The Forbidden Ferrara

by Sarah Morgan

  She squirmed under the weight of him. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Bed sex,’ he purred, his eyes glinting into hers, his mouth hovering just above hers. ‘The one thing we haven’t actually experienced yet. I’m a sucker for new experiences, aren’t you?’

  ‘I don’t want bed sex.’ She gritted her teeth and averted her face, ignoring the rush of heat in her pelvis. ‘I don’t want sex at all.’

  ‘You are just making a scene because you are scared about the way I make you feel.’

  ‘You make me feel like filleting you with my sharpest knife.’

  He laughed.

  Her hands were trapped by his and she tried to twist her head away from him but he caught her chin in his other hand and held her still as he slanted his mouth over hers.

  The skilled brush of his lips sent shards of heat shooting through her. She moaned and writhed under him. ‘I don’t want to sleep in the same bed as you.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that. The sleeping part is going to come much, much later.’ His free hand slid under her nightdress and she struggled to free her hands and defend herself from what was coming but he held her trapped.

  Warmth flooded through her as she felt his hand move between her legs. ‘Let me go!’

  His answer to that was to slide his fingers inside her.

  Heat exploded. Unable to free her hands, all she could do was try and move her hips but moving simply intensified the searing excitement caused by his intimate invasion.

  ‘Cristo, I have thought about nothing but this all day,’ he groaned, capturing her mouth with his and subjecting her to an explicit kiss. ‘I haven’t been able to concentrate. I’ve been talking rubbish and I couldn’t make any decisions, something that has never happened to me before. Obviously you were the same.’

  ‘I wasn’t the same—’ It was the frantic protest of a drowning person. ‘I haven’t thought about you once all day—’

  ‘You’re a terrible liar.’

  She discovered that he could smile and kiss her at the same time and if anything that smile made the whole experience all the more erotic because it changed the way his lips moved on hers.

  ‘I’m not a liar.’ Squirming, she tried to get free of him. ‘I have been too busy to give you a single thought. And why would I? It’s not as if we’ve shared anything special.’

  ‘No?’ He released her hands and slid down the bed, sliding her thighs apart, exposing her to his darkened gaze.

  Fia moaned and tried to close her legs but his hands held her firmly and her moan turned to a sob of pleasure as his tongue explored that part of her with lethal accuracy.

  Her body on fire, she tried to move her hips to relieve the ache but he held her captive while his tongue subjected her to erotic torture.

  Pleasure came in a dark, rushing force and she felt it build inside her to dangerous levels.

  ‘You’re so hot I can’t even think when I’m with you—’ His voice raw, Santo eased himself over her shifting, thoroughly excited body and thrust himself deep.

  And then he stilled. He stayed like that, buried deep inside her, jaw clenched at the control needed not to move.

  Fia gave a sob. ‘What are you doing? Please—’ Her hands scraped down his back as she urged him to move but he stayed still, his control stretched to the limit as he waited for her to come back from the edge.

  ‘I don’t want you to come yet,’ he said tightly, his mouth brushing over hers in an explicit kiss. ‘I want you desperate.’

  She could feel the hard throb of him inside her, his erection silken smooth and powerful as the rest of him. Her breathing grew shallow. She gave a faint whimper. But still he didn’t move. And she knew he was struggling too. The muscles of his shoulders were pumped up and hard, his own breathing ragged as he held on to control.

  ‘Santo—’ she raked her nails down that luscious golden skin, over those powerful muscles ‘—please.’ Her body was burning up, nothing mattered, nothing, except this. ‘Please—’

  His response to her plea was to slide his hand beneath her bottom and bury himself deeper still. ‘Did you think of me today?’

  She barely managed to speak. ‘Yes. All the time.’

  ‘And did you find it hard to concentrate?’ His voice was husky and thickened with desire and she gave a desperate moan.

  ‘Yes. Santo, please—’

  He held her there, just short of that place she wanted to go, until she would have done anything for the release she craved.

  Just when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer, he moved, slowly at first, controlling the rhythm with ruthless precision, knowing exactly how to give her maximum pleasure.

  At his urging, Fia wrapped her legs around his hips, arched against him and lost herself in the madness of it. And he lost himself too. Somewhere in the swirling pleasure she was aware that control had left him and instinct had taken over.

  Her climax exploded, ripping through her whole body like a storm and she heard him utter a throaty groan before the spasms of her body drew him over the same edge.

  Fia had never known pleasure like it. The pulsing heat of him accelerated her own excitement and she sobbed his name as she clung to him and rode out that storm.

  Afterwards, he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. His eyes were closed. ‘I like bed sex.’

  Fia felt dazed and stupid. ‘You made me beg.’

  ‘I made you? How?’ His eyes stayed closed. ‘Did I threaten you?’

  She covered her eyes with her hand. ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘You mean I gave you unimaginable pleasure.’ He tugged her hand away from her face, a wicked smile curving his sensuous mouth. ‘You’re welcome, tesoro.’

  He was so sure of himself, so arrogantly confident in everything he did that it made her feel a thousand times worse. ‘I don’t want you to do that again,’ she blurted out, her face hot. ‘Sex is one thing, but when you do that—’

  ‘Do what?’

  His eyes laughed into hers and she would have looked away but he caught her chin in his fingers so all she could do was glare at him.

  ‘You know what.’

  ‘Oral sex?’

  She burned from head to foot. ‘I don’t want you to do it.’

  ‘Why? Because it makes you feel vulnerable? Good.’ His voice was a soft purr. ‘When you’re in my bed, I want you vulnerable. And it’s OK to tell me what you like, although if you’re really uncomfortable with that, that’s fine too because I don’t need your help to know when I’m turning you on.’

  ‘Because you’re such an expert, of course.’

  ‘You drew blood with your nails, angelo mia,’ he said drily. ‘That was a bit of a clue. And what is wrong with being an expert? You would prefer a man who fumbles?’

  ‘I cannot believe we’re having this conversation,’ she mumbled and he laughed, and rolled her under him again.

  ‘You are full of contradictions. Bold one moment and shy the next. Two women in one body.’ His tone suggestive, he slid his hand lower. ‘What more can a man ask for?’

  Worn out by Santo’s demands and the violence of her own response, she slept late and then woke and panicked about Luca.

  She sprang out of bed and sprinted along to his bedroom, only to be told by a besotted Gina that Santo had got his son dressed and given him breakfast before leaving for work.

  ‘He’s the perfect man,’ Gina said dreamily, ‘and you are so lucky.’

  Fia ground her teeth. She didn’t feel lucky. She felt stupid and brainless. He only had to touch her and she turned into a quivering fool. True, he’d pinned her down so at the beginning she hadn’t had much choice, but by the end he wasn’t pinning her and had she slapped him? Had she told him to take his arrogant self and sleep somewhere else? No. She’d begged.

  Returning to the bedroom, Fia sank back onto the tangled sheets and covered her face with her hands, utterly humiliated by the memory.

  She’d begged. She’d fed his already
overfed ego. She’d made him feel like a sex god.

  Her phone rang. She picked it up. ‘Yes?’

  His dark drawl came down the phone. ‘How are you feeling?’

  Stupid? ‘Fine, thanks.’

  ‘You were wiped. I let you sleep in.’

  Because he’d turned her into a mindless wreck. ‘Thanks.’ But she couldn’t bring herself to hang up. Holding the phone tightly, she held her breath, hoping that he’d suggest taking her to lunch or something. A picnic on the beach? Anything that might indicate he was interested in developing a side of their relationship that wasn’t about sex.

  ‘Get some rest today. I will see you tonight.’ That statement was clearly supposed to fill her with warmth and anticipation. Instead it filled her with despair.

  He didn’t have any feelings for her and yet she couldn’t wait for him to come home.

  Utterly miserable, she poured all her love and affection into her son. At least that relationship was good and it was some consolation to observe Luca’s delight at the presence of his father. It was impossible to feel this had been a bad decision when she saw the two of them together.

  And so a new routine started. A naturally early riser, Santo took to sharing breakfast with Luca, allowing Fia an extra hour in bed. And she needed it because whatever problems they might have, they had none in the bedroom. And she schooled herself to switch off that part of herself that craved emotional warmth. And if keeping the barrier up between them made it hard to interact with him on any other level, then that was made easier by the fact she hardly saw him during the day. He’d taken personal charge of the redevelopment of the hotel and spent each and every day there, overseeing everything. She cooked Luca an early lunch and ate with him before she started the madness of lunchtime service. Then she handed him over to Gina while she concentrated on the busiest time of her day. Her own business was flourishing. The chef who had helped out when her grandfather had been in hospital continued to help and she found it stimulating to work with someone who’d had formal training.

  It was a Monday afternoon, two weeks after they’d moved into their new home, when Fia finally felt able to take a full afternoon off. Having finished lunchtime service and experimented with two new dishes, she left her team to finish the preparation for the evening and took Luca back to the villa. Confident that Santo would be fully occupied at work as he always was, she changed into a bikini and took Luca into the beautiful pool that she only ever used when Santo was safely out of the way.

  Luca clung to her as she slid into the water. Kicking his legs in the water, he looked beyond her. ‘Papà.’

  ‘Papà’s working,’ Fia said happily, holding him firmly round the waist.

  ‘Not any more he isn’t.’ Santo’s cool drawl came from the edge of the pool and she spun round, horrified to find him standing there with his phone in his hand. From his polished handmade shoes to his beautifully cut suit, everything about him shrieked of spectacular success. But it wasn’t the intimidating businessman that made her shiver, it was the raw sex appeal that lurked under the veneer of smooth sophistication. He dropped his phone onto the nearest sun lounger. ‘That looks like a good thing to do on a hot afternoon. I’ll join you.’

  ‘Join us?’ Self-conscious in her bikini, Fia held Luca in front of her. ‘You’re in a suit.’

  A sardonic smile touched his mouth as he shrugged off his jacket and removed his tie with a few flicks of his fingers. ‘Not for much longer.’

  She had no intention of arguing with him. She didn’t want him to stay around long enough to argue. What was he doing here? She never saw him in the middle of the day. Never. ‘D-don’t you need to go back to work?’

  ‘I’m the boss.’ The shirt followed the jacket. ‘I decide when I work. And I always spend a few hours with Luca every afternoon before his nap. This is our time together.’

  This was news to Fia. ‘Every afternoon?’

  ‘Of course. Why are you surprised? I have no intention of being an absent father.’

  She had no idea that he’d been spending every afternoon with their son. ‘How do you find time for that? You have a punishing workload.’

  ‘And a competent workforce who can manage while I play with my son for an hour.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me.’

  ‘I have missed out on almost two and a half years of my son’s life,’ he said quietly. ‘Is it wrong to want to catch up and spend quality time with my family?’

  ‘No.’ Guilt stabbed her. ‘It’s nice for Luca. Obviously I’ll leave you together.’ Trying not to mind that her afternoon with her son had been hijacked, she started to move towards the steps but Santo frowned.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘You said you wanted to spend quality time with your family.’

  ‘Which includes you.’ His eyes lingered on her pink cheeks. ‘Why would you think otherwise? You are too sensitive. I was stating a fact, not trying to make you feel guilty.’

  ‘It will be nice for Luca to spend time with you.’ It annoyed her that she felt so weak whenever he was near. Her legs trembled and her stomach fluttered with an excitement that never quite went away when he was around. ‘But honestly the two of you should focus on each other and I’ll just—’

  ‘—you’ll just stay right there or I’ll throw you back into the pool myself.’ Naked now apart from a pair of boxer shorts, he strolled over to the pool house and emerged moments later wearing a pair of swim shorts.

  Fia’s mouth dried.

  His dark gaze clashed with hers for a moment and he gave a faint smile.

  ‘We can do this,’ he drawled, averting his eyes from her body as he walked to the edge of the pool. ‘We can occupy the same space and not strip each other naked.’

  ‘Nekkid—’ Luca said happily, mimicking his father, and Fia winced.

  ‘You have to be careful what you say. He copies everything.

  Usually the words you don’t want him to copy.’ Holding Luca close, she backed into the shallow end, waiting for Santo to execute a flashy dive. She’d once spent an entire day watching while he and his brother had dived off the rocks further up the bay. She knew he had all the skills necessary to impress her so it came as a surprise when instead he slid into the water. And her surprise must have shown because he lifted an eyebrow in her direction. ‘Given that children invariably detect tension in an adult, it might be advisable not to look at me as if a shark has just arrived in the pool.’

  ‘I thought you were going to dive. I didn’t want you to splash him.’

  ‘This is water, tesoro. The idea is to get wet.’

  ‘I don’t want him to be scared and put off for ever.’

  ‘Is that what happened to you? I’ve noticed that you never go in the sea.’

  ‘My brother used to pull me under and hold me there.’

  Something flickered in his eyes. Sympathy? Anger?

  She waited for him to say something derogatory about her family but instead he ducked under the water and emerged right in front of her. ‘Swimming is all about confidence. We need to build up your confidence. And in the meantime I will teach him that the water is fun. My brother and I spent hours swimming when we were young.’ Clearing the water from his eyes, he peeled Luca away from her and switched to Italian, talking constantly to his son as he bounced him in the water, making a point of splashing him and getting the child’s face wet. And Luca loved every second, including the moment his father dunked him under the water. He came up gasping and then splashed his father back, enjoying himself so much that Fia felt an agonizing pang of guilt.

  She’d almost deprived him of this. She’d made a horrible, terrible misjudgement. ‘I’m sorry,’ she blurted out and Santo stilled, his hands firm on his son.

  ‘Sorry for what?’

  ‘I … I was wrong not to tell you. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was protecting him because I didn’t want him to have the sort of childhood I had. But now I can see—’ she broke off �
�—you’re really good with him. ‘He loves being with you.’

  ‘And that should be a cause for celebration, no? So why are you looking so gloomy?’

  ‘Because you’re never going to forgive me,’ she said wearily. ‘It’s always going to be between us.’

  He stared at her for a long moment and his mouth tightened. ‘You are talking like a Baracchi, not a Ferrara. It is the Baracchi way to bear grudges and stew in a simmering broth of past discontentment. But you are now a Ferrara so you will solve this the Ferrara way and that means moving on. The past is only of relevance if we learn from it. If not, then it has no relevance in our future.’

  But what was their future?

  Could they really sustain a family based on what they had? She loved Luca. He loved Luca. They were only spending time together now because she’d inadvertently encroached on the time he spent with his son.

  But even knowing that didn’t change the fact that right now they felt like a family and the emotion hit her in the chest with brutal force. This was what she’d wanted as a child, and she wanted it no less now that she was an adult.

  Transferring Luca to his shoulders, Santo watched her steadily. ‘It’s only fair to warn you that if you leave this pool now I’ll just haul you back.’

  ‘How did you know I was going to do that?’

  ‘Because I can read the signals. You always have one eye on an escape route.’

  ‘We both know this is your time with Luca.’ She turned scarlet, wishing she’d never started this conversation. ‘You never spend time with me during the day. You get up early to be with Luca, you spend time at work and then more time with him, and then you come to bed and have—’ she glanced at Luca and moderated her language ‘—we sleep together. That’s our relationship. I’m someone you spend time with in the dark.’

  There was a long, tense silence.

  Santo drew in a long breath. ‘Firstly, I get up early and spend time with Luca because he is an early riser and I am trying to give you more rest because you work extremely hard and I respect that. Secondly, I spend time at work because I am in the middle of an important project, not because I am avoiding you and as you are also working hard I didn’t see that as a problem. Thirdly, I come to bed and have sex with you because that is the only time of day our paths seem to cross. I don’t see you as someone to have sex with in the dark, but as my wife. And if daylight sex is what it’s going to take to prove to you that I’m serious about this relationship, then I have no problem with that.’