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'Enough,' he groaned, rolling them over, settling her under him and fanning her hair out on the pillows.

Never had she felt so desired, so wanted, so cherished, as Seb's kisses and caresses brought her to a new fever-pitch of need. She sank her hands into his hair, arching to him as his mouth worked its magic on her breasts, drawing each nipple in turn deep inside and suckling strongly, spearing sensation straight to her womb. On fire, desperate to assuage the terrible empty ache within her, she writhed beneath him, inviting, begging, pleading. She needed release
now
and yet she wanted the most incredible experience of her life to last for ever.

'Seb, please,' she demanded, pressing her pelvis to his, rubbing her softness against his hardness.

His fingertips grazed up her thighs, tormenting her, and she wrapped her legs around him in blatant encouragement. Catching both her hands in one of his, he pinned them above her head, setting his mouth to the hollow of her throat where her pulse rampaged wildly.

'Gina, I want to explore you, savour you, love you for hours. But I am too impatient to wait now.'

'I don't want you to wait!' She couldn't last another second.

He buried his free hand in her hair, eyes dark and fiery with passion as he held her gaze. 'We'll slow down—next time we'll do this properly,' he promised roughly, moving against her, uniting them with one searing motion.

Gina gasped at the blissful wonder of being joined completely with Seb. This wasn't
properly
? She had never felt anything so shatteringly beautiful. His body filled hers almost beyond bearing. It was incredible. Perfect. Frantic, immediate and amazing. She wanted everything.

Freeing her hands, she moved them over his back, instinctively meeting and matching his moves, her body totally in tune with his. The delicious friction and sense of impossible fullness as they moved together was mind-blowing. Wave after wave of ecstasy built inside her. Her heart thundered, her lungs were on the point of bursting, but she wanted more, needed everything, couldn't bear for this to ever stop. She pressed her face into his shoulder, breathing in his seductive scent, tasting his warm flesh. She'd forgotten what it was like.. .and yet it had never, ever been like this.

Seb praised her in Italian, telling her how beautiful she was, how unbelievable she felt, urging her on, taking more, giving everything in return. She relished their blaze of passion. The searing rhythm rushed them both to the point of no return. Drawing her legs higher, she opened more to him, crying out as he sank deeper still, his free arm curling under her hips to keep her tight to him. The pressure was so intense she couldn't stand it.

'Now, Seb. Please.'

His hand in her hair fisted, his breath hot on her neck, his mouth urgent as he bit and sucked at her skin. 'Now.'

Together they soared off the precipice, swirling into oblivion. She feared she might faint from the sheer ecstatic pleasure of it. Sobbing, she clung to him as he masterfully extended and prolonged her shattering climax, binding her to him as he rode out his own. She had no idea where she ended and he began. They were one, sharing something so intense, so incredible, she wasn't sure she would survive it.

They collapsed together, gasping for breath, hearts thundering. Every part of her was shaking, and ripples of sensation continued to undulate through her. Rolling them to the side, Seb drew her leg over his hip and held her close. She felt the tremor in his hands as he gentled her, his fingertips brushing the tears from her cheeks.

'You are mine, Gina
mia.
Mine,' Seb proclaimed over and over, possessive, determined.
'Sempre...
always.'

Wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his neck, she never wanted to let him go.

Seb had never experienced anything so incredible in his life as the storm of desire he had shared with Gina. He had no idea how much time passed in a haze of fulfilment until some semblance of normal thought processes were possible again. He nuzzled closer to her. The scent of vanilla clung to her skin, the familiar aroma mingling with her own unique womanliness—warm, sexy and intensely arousing. Just a short while ago he hadn't thought he would ever be able to move again, but he was gaining a second wind, and he needed to kiss her, explore her, taste her...do all the things he had not done properly the first time as they gave themselves to the urgent demands of their passion.

'Don't go.'

Gina's husky protest came as he eased her onto her back and tucked a pillow more comfortably under her head. He had no intention of going anywhere—as she would soon discover. Taking a moment to enjoy the way her hair tumbled around her, unrestrained and luxuriant, he knelt back, smiling as he looked her over. A smile of possession. Because spread out beneath him, eyes closed and skin flushed, she looked the picture of abandonment...a woman completely and thoroughly satisfied.

His woman.

Needing to touch her, he ran one palm slowly from her throat, down the valley between her delectable breasts, over her navel—noting how her stomach muscles spasmed in reaction—then lower, to rub his fingers back and forth just above her pubic bone. He added enough pressure to have her arching beneath him, giving a throaty moan of pleasure. Sooty lashes fluttered open to reveal dark, slumberous eyes.

He leaned down to kiss her. 'Hi.'

'Hi.' She skimmed her fingers along his forearms, her breath catching as he worked his mouth down her throat and licked his way to her breasts. 'Seb...'

'Mmm?'

'I can't yet,' she protested half-heartedly, making him chuckle because her body was betraying her and responding to his touch, her nipples swelling and tautening.

'You can.' Reluctantly relinquishing one delicious prize, he whispered his lips down to her navel, loving the way she moaned and bowed into him as he kissed, licked and sucked on her skin. 'I intend to do all the work this time.'

Starting at her feet, he continued his journey of discovery, leaving not a fragment of her untouched or unexplored, finding and exploiting the places where she was most sensitive, learning what made her come apart, where and how she most loved to be touched. He inched his way all over her until finally settling himself between her thighs, his hands curling over her hips and belly as she writhed beneath him, whimpering as he set his mouth to the core of her femininity, relishing her taste, her uninhibited and instinctive reactions to his caresses.

'Seb!' She shifted restlessly, clutching at him as he took her up a plateau at a time, then kept her balanced precariously on the edge of release. 'Please!'

'Patience,
amore mia.'

He teased her, drawing out the delicious torture until she was crazy with need, before allowing her to crash over the edge, holding her close as she spun through the vortex of pleasure. And then he started all over again, welcoming her eager participation as she gave back just as readily and explored him with equal endeavour.

It was a very long time later .when they finally fell into an exhausted, sated sleep, locked in each other's arms.

Seb woke with a feeling of incredible contentment. Gina was spooned against him, and his arms were closed possessively around her. For a man who had never before brought a woman to his home or his bed, who had never spent the whole night with a woman, he had made a remarkable discovery in the last hours. He could not now imagine
ever
sleeping another night without Gina in his arms.

Brushing her hair back, curling the silken mass up on the pillow, he softly moved his lips over the back of her neck, careful not to wake her. He smothered a sigh, horribly aware that he had still not told her the full truth about himself. The more he knew her, the more he cared about her, and the harder it was to own up, to risk ruining the most special thing he had ever experienced.

She was the most amazing woman. Incredibly responsive and receptive to his touch, she gave herself so generously, abandoned and without inhibition. The hours learning her body had been blissful, discovering her most sensitive places.. .the insides of her thighs, her navel, her breasts, the hollows below her ears, the backs of her knees, the base of her spine near the tattoo. He had discovered how to send her straight to orbit, and how to keep her on the edge of pleasure for ages. He loved it. Loved everything about her, every part of her. Loved nothing more than pleasuring her. It wasn't sex. It was making love.

And it hit him. No way were a few days and nights going to be enough. In a short time Gina had changed him— opened his eyes, given him hope, a sense of purpose for his future. His injuries had brought him to Elba. Elba had brought him Gina. And Gina had given him back his own reality and sense of self. He was angry at the way he had wasted his surgical skill, angry at what felt like the temporary loss of his very soul, sacrificed on the fake altar of money and success. He didn't like the person he had been, the kind of doctor he had become, but Gina had led him out of the darkness and into the light.

Maybe the new life ahead opened the way for him to have a proper relationship—the chance to make a real commitment to something other than his job. Not long ago such thoughts would have scared him. Now he was filled with an increasing excitement and awareness that Gina could be
the one.
All he knew was that he couldn't let her go. Which meant that somehow he would have to stop her leaving.. .or go with her.

He had no idea about her feelings. He could only hope this meant something to her. At some point they needed to have a serious talk. Knowing how important Gina's nursing was to her, Seb would not insult her by suggesting she give it up. True, he had enough money that neither of them needed to worry much about work again—not that she knew that yet. But he could never sit back and do nothing, and he knew Gina would feel the same.

Sighing, he glanced at the clock, surprised at how late they had slept. He needed to check on Maria. And it wouldn't be long before Evelina arrived. With regret, he gently eased away from Gina, tucking the covers around her and leaving her to catch up on some of the sleep he had denied her through their long night of loving.

He had two main problems to solve and answers to find...

What was he going to do with the rest of his life?

And how would Gina react when she knew the full story about him?

'Nonna
, are you all right?' Gina asked, watching her grandmother stand on the harbourside at Marciana Marina and gaze out to sea, as if miles away in the past.

She turned and offered a teary smile, one that pulled at Gina's heartstrings. 'I am just feeling sentimental. Remembering.'

'Oh, Nonna.' She slipped an arm around her frail shoulders. It was the third morning of their stay at the villa, and although her health had improved rapidly since leaving hospital, Gina couldn't help but worry. 'Are you sure you're up to this?'

'It was always going to be emotional.'

'I know, but...' Gina paused, biting her lip in indecision, looking across to where middle-aged, balding Paolo Benigni, a former fisherman who now ran chartered boat trips, was talking to Seb. 'You can change your mind at any time.'

Her grandmother shook her head. 'This is right, Gina. I must do it—I
want
to do it.'

'OK.'

'It is time to do what we came here for... time things went full circle.' One frail hand cupped her cheek. 'Do not be sad,
ragazza mia.
It is the way of life. Think of all the happy years. Were it not for the life I have been blessed with—including having you as part of it—I would not be here at all.'

Blinking back tears, Gina let out a shaky breath, keeping her misgivings to herself. A lump in her throat, she struggled to come to terms with what was about to happen. Yes, this was the reason they had come to Elba, and she supported her grandmother, had promised to carry out her grandparents' wishes, but... She closed her eyes. It was still hard to let go, to face saying goodbye again to the grandfather she'd loved so much.

There is a heavy storm coming later in the day,' Seb announced, coming up beside them. 'Paolo says we need to go now.. .if we're going.'

'We are going,' her grandmother stated with her customary determination.

Gina managed a shaky smile as Seb glanced at her, then turned away. 'Come, Maria. Let me help you.'

Together, Seb and Paolo guided her grandmother on board the boat and saw her comfortably settled, the precious urn clasped protectively in her. lap. Gina tossed her braid over her shoulder and looked away, needing a moment to get her emotions in check. Familiar hands settled on her shoulders, thumbs caressing the nape of her neck, and Gina turned, wrapping her arms around Seb's waist, pressing her face against him. One of his hands rubbed her back, and the other cradled her head as he gave her the comfort she needed, letting her absorb his strength.

'How are you doing?'

'I'm fine,' she fibbed, feeling selfish for her doubts and reluctance when this was what her grandparents had planned and so desperately wanted.

She burrowed more fully into his embrace and turned her thoughts to him. The last days with Seb had been the happiest of her life. And the nights had been incredible.

They had quickly fallen into a comfortable routine. The three of them would spend their mornings on short sightseeing trips, with Seb an entertaining and patient escort. Then after lunch Evelina would come to the villa and keep a resting Maria company while Gina went out with Seb, walking or cycling in the national park, exploring the island or swimming at the private cove.

The previous afternoon they had visited an old mine and its museum, where Seb had bought her a glorious piece of mineral, a classic example of the 'Elbaite' commonly found on the island. The subtle colours and shapes in the smoky quartz with its pieces of tourmaline and beryl intrigued her, and she would cherish it always.

In the evenings, after Evelina had gone home, the three of them ate together, then relaxed until her grandmother went to bed. Then it was time for her and Seb to be alone, to explore the passion that only seemed to burn hotter between them.