to be a better man. For you, Pia. You bring out the best in me, cara mia.”
Pia felt as if she could fly, as if the happiness rushing through her would consume her.
Sinking her fingers into his hair, she pulled his head down and kissed him. His taste sent a familiar pang through her, released an incredible joy.
He loved her. He loved her. She wanted to shout the words to the world.
He pushed away from her, his breathing rough, his gaze still hurt. “Is this what you needed to talk to me about?”
She nodded, glad that he was talking, working through his emotions with her. “The first test was negative. Then I had some—” heat piled over her cheeks “—bleeding for a day. I thought it was my period finally. But apparently some women bleed even when pregnant. Finally I went to see a doctor and she confirmed it.”
He hugged her tight, so hard that for a few seconds Pia couldn’t even breathe. “And now? Has it stopped? Is it a danger to you or the baby?”
“No. I still can’t keep anything down, which is why I lost so much weight and I have to call her if anything happens.”
Raphael sighed. He should have been there with her. “When did you see the doctor?”
“The day after we...the day after everything fell apart.”
Lifting her into his arms, he sat down on a chaise and pulled her into his lap. His hands crawled to her midriff, and sure enough, he could feel the barely there curve of her stomach. A wash of contentment settled over him. “It has been rough on you?”
She nodded and burrowed into his chest. “I have been suffering through this horrible nausea. For a while there, I couldn’t eat even a cracker for fear of...” She cringed and he smiled.
“Will you forgive me? For not being there when you needed me.”
Smiling, she kissed his jaw and then his mouth. “Raphael, I love you from the bottom of my heart. There’s no need for forgiveness if you truly believe that you want to spend the rest of your life with me.”
“You still doubt me?”
The minx shrugged.
He pushed to his feet and carried her to the bed. He crawled over her, joy beating in his chest. “Then I will have to spend the next few months convincing you that I do. That without you, my life is barren, hard, cold.”
“Are you sure you aren’t talking about your bed?”
“That too,” he whispered before taking her mouth in a hard kiss.
His world for the first time in his life was complete. His family was complete. And he felt utterly loved for just the man he was.
* * * * *
Coming soon
BOUND TO THE SICILIAN’S BED
Sharon Kendrick
Rocco was going to kiss her and after everything she’d just said, Nicole knew she needed to stop him. But suddenly she found herself governed by a much deeper need than preserving her sanity, or her pride. A need and a hunger which swept over her with the speed of a bush fire. As Rocco’s shadowed face lowered towards her she found past and present fusing, so that for a disconcerting moment she forgot everything except the urgent hunger in her body. Because hadn’t her Sicilian husband always been able to do this—to captivate her with the lightest touch and to tantalise her with that smouldering look of promise? And hadn’t there been many nights since they’d separated when she’d woken up, still half fuddled with sleep, and found herself yearning for the taste of his lips on hers just one more time? And now she had it.
One more time.
She opened her mouth—though afterwards she would try to convince herself she’d been intending to resist him—but Rocco used the opportunity to fasten his mouth over hers in the most perfects of fits. And Nicole felt instantly helpless—caught up in the powerful snare of a sexual mastery which wiped out everything else. She gave a gasp of pleasure because it had been so long since she had done this.
Since they’d been apart Nicole had felt like a living statue—as if she were made from marble—as if the flesh and blood part of her were some kind of half-forgotten dream. Slowly but surely she had withdrawn from the sensual side of her nature, until she’d convinced herself she was dead and unfeeling inside. But here came Rocco to wake her dormant sexuality with nothing more than a single kiss. It was like some stupid fairy story. It was scary and powerful. She didn’t want to want him, and yet…
She wanted him.
Her lips opened wider as his tongue slid inside her mouth—eagerly granting him that intimacy as if preparing the way for another. She began to shiver as his hands started to explore her—rediscovering her body with an impatient hunger, as if it were the first time he’d ever touched her.dpg!
‘Nicole,’ he said unevenly and she’d never heard him say her name like that before.
Her arms were locked behind his neck as again he circled his hips in unmistakable invitation and, somewhere in the back of her mind, Nicole could hear the small voice of reason imploring her to take control of the situation. It was urging her to pull back from him and call a halt to what they were doing. But once again she ignored it. Against the powerful tide of passion, that little voice was drowned out and she allowed pleasure to shimmer over her skin.
Continue reading
BOUND TO THE SICILIAN’S BED
Sharon Kendrick
Available next month
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Copyright ©2018 Sharon Kendrick