by Dani Wade
Blair hesitated when she reached the cream-and-gold paneled door, a twin to her own. She drew her fisted hand up and rapped gently on the wood. It opened almost immediately.
“Buon giorno, Blair. You look much better this morning.”
“Thank you. I had a wonderful sleep. And thank you too for this.” She held up her wrist.
“Ah, you’re most welcome. Here, come in, I’ll be ready in a moment.”
Draco stepped aside and Blair walked into a comfortable sitting room. While the chairs were heavily upholstered in rich floral fabrics, there was nothing feminine about the room. The wood-paneled walls and hunting paintings took care of that little detail, Blair noted.
She felt Draco as he drew up behind her. “You look and smell wonderful today.”
A small shiver ran through her body as he dipped his head to the curve of her neck and felt his hand run down her arm. His long fingers wrapped around her wrist and he lifted her arm.
“Each charm has a special significance to our land here and our place in it.” He fingered the small wine bottle nearest the clasp. “This is for the vineyard, where we produce our own Vernaccia.”
“That’s the white wine I had when I was here before, isn’t it? I tried to get it in for Carson’s, but our wine merchant was unable to secure any for me.”
“We’ll have to see what we can do about that, for your father.”
Blair bristled slightly at the assumption that she would not be equally interested in getting the wine to New Zealand, but she was distracted by the soft stroke of Draco’s index finger on the pulse point at her wrist.
He continued to hold her wrist loosely as he detailed each of the other charms on the chain, and she found herself mesmerized by the cadence of his voice. When he was finished she realized she’d allowed herself to sink back against his body, his chest a warm imprint through her dress and along her back.
She straightened, pulling loose from his clasp, feeling unsettled that she’d fallen under his spell again so easily. Last night he’d suggested they start over, but now in the light of day, she wasn’t so convinced it was such a good idea. He was very much the lord and master of all the land she could see from the windows of the palazzo. So where did that leave her? And where did that leave her responsibility to Carson’s?
“Draco, could I use a phone to let Dad know we arrived safely and that I’m okay? I saw one in my room but I wasn’t sure if I could use it for an international call.”
“No matter, I have already called him. He was happy to hear you were settled and that the journey was behind you. He said when you arrived back in New Zealand in February the trip had taken a lot out of you and that it took you a few days to recover from jet lag. Hopefully, you won’t be so affected this time.”
“After the luxury of that plane trip? I doubt it.”
Blair smiled, hiding the flair of irritation that Draco had spoken to her father without her knowledge. She’d have liked to have touched base with him, heard how he was managing back in the restaurant without her there.
“You are worrying about your precious restaurant, aren’t you?”
Was she so easy to read? “Yes, I am. And about Dad too. When we left he’d done nothing about employing a new chef. I’m concerned he’ll push himself too hard.”
“Blair, your father is a grown man, quite capable of making his own decisions.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about. It was the decisions that he made that made him ill the last time.”
“But he is on medication, si?”
“Yes, but he’s stubborn.” Like you, she added silently.
“Why don’t you call him tonight around ten? It’ll be eight o’clock Sunday morning there.”
“Damn, I forgot about the time difference,” Blair muttered, remembering it was the time difference that had gotten her into this position in the first place. “What about now? It’ll be evening there now, right? About seven?”
“But won’t the restaurant be busy? He’ll hardly have time to talk to you, and he already knows you are safe and well.”
What Draco said made perfect sense. “All right. Tonight it is.”
“Good. Now we have that settled, let’s start on our tour. Which do you prefer first—the palazzo or the grounds?”
“Oh, the grounds, please. It’s such a beautiful day.”
“Your wish is my command,” Draco responded with a smile that sent a bolt straight to her heart.
He offered her his arm and she rested her hand in the crook of his elbow. As they made their way back down the corridor toward the stairs, Draco told her of the history of some of the pieces of furniture and ornaments.
“Doesn’t it worry you that some of these things will get broken? Shouldn’t they be in a museum?”
Draco laughed. “They are a part of my family. If they break, they break. Of course, we take every step to ensure that doesn’t happen on a regular basis, and some of the more valuable pieces are locked away in glass-fronted cabinets, like the ones you would have seen in the salon used for tour guests.”
Blair envied him his casual acceptance of his world. As welcoming and comfortable as the palazzo was, she doubted she could ever fit in here. Her upbringing had been so transient, she didn’t even have school photos to look back on. Whereas Draco—she looked around at the portraits interspersed with deep windows along the corridor—he could trace back his ancestors to near-medieval times.
Draco led her outside the palazzo to a courtyard where a gleaming convertible sat awaiting them.
“We’re going to drive?” Blair asked, surprised. She’d expected they’d be walking around the grounds.
“I thought I’d take you to the furthest point of our land and then work our way back. Would you prefer we stay closer to home?”
Home. His home perhaps, Blair thought, looking back at the size of the palazzo as he helped her into the car.
“No, that’s fine. It’ll be lovely, I’m sure.”
Draco slid into the driver’s seat, his strong, capable hands settling on the steering wheel. It occurred to Blair that this was the first time she’d seen him drive.
“You don’t drive when you’re in New Zealand. Why is that?”
“Parking in and around the city is at such a premium, I prefer not to be bothered with such things when I’m there on business. Generally, I keep a car there for my own use, but for pleasure, I prefer to use my motorbike when I’m in Auckland.”
“You ride a bike?”
Blair was surprised. Draco had always struck her as so smooth and urbane. Imagining him in black leathers, astride a powerful bike, did strange things to her equilibrium.
“Sure. My friends, Brent and Adam, and I each have the same model Moto Guzzi. When we’re all in town together we try to make a few road trips, get away from it all. This time it didn’t happen, but there’s always the next.”
By Brent and Adam, Blair knew he meant multimillionaire entrepreneur Brent Colby and Adam Palmer. Both men featured frequently in the papers, both in the business section and the social reports. And judging by the media storm about Brent Colby and heiress Amira Forsythe, just before she and Draco had left Auckland, that popularity wasn’t about to die down terribly soon.
“How did you three meet? You were all at the memorial service, weren’t you? Did you go to school at Ashurst?” she asked.
“Yes. My parents felt it was important that both my older brother and I experienced education in another country. He went to Australia, I went to New Zealand.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes, Lorenzo. He died ten years ago. A stupid accident. One of those totally avoidable things. He was waterskiing with friends off the Amalfi Coast. Unfortunately, the driver of the other boat had been drinking and thought it humorous to play ‘chicken’ with the boat towing Lorenzo. His neck was broken in the impact. He died immediately.”
Tears filled Blair’s eyes. “Oh, Draco, I’m so sorry. That must have been awful for your
family.”
He turned to face her, lifting a hand to gently wipe away the tears that spilled over her lashes and down her cheeks.
“It was terrible, but we’ve learned that life must go on. And now we have a new life to look forward to, our baby. My parents—you have no idea what this will mean to them.”
“You haven’t told them yet?”
Blair knew Draco’s mother and father lived in a more modern home on the Sandrelli land, and she half-expected Draco to introduce her to them today.
“No, when I saw them last night I didn’t feel the time was right. My father was tired and my mother distracted by his health. I will let them know soon, though. Now, shall we begin our adventure for today?”
Blair nodded her agreement and he shifted the car into gear, the wheels spitting up a little gravel as they drove out the massive gated entrance to the palazzo grounds.
She was amazed at the diversity of the land here, and the way it was used. As they passed each different business unit she was reminded of the charm bracelet Draco had given her this morning. Each charm truly was representative of the expanse of the Sandrelli family’s endeavors. She began to feel a new respect for him and for the responsibility that sat so well on his shoulders.
Draco felt the familiar swell of pride as he showed Blair over the land that was as much a part of him as the blood running in his veins. It was always a pleasure to see the property through another’s eyes, but this time it was even more important that Blair fully understand what it meant to be a Sandrelli. What it would mean to their son or daughter.
They were about halfway back toward the palazzo when Draco pulled off the road and drew the car up a private road leading through a massive olive grove.
“Would you like to stop for some lunch?” he asked, and was surprised to catch her stifling a yawn.
“Oh,” she laughed, embarrassed, if the flush on her cheeks was anything to go by. “Yes, that would be lovely.”
Draco took a right turn down a barely visible lane and drew the car to a halt under the trees.
“Cristiano packed a lunch for us when I told him we’d be out for the day. Just give me a minute and I will have it ready for you.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Blair asked, swiveling her long legs out of the car and standing.
She slowly stretched out her back and lifted her arms above her head. Instantly a shock of desire pummeled through him like a bolt of electricity. Even with the new fullness her body now began to display, she sent every particle in his body into overdrive. She went still as she realized he was watching her.
“Is there something wrong?”
“No. Nothing is wrong. You look beautiful today. The setting suits you.”
“Flatterer,” she said, smiling, then and came across to him, taking the rubber-backed rug from his hands and shaking it out onto the ground in the sunshine.
“It’s the truth,” Draco replied. “I do not waste my time on lies.”
“Yeah,” Blair said, softly. “I had noticed that about you.”
A tight smile pulled at his lips. What else had she noticed about him, he wondered.
He lifted the cooler from the trunk of the convertible and put it beside the rug. Blair was already sitting cross-legged on the blanket and had eagerly lifted the lid off the cooler and started to put the plates of food and containers of drink onto the rug, using the lid as a small table. Draco grabbed the small loaves of fresh bread Cristiano had baked early this morning and dropped down next to her.
They began to eat, Draco making the most of the setting to explain a little about the olive oil process in Tuscany. Blair had missed the harvest, which had taken place late autumn, the cooler valleys in the region demanding the harvest occur earlier than in other parts of the Mediterranean, and she was fascinated by his description. But before long she was yawning once more.
“I’m sorry, Blair, I didn’t mean to exhaust you on your first day back here.”
“It’s not that. I’ve really enjoyed everything you’ve shown me today. Perhaps it is just a little jet lag still.”
“So sleep.”
“Here?” Blair waved her hand.
“Why not? We won’t be disturbed. The sun is warm. Lie back and relax.”
“I can’t,” she protested. “I don’t sleep during the day. It’s just so…”
“Decadent?” he asked, smiling. Yes, he’d bet she never let up during the day. But if she was going to do the best thing by his baby she would learn to slow down. “So be decadent for a change. Lie down and relax.”
Blair did as he suggested.
“I bet I won’t sleep.”
“We will see. Just listen to the land. Let the sun caress your skin. And relax. Simple, really.”
He watched as her eyelids fluttered closed and smiled again as he saw the tension in her body, as if she was coiled, ready to spring to the next activity. Eventually though, her breathing began to deepen, the muscles in her body slacken. He gave a small nod as she finally slept.
Draco stretched out beside her, taking care not to touch her, but instead watched her. Lying on her back as she was, it was easier to see the subtle changes the pregnancy had wrought on her body so far. The ever-so-slight fullness of her breasts, the tiny rounding of her lower belly, the new roundness to her cheeks which had always been so angular.
He liked the changes, liked what they did for her. Made her appear less untouchable. And just like that, he ached to touch her. To see her naked. To rediscover the intimacy they had shared. And, by the time Blair woke forty minutes later he knew exactly how their afternoon would progress.
Ten
As her eyes opened and she became aware of their surroundings, he leaned over and slanted his mouth across her. A teasing touch, but one that had the power to immediately wring a tiny moan of want from her. Her eyes darkened even more, until her pupils almost consumed the rich chocolate of her irises. A sigh drew past her lips and he breathed it in.
He bent his head to her again, this time taking his time to make love to her lips with his own, drawing her lower lip between his, sucking gently on the tender skin, stroking along its fullness with his tongue.
A shudder ran through him as Blair traced her tongue against his upper lip, in a mirror of what he was doing to her. He let go of her lip and deepened their kiss, hungry for more of her. He positioned himself over her body, holding himself up and away, but feeling her heat imprint through the layer of his clothing and against his skin.
Blair ran her hands up the cords of his arms and he reveled in her touch, in her enthusiasm as her lips met his again and again, as their tongues dueled and tangled together. This thing between them he could understand. It was as elemental and as vital as the energy of the land beneath them.
He supported his weight on one arm and with his other hand flicked open the top buttons of her dress, following the path of his fingers with his mouth. The fabric fell away, exposing the sheer white lace bra that cupped her breasts…breasts topped with hardened rosy peaks that begged for his caress. He lined the edge of her bra with his tongue, following the scalloped pattern with his utmost attention, then swooped against the tight bud pressing against the fine lace. He covered her nipple, still encased in material, with the heat and wetness of his mouth, and drew her into him.
Blair let out a low-pitched scream, her lower body arching to meet his as he grazed his teeth against the sensitive nub, over and over, before doing the same to its twin. Her hands fisted on his shoulders, squeezing tight. He’d bear the marks of her fingernails, he was certain, and the thought brought a smile to his lips.
Draco continued to unbutton her dress, finally baring her skimpy lace panties to view. He cupped her, pressing his palm against her, discovering her wetness, her heat. She squirmed against him and suddenly he could play with her no longer.
His plan to make slow, leisurely love to her would have to wait until another time. A time, perhaps, when the very essence of her didn’t drive him craz
y with need. He ripped his shirt open sending buttons flying, desperate to feel the texture of her skin against his, then lowered his chest to contact hers. But there was still the barrier of her bra. He gently coaxed her up, sliding the straps of her sundress off her shoulders, and with deft fingers reached behind her to unsnap her bra.
Tiny goose bumps raised on her skin as he peeled it away.
“Are you certain you want this?” Draco asked, his voice as coarse as gravel. She could refuse him now, and he’d manage to hold back.
“I want this. I want…you.”
Her words were his undoing. Blair knotted her fingers in his hair and dragged his face down to hers, and he groaned into her mouth as their skin touched, as her nipples pressed against his skin, as their warmth commingled and combined to ignite into a need for more.
Her hands slid down his back, squeezing and kneading his muscles, as if she couldn’t get quite enough of him. Then they were at the waistband of his pants, un-buckling his belt with a dexterity he doubted he was still capable of, and sliding the zipper open, pushing the fabric down over his buttocks.
He flexed against her then. He could no longer hold himself back. To his eternal frustration, they each still bore a layer preventing him from reaching his goal. Draco drew up onto his knees and eased her panties off her. God, she was so beautiful, dappled with sunlight and shadows. A knot built up in his chest. He hesitated a moment longer, drinking in the sheer joy of her glory, then his desire asserted itself once more. Dispensing with his footwear and clothes took but a second.
Blair’s legs fell apart as he knelt between them and positioned himself at her entrance.
“Tell me again that you’re certain.”
“Draco, please. I want this. I want this so much.”
“Then I shall give you what you want,” he growled.
He reached beneath her buttocks, angling her hips to meet his, then slowly—ever so slowly—allowed his length to penetrate her heat. As he did so, his eyes met hers and held them, the intimacy of their look lending a new poignancy to his possession of her body. Her eyes widened as he slid deeper, still taking his time, until he was buried within her.