Vieri's Convenient Vows (Harlequin Presents)
Page 12
Only when his eyes alighted on the scar that arced down one side of her belly did she falter, her arm instinctively moving to cover it. But Vieri lifted her hand, running his finger tenderly along the fine ridge of the scar tissue.
‘What’s this?’
‘A kidney transplant. Years ago, when I was sixteen.’ She spoke quickly, hoping that would be explanation enough.
‘You needed a kidney transplant?’
‘No, not me, Leah. I was the donor.’
‘Cristo, Harper.’ Vieri moved his hands to her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. ‘Has your entire life been dedicated to saving others?’
‘Pretty much.’ Harper pulled back to look into his eyes.
‘And now?’
‘Not now. Trust me, Vieri, this...’ She moved provocatively against him. ‘This is just for me.’
‘For us.’
‘Yes,’ she corrected herself. ‘For us.’
With a slow, sinful smile, Vieri reached to release the pins in her hair and Harper shook her head so that the loose curls tumbled over her shoulders, over her naked breasts.
‘You look...’ he swallowed hard ‘...incredible.’
His words brought a heady surge of power, stripping away any last inhibitions, making her bold, making her sure. Never had anyone looked at her like that before, made her feel like this before.
Her hands moved back to his shirt again, fumbling with the buttons until she was able to push the fabric apart, expose Vieri’s broad, muscled chest to her greedy eyes, her itching fingers. She placed the flat of her palms against the wall of his chest, revelling in the feel of his hot, hard skin, the brush of tight, coarse hair. His muscles flexed beneath her touch, his obvious strength and power thrilling her senses, tightening her core still further. She closed her eyes, letting herself feel the beat of his heart, picking up the rhythm with her own pulse that pumped the blood rapidly through her veins.
Vieri moved to shrug off his shirt, then dealt with the buttons of his fly, pulling off his trousers, along with his shoes and socks. Down to black boxers now, straining against the power of his arousal, he stood gazing at her for a couple of long seconds, silent apart from the telling rasp of his breath. Then, dispensing with his last item of clothing, he waited, watching her watching him. Harper’s eyes widened. With his naked body illuminated by the candlelight he looked like the embodiment of perfection in masculine form. So virile, so potent, so totally magnificent.
He reached for her again, sweeping aside the curtain of her hair and leaning forward to breathe against her neck, then plant a trail of hot, heavy kisses from below her earlobe to the base of her throat.
Trembling with anticipation, Harper felt his hands slide down her arms, over her waist, to the top of her thighs above her stockings where his fingers sensuously traced the bare flesh, circling inwards towards her very centre. Harper gasped, his velvet touch stealing her breath, clenching every muscle in her body, turning her inside out.
Her small step closed the space between them, trapping his hands where she wanted to feel them so very badly, at the very heart of her, the heat of her, her most sensitive core. But Vieri took his hands away, pressing them firmly against her buttocks, clenching hard to pull her against him so that the gloriously, shocking swell of his arousal pressed against her tummy. Harper drew in a sharp breath of shock.
‘For you, Harper,’ he moaned softly before covering her mouth with his own, kissing her tenderly, but with such possession, such need, that there was no doubting his intent. ‘Just wait one second.’
Pulling away, he crossed over to where his trousers had been discarded on the floor and, slipping his hand into the pocket, he brought out a foil wrapper. Ripping it open with his teeth, he turned to face her again, sliding the condom over his magnificent form with practised ease.
Then he was hers again, spanning her hips with his hands and lifting her effortlessly off her feet. Harper threaded her arms around his neck, Vieri’s soft Sicilian curse sounding like the most erotic word in the world as he moved them backwards onto the bed where he laid her down, his body held over her by locked elbows on either side of her head.
He kissed her again, his hand moving between them to trace the flimsy silk of her panties, before removing them to brush against her tight curls as his fingers found their way to her centre that throbbed, hot and wet and desperate with need. Harper squirmed into his touch, silently urging him on until one finger unerringly found just the right spot and he started a torturous, teasing, circular movement. With a wild gasp, she grasped at his shoulders to anchor him down, to give her more. He expertly increased the pressure until Harper felt herself start to shake, a tremor spreading through her body, taking her over completely. With a sigh she gave herself over to it, closing her eyes and drifting with it, shuddering more dramatically with each wave that rippled through her, dimly aware, but not caring in the least, that her small mews were growing louder with each blissful, clenching contraction.
Eventually she stilled as Vieri’s hand withdrew. She opened her eyes.
‘Sie bellissima!’
His lips closed over her mouth again as he repositioned himself until he was exactly where he wanted to be and with a deep, shuddering thrust, accompanied by a groan of pleasure, he was inside her.
She gasped out loud, the sharp twinge of pain holding her rigid, clawing her nails into his back.
‘Harper?’ Immediately he stopped, pushing himself up on forearms ridged with corded veins as he stared down into her face.
‘It’s nothing.’ Harper made herself breathe and the pain was gone, replaced by the most glorious sensation of fullness, of being joined, as she felt her tightness expand to hold him. She put her arms around his neck to pull him back down. ‘Really.’
‘Harper, if you want me to stop...’
‘No!’ That was the very last thing she wanted. She raised her head to find his lips, digging her hands into his hair. And after a moment of hesitation he was kissing her back, lowering his body, sliding further into her with slick, juddering sureness that felt more right than anything she had ever felt before.
He started to move, slowly at first, but increasing the speed with the rasp of his breath, his thrusts becoming deeper, faster, until Harper felt the dark waves of ecstasy start to roll again and, with a glorious sense of abandonment, she gave herself over to this most incredible of sensations. She heard Vieri groan, utter something low and primal in his native tongue as with one, last punishing thrust he shuddered his own release, deep inside her, before falling down to be wrapped in her arms.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
VIERI STIRRED, OPENING his eyes to see a shaft of moonlight illuminating the bed. He looked down to where Harper was asleep in his arms, her face buried in his chest so that all he could see was the tangle of auburn curls. His heart swelled. She looked completely adorable.
A strange feeling of pride came over him, a sense of peace. Closing his eyes again, he listened to her soft, even breathing, inhaling her unique scent, so different from his own, mixed in with the smell of flowers and candle wax in the room.
He had never expected to find himself here. At the start of yesterday he had been thinking about nothing other than getting the wedding ceremony over with, getting the day over with. He had been totally convinced that this was to be a union in name only, and a very temporary one at that. But as the day had worn on, something had shifted inside him.
Spending time with Harper, watching her talking to the guests, to Alfonso, always with that quiet charm, that easy grace, had made him realise just how exceptional she was. He had found his eyes following her around the room, seeking her out, an unfamiliar sense of pleasure stealing over him when she returned to his side. Jaco had soon picked up on the vibe, ribbing his old friend about getting a room, steadfastly refusing to accept Vieri’s account that this marriage was simply a means to an end. In fact it had been Jaco who had slipped the condom into his pocket, giving him a hug and muttering ‘just in c
ase’ in his ear before retiring to bed.
And, of course, Jaco was right. What Vieri felt for Harper went way beyond an appreciation of her social skills, or her ability to make his godfather happy. The idea that that was all it was was laughable. The simmering attraction between them had been there right from the start but slowly it had become more than that. It had become something bigger, more whole, affecting him on a deeper level altogether. He had refused to face up to it. Until tonight.
Tonight he could ignore his feelings no longer. Tonight he had been able to think of nothing else but taking her in his arms and making love to her. The attraction between them, both physical and mental, had become an all-consuming need that he had been powerless to resist. Suddenly he’d found himself asking why not? They were consenting adults. They were actually married, for God’s sake. What was to stop them enjoying one night together? And once that idea had taken hold, nothing was going to budge it.
And the reality had been better than even his overheated imagination could have come up with. Sex with Harper had been amazing. Special. Maybe too special. Vieri realised that for the first time ever the sexual act had actually meant something, gone far beyond simple physical pleasure and taken him somewhere he had never been before, deep into unknown realms of emotions that he hadn’t even known existed. It felt dangerously like losing control, but for this one night he was going to allow himself to live solely in the moment, enjoy the here and now. He wasn’t going to think, he wasn’t going to analyse what had happened between them, or indeed the fact that Harper had clearly been a virgin. Not now. Not with her nuzzled like this in his arms. He felt himself drifting off into a contented sleep but when Harper moved softly against him, his arousal, which had already half woken from its slumber, defiantly made itself known.
‘Vieri.’ His name, uttered sleepily from her open lips, only served to stoke the fire, and when she reached for him, pressing her full breasts up against him, winding her legs around his, there was only one possible outcome. One hot and sensual, deeply sexual and infinitely satisfying conclusion.
* * *
Harper awoke with a start. The room was very still. A watery, early morning daylight was filtering through the gaps in the old wooden shutters. Pulling the covers under her chin, she stared at the foliage twisted around the posts of the bed, the roses that had lost their just-picked bloom.
She was alone. She knew that much without turning to look or spreading out a limb to check. She could sense the space where Vieri had been, feel it with a twitch of pain, like a hole in a tooth.
He had gone. Screwing her eyes shut, she forced herself to get a grip, to ignore the clenching of her heart, the acute sense of loss, abandonment.
She had known the deal when she had agreed to go to bed with Vieri. One night of pleasure. That was what they had signed up for. And clearly that night was over.
She turned on her side, staring at the indentation on the pillow where Vieri’s head had been. Despite the sense of emptiness inside her, she didn’t regret what they had done—she could never regret it. Because making love with Vieri had been the most wonderful experience of her life. She had felt it; it had happened. She was irrevocably changed. And even though the bed beside her was empty now, nothing could take that away.
Pulling back the covers, she caught sight of the crumpled pair of white stockings, remembering how Vieri had peeled them from her legs, some time in the middle of the night. How they had made love again, with such passion, such tenderness...but without a condom. She recalled Vieri cursing with frustration, searching his pockets again, coming back to bed empty-handed. But the power of their passion had been too strong and neither of them had had the willpower to stop. Instead Vieri had insisted that he would be very careful. She just hoped he was right.
Picking up the stockings, she rolled them into a ball and tossed them onto a chair before heading for the bathroom and a long, hot shower.
* * *
She sensed something had happened the moment she stepped out into the corridor. At first all seemed eerily quiet, but as she strained her ears she could hear low male voices and as she started to descend the sweeping staircase the two men in the hall looked up at her. Friends of Alfonso’s, they had stayed overnight. Harper started to smile at them but her smile froze as she got closer and caught the sombre expressions on their faces.
‘My dear.’ One of them reached out and touched her arm. ‘I am so sorry.’
Panic clawed at her heart. ‘W...what?’
‘You...you haven’t heard?’ The two men exchanged a glance.
‘No, tell me, please. What has happened?’
Just then the door to the study opened and Vieri appeared, his face ashen grey.
‘Vieri!’ Harper rushed towards him but he seemed to look straight through her.
A man in a dark suit followed him out and together they walked to the front door, speaking in soft but rapid Sicilian. Harper watched in frantic silence as they shook hands, the man pulling Vieri into a hug, patting him on the back, before turning to leave.
‘Vieri! Please, tell me what has happened!’ She ran to him again, putting her hands on his chest to bar his way, to prevent him from walking straight past her.
Vieri stopped, looking at her for the first time, and Harper felt her heart contract with pain. His handsome face was taut with grief, his eyes the colour of dull stone. He dragged in a breath, as if having to speak to her was costing him too much, more than he was prepared to give. But eventually he found the coldly terse words.
‘It’s Alfonso, Harper.’ He averted his gaze, as if he couldn’t bear to look at her. ‘He’s dead.’
‘No!’ Harper choked on the word, tears immediately brimming in her eyes. ‘But how...when?’
‘Some time last night.’
‘Oh, Vieri.’ Harper stared back at him, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. He took several steps away from her, then stood tall and straight, as imposing as ever, but with every plane of his body rigid with tension. As if, were she to touch him, he might snap. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He angled his head, giving an almost imperceptible shrug, as if to say her platitudes were of no interest to him. As if she were of no interest to him. This man, who only a few hours ago had looked at her as if she was the centre of his world, taking her to unknown heights of ecstasy, stealing her heart, was now regarding her with something bordering on disgust.
But he was grieving. Taking a shuddering breath, Harper wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. He looked so devastated, so lost, that she thought her heart might break for him.
Her feet took her towards him again, the overwhelming need to comfort him blocking out all other emotions. Throwing her arms around his waist, she tried to hug him to her, but it was like hugging a block of stone. And when she crushed her head against his chest, her tears dampening the front of his shirt, it seemed as if his heart beating against her ear had slowed to a cold, hard thud.
He made an impatient noise over the top of her head. ‘I need to get on. There are a lot of things I have to see to.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Harper sniffed noisily, pulling herself away. She cleared her throat, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘Can you just tell me...was anyone with him when he died?’
‘Maria was with him.’ His voice was dry, detached. ‘She said it was very peaceful.’
‘Well, that’s something to be thankful for.’ Harper sniffed again. She waited for some sort of reply but his silence made it all too clear that she was being dismissed. ‘Okay, I’ll...um...let you get on, then.’ She started to move away. ‘But if there’s anything I can do to help, anything at all, you will say, won’t you?’
‘Actually there is.’ The force of his reply turned her hopefully back to face him.
‘Yes?’
‘Get rid of the guests.’ His mouth flattened into a hard line. ‘All of them. Right away.’
Harper hesitated, but only for a second. ‘Yes, of course.’
‘And that includes your sister.’ He fixed her with a cold stare, devoid of all emotion.
‘Very well.’ With a sombre nod, Harper moved away. She would do as she was told. Now was definitely not the time to question his orders.
* * *
‘Entra.’ Vieri briskly replied to the tap on the office door. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to stem the headache that was building behind his eyes. He had been dealing with all the paperwork involved with Alfonso’s death for a couple of hours now, and, even though he was grateful to have something to keep his mind occupied, he knew he needed a break. He sat back in his chair waiting to see who the visitor was, inexplicably finding himself hoping it was Harper. He had been unnecessarily brusque with her—she was probably owed an apology.
But it wasn’t Harper. And as the door opened the sight of who it actually was saw Vieri leap to his feet.
‘You!’ Anger surged through him, hot and fierce. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
‘Well, that’s not much of a welcome, I must say.’ Advancing into the room, Donatella moved around the desk to stand beside him. ‘You seem to have forgotten your manners, Vieri.’
She was wearing a fur coat and had some sort of small dog tucked under her arm, who stared at Vieri with bulging eyes.
‘I have forgotten nothing, trust me. And you are not welcome here.’
‘Now, don’t be like that.’ She tried to offer her cheek to be kissed but Vieri jerked his head away, stepping to the side. The thought of kissing this woman made him want to be sick.
‘I mean it, Donatella.’ Her name tasted like poison on his tongue. ‘I want you to leave.’
Totally ignoring him, Donatella moved to seat herself in the chair opposite the desk, settling the dog on her lap. ‘Surely you will allow me to pay my respects.’
‘Respects?’ Vieri spat the word back at her, his body rigid with tension. ‘I think it’s a little late for that. I don’t recall you showing Alfonso any respect when he was alive.’