Deserving of His Diamonds (16 page)

picked a better weapon. He hadn‘t told her anything about his past. He had

told no one. The loneliness he had felt, not having a proper home and family,

not belonging, being constantly hungry, cold and dirty. The

shame of not even knowing who his father was. The shame of being an

outcast because of the poverty that had been all he had ever known. ‗Is this

about money?‘ he asked, barely managing to control his anger. ‗You want

more money? You want a business deal instead of a proper relationship? Is

that what you want?‘ Her expression turned bitter. ‗That‘s what we already

have, isn‘t it?‘ ‗That‘s not what we have and you damn well know it,‘ he

said, frowning at her furiously. ‗You made love with me, not because of the

money we agreed on, but because you wanted me. It wouldn‘t have mattered

what amount of money I gave you. I don‘t believe you would have sold

yourself. You‘re not that sort of woman.‘ She turned away, her arms still

wrapped tightly around her body. ‗I don‘t want to talk about this any more,‘

she said. ‗I‘m only here for a month. That‘s what we agreed on. I haven‘t

signed up for anything else.‘ Emilio let out a harsh breath. ‗I want a future

with you, Gisele, and I want a family. Don‘t make me choose between one

and the other.‘ He saw her back and shoulders stiffen. ‗I can‘t give you what

you want,‘ she said. ‗Can‘t or won‘t?‘ he asked cynically. ‗You want to

punish me for how I hurt you. I get that, I really do. I understand that was

part of the reason you agreed to come to Italy with me. You saw it as a

chance to be as difficult and demanding as you could so I would let you go

at the end of the month with no regrets.‘ She swung back round to face him,

her expression taut with anger. ‗And why shouldn‘t I punish you?‘ she

asked. ‗You broke my heart, damn you. I hate you for that.‘

Emilio put his hands on her shoulders. ‗Cara, if you truly hated me you

would never have shared that bed with me just now,‘ he said. ‗It was just

sex,‘ she said with a worldly toss of her head. ‗It‘s been a while for me. I

wanted relief and you provided it.‘ ‗I don‘t believe it was just sex.‘ ‗Women

can do it too, you know,‘ she said. ‗We can separate emotion from sex when

we need to.‘ ‗Is that so?‘ Emilio asked with a curl of his lip. ‗Yes,‘ she said,

chin up, eyes defiant. His hands tightened on her shoulders as he pulled her

closer. ‗Then if that‘s the case, you won‘t mind having sex again just for the

heck of it, will you?‘ And then he brought his mouth down heavily on hers.

Gisele had fully intended to block his kiss by keeping her lips firmly closed,

but just one stroke of his tongue had her opening to him with flagrant need.

She felt the sexy thrust of his tongue against hers, calling hers into a tango

that sent shivers racing up and down her spine. Her body was pressed tightly

against his aroused one, the hardened probe of his erection searing her belly

with the erotic promise of his potent possession. She returned the heat and

fire of his kiss with wanton disregard for her pride or principles. She wanted

him with a hunger that was beyond her control. It raced through her veins

with breakneck speed, lifting her skin in earthy delight as he tore open her

wrap as if it were made of tissue paper. His hands cupped her breasts, his

thumbs rubbing over her nipples until they were tight and aching all over

again.

He eased the ache with the hot, moist cavern of his mouth, sucking on her

until her back was arched in pleasure, her hands clutching his head for

support as the fiery sensations tore through her. Her hands got to work on his

bathrobe, pulling it off him while her mouth went back in search of his. She

grabbed at him greedily, delighting in the hard sheath of his flesh and the

way it throbbed under the caress of her fingers. He picked her up and carried

her to the bed, dropping her in a sexy tangle of limbs, his weight coming

down over her, his body spearing hers with a hard thrust that knocked the air

right out of her lungs. She heard him give a primitive male grunt of pleasure

as her body wrapped around him, a sound that made her shudder all over in

delight. He set a furious pace but she was with him all the way. She clawed

at the skin on his back, she grabbed his taut buttocks and drove him on with

a feral urgency she had no idea she possessed. It was wicked. It was racy. It

was thrilling to have him so close to losing control. She felt the tension in

her body rise with every rough surge of his body within hers. She felt her

orgasm approach like a speeding train. She couldn‘t have done anything to

stop it if she had tried. It smashed into her, tossing her high in the air, rolling and rolling her in a whirlpool of heady, blissful sensation that surpassed

anything she had felt before in his arms. He came with a stabbing thrust and

a shout of pleasure that made her skin shiver. She felt the pulsing of his body

as he discharged his essence, anointing her, branding her as his.

He rolled off her and lay with his chest heaving, his body totally spent and

the scent of their coupling fragrant in the air. Gisele wasn‘t sure what to say,

so said nothing. She was still struggling to get her breathing under control.

Her body was still tingling from the sensual assault of unrivalled ecstasy.

She wanted to hate him, but how could she when he made her feel this way?

He had dismantled every one of her defences with his hot, drugging kisses

and his fiery possession. She squeezed her legs together and felt the

stickiness of him. It was such a stomach-hollowing reminder of the passion

that still flared between them. Would it ever go away? Would she be able to

walk away once the month was up? Emilio turned back to her, propping

himself on one elbow as he toyed with the wayward strands of her hair. ‗I

want you to move into my room,‘ he said. Gisele quickly hid a nervous

swallow. She had wanted some space but he clearly wasn‘t going to be

satisfied unless she was in his arms every night. The intimacy of it terrified

her, not because she didn‘t want to sleep with him. She did. It was just that

she knew she would fall in love with him all over again if he got too close.

‗What, now?‘ she asked. ‗Not right this minute,‘ he said, rolling her so she

was lying on top of him. ‗I have other plans for you just now.‘ ‗Oh?‘ she

said with a coolness she was nowhere near feeling. Her body had already

betrayed her. It had welcomed him with slick moistness, gripping him so

tightly she could feel the hot, hard length of him filling her completely. She

couldn‘t just lie there without moving. She just had to feel the delicious

sensation of being in

control. She rode him all the way to heaven and back, finally collapsing over

him when she had shattered into a million pieces. She felt him plunge

himself deeper and deeper before he let go with a raw groan of ecstasy. And

then, without the need for anything other than the sheltering circle of his

arms, she fell soundly asleep …

EMILIO lay awake for long hours, watching Gisele sleep. She was purring

softly like a kitten beside him. She had curled up against him, one of her

arms thrown across his chest in the way she had used to do. He stroked the

silky flesh of her arm, thinking how much he had missed moments like this.

She was the first woman he had wanted to spend the entire night with. He

had never felt comfortable doing that with any other lover. The physical

closeness of sex became something deeper with her. Her natural sensuality

was something that had attracted him from the first moment he had met her.

He had loved that she had been a virgin. It was perhaps a little old-fashioned

of him to have been so ridiculously pleased, but he admired her for not

putting herself out there for just anyone. All the women he had slept with

had been experienced. It had stopped him in his tracks to think Gisele had

waited until she felt she had met the right man to give herself to.

He had been that right man.

She had waited until she was absolutely sure she was ready for that level of

intimacy. He had enjoyed tutoring her. He had always thought there was

something highly sacred about her giving herself to him. It wasn‘t just her

body she had given him, but her trust. It had been such a precious gift, one

he had savoured and treasured … until the sex tape scandal had erupted and

he had mistakenly believed her virginal status had all been a hoax, a

deliberate ploy to gain his confidence in her—an act to put a ring on her

finger and a steady income in her bank account. His extensive experience of

gold-diggers and social climbers had made his judgement skewed. He had

not for a moment considered

Gisele had been innocent. That was the thing that still plagued him the most.

He had not looked long and hard enough for another explanation. He had

gone with the pack on calling her out as little more than a high-priced whore.

It pained him to think of the way he had let her down. Would she ever

forgive him? Did the fact that she had let her guard down enough to be

intimate with him again mean she was softening towards him? Or had she

only done it to ease her conscience about taking the money he had promised

her? Was the only thing tying her to him two million dollars? It was a

disquieting thought and one he couldn‘t readily dismiss from his mind. She

moved against him, stretching one leg and then the other before her eyes

slowly opened. ‗Have I been sleeping?‘ she asked, struggling to an upright

position, her blonde hair all tousled like a bird‘s nest around her shoulders.

Emilio smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. ‗Like a baby,‘ he

said. Something flickered in her eyes before she lowered them, her fingers

plucking at the edge of the sheet covering her chest. Her face had taken on a

stricken look. He even saw the colour leach out of her face. Emilio propped

himself up on one elbow. ‗Are you OK?‘ he asked. ‗Why wouldn‘t I be

OK?‘ she said, affecting an indifferent tone. He trailed a gentle finger down

the slope of her linencreased cheek. ‗Did I hurt you?‘ he asked. ‗Things got

pretty intense there last night.‘

She still didn‘t look at him but her cheeks filled with colour again. ‗No, of

course not.‘ He tipped up her face with a finger beneath her chin. ‗Still just

sex?‘ he asked. ‗Of course,‘ she said with a haughty look. ‗What else could

it be?‘ His eyes continued to study her as he outlined the contours of her

mouth with the tip of his index finger. ‗Liar,‘ he said. ‗It‘s never been just

sex, has it, cara?‘ She pushed against his chest and rolled away from him,

reaching for a bathrobe and tying the ends around her waist, her lips pressed

tightly together as if she didn‘t trust herself to answer. She gave him a final

chilly look and stalked across the room. ‗Where are you going?‘ he asked.

‗I‘m going to take a shower,‘ she said with a little flash of her gaze. ‗Is that

OK or should I have asked permission first?‘ Emilio frowned at her. He was

getting a little tired of her game-playing. One minute she was sobbing with

pleasure in his arms and the next she acted as if she couldn‘t wait for the

month to be over. He wanted their relationship to settle down, not be a

constant battlefield. He wanted the past put behind him. It wasn‘t his way to

dwell on things. He had to move forwards. There was no other choice. ‗Do

what you like,‘ he said, throwing off the bedcovers as he rose from the bed.

‗I‘ll see you downstairs.‘ When Gisele came downstairs Marietta had set out

the breakfast things and the morning papers out on the terrace. She sat down

and poured herself a cup of tea,

but just as she was lifting it to her mouth she saw there an English paper

sticking out from beneath the Italian one. She pulled it out and looked at the

headline below the main news item. The cup in her hand fell with a loud

smashing clatter to the flagstones of the terrace. Her heart jerked, stopped

and then started to stutter. Her breathing stalled for so long her head swam.

She heard the firm tread of Emilio‘s footsteps come out on the terrace.

‗Gisele?‘ he said. ‗Are you all right? Have you burnt yourself?‘ She pressed

the paper to her thumping chest, unable to get a single word out past the

sudden constriction of her throat. Her heart was thudding sickeningly, a

kick-blow beat that was as painful as it was erratic. There were two photos.

One was of Emilio and her at lunch yesterday. The shot showed her looking

crossly at him. It wasn‘t very flattering to her at all, but that wasn‘t the worst of it. The other photo … oh, dear God … How had it happened? How had

the press sourced a photo of her at her baby‘s grave? Had someone followed

her there the last time she had placed flowers on Lily‘s grave? She tried to

think through the haze of pain inside her head. The cemetery had been a

little busier than usual that day. Had someone recognised her and cashed in

on the opportunity to sell the shot to the press? She knew there were

websites where members of the public could sell phone pictures of

celebrities: candid shots, catching people off guard with no make-up on or