‘Erm... He was very romantic but that’s all I am going to say,’ Frankie said, choosing her words carefully. ‘It was a private moment between us that is only our business.’
The journalist wasn’t giving up that easily. She swung her recording device in Gabriel’s direction. ‘Have you introduced your new bride to your father?’
Frankie could feel Gabriel flinch as if someone had struck him. Her heart ached for him having to deal with such a question, knowing now how he felt about his father. ‘No. I have nothing to do with my father. I haven’t spoken to him in years. Now, if you’ll excuse us—we have a plane to catch for our honeymoon.’ He led Frankie into the departure hall with firm, don’t-mess-with-me strides.
And, thankfully, the press got the message and moved on.
‘I think we should have rehearsed for that a bit better back there...’ Frankie said once they were on the flight with a drink in front of them.
Gabriel’s unreadable gaze met hers. ‘I thought you handled it brilliantly. Saying something to them without really saying anything.’
‘I didn’t want to make something up on the spot that wouldn’t be true to your character, I mean, you don’t strike me as the romantic type.’ She wasn’t sure she was being entirely fair but the words were out before she could think twice.
One side of his mouth came up in a wry smile. ‘Then it’s just as well I’m not intending to woo and win anyone once we end our arrangement. According to you, I’d fail miserably.’
Frankie wasn’t sure what to make of his expression. There was a mercurial light in his dark gaze. She sighed and picked up her mineral water. ‘I didn’t mean to insult you.’
He lifted his finger to her face and sent it down her cheek in a lazy stroke. ‘I have thick skin. You should know that about me by now.’
She shivered under his light touch, her gaze going to his mouth as if pulled by invisible strings. ‘I wonder if it’s as thick and unfeeling as you make out.’
His gaze lingered on her mouth, his finger tracing it in one continual movement that made something in her belly flap and flutter. ‘You’d better believe it, cara.’ His tone had a hint of sadness. His hand fell away and he turned away to pick up his own drink, a thoughtful frown settling between his brows.
* * *
Thankfully, there were no press to greet them in Marseille. Frankie followed Gabriel out to the car he had organised for them complete with chauffeur. They drove through the lively grit and grandeur of France’s second largest city. Marseille had a pedigree that stretched back to classical Greece and was a thriving multicultural port and tourist destination, especially after the year it claimed the title of European Capital of Culture. The driver took them to a stunning villa in Bouches-du-Rhône, high up in the prestigious district of Le Roucas-Blanc. The late-nineteenth-century three-storey villa was set facing the sea and the islands beyond. The calanques—the steep-sided valleys formed in limestone, dolomite or other carbonate strata—were a spectacular feature of this part of the Mediterranean coast. And the villa, situated with such an amazing outlook, was a perfectly secluded paradise away from the bustling busyness of the tourist-heavy city of Marseille. There were several terraces, each with a garden, and one even had an infinity pool, and Frankie couldn’t wait to explore everything.
‘Oh, my goodness, it’s amazing...’ She swung her gaze back to Gabriel. ‘What a gorgeous place.’
‘I’m glad you like it.’ He gave one of his fleeting smiles. ‘I bought it a year or so ago after waiting for it for a decade. The previous owners didn’t want to sell but then I finally managed to convince them. I’ve only just finished having it redecorated.’
Frankie’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Satellite saucers. ‘You own it?’
‘Sì. I like it here. It’s private.’
She had grown up with wealth and privilege but this villa was something else again. She had been to Marseille once before with her father and a school friend and stayed in a luxury hotel. But she couldn’t help thinking the privacy and seclusion of this villa couldn’t have been a more perfect place for a honeymoon. If she were indeed having a honeymoon.
But how like him to wait for something he wanted. He set a goal and had the patience and self-discipline to finally achieve it. In a world of immediate gratification, of snatch and grab and don’t measure the risks first, how could she not admire him?
How could she not fall a little bit in love with him?
The driver deposited their luggage inside and left soon after.
Frankie followed Gabriel into the villa where fresh flowers were arranged in crystal vases in the foyer. There was a tasteful blend of old and new in the choice of colours and furnishings. There was a grand staircase leading to the other floors but no sign of any staff.
Gabriel took her upstairs to the suite he’d allocated her. She couldn’t help thinking he was treating her like a house guest instead of a bride. His bedroom was as far away from hers as it could be.
‘Do you have staff here?’ Frankie asked.
‘I have a small team of people who take care of things,’ Gabriel said, putting her bag down on a low-lying chest that serviced as a luggage rack. ‘Gardeners and a housekeeper. She only comes in a couple of times a week when I’m here. I don’t like being surrounded by staff when I come here to get away from everyone.’
‘I hope my presence won’t play havoc with your much-prized solitude?’
He grazed her cheek with the back of his knuckles, an inscrutable smile pulling at the edges of his mouth. ‘You play havoc with much more than my solitude, cara. Much more.’
She looked into his dark as night gaze, her breath stalling in her throat. She lifted her hand to his face, tracing the scar on his cheekbone. ‘Why are you so determined to push me away?’
He drew in a breath and placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘You know why.’ His voice had that deep burr that sent a tremor down her spine and a shockwave through her core.
‘But I want you close.’ Frankie moved so she was touching him from chest to thigh. ‘Can’t you see that?’
His fingers tightened momentarily on her shoulders, a battle playing out on his face. His jaw worked, his eyes darkened, his mouth flattened. ‘If I were a good man I would walk out of this room and not look back.’
‘But?’ Frankie’s eyes searched his, her heart thudding so hard it felt like it was going to punch through the wall of her chest like a fist through damp paper.
He sighed again and cupped her cheek. ‘Seems I’m not the decent man I thought I was.’ His mouth came down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. It was brief but no less magical. Her lips sang under the light press of his, aching for more. He raised his mouth just a fraction above hers. ‘Tell me to get out of here before it’s too late.’
Frankie slid her hand along the side of his stubbly jaw, her mouth so close to his, their breaths mingled. ‘I want you to make love to me. I want it more than anything. Please?’
He drew in a ragged breath, his hands taking her again by the shoulders. At first, she thought he was going to put her away from him, but she saw the exact moment when his resolve weakened. His features lost their lines of tension, muscle by muscle. ‘As long as we both know this is just sex. It’s not a future together. It’s just an affair for the length of our marriage.’
‘I understand.’ Frankie pressed closer, her hands linking around his neck. ‘This is all I want. I can’t bear to get any older without some experience. And who better than you to give it to me?’
‘You make it so damn hard to resist you.’ His cupped her bottom, drawing her closer to the hard heat of his body. ‘Are you sure about this? Really sure?’
She pulled his head down so his mouth was just above hers. ‘I’m sure.’
His mouth covered hers in a scorching kiss, a deep groan sounding at the back of his throat when she opened to
him. His tongue tangoed with hers, leading it in a sensual dance that made every bone in her body melt until she was only standing upright because he was holding her. She thought for a moment the floor was shifting beneath her feet, but then she realised he had picked her up and was carrying her to his bedroom further down the hall. He stopped to kiss her on the way, time and time again, so that when they finally arrived in his room, she was mad with the need to touch him skin on skin.
He lowered her to the floor, sliding her down the length of his body, his eyes glittering with desire. ‘I need to take things slowly. I don’t want to hurt you.’
Frankie set to work on his clothes, her fingers fumbling in her haste, terrified he might be having second thoughts about making love to her. ‘I want to touch you.’
He placed a hand over hers, holding it against his chest where his heart was beating like someone in an emergency cardiac unit. ‘It’s important to me that you enjoy this every step of the way.’ He lowered his mouth back to hers in a long bone-melting kiss, his tongue playing with hers in languorous strokes that made her senses spin. He peeled the clothes from her body, his touch gentle and careful as if he was unwrapping something infinitely precious.
His hands caressed her breasts through the lace of her bra before he unclipped it and let it fall to the floor. He stepped back and removed the rest of his clothes, leaving her in just her knickers. She couldn’t take her eyes off his body. The ridges and planes of hard male muscle that so excited her.
She stroked her hand down from his sternum to just above his erection. ‘Can I touch you?’ Her voice was little more than a whisper.
He groaned and anchored her hand under his against his surging body. ‘I’ve been dreaming of this.’ He sucked in a breath and she encircled him with her fingers, going on instinct, caressing him, stroking and massaging him until he was so full and tight she thought he would explode.
After a moment, he pushed her hand away. ‘This time is about you. Only you.’ He hooked a finger in her knickers and lowered them down her thigh. She stepped out of them, shocked at how sensual the lace felt moving down her leg. Shocked and thrilled by the electric heat of his hand moving along her thigh. Would there ever be a time when his touch wouldn’t thrill her so much? Would a year be long enough to satiate the desire he had awakened?
Gabriel led her to the king-sized bed, pausing to take a condom from the bedside drawer. Had he brought other women here? The thought was as unwelcome as a deadly spider on the crisp white sheets. She hadn’t realised she’d made a sound until he glanced at her with a narrowed gaze. ‘Is something wrong?’
Frankie sank her teeth into her lip and aimed her gaze at the shallow dish at the base of his neck between his collar bones. ‘Nothing...’
He brought her chin up so she couldn’t avoid his gaze. He searched her gaze for a long moment. ‘I haven’t brought anyone else here before you.’
‘No one?’
‘No one.’ His finger brushed over her bottom lip in a barely touching movement.
‘But why not?’
‘The redecorating for one thing.’ He dropped his hand from her face and let out a sigh. ‘And the other thing...’ A frown played on his forehead. ‘I’m not sure. I only ever planned to come here alone.’
Frankie didn’t want to think about why his words pleased her so much. She didn’t want to set herself up for future pain by dreaming for something more than he was offering. She had made the decision to marry him on his terms. It would be foolish of her to hanker after a happy ending he was incapable or unwilling to give. Wasn’t it enough that he wanted her? Wanted her fervently if his body was any indication? She moved closer, touching his lean jaw with her fingers. ‘I’m glad that I don’t have to compete with any other memories you’ve had in this bed.’
‘We can make our own memories, sì?’ He encircled her wrist with his fingers, turning her hand over and kissing her palm and then all the way up her arm until he was close to her naked breast. His mouth brushed her skin, teasing every pore into a frenzy. It was both pleasure and torture, a tantalising caress that made her ache for more. His lips moved along the curve of her breast, his tongue circling her nipple, his teeth taking it between them in a soft bite that sent a ripple of pleasure to her core. He did the same to her other breast, making her nipple tighten into a pert bud, making her desire for him quake through her body in pulsing waves and flickers.
He lay on the bed with her, his hand stroking her from her breasts to her belly, long lazy strokes that made her flesh tingle. He brought his head down to her stomach, circling her bellybutton with his tongue before going lower. She drew in a breath and tensed but he calmed her with a gentle hand, just above her mound.
‘Relax for me, cara. I want to make it good for you.’
Frankie lay back and gave herself up to the sensation of him exploring her intimate folds. The movement of his lips, the stroke and glide of his tongue against her swollen flesh sent ripples and shockwaves through her. And then, almost without warning, her body erupted in a tumult of feeling. Darts and arrows, waves and shudders of pleasure rocketed through her lower body, travelling through her thighs and pelvis like liquid fire. She gasped and writhed under his expert touch, her body so out of her control it was almost frightening.
She flung herself back against the pillows with a breathless sigh, stunned that her body could have reacted in such a powerful way. ‘I had no idea...’ She could barely get the words out. Her heart was still hammering as if she had just run up to the top of a lighthouse.
Gabriel stroked the hair back from her face, planting a light kiss on her mouth. She could taste herself on him, the musk of female arousal and response. And rather than make her shy and uncomfortable, it made her feel close to him in a way she had never expected to feel. ‘You were magnificent,’ he said. ‘Truly magnificent.’
Frankie stroked her hand down his chest to the flat plane of his abdomen. ‘But what about you?’
‘We’ll get to that...’ He brought his mouth back to hers, kissing her with such exquisite thoroughness her desire built back up again in a fiery rush. He moved his mouth to send a hot trail of kisses over her breasts, down her stomach and back up again.
‘I want you...’ Frankie was close to begging, her arms pulling him closer, her lower body arching up to meet his.
He put on a condom and came back to her, his body arranged over hers without allowing her to bear too much of his weight. The feel of his hair-roughened thighs entwined with her smooth ones made her shiver with excitement. The hardness of his body, so close to the aching swollen heat of hers, made her desperate to have him closer. As close as a man and woman could be.
‘I want to take this really slowly.’ His tone was as gentle as his hand resting on the flank of her thigh. As gentle as his concerned gaze. ‘Tell me if you’re not comfortable.’
‘Okay...’ She was barely capable of speech with her desire for him rampaging through her body.
He positioned himself at her entrance, slowly parting her folds, moving inch by inch, stopping to gauge her reaction. ‘Okay so far?’
‘More than okay.’ She grasped him by his toned and taut buttocks and drew him even closer. The smooth glide of his body within hers took her breath away.
He stilled at the sound of her slight gasp. ‘Too much?’
Frankie arched her pelvis to take more of him in. ‘Too little.’
A smouldering light burned in his sexily hooded gaze. ‘Let’s see what I can do about that.’
He went deeper, his thrusts slow and measured, her body welcoming him, worshipping his thick male presence. Shudders and quivers rippled through her body, tension building like a storm about to erupt. His breathing became just as hectic as hers, the movements of his hips increasing in pace, driven by primal lust that craved only one end.
Frankie was with him all the way, her body reacting, responding, relishi
ng the sensations he was delivering in each and every powerful thrust. The tension rose in her core, an unbearable, frantic tension that pleaded for release. Now. Now. Now. She was close but not close enough, the friction of his body against hers teasing her, torturing her. ‘I don’t think I can—’ she gasped out in desperation.
‘Yes, you can. I’ll help you.’ He brought his hand down between their bodies, caressing her swollen flesh, the stroke and flicker of his fingers triggering a cataclysmic release that was like an earthquake through her body. Tumultuous waves rolled and thrashed and crashed through every inch of her flesh. Prickles and tingles and shivers of delight coursed through her from the top of her scalp to her curling toes.
Frankie was still trying to get her breathing under control when he tensed all over, his own release powering through him. He gave a shuddering groan and with those final, desperate thrusts spilled his essence. She stroked her hands over the goose-bumps peppering his back and shoulders, her body still reeling from the sensations it had experienced.
Gabriel moved away slightly to dispose of the condom, and then came back and leaned on one elbow to look at her, his eyes as dark as black holes in space. He moved his hand from the curve of her waist to her hip and back again in long lazy strokes that made her flesh tingle. ‘You were amazing.’ His voice was low and deep.
‘No. You were.’ Frankie threaded her fingers through the thickness of his hair. ‘Thank you.’
A flicker of something came and went in his gaze as quick as a camera shutter click. ‘I didn’t hurt you?’
‘Not at all.’ She moved her hand to his face, stroking her index finger down from the bridge of his nose to the bottom of his chin. ‘Was it good for you too? I mean...really good?’ She couldn’t quite meet his gaze.
He cupped one side of her face, locking her gaze with his. ‘It was amazing. You were amazing.’ He waited a beat and added, ‘No regrets?’
‘No. You?’
Penniless Virgin to Sicilian's Bride Page 11