Protecting His Defiant Innocent

by Michelle Smart

  He’d listened without judgement. He’d held her. He’d comforted her.

  And then he’d shared the darkest part of himself with her. He’d trusted her with that.

  She couldn’t begin to describe what that meant. All she knew was that it meant everything...

  Her heart thumped erratically against her chest.

  Oh, Dio, Dio, Dio.

  This wasn’t good. This was bad. Very bad.

  She rubbed shampoo into her hair vigorously, scratching her nails into her skull.

  She couldn’t be falling for him. It wasn’t possible. She’d only known him for five days.

  That settled her.

  Breathing a little more easily, she squeezed conditioner onto her palm and spread it through her hair.

  This was her grief talking. Felipe had said so many times that her grief made her vulnerable and now she got what he’d meant.

  A bad case of lust mixed with his tenderness and shared secrets were clouding her feelings. If she’d met him in different circumstances she was quite sure she’d still want him but her feelings wouldn’t be so extreme. She wouldn’t feel that she was standing on the edge of a precipice, waiting to fall into terrifying unknown depths.

  Her grief, the situation they were in...it had all converged together to make her feel things that weren’t true.

  She wasn’t falling for him.

  She was still telling herself that when she hurried from the bathroom to her dressing room.

  She was still telling herself that when she was fully dressed, had packed her stuff into her case and joined him in the suite.

  And she was still telling herself that when he flashed her the smile that made her stomach melt into liquid butter.

  ‘My men are all in position,’ he told her.

  It was time to go.

  * * *

  Francesca stared at the sleek white jet waiting on the runway in the distance. ‘I thought we were going back on Pieta’s plane.’

  ‘It couldn’t get to us until the afternoon so I had one of my own flown over.’

  ‘I’ve always wanted to travel by private jet and now I get to go on two different ones in the space of a week? I’m being spoiled.’

  ‘You didn’t travel on the family jet when you were growing up?’

  ‘What family jet?’ she snorted. ‘There was lots of family money, enough for us to be privately educated and see a lot of the world, but the castello needs a fortune to maintain it...’

  ‘Your family has a castle?’ he asked with surprise.

  ‘It’s in the middle of the family estate. I thought you knew that?’

  ‘Pieta never spoke of it.’

  ‘I don’t think he liked it much. We used to spend summer holidays there but we never lived in it. Mamma found it too draughty. It’s currently hired out for corporate functions and to ghost hunters.’

  ‘Ghost hunters?’

  ‘It’s supposed to be haunted.’

  ‘Did you ever find a ghost?’

  ‘No, and I looked everywhere.’

  He laughed.

  ‘Daniele hid behind a gravestone in the cemetery once and jumped out on me, pretending to be a ghost, when I was about eight.’

  ‘He would have been eighteen?’

  ‘Yes. He was very mature for his age.’

  He laughed even louder and shook his head. ‘Your family has its own cemetery? That’s quite an unusual thing to have, isn’t it?’

  ‘And a chapel. Until fifty years ago it had its own priest too. All the family on my father’s side are buried there dating back to around the fifteenth century.’ She attempted a smile even though her humour had drifted away from her. ‘We buried Pieta next to my father. I suppose Daniele and I will end up there one day too.’

  ‘It’s a very different world from what I grew up with,’ Felipe said, thinking of the plot in the packed cemetery in the middle of Alicante he’d paid for his father to be buried in. ‘I can trace my lineage back only four generations.’

  ‘Have you looked into it?’ she asked, eyes lighting with curiosity.

  ‘My mother did last year. There was nothing exciting to be found so she gave up.’

  ‘There’s always something exciting to be found in the past,’ she insisted, ‘but it’s when people live in the past that there become problems. We have to respect the past but look to the future or everything stagnates.’

  ‘Speaks the voice of experience?’

  She pulled a face. ‘If generations of my family had thought to maintain the castello rather than close rooms off when they became uninhabitable, it wouldn’t be in the state it’s in now.’ Then she shrugged and gave an evil grin. ‘Still, if Natasha isn’t pregnant it’ll be Daniele’s problem now. Let him deal with it.’

  ‘Didn’t Pieta do anything to it?’

  ‘He got builders and local craftsmen in to repair one wing, which is the part that’s hired out, but...’ She sighed. ‘He never had the chance to follow it through.’

  The car had come to a stop beside the plane, which was ready for boarding.

  When they entered the cabin she stopped to take it all in, then nodded her approval. ‘It’s beautiful.’

  This, his favourite of his planes, was the closest Felipe had to a home, with a bedroom and fully functioning bathroom, dining and study area. He’d long ago decided that as he spent so much time travelling from one country to the next, he might as well do it in comfort and style.

  They took their seats either side of a mahogany table and five minutes later they were airborne.

  ‘I’ve just thought—aren’t James and Seb coming with us?’ Francesca peered out of the window as if she expected to see them flying up with jetpacks on to join them.

  ‘They’re staying in Aguadilla with my other men to prepare for our return on Saturday.’

  ‘What preparations are needed?’

  ‘Only the small matter of making sure we get you and four hundred thousand dollars of cash on and off Caballeros without you being kidnapped or the money stolen.’

  ‘Oh. That.’

  Oh. That. As if her safety meant nothing to her when it meant everything to him.

  ‘Aren’t you going to ask about any of the details?’

  She raised her shoulders with utter nonchalance but her tired eyes were steady. ‘Felipe, I am one hundred percent certain you will have every eventuality covered. I don’t need the details. You just tell me what to do and when, and I’ll do it.’

  Something warm flowed into his veins at this and expanded, his blood flowing thickly into his every crevice.

  People put their lives in his hands every day of the week but Francesca’s utter faith in him meant more to him than all those people’s trust combined.

  He’d put his life on the line more times than he could ever count in the past eighteen years, had accepted it from the outset as a part of his job. But for the first time he knew he would gladly, not just willingly, lay down his life if meant keeping someone from harm. Her. Francesca. He would have his legs riddled with bullets if it stopped her being hurt.

  And then the dreamiest of smiles crept over her cheeks. ‘You can always fill me in on anything important while you’re protecting me in Pisa.’

  ‘Protecting you in Pisa?’ he asked, raising his brow.

  ‘Of course. What if those men who have been following me decide to fly out to Italy and hunt me down? You wouldn’t leave me to that fate, would you?’

  Even Felipe, who saw danger in everything, had to laugh at the absurdity of the notion, even as his blood thickened to treacle.

  He’d planned to fly on to his headquarters in London after refuelling in Pisa.

  But...

  Did he really want to give up the chance to sp
end some proper time with this captivating woman, away from the dangers of Caballeros?

  He no longer cared that he’d broken his rules and given in to his desire for her. He was beyond that.

  He’d awoken with Francesca’s leg draped over his thigh, her warm body pressed against him, and a powerful erection. He’d had to drag himself out of bed when all he’d wanted was to roll her onto her back and make love to her again, this time properly and with the tenderness that had been missing from their almost angry coupling before he’d discovered the truth that she’d been a virgin.

  But getting her home to safety was his priority. Making love—if he was to make love to her again—would have to wait until they had the time and leisure to make it everything her first time should have been.

  They’d shared with each other intimacies that went beyond their bodies. That in itself should have been enough to stop him making love to her again too.

  In his younger years he’d had thoughts of settling down once his army days were done with but since Sergio’s death and his own discharge the only life he could contemplate was one spent alone. He’d learned to fend for himself in his childhood and be content in his solitude. For Felipe, it was the natural way to be. Those long dark days spent fighting his injury to be able to walk again had made him see that.

  But Francesca wasn’t looking for anything heavy either. Neither of them wanted a proper relationship and he’d already broken all his rules with her...

  In Pisa she wouldn’t be under his protection. It would be just them, two consenting adults enjoying each other in a brief window of their lives.

  For all his rationalising, it came down to one simple fact. He didn’t want last night to be their only night.

  ‘I can show you round the castello, if you like?’ she added temptingly, hitching her knees to snuggle more deeply into her seat.

  ‘Now there’s an offer I can’t refuse.’

  ‘And, of course, I’ll make sure to obey your every command.’

  ‘My every command?’

  She covered her mouth and yawned widely. Her sparkling eyes were getting heavier by the second.

  Dios, she was beautiful even with dark circles under her eyes.

  The throbbing ache in his groin had him tempted to carry her straight into his bedroom but the moment was interrupted by a member of the cabin crew entering the cabin with the tray of coffee he’d asked for when boarding.

  By the time she’d bustled out again, Francesca was fast asleep.

  * * *

  Francesca’s heart pounded as she led Felipe into the elevator that went to her apartment floor.

  He’d insisted on carrying her cases along with his own kit bag.

  She still couldn’t believe she’d found the nerve to invite him to stay with her. It had been the look in his eyes, the desire and tenderness she’d seen there as the jet had lifted through the clouds that had given her the courage.

  They both knew it was only until their return to Caballeros. It didn’t need to be vocalised. Neither wanted anything heavy or permanent.

  But now that they were here, she found her nerves shredding her.

  She’d never invited a man into her home before who wasn’t related by blood.

  Unlocking the front door, she took a deep breath. ‘Coffee?’

  He was staring around the apartment with evident interest. ‘That would be good, thanks.’

  She led him through to the kitchen, whispering a prayer of thanks to herself that the place wasn’t a complete mess.

  ‘I’m afraid I haven’t got any milk.’

  ‘Black’s fine.’

  ‘Give me a minute to call my mamma and let her know I’m back.’ Fortunately, her mother’s phone was switched off so she left a message to let her know she was home safely.

  She put her phone on the kitchen island and swallowed. Felipe’s presence in the large space seemed to have shrunk its proportions.

  ‘This is a nice place,’ he said, nodding approvingly. ‘Much bigger than it looks from the outside.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She poured water into the pot and tried to control the tremble of her hands. Her movements felt awkward and stilted, as if she’d forgotten how to use her limbs. ‘I can’t take any credit for it—it belongs to Daniele. I just rent it off him. At a discount rate,’ she added with the flash of a grin.

  ‘What happened to your independence?’ he teased.

  ‘I’m independent, not stupid.’ She strove to keep her tone light but it was so hard when she was massively aware that she was alone with Felipe in her apartment. Excitement thrummed through every part of her but the nerves were thrumming along with it. ‘Daniele’s got lots of properties. If he wants to rent one out cheaply to his little sister while she completes her education then his sister would be an idiot to say no. I moved in when I started university.’

  ‘You did your law degree here in Pisa?’

  She nodded and opened the fridge. ‘Oh. I forgot. I haven’t got any milk... I already told you that, didn’t I?’ She felt her cheeks burn to know she sounded like a bumbling idiot.

  He stepped over and closed the fridge for her then trapped her against it, his large warm hands curving around her hips, his fingers biting into her flesh, his spicy scent sending her senses buzzing.

  ‘Relax, querida,’ he murmured, staring down at her. ‘I’m not going to bite you.’

  And then his lips came down on hers and she was swept into a kiss of such intoxicating hunger that she felt utterly dizzy when he finally let her go.

  ‘Better?’ he asked with a gleam.

  ‘No,’ she answered boldly.

  With a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a groan Felipe dipped his head and kissed her again.

  Her answering sigh loosened the tightness that had been coiled in his chest since he’d awoken. When she sank into him and kissed him back with the passion that was pure Francesca, a feeling he’d never known filled his heart to replace it.

  How could he have ever thought himself capable of resisting her?

  Francesca Pellegrini was a woman like no other, an intoxicating combination of strength and vulnerability he would lay down his life to protect.

  Breaking the kiss, he took her face in his hands to gaze at her.

  Light brown eyes shone back at him, then she took his hands from her cheeks and, holding them tightly, stepped backwards, taking him with her, her gaze not leaving his as she guided him back into the living room and through to her bedroom.

  The shutters were closed, sunlight shining through a few of the slats to bring some relief to the duskiness, but he took no notice of anything else as she led him to large bed abounding with soft pillows and lay back on it.

  So quickly he had no memory of his feet moving, he was on top of her, pinning her down with his hands holding hers tightly either side of her face, drinking in the beauty of what lay beneath him.

  And then he kissed her. Slowly. Deeply. Relishing the softness of her lips. Breathing in the sweetness of her taste and her jasmine perfume.

  When he pulled away to stare again she smiled and placed a hand on his cheek, rubbing the palm over the bristles of his beard, then raised her head to kiss him.

  Her hands moved from his face to his neck and to the collar of his shirt. Her fingers played with the buttons with such clumsiness he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed her lack of experience that first time.

  He put his hands to her waist and raised her up so they were both propped up facing the other.

  Not a word was said.

  Not a word needed to be said. Everything she wanted to say was right there in her eyes and from the expression in them she was reading his as well as he read hers.

  Taking her hand, he placed it to his chest and held it there.

 
Had his heart ever beat as strongly?

  Eyes now screwed with concentration she tentatively, but with growing confidence, unbuttoned his shirt until it fell open and he could shrug it off.

  Now her eyes dilated and she pressed a kiss to the base of his neck and rubbed her cheek against his skin. Her gentle hands moved slowly across his chest, exploring him. He closed his eyes at the sensation of her touch firing through his veins.

  His breathing became ragged as her fingers drifted down to his abdomen and rested on the band of his trousers.

  She marked his shoulder with the gentlest of kisses while she found the button to his trousers and popped it open after only the smallest of fumbles.

  Last night he’d taken her in a madness of rage-filled lust. Now his desire burned as strongly as it had then but there was nothing else to compromise the thrills burning through him. Now it was just the two of them and the attraction that had been there from the very first look.

  He stretched up higher so she could unzip him without constriction and with heightened colour blazing across her cheeks she pulled the zipper down. Then she swallowed before pinching the edges of his trousers and pulling them down to his thighs, taking his underwear with it.

  Her eyes widened as his arousal sprang free.

  ‘Can I touch it?’ she asked tentatively.

  He’d never had a woman look at him—all of him—with such unabashed desire. But there was shyness too and the whole mixture was intoxicating.

  He brushed his hands through her hair as he’d spent what felt like for ever dreaming of. ‘You can touch and do whatever you like to me.’

  Francesca was certain he must be able to hear her heart beating. It echoed through her ears, a rhythmic thrum that was almost painful.

  Everything felt so different this time round.

  Yesterday, she’d been too full of hurt and fury to care about being naked in front of him.

  This time round she felt very much the virgin she had been.

  She could hardly believe he was here and that this was happening.

  Taking a breath, she raised herself to kneel too and lifted her dress over her head. Throwing it onto the floor, she then removed her bra and, with hands that now trembled wildly, tugged her panties down.