Craving Her Enemy's Touch

by Rachael Thomas

  It was bliss and she didn’t want to wake and face the day. Their last day together, and after their night of hot passionate sex she wasn’t sure she wanted to begin the day. Birdsong drifted in through the open balcony doors and finally she opened her eyes to see the soft linen curtains stirring gently in the breeze.

  It was like a dream, her body still singing from the hours of lovemaking, and now she felt safe. Loved. It was something she could get used to, but she mustn’t. Thoughts of love drifted perilously close to the surface and she pushed them aside, aware something had changed. Deep down she wanted to be loved, but her disastrous engagement made that almost impossible. This is just a weekend affair, she reminded herself sternly as his arms pulled her tighter against him.

  ‘Would you care to join me for a morning swim?’ His lips brushed against the back of her neck and a flutter of butterflies took flight in her stomach. She closed her eyes against the heady sensation, ignoring her doubts of moments ago. It was still the weekend and still time to enjoy this affair.

  ‘I don’t have anything to wear.’ She wished she did. The pool had looked inviting in the morning sun yesterday, but the thought of Sandro in it too made it infinitely better.

  ‘Not a problem.’ He kissed her ear and whispered to her, ‘We are totally alone; nobody can see us.’

  She turned in his arms, her pulse rate leaping wildly at the thought of swimming naked with him. ‘Are you sure? No staff.’

  ‘No staff. Nobody except you and me.’ His words were heavy with accent and much more, making her body sing with desire she thought had long since been quenched.

  He pulled her against him but she pushed at his chest with her hands, delighting in the chance to tease him again. ‘I thought you wanted to swim.’

  ‘I’ve changed my mind.’

  In one swift move she leapt from the bed, the shock on his face making her laugh. Suggestively, she raised her brows. ‘Well, I’m going for a swim.’ Not wanting to pass up on the opportunity of such a luxurious pool, she rushed through the open balcony doors and down the stone steps that led to the pool. She glanced around briefly, checking they were as alone as he’d said, acutely aware she was still totally naked.

  Without waiting to see if he followed, she dived into the cool blue water, glided forward then broke the surface. The sense of freedom was immense and she struggled to comprehend how just a bikini could hinder the feel of water against the skin. Only a short time ago she had been asleep but now her whole body was alive, invigorated by the cool water and the prospect of Alessandro joining her.

  It was already warm. She swam to the end of the pool and, with her arms over the edge, looked out over Lake Garda as it stretched out below her. The sun’s morning rays cast a golden glow over the tree-covered hills and mountains and already she could see the ferries, like tiny white shapes on the water, as they started their daily cruises.

  Behind her she heard a small splash and moments later felt the water ripple against her neck as Alessandro dived in. She smiled but continued to survey the view, waiting with anticipation for him to join her. Her body trembled and her heart rate soared as she heard his strong strokes through the water. Then he was beside her, his arms on the edge, looking at the view too.

  Embarrassment filled her. Swimming naked was not something she had ever done before and yet here she was, naked in Alessandro’s pool. With breathing becoming difficult and her heart thumping hard, she needed to divert her attention, cool things down. She didn’t even dare look at him.

  ‘Stunning, isn’t it?’ She really couldn’t believe she was here, enjoying a weekend of total luxury with the sexiest man she’d ever met.

  ‘Semplicemente bellissimo.’ Whenever he spoke Italian she got shivers of excitement down her spine, but this time she was certain he wasn’t referring to the view and she turned to face him.

  Shyness rushed over her at her nakedness and the hungry look in his eyes. She tried to mask it with bravado. ‘Race you.’ Without waiting to see if he’d taken up her challenge, she pushed away from the side of the pool, propelling herself through the water before beginning to swim back towards the villa.

  Just as moments ago, she sensed him coming closer. Splashes of water landed around her as his strong arms carried him past her and to the end of the pool. His hand on the edge, his bronzed shoulders glistening in the morning sun, he waited for her to draw closer.

  ‘I should have known you’d win.’ She breathed out the words after the exertion of a brisk swim. Of course he’d win. She doubted he ever lost—at anything.

  ‘You shouldn’t challenge me, cara.’ His voice was mocking and, without thinking, she splashed water at him, laughing in a way she hadn’t laughed for a long time. ‘And you shouldn’t splash me either.’

  Before she could do anything more, he hauled himself out of the water and effortlessly sprang to his feet to stand on the side of the pool looking down at her. She couldn’t help but look at him and as her eyes travelled downwards shock set it.

  ‘You cheat!’ The words rushed from her as she took in the trunks clinging to him, water dripping from them. ‘You tricked me. You let me believe we would both be naked.’

  She hung on to the side of the pool, embarrassment colouring her cheeks. The smile on his face was too much. ‘I never mentioned that I would be naked. Now, are you coming out or not?’

  ‘Not.’ She pouted up at him then swam slowly away, knowing he would be looking at her body.

  She looked over at him as she swam, saw him grab a towel from a lounger and ruffle his hair dry, then stretch out on the lounger, watching every move she made. Her pulse rate went into overdrive.

  ‘Do you make a habit of this, Miss Warrington?’ His teasing question irritated her, yet made her smile too. He was playing games with her, toying with her like a cat did a mouse.

  ‘Swimming naked or passionate weekend affairs?’ She tossed the question at him as she reached the end of the pool, this time turning her back on the view of Lake Garda. There was a much more interesting view to take in now.

  ‘Both.’

  ‘I’ve never swum naked before.’ She pushed away from the side, this time on her back, revelling in the chance to tease him just a bit, making her feel that little bit more in control. She had never had an affair, no matter how long, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She was tiring as she reached the end of the pool again but didn’t want to come out of the water, not whilst he watched her so intently.

  ‘I’ve never had a naked woman in my pool before.’ His look was playful and the smile that moved his lips incredibly sexy.

  She looked over at him, liking the way the sun gleamed in his damp hair. His long legs were as tanned as the rest of him and she feasted on the image he created, adding it to the one from their first night together, storing it away. This would be a scene never to be repeated.

  ‘Well, that does surprise me. A man like you.’ She kept her voice light and flirty, trying to echo his mood, but her heart was racing as heady need spread through her.

  ‘A man like me?’ He leant forward on the lounger, placing one foot on the floor. ‘Just what is a man like me?’

  She wished the words unsaid but continued with her carefree tone as she slowly swam to the side of the pool, holding the edge in front of him and trying to hide her nakedness. ‘Don’t try to deny you don’t have women dropping at your feet.’

  ‘Only those who are looking for something I can’t give.’ The brusque words, in complete contrast to his sexy and carefree stance, made her smile.

  ‘Oh, and what’s that?’ she said, laughing teasingly at him.

  ‘Marriage and security.’ The air stilled around them and his mouth hardened just enough to warn her she’d strayed into dangerous territory. He sat back in the lounger again, as if to get as far away from the conversation as possible. Yesterday he’d
talked of the end of his marriage to his childhood sweetheart. Was that the reason he’d never settled down again? She could certainly relate to that.

  ‘And you don’t want that?’ She rested her arms on the side of the pool and looked at him, seeing an array of emotions flash across his face.

  ‘No.’

  The word was so final a chill slipped over her despite the warm sun on her back. She moved in the water, rippling sounds filling the heavy silence, but she couldn’t look away, couldn’t break the eye contact.

  ‘I totally understand.’ She did, but wished she’d kept that to herself as his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Oh, you know, once bitten, twice shy, as we say in England.’ She turned her back and swam away from him, not wanting this discussion she had inadvertently started. They should be enjoying their last hours together, not mulling over the past.

  ‘You shouldn’t hide from it, Charlie.’ She stopped swimming as he said the very same words her father often said. Treading water, she turned to face him and swam back to the side of the pool, wishing she was wearing something so she could get out—of the pool and the conversation.

  ‘Hide from what, Sandro?’

  ‘Love.’

  She blinked in shock, not quite able to believe a man who freely admitted to not wanting commitment would even use that word. ‘I’m not hiding from it. I just haven’t found it yet.’

  ‘And when you do?’

  She couldn’t understand where the questions were coming from. She’d made it clear she didn’t do for ever, so why channel the conversation this way? ‘My mother left us as teenagers, Sandro. She left my father, turning her back on us. I haven’t believed in happy ever after since.’

  ‘And the man you were engaged to? Did you love him and dream of living happily ever after?’ His scrutiny was intense and she hated the feeling of being trapped in the pool, forced to answer his questions.

  ‘Maybe I wasn’t ready to love after that.’ That statement stunned her and she blinked against the admission, realising the truth of it.

  ‘And if you were to fall in love?’ His dark eyes fixed hers and she clutched harder to the side of the pool.

  ‘If I was sure I’d found a man to love, one who would love me, then I might just think about for ever.’

  ‘So you’d get married?’ His voice rose in question and disbelief.

  ‘Marriage isn’t the only way to have love, Sandro.’ He furrowed his brows speculatively at her and she turned the heat on him, deflecting it from herself. ‘What about you—would you marry again?’

  * * *

  Alessandro looked down at Charlie, her wet hair slicked back from her face, highlighting the beauty of her eyes. She was stunning, but she was also talking of things he’d begun to question as he’d held her sleeping body against him this morning.

  He’d been adamant he was done with love, done with marriage, but such thoughts had begun to filter from the back of his mind. Images of him and Charlie, sharing love and happiness, lingered on the edge, hazy images that hadn’t yet become sharp and focused. Images that shouldn’t even be there.

  Just as he had done as she’d curled against him and slept, he wondered what it would be like to wake every morning, take her in his arms and kiss her awake. In just a few days she’d weaved a spell so potent he didn’t want to let her go. Because she still blamed him for Seb’s accident, he couldn’t ask for more—not until he cleared himself of blame in her eyes. And he couldn’t do that without telling her everything. And that would break his promise to Seb.

  ‘Your silence says it all.’ Charlie’s voice hurtled him back to the present.

  ‘With the right woman,’ he said truthfully. He had thought the right woman didn’t exist for him. His first marriage had been testament to that. Now the woman he wished could be the right woman had made it perfectly clear she didn’t want anything more than this weekend.

  ‘I hope you meet her then.’

  He watched as she pushed away from the side of the pool, once again swimming on her back, exposing her pert breasts to him. The water sparkled under the sun but it couldn’t detract from the beauty of her naked body as she swam. He was beginning to think he had.

  ‘Are you ever going to come out of that pool?’ Desperate to change the subject, he stood and picked up a towel. ‘You’ll be a mermaid before long.’

  She laughed and swam to the steps at the far end of the pool, her slim figure clearly visible in the water, unleashing coils of lust within him. Lust. That was all this was—all it could be. He had to keep that at the forefront of his mind when dreams he’d long since hidden away threatened to reappear.

  ‘I’m not mermaid material.’ Slowly, as if aware of his eyes on her, aware of the hot lust she evoked within him, she climbed up the steps. Water rushed off her skin as she stood at the edge of the pool, pulling her hands down her hair, scrunching it into a ponytail to wring the water from it.

  He couldn’t move, couldn’t take his eyes off her. Rivulets of water rushed over her breasts, down her stomach, and he fought hard against the urge to carry her back to his bed. She was so beautiful as she stood like a nymph with the morning sun glistening on her wet skin. It was like watching a film play out in slow motion as she walked towards him. Her angelic beauty stunned him into silence.

  Unaware of what he was doing, he walked towards her and wrapped the towel around her, pulling her close against his now dry skin, relishing the wetness of hers. His gaze met hers, her green eyes heavy with unguarded passion that made his heart thud.

  She reached up and brushed her lips over his and he closed his eyes as an intensity pressed down on his heart. Would he ever get enough of her? He knew the answer to that as her arms reached around his back, locking them together. No, he never would. She deepened the kiss, sending heat and need rushing through him again.

  ‘We should take this inside,’ he ground out as she pulled back and looked up at him. Her smile told him she knew exactly what she did to him and fully intended to continue the teasing she’d started as soon as she’d woken this morning.

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘One last time.’

  ‘One last time.’ He repeated her words and kissed her, drinking her in, wanting more than one last time, but she hadn’t set the boundaries for their weekend—he had and now he couldn’t take this any further. He was already guilty enough of abusing the trust Seb had placed in him. As soon as they returned to Milan he had to put their relationship back where it belonged. On a professional level.

  She pulled back from him and clutched the towel around her shoulders, although it didn’t hide her luscious body completely from his view. With a coquettish little smile she took his hand and led him back up the stone steps and into the bedroom.

  The sun now poured into the room, its rays falling onto the bed he’d hastily left after he’d heard her splash into the pool. The cream covers strewn aside, evidence of the hot hours they’d spent there last night.

  She dropped the towel as she walked towards him, the makeshift ponytail hanging over one breast sending a rivulet of water down her sexy body. He took in a deep breath, savouring every last detail about her. Her impatience was clear as she closed the distance between them.

  Before he knew what had happened she was in his arms, her body pressed hard against his, the torment of her nakedness too much. With an urgency he’d never experienced he lifted her from the wooden floor, her legs wrapping around him, only his trunks between them.

  He carried her towards the bed, the heat of her against his arousal almost too much. Gently he lowered her onto the bed, watching as she slithered up towards the pillows. He crawled up the bed after her, his heart pounding in his chest so hard she must hear it. He wanted her so very much and intended to make the most of these last moments as lovers.

 
With frantic moves he tugged his trunks down, kicking them away as his gaze held hers, then took one slender ankle in his grasp and pulled her slowly back towards him. Her eyes flew wide but her heavy breaths, which made her breasts rise and fall provocatively, drove him on.

  He moved over her, wanting to be deep inside her, to make her his one last time. He should be taking it slow but he couldn’t hold back any longer.

  ‘Sandro, stop.’ She pushed against his chest, the urgency in her voice breaking the mind-numbing lust which robbed him of all coherent thought. ‘We need protection.’

  ‘Maledizione.’ He shook with the effort of regaining control and looked at her face. With her eyes so wide and so green, all he could do was lower his head and kiss her. ‘Forgive me.’

  He didn’t recognise the hoarse voice that had said those words. Never had he lost control quite so spectacularly and somewhere deep inside he was thankful that at least one of them had retained some sense.

  He reached across to the bedside table and grabbed the box of condoms, tipping the last one out. Her words of moments ago floated back to him. One last time. He pushed the thought roughly aside as he rolled the protection on.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said shyly. ‘But we don’t want any consequences from this weekend.’

  He looked at her, realisation hitting him. There were already consequences from this weekend, though not in the form of pregnancy. The consequences for him were that he’d unwittingly given his heart away, fallen for a woman he shouldn’t even have had an affair with, let alone love.

  ‘You’re right, mia cara. There cannot be any consequences.’

  She kissed him gently, her lips so light and teasing, sending him almost over the edge. ‘None at all.’ Her words whispered against his lips and he pushed all other thoughts from his mind until he couldn’t hold back any longer.