The Wedding Night Debt: Christmas at the Castello (bonus novella)

by Cathy Williams

  She could taste herself as their tongues meshed. She reached down to hold him; he was massive, a hard shaft of steel that sent her senses spinning.

  But she wasn’t scared. She knew that he was going to be gentle.

  And she wasn’t filled with regret either. So what if this didn’t make sense? So what if he had offered her the way out she had asked for without the blackmail? He had told her that she could walk away and that she wouldn’t walk away penniless and she believed him.

  But walking away would have opened the door to, if not regret, then a life of wondering what this husband of hers would have been like in bed, what it might have been like to have touched him.

  No. She was doing the right thing.

  He cupped her breast and played with it, idly stroking her roused nipple while he remained kissing her until she felt like she was drowning.

  Then slowly, oh, so slowly, his hand smoothed over her stomach to cup the mound between her legs. Only then did he caress her down there, but so lightly that she had all the time in the world for her body to crank back into full gear, until she was throbbing and aching for more.

  She wanted to push his hand in deeper, but instead she twisted so that she could taste him.

  She’d never done anything like this before. She took him into her mouth and heard his sharp intake of breath as she began to lavish attention on the rigid shaft. She ran her tongue exploratively along it, sucked it, filling her mouth; cupped him between his legs and felt him expand under her attentions.

  This time, he was the one spiralling out of control, but he pulled back before she could do what he had done to her and bring him to an orgasm with her mouth only.

  Their bodies were slick with perspiration.

  ‘Don’t be nervous,’ he whispered as he settled between her legs.

  ‘I’m not nervous.’ She felt the thickness of his erection and shivered with a mixture of wild excitement and apprehension.

  ‘No?’

  Lucy heard the amused disbelief in his voice and some of her apprehension drained away. ‘Okay. Maybe a little.’ Though he was someone whose very being posed a threat—who could be daunting and intimidating; whose presence she had contrived to avoid as much as possible from the very instant she had overheard that conversation on her wedding night—she trusted him wholly and completely with her body.

  ‘You’re so wet,’ he murmured unsteadily, barely able to control his shaking hands as he blindly reached for protection in the little drawer by the bed, fumbling like an amateur. He nudged into her, feeling her tightness expand to hold him and fighting against a natural urge to ram himself in her right up to the hilt. ‘You’re going to enjoy everything I do...’

  ‘I already have,’ Lucy confessed honestly. She sensed him taking his time and knew that it must be difficult for him. She didn’t think that her husband was at all accustomed to taking his time with anything if he wanted it badly enough. It just wasn’t in his nature. But he was taking his time now, gently probing deeper, but making sure to ease out before continuing to penetrate her in little stages.

  ‘I like that.’ He whispered things in her ear, sexy things he wanted to do with her, that had her blushing to her hairline. With each nudge, her nerves dissipated until she was desperate to feel all of him in her, desperate for the surge of his formidable strength inside her.

  With the intuition of experience, Dio felt the change in her and offered a prayer of thanks because holding back was sheer torture.

  He thrust deeper and more firmly inside. Rearing up on both hands, unable to hold back any more as he gazed down at her small, perfectly formed breasts, Dio moved with assurance, building up a rhythm until each thrust took her closer and closer over the edge.

  Lucy had never thought that sex could feel so good. He’d been right. He had fitted into her as perfectly as a hand fitted into a glove; had fitted into her as though their bodies had been crafted to slot together. And now...

  Her fingers dug into the small of his back as he continued to thrust, deeper and deeper, until she felt as though they were fusing into one. It was indescribable.

  She hurtled over the edge in a wave of pure ecstasy. There was no room in her head for thought or analysis. Pure sensation took over. Every part of her body was on fire, soaring high, swooping thrillingly, until at last the crashing waves of pleasure became ripples and finally subsided, leaving her limp and utterly sated.

  She clung shamelessly to him as he withdrew. Her mind was still in a whirl. She couldn’t think straight; her body was tingling and burning and as weak as a kitten.

  ‘Enjoyed?’ Dio didn’t immediately feel his usual compulsion to vacate the bed the second love-making had come to an end but, then again, he told himself that it wasn’t every day he made love to a virgin who also happened to be his lawfully wedded wife.

  ‘It was lovely.’

  ‘Lovely?’ He gave a low growl of laughter and swept her damp hair away from her forehead. ‘I prefer sensational...’ And she had come to him without any pressure at all. Triumph made him heady with renewed desire.

  ‘So, I guess that now we’ve...made love...’ She shifted to disentangle herself from his embrace and he tightened his grip.

  It had been easy not to think when she had been caught up in the wonder of making love but now reality began to drip in.

  This was her first time and, yes, sensational was definitely the word to describe the experience. But for him this was all routine stuff. He had already given her a time limit of a fortnight, after which he anticipated getting bored, but perhaps she should establish a bit of cool and restraint herself. She’d acted like a limpet and the last thing she wanted was for him to get the idea that this strange situation was one that was out of her control.

  Out of control were her physical responses. But that was where it ended.

  She wasn’t the foolish romantic she’d once been. She’d toughened up.

  ‘Yes?’

  The low timbre of his voice was a drag on her senses. ‘Would you say we’ve put this thing between us to rest?’ She chuckled lightly.

  ‘What do you think?’ Dio murmured. He’d been prepared to do the decent thing and let her escape with the money she wanted but things had changed since that bout of decency. He curved his hand possessively between her thighs and felt the slick moisture between her legs.

  ‘You had your chance to fly away, my dearest wife, and you decided not to. Well, fair’s fair, wouldn’t you say? Ten days of happily wedded bliss and then we part company. Like I’ve said to you, Lucy, it won’t be a hardship for either of us...’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  LUCY GAZED DOWN as the plane dipped below the clouds and a vision of glittering blue water dazzled brightly up at her.

  Originally, Dio said, he had thought about taking her on safari but had decided that a week and half making love in the sun was a far better idea.

  ‘Why let some lions and elephants interrupt our journey of discovery?’ he had drawled, catching her eye and holding it. ‘Activity holidays are all well and fine but the only activity I want to do with you involves a bed and not much else...’

  Heady stuff, she had thought with a strange pang.

  The journey of discovery had not been the one she had contemplated in those giddy days before they had tied the knot. This journey of discovery would be a physical journey, and the only thing they would be discovering would be each other’s bodies, but she had been utterly unable to resist.

  After that first session of making love, they had made love again and again. Ingrained habit had propelled her out of his bed in the early hours of the morning but he had pulled her back to him and told her that he wanted to wake up next to her in the morning.

  She had stayed and they had made love again in the morning, taking their time.

  She found
it almost impossible to keep her hands off him but she had uneasily given herself permission.

  This was an arrangement of sorts, just as their marriage had been.

  He could disconnect and so could she. It might not be in her nature but the option of walking away felt as impossible as climbing Mount Everest barefoot.

  So the honeymoon that had never happened was arranged without delay. Given that he would then disappear off to the other side of the world to return to his high-octane life of big deals and even bigger money, time was of the essence for him, she guessed.

  He had his catching up to do before she was dispatched without a backward glance.

  They would be going to his place in the Caribbean. It was one of the few houses which Lucy had not had to personally see to as it hadn’t been used since they had married. It was not on the map when it came to entertaining clients. Townhouses and apartments in city centres always received a lot more use.

  ‘Excited?’ Dio snapped shut his computer and devoted his attention to his wife, now that the plane was about to land.

  He had worked for the duration of the journey even though he had felt her next to him, her floral scent filling his nostrils and driving him to the insanity of joining the Mile High Club.

  The sex was going to be explosive. In fact, he couldn’t wait to get her into bed again. If he had his way, they wouldn’t make it as far as the private beach that surrounded his villa.

  That said, he had no intention of losing perspective on this little episode, and keeping a firm hand on the situation was imperative. Raw physical instincts were all well and good provided they obeyed the order he had always imposed on himself. Work first.

  ‘I’ve never been to the Caribbean before,’ Lucy admitted.

  ‘Never?’ Dio was astounded.

  ‘In fact, we didn’t do a great deal of travelling at all.’ Because, she could have added, that would have been a little too much family time for her father to deal with. For them all to deal with, come to it.

  ‘You surprise me,’ Dio murmured. ‘I would have thought that you and your family would have been fully signed-up members of the playground of the rich club...’

  Lucy shrugged and said lightly. ‘Life is full of surprises.’

  ‘As I’m discovering,’ Dio breathed.

  ‘So...’ She dragged the conversation back to its starting point. ‘When you asked me whether I was excited... I am. To see the island and to experience island life.’ She had twisted to look at him and as their eyes met she felt a sliver of intense excitement race through her body.

  ‘Is that all that’s exciting you?’

  Lucy reddened. Her mind shot back to the intimacy of their caresses, the way he had made her body come alive, and she licked her lips nervously. He was probably accustomed to women praising him to the skies but, since she wasn’t one of his doting fans, she refused to do that.

  ‘Tell me about your house,’ she said a little breathlessly.

  ‘What would you like to know?’ Dio drawled, breaking off eye contact. ‘It was a celebration purchase when I made my first million in profit. Since then, I’ve collected a few more properties along the way, as you know only too well.’

  Because I look after them like an employee, Lucy thought. It was a timely reminder of their respective roles and the game they were playing and she was thankful for it.

  ‘And you’re right.’ She dropped her voice to a husky whisper. ‘The island and your house aren’t the only things I’m looking forward to...’

  Dio laughed appreciatively under his breath. This was more like it. The language of desire was a language he understood.

  He was barely aware of disembarking. His head was caught up in all sorts of pleasant images of what he intended doing with her the very second they reached his villa. He had made sure that the place was aired, cleaned and supplied with sufficient food and drink to keep them going for the duration if they decided not to venture out. He had a person out there fully employed, even though their only job was to make sure an empty villa was looked after and unused gardens were kept under restraint.

  All in all, he looked forward to smooth sailing and satisfying those physical needs he had foolishly underestimated over the past months.

  His remarkably non-existent libido in the company of other women, including women who had done their utmost to distract him, should have sounded a warning bell that he still fancied the hell out of his opportunistic wife.

  Life, as she had so succinctly pointed out, was certainly full of surprises—and, though never a man to enjoy the unexpected, he intended to enjoy this particular surprise to the full.

  And then...divorce.

  It made sense.

  He squashed the surge of frustration that greeted that thought. Divorce made sense. He had married her, yes—because he had fancied her; because he had come round to thinking that a wife would be a handy accessory; and, of course, he had taken the company, and to take Robert Bishop’s daughter as well had seemed fitting retribution for the wrong that had been done to his father.

  But life could hardly be called satisfying for either of them. He had not ended up marrying the woman he wanted to bed. He had ended up marrying a woman who had had her eye to the main chance.

  He would be well rid of her.

  Once he had cleared her from his system, which was what this little sojourn in the tropics would be about.

  The same, he assumed, applied to her.

  Having travelled the world, he was blasé about a lot. But now, as they were transported to his villa through small streets lined with the waving fronds of coconut trees, with glimpses of turquoise ocean glittering through the spaces, he had to admit that he had chosen a peach of an island on which to buy his villa.

  It was tiny. They could cover it end to end in a handful of hours.

  And Lucy...

  She was as eye-catching as the scenery, as was her enthusiasm. He had never seen her as excited as this at any of the grand houses which had been at her disposal. She peppered him with questions, face flushed, eyes wide, like a kid in a toy shop.

  How the hell had the Caribbean managed to pass her by? Wasn’t that one of the bonuses of leading a pampered life? The long haul, over-the-top holidays?

  How had family holidays passed her by? Unless Daddy had been too busy drinking and dipping his hands in the coffers to spare the time?

  After the gluey, uncomfortable heat of summer in a city, it was balmy here, with a breeze blowing lazily through the swaying fronds of the coconut trees, only just disturbing the exotic colours of the flora.

  In the twenty minutes it took for them to reach his villa, they passed three cars and many more people on foot. The economy was exclusively tourism-based, and every so often glimpses of millionaires’ holiday mansions flashed past, along with several boutique hotels. They drove through the town centre, which was colourful and without a single department store in sight.

  As soon as he had decided where they would be heading, he had got his long-suffering secretary to sort out a wardrobe. It would be waiting for them in the bedroom when they arrived.

  New experience, new clothes. Simple as that.

  ‘Wow, Dio. This is...spectacular.’ Lucy had never seen anything like it. The villa sprawled in gardens that led down to a private cove. Surrounding the entire house was a broad, wooden-planked verandah with pale, sun-bleached railings and, from the overhanging eaves, baskets of brightly coloured flowers spilled out in a welter of extraordinarily diverse colours. Coconut trees fringed the gardens at the back. She could just about make them out. In front, it was picture-perfect, from the blazing blue of the sky, to the ocean stretching out ahead of them seeming so impossibly close to the lush, tropical gardens leading down to the cove.

  She gaped.

  ‘I wish I’d been to this hous
e,’ she said a little wistfully. ‘It would have made a change from the city apartments and houses.’

  ‘You grew up in London. I took you for an urban girl.’

  ‘My mother’s family came from Yorkshire,’ Lucy said abruptly. ‘She was an only child but she remained close to her cousin after her parents died.’

  Standing next to her, staring out at the open ocean, Dio frowned at the sudden edgy tension in her voice.

  Was she having second thoughts? he wondered. She had certainly gone back to her formal dress, the suitable attire of a rich man’s wife. Slim, silk, loose-fitting trousers, a silk top, discreet items of gold jewellery, make-up.

  It irked him.

  He didn’t want to have a hot ten-day fling with the wife he had known for the past few months. He wanted to spend it with the girl he had confronted in that shabby building in East London.

  Was he being greedy?

  ‘So your family holidays were in Yorkshire...’

  ‘Mum and I used to go there often.’

  ‘And stay in the family home?’

  ‘That was no longer available to us. We stayed with Aunt Sarah.’

  ‘I see...’ He wondered where her slimy father had been when these trips had been taking place. ‘I don’t recall you disappearing off to Yorkshire after we married.’

  ‘Well,’ Lucy said lightly. ‘It’s not as though we were around one another twenty-four-seven. A lot of the time you were abroad and, when we were sharing the same space, well...’

  ‘Which makes it all the more special that we will be sharing the same space here...but in quite a different way...’

  Lucy didn’t imagine that long conversations were going to play much of a part in this ‘special way’ they would be sharing space. Considering she had always placed such a high value on the quality of the relationship that defined a marriage, considering she had sold herself short and made a horrendous mistake, she still couldn’t shake the simmering excitement at what lay ahead for the next ten days.

  Since when had she ever been interested in sex for the sake of sex?