by Anne Mather
Laura’s senses rioted. Every part of her was awakening and expanding to the seductive pressure of his touch, and, between her legs, she was flooded with the proof of her need for him. With a helpless little moan, she wound her arms around his neck and pressed her tongue into his mouth, and his immediate response was both urgent and satisfyingly thorough.
Rolling her on to the bed beside him, he quickly disposed of the rolled-up tunic, and then startled her by bending to press his face against the dark triangle clearly visible through her lacy bikini briefs.
‘Mi bella Laurissima,’ he whispered, his voice ragged with emotion, and she was no longer in any doubt as to his need for her.
She helped him undress, smiling when she found he wasn’t wearing any underwear. ‘Well,’ he said huskily, as his trousers joined his shirt on the floor, ‘I hoped I wouldn’t need them.’
‘You don’t,’ she assured him unsteadily, winding her legs around him. ‘Oh, God, Jake, I want you!’
‘I want you, too,’ he told her, equally emotionally, ‘and I really don’t think I can wait any longer…’
Hours later, Laura discovered that the huge porcelain tub was quite big enough for two people. Sitting between Jake’s legs, there was plenty of room to enjoy the frothy depths of the water, and Jake assured her that he had no objections to assisting her with her ablutions. On the contrary, he seemed to take a definite pleasure in soaping her rosy skin, and if his hand sometimes took the place of the sponge Laura didn’t care. The eroticism of his caresses made a dizzying delight of this simplest of tasks, and when she began to emulate his actions he scooped her out of the water, wrapped her in a towel, and carried her back to bed.
‘Couldn’t we—–?’ she began regretfully, looking back over his shoulder at the bath, and Jake’s lean mouth curved into a sensual smile.
‘I didn’t want to shock you,’ he remarked, lowering her on to the bed, and beginning to towel her limbs dry, but Laura merely pulled him down on top of her.
‘You can do anything you like to me,’ she breathed, circling his lips with her tongue, and Jake needed no second bidding. With the ease of growing familiarity, his body slid slickly into hers, and the urgent lovemaking that followed left no room for any coherent conversation.
But later, after Jake had fetched a bottle of champagne from the cellar, and they were sharing a toast, he said huskily, ‘Anything?’
Laura frowned then, not understanding what he meant, and Jake prompted softly, ‘You said I could do anything I liked to you.’
‘Oh!’ Jake was enchanted to see that she was blushing, her cheeks pink in the lamplight. ‘Well—yes. Of course I meant it.’
‘All right.’ He nodded. ‘Then that must include marrying you.’
Laura caught her breath. ‘Marrying me?’
Jake’s expression tensed, just slightly. ‘Doesn’t it?’
‘Doesn’t it—what?’
‘Include marrying you?’ said Jake, a little tersely. He looked down at the sparkling liquid in his glass. ‘It’s what I want. It’s what I’ve wanted ever since I met you on the stairs at the cottage. And—I’d begun to believe you might want it, too. Was I wrong?’
‘Oh, no!’ Laura couldn’t let him think that, and the tension in his face eased considerably. ‘You know I love you. I never want to leave you. But—–’
‘But—what?’
‘Oh—–’ Laura lifted her slim shoulders, unaware that when she did so the peaks of her breasts bobbed enticingly. ‘What are your parents going to say? I am years older than you are.’
‘You don’t look it,’ declared Jake thickly, leaning forward to brush his lips against those dusky peaks. ‘And besides, I should think my father and mother can be left in no doubt as to what I want. You don’t suppose they took themselves off to Rome, without anticipating what was likely to happen in their absence?’
‘Even so…’
‘Look!’ Jake took her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. ‘I love you. I want you. What else matters?’
‘But Luci—–’
‘I’m tempted to say I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks, including my daughter,’ declared Jake wryly. ‘Anyway, Luci likes you. She never knew her own mother, so she doesn’t know what having a mother is like.’
‘All the same…’
Jake sighed. ‘What else is there?’
‘I just think your parents would have wanted you to marry someone else.’
‘Really?’ Jake shook his head. ‘I think my parents will be incredibly relieved to know that they can stop worrying about us.’
‘About you, you mean,’ ventured Laura, regarding him anxiously. ‘Did you—did you really miss me that much?’
‘Stop fishing,’ ordered Jake drily, but his eyes were eloquent with feeling. ‘Of course, I missed you. Dio—when you walked out of here—–’
He broke off abruptly, and Laura rubbed her cheek against his fingers, realising there was plenty of time to convince him he didn’t have to miss her any more.
The moment was taut with emotion, and in an effort to restore their earlier inconsequence Laura said, ‘Nevertheless, I’m sure your mother would prefer you to marry someone more—chic. More—sophisticated.’
‘Which brings us back to rich again, doesn’t it?’ remarked Jake humorously, taking the point. He bore her back against the pillows, and pressed his face into her neck. ‘Cara, I married someone chic and sophisticated when I married Isabella. And it wasn’t like this.’
Laura’s eyebrows arched. ‘Wasn’t it?’
‘No.’ Jake bit her ear reprovingly. ‘I told you before. I’ve never loved anyone as I love you.’
Laura shifted with sensuous grace. ‘But what will your friends—–?’
‘My friends will envy me,’ declared Jake huskily, and, losing patience with her questions, he found her mouth in a long drugging kiss.
But then, just as Laura was sinking into a deliciously erotic state of lethargy, he jerked back, cursing roundly. ‘Damn,’ he said, and when she gazed up at him uncomprehendingly, he pulled a wry face. ‘I’ve spilled the champagne!’
Laura started to giggle, but she sobered somewhat when Jake pushed himself up to sit on the side of the bed. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I think the time has come to go back to my own bed.’
‘No—–’
Laura came up now, her eyes wide with apprehension, but Jake only regarded her with cool indifference. ‘Yes,’ he said, and then, as her expression grew anxious, he got up, and pulled her up into his arms. ‘You didn’t think I was going to leave you behind, did you?’ he asked teasingly, his grin pure devilment. ‘Oh, mi amore, what I have, I keep.’
Some time later, after they had transferred to the masculine austerity of Jake’s suite of rooms, Laura brought up the one subject they had not discussed so far: Julie.
‘I don’t know what she’s going to say,’ she murmured sleepily, although the problem of her daughter seemed very far away at this moment. ‘When she came to see me, before she left for California, I didn’t even tell her I’d been here.’
‘I shouldn’t worry about it.’ Jake was philosophical. ‘You can invite her to the wedding.’
‘Do you think she’ll be very unhappy about it?’
‘Unhappy?’ Jake uttered a short laugh. ‘Oh, mi cara, when has Julie ever cared about your happiness? Did it ever occur to her that you might need a life outside that existence you’ve been living for the last twenty years?’
‘No, but—–’
‘No more buts,’ said Jake flatly. ‘From now on, we’re just going to look to the future, not the past.’ He smiled. ‘Now—do you know what? I am hungry. How does a midnight feast sound to you?’
David Conti’s house at Malibu was right on the beach, with a huge sun-deck opening off the spacious family room. According to Julie, the house was usually full at weekends, with friends of David’s and their families, mingling happily with David’s own children from his three previous marriages.
Her daughter had taken the news of her and Jake’s marriage with some belligerence at first, and their first meeting after the engagement was announced had not been entirely friendly. But Julie was like that, Jake told her. She would always seek to dominate her mother. She had done it for so long. But now, Laura had Jake to back her up, and what might have been awkward had quickly been defused. Besides, even Julie had been unable to ignore their obvious happiness together, and perhaps she had realised she was in danger of losing more than she gained.
In any event, the idea of being related to the Lombardis, if only by marriage, seemed to have persuaded Julie of its many advantages. It made her association with David Conti that much more serious. She was now family, after all. And she did have a pleasant life in Los Angeles.
This was Jake’s and Laura’s first trip to the United States since their marriage. Although it was almost ten months since that event had taken place, three months ago Laura had had a baby son, and during her pregnancy she hadn’t wanted to travel so far. Besides, Jake had insisted she do nothing to upset either her, or the baby, and Laura had been quite content to enjoy his undivided attention.
It had also given her the chance to get to know her stepdaughter. Luci had been surprisingly eager to welcome her into the family, and it was not until the little girl had confided why that Laura had begun to understand her feelings.
Because her own mother had died before she was old enough to understand, Luci had spent most of her time with her grandparents, and although she loved them dearly, she loved her father best. But Jake had spent very little time with his daughter. He worked with his father, and because he’d had no wife to restrict his movements Count Lombardi had relied on Jake to accomplish most of their overseas business. In consequence, although Jake cared about his daughter, he had never been a proper father to her.
Now, it was different, Luci confided. Now they were a proper family, and whenever Jake travelled abroad he took his family with him. Especially Luci, Laura insisted, on those occasions when Jake would have preferred to have his wife to himself. She wanted the little girl to know she was just as important to them as the new baby. There would be no misunderstandings this time, she said.
Of course, they had a nanny for the children, and now, looking towards the ocean, Laura could see Miss Frobisher, tagging along behind Jake, Luci and David. Jake was carrying Carlo, their baby son, and the dapper little English nanny was trying valiantly to keep up with their easy strides.
As if sensing her eyes upon him, Jake looked back then, and waved, and Laura’s heart turned over. It still seemed incredible that it should be she whom Jake loved, but he had proved it to her, over and over, in a million different ways.
His parents had been amazingly supportive, too. But then, no one could deny how good Laura was for Jake. He had never looked fitter, so relaxed and handsome, and when they were together their happiness was infectious.
Now, Laura waved back, aware, as she did so, how much she had changed, too, in the last year. Once, the idea of sitting on a sun-deck in a bikini, sunning herself in front of a crowd of strangers, would have sounded totally daunting. But Jake’s love had made her confident. Because he thought she was beautiful, she felt beautiful, too.
‘You have a super tan,’ remarked Julie suddenly, coming to take the cushioned chair beside her. ‘I suppose you spend a lot of time outdoors.’
Laura nodded. ‘I suppose we do. We—er—we’ve been staying at Marina di Salvo since Carlo was born, and the sea air—–’ She shrugged. ‘You know what it’s like.’
‘Hmm.’ Julie swung her long legs on to the lounger, and adjusted her dark glasses. ‘Marina di Salvo? Where’s that?’
‘Near Viareggio. Jake—that is, we have an apartment there.’
‘Nice.’ Julie closed her eyes. ‘I guess it all worked out for you, didn’t it?’
Laura sighed, wishing Jake were there to support her. But then, she rallied. She wasn’t a silly spinster any more. She was Jake’s wife, and whatever Julie said, she couldn’t really hurt her.
So, ‘Yes,’ she said, in answer to her daughter’s question. ‘It did.’
‘I’m glad.’
Nothing Julie said could have surprised her more, but Laura was sensible enough to be cautious. ‘You are?’ she ventured swiftly.
‘Hmm.’ Julie nodded. ‘I guess I’d forgotten how young you really are. I’d gotten so used to seeing you as “my mother”, in quotes. The schoolmistress! It’s easy to be selfish, if you never look beneath the label.’
Laura expelled her breath slowly. ‘I see.’
‘I hope you do.’ Julie opened her eyes again, and turned to look at her mother somewhat ruefully. ‘I’ve been a bitch. I know it. And when you said you and Jake—well, I could have scratched your eyes out then.’ She grimaced. ‘But recently—well, I guess you could say I’m getting softer in my old age. It’s obvious Jake is crazy about you, and I’d be a fool to deny myself the only family I’ve got.’
Laura’s lips parted. ‘Oh, Julie!’ she exclaimed, and she had hardly time to squeeze her daughter’s hand before her stepdaughter came dancing across the deck.
And Luci wasn’t alone. Jake, and Carlo, were right behind her, her husband’s sable eyes dark and expressive, as they took in the scene they had interrupted.
‘Are you all right, cara?’ he asked, squatting down beside her, and giving Julie a wary look, and Laura smiled.
‘Perfectly,’ she said, taking their baby son, and tipping him over her shoulder. ‘Julie was just complimenting me on my tan.’
‘Really?’ Jake didn’t sound convinced, and Julie shook her head.
‘Yes, really,’ she declared, swinging her legs to the deck and getting to her feet. ‘But don’t say I don’t know when I’m not wanted,’ she added. ‘Here—Daddy—you can have my chair. And stop looking at her like that. This is a respectable household.’
Jake grinned then, but he didn’t argue, and after she had gone he lowered himself into the chair beside his wife. ‘No problems?’ he asked, linking his fingers with hers, and Laura felt almost too overwhelmed with happiness to speak.
‘No problems,’ she agreed huskily, and Jake gave a suitably contented sigh.
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IMPRINT: Sexy
ISBN: 9781488743078
TITLE: GUILTY
First Australian Publication 2014
Copyright © 2014 Anne Mather
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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