Wine had been brought to them. When had that happened? She gulped down most of her glass in the hope of discovering some restorative or anaesthetic qualities to help her get through the evening without making a complete fool of herself.
‘You must have been abroad, though, at some point in your life...?’
‘Ibiza.’ She rolled her eyes and grimaced. ‘I took my mum.’
‘And?’
‘And it was...fun—although Mum did spend quite a bit of time flirting with the waiters.’ Kate laughed. ‘But, thinking about it, it really was fun. She made me put away every single textbook I had taken with me—I had been studying for exams—and she forced me to repeat that I was there to relax whenever I mentioned tax laws, or corporate finance laws, or profit and loss columns or dividends. She also made me wear my swimsuit without a great big tee shirt over it—even though I told her all about the dangers of too much sun and overexposure.’ She sighed and looked at him. ‘You must think me the last word in dull...’
‘Not dull, no. Just a little...cautious...’
‘And I guess you’ve never been cautious?’
‘None of us is exempt from being careful when it comes to certain situations,’ Alessandro murmured. ‘Now, choose whatever you want from the menu—and don’t be afraid to eat to your heart’s content. The concierge tells me that the chocolate brownie pudding on the menu is famous...’
Lots of very good food, far too much very good wine and Alessandro Preda as a dinner companion—it all went a long way to numbing the pain in her feet, and she only woke up to the reality that her blisters were still there, alive and kicking, as she wriggled her feet into the sandals at the end of the meal.
The walk was less than half an hour, the air was still warm and they weren’t jogging at speed—but every step was agony and it was only when the hotel was in sight that she heard herself give a soft moan, partly out of relief that her ordeal would soon be over, partly because she just couldn’t help herself.
‘What?’ she asked brightly when he stopped and looked at her narrowly.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing. Just taking it easy...enjoying the buzz... It’s very different from London, isn’t it? Not as hectic.’
Alessandro cocked his head to one side, then took his time looking at her, those clever dark eyes travelling the length of her body until they rested on her feet.
‘Hell!’ He stooped to examine her feet and she uttered a little shriek of mortification.
‘Get up!’ she whispered. ‘Please, Alessandro! People are looking at us! They’re going to think...to think that you’re proposing or something!’
‘To your feet?’ He glanced up at her and she kept her face firmly averted. ‘How long have you been in pain?’
‘I’m not in pain. My feet might be a bit sore because I’m not used to wearing heels. Or sandals...’
‘Good God, woman.’
He vaulted upright and then scooped her up in one fluid, easy movement. She squealed and clutched him, shocked rigid as he began striding towards the hotel while people turned to stare and laugh.
‘Put me down!’ she wailed. ‘Everyone’s staring!’
‘You worry too much about what other people think. And I’m not putting you down. I’m only just about hanging on to my temper. Why the hell didn’t you say something earlier?’
‘They were fine at the restaurant!’
It was hard to talk whilst trying to wriggle into some sort of position that wasn’t utterly humiliating. Was her underwear on display for everyone to have a look at? She wriggled frantically, ignoring his commands to keep still, hating him at that moment in time even if he had rescued her from having to hobble for the rest of the way.
‘Please put me down when we get into the hotel. I can manage from there.’
He ignored her and headed straight for the reception desk. In her head she could picture the curved marble counter, manned by banks of cruel, sniggering young girls, as she heard him ask for a comprehensive first-aid kit to be sent to his suite immediately. No, a doctor wouldn’t be required—just get the kit up to his quarters double quick.
She gave up protesting and clung to him, arms around his neck, fingers clasped, eyes squeezed tightly shut—because that way she could kid herself that none of this was happening.
She only opened her eyes when she was gently lowered onto his bed, and then she watched as he even more gently removed the offending sandals and cursed softly under his breath.
‘You’ve probably done your back in,’ was all she could find to say.
‘My back is fine—which is more than I can say for your feet. They’re raw.’
‘I’m not used to wearing heels. Or shoes like this.’
Embarrassment washed over her as he rested her aching, swollen feet on his lap and reached for the first-aid kit, which had already been placed on the bed.
‘You’re right. I should have mentioned earlier that I was developing one or two blisters... But, please, I can take care of this myself.’ It was a last desperate plea that she thought he might ignore—and he did.
His hands were so soothing... Kate closed her eyes and her breathing slowed as he dealt with her blisters, gently cleaning them, putting cool cream on them, and then the special plasters from the kit. Maybe blisters were a common occurrence here? she thought drowsily. Maybe every silly tourist took to the streets in inadequate footwear and returned to the hotel in need of a first-aid kit?
‘I had no idea that you were a doctor along with everything else,’ she murmured, joking because the silence was so intense and somehow so intimate.
‘I had planned on doing medicine, as a matter of fact...’
Her eyes flickered open. She looked at his dark head, bent down, those long brown fingers working quickly and efficiently on sorting out her feet. ‘Really?’
‘Really,’ Alessandro said drily, without glancing in her direction. ‘It was a short-lived ambition.’
‘Why?’
This time he did look at her. Briefly. Dark eyes serious. ‘My feckless parents needed me to set them on the financial straight and narrow.’
Now why had he said that? When he never confided in anyone—least of all a woman? When he knew that confidences encouraged women to think that they could inch their way beyond his barriers...when he knew that a woman in possession of a confidence was a woman who felt she had the upper hand...
But it had been an unsettling day. He had had his preconceived notions smashed, had been forced to re-examine the black-and-white approach to life that had always stood him in good stead. Things were always so much clearer without grey areas. And now this... His body messing with his head in a way it had never done before, controlling him as he sat here with her feet on his thigh...
‘What do you mean?’ Kate asked curiously. ‘I thought...’
‘That I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth?’
‘More golden,’ she admitted haltingly.
‘In a way you’d be right,’ he said thoughtfully, drawing back to look at his handiwork with satisfaction. ‘I am the product of two wealthy families. My parents had more money than they knew what to do with. Unfortunately neither of them possessed the common sense to manage their fortunes properly.’
He smiled wryly and stood up, flexing his muscles, packing away the first-aid kit and then strolling to the window, where he stood for a few seconds gazing down at the street below before turning to her.
‘That’s love for you,’ he said, and walked slowly back towards the bed, then stood at the side, hands shoved into his pockets, his lean, handsome features hard. ‘The soulmates, let’s-put-together-the-relationship-building-blocks kind of love you find so seductive...’
‘What do you mean?’ She looked at him in confusion.
‘I mean...’ He smiled with cool introspection. ‘I have first-hand experience of how a couple of soulmates can encourage each other into lifestyles that are self-obsessed and destructive. My parents married y
oung, and by the time they hit forty they’d managed to squander most of their joint inheritances on...well, frankly, on crap investments and eco-nonsense schemes. They lived with their heads in the clouds. Yes, they were in love—but, personally, I think if there had been a little less love and a little more common sense they might have not spent their lives hurtling from one ridiculous investment to another. Until, of course, it was up to me to bail the pair of them out.’
‘You had to bail them out?’
‘They misguidedly thought that the well would never run dry.’
‘So you gave up your dreams of being a doctor for a...a more profitable lifestyle...?’
‘Don’t get carried away, Kate. Being in my position is hardly a hardship.’
‘No...but money doesn’t really matter, does it?’
‘Is that why you spend every second being a businesswoman in an attempt to advance your career and get financially stable? What did I tell you about hypocrisy...? Tut-tut...’
Kate reddened. Standing over her, he was so damned tall, overwhelming her with his physicality. Her mouth dried. She couldn’t tear her fascinated gaze away from him. She was suddenly conscious of her bare legs, the small dress, of the heat racing through her body inflaming her pulse, tightening the buds of her nipples into hard, pointed peaks.
‘Now, here’s the strategic difference between us,’ Alessandro drawled softly.
She had propped herself up against the pillows and he took his time following the long, slender lines of her body before leaning down, palms flat on the bed, so that his face was only inches away from hers.
‘I haven’t abandoned having fun in favour of some never-never dream of perfection that won’t be happening.’
‘I haven’t done that!’
‘No? So when was the last time you had sex?’
Just like that the room shrank to the size of a cardboard box and breathing became difficult. Her heart was beating so hard that she could almost hear it. When she opened her mouth the professional woman with an agenda not to be affected by him had vanished. In her place was a woman in the grip of desire, a woman with needs—a woman who could feel those needs in the liquid moistening between her thighs, dampening her underwear.
‘I... Well...’
‘When was the last time you just let go, Kate...? Here’s what I’m thinking... Tonight was probably the first time in years that you went out in something other than the sort of clothes someone’s great-aunt would be proud to be seen in...’
‘That’s not fair,’ she whispered, stung because it was true—horribly, mortifyingly true.
‘It may not be fair, but it’s true. When was the last time you felt anything but a need to work, so that you can avoid ending up in the same pickle your mother did? It’s a dry life.’
‘It’s...’
‘Dry, sterile... You’re hiding away from emotion, waiting for the Big Thing to happen, and in the meantime life’s passing you by.’
‘It’s not all about sex...’
He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
She could read the intent in his eyes and she knew that he was going to kiss her—and she wanted him to. She wanted him to with every fibre of her sex-starved being...even if it made no sense.
His mouth covered hers, and it wasn’t with the possessive hunger of a man who wanted to take without giving. No, it was a slow, lazy, lingering kiss...a melding of tongues that had her whimpering. She linked her fingers behind his neck and drew him to her—only to pull back and look at him with huge, bewildered eyes.
‘We shouldn’t be doing this,’ she whispered huskily.
What a joke! She still had her hands behind his head and her body was still leaning towards his.
Tell me about it, Alessandro thought. This was probably the last thing he should be doing. But for the first time in his life his control had slipped and he had no intention of trying to claw it back. He was so turned on that he could barely think clearly. He wanted to feel her hand on his erection, feel her rubbing him, licking him, taking him into her mouth...
Instead they were both still fully clothed, and it was driving him crazy.
‘It’s better to do the things we know we shouldn’t do than live an empty life resisting all temptation,’ he husked. ‘But if you want me to stop...’
‘I don’t even approve of you...’
‘I know.’
He silenced her with another kiss, and this time it was hungry, urgent, demanding and utterly, utterly devastating.
She was barely aware of him getting onto the bed with her, or of him rearing up to strip off his shirt. She was too fascinated by the sight of his bare torso...bronzed, broad-shouldered, every ripple of muscle defined.
She moaned and levered herself up, licked his stomach. It felt so decadent and so wanton that she could scarcely believe she’d done it. He flung back his head and she felt him suck in his breath. Lord, but that made her feel powerful.
Tentatively, she placed her hand on the bulge pushing against his trousers, and was thrilled when she heard him groan and felt him press her hand down hard.
‘Just...wait...’ Alessandro held his breath, gathering his scattered self-control, then released it in a long, slow hiss.
‘Wait for what?’
‘I...have never...been so close to doing the unthinkable...’
‘What’s that?’
Alessandro looked down at her flushed face and grinned with wicked enjoyment. ‘Coming before I want to—shall I show you what it feels like?’
His dark eyes were bold as they raked over her. She had no idea how he could do this, but she knew that he had done it before—looked at her and made her feel as though she was being touched, caressed.
So it was a bad idea. It didn’t make sense. It went against every principle she had ever held. Sex was not something to be given away lightly—it should be part of a developing relationship, a journey of discovery and exploration.
Alessandro Preda had about as much interest in journeys of discovery and exploration as a pirate sizing up his next conquest. See, take and move on was not the motto of the sensitive kind of guy she needed.
But, God, she wanted him. And wasn’t he right? She had been so busy building her secure little nest that she had forgotten there was a world out there—a world of experience and fun and adventure and...challenge.
Why shouldn’t she accept the challenge and go with the flow for the first time in her life?
‘I work for you...’
‘I think it’s too late for us to throw that into the mix...’
He straddled her and reached for the button on his trousers. One hundred per cent dominant alpha male...one hundred per cent heartbreaker...
But she was safe. Her heart could never be broken by a man like Alessandro Preda. Men like him had broken her mother’s heart time and again. Men like him led women on, led them astray, made them forget reason. Her lifetime’s work had been to make sure that she was emotionally immune to men like him. So what if it turned out in this instance that she wasn’t physically immune? She could deal with that...
This was living in the moment. It was something she had never done. And she was going to do it now because he was right. Regret would always make a bitter companion.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE LITTLE SILKY nothing of a dress had ridden up her thighs as she lay sprawled on the bed, watching him with bated breath.
Still straddling her, not taking his eyes off her heated face, he reached behind him without looking and cupped her between her legs.
She was melting. When he moved his hand, pressing down, she moaned and her eyelids fluttered. She was wet...so wet. She let her legs go limp, inviting him, and he took advantage of the invitation to slip his hand under her damp panties so that he could rub two fingers gently, insistently, finding the throbbing nub of her clitoris and making her gasp with pleasure.
‘You like what I’m doing to you?’ he murmured.
She nodded, dazed, hardly
able to believe that this was her—sensible, practical, ever-watchful Kate Watson, who had always planned her life right down to the very last detail, who had never allowed herself to get swept up in anything she couldn’t control.
She moved against his questing fingers, groaning softly, feeling the waves of pleasure beginning to rise to a crest.
‘Not like this...’ she managed to croak, in a voice she didn’t recognize, and he withdrew his fingers immediately, leaving her aching down there. ‘Beast.’ She smiled at the wicked glint in his eyes.
‘I’ll let you do the same to me,’ Alessandro soothed. ‘Sometimes it works...getting so close to the finishing line and not being able to cross it...it makes the eventual crossing so much more thrilling...’
He eased his big body off the bed and took his time removing his clothes. He found that his hands were unsteady, his pulse racing, and he was momentarily confused... Because this had never happened to him in his life before. He couldn’t remember ever having to struggle against a desire to come before the time was right. When it came to making love he had always had the ultimate control over his body.
Not now.
Now he knew that if she touched him down there, in all the ways he wanted her to, he would ejaculate. He would have to take his time, move slowly, and whilst it wasn’t his style to rush, this time rushing was exactly what he wanted to do.
This loss of control was...destabilizing. It made him feel like someone tipping over the edge as they bungee-jumped into the unknown.
Her eyes were on him, fascinated, apprehensive, weirdly shy, as he stood in front of her clad only in his boxers.
‘Like what you see?’
Kate nodded, her mouth dry. Like? That word didn’t begin to sum up what she was feeling. The man was the ultimate in physical perfection. How was that even possible for someone who spent the majority of his time on a plane, or behind a desk, or clutching a cell phone...?
‘You must exercise a lot,’ she ventured, and he grinned.
‘I’m taking that as a compliment.’
He slipped off the boxers and she nearly fainted at the sight of his impressive arousal. Her eyes were half-closed as he slipped back onto the bed next to her.
At Her Boss's Pleasure Page 12