VITTORIO'S LOVER (Vittorio Series) (16 page)

She had to get out of there before Raffaele woke up.

Logically, she knew that if Raffaele had gone to bed and slept soundly through the ruckus, then he wasn’t concerned about the weather posing any danger. Unfortunately, logic was an ineffectual weapon against bone-deep fear. Irrational as it was, she felt safe with Raffaele’s warmth enveloping her and was reluctant to go back to her room to spend a restless night alone. It took some time and half a dozen self-recriminations but gradually, Jenesa worked up the courage to do the sensible thing.

Extracting herself without waking Raffaele proved to be quite a challenge. Twice, she managed to free her legs only to have him
trap them again.  When she finally did inch them away far enough, it also hiked her nightie up to her hips and revealed a good portion of her bottom. When she’d made love to Raffaele earlier, her barely-there panties had made her feel sinfully sexy; now Jenesa simply felt…exposed. And it might not have been an issue at all if Raffaele hadn’t chosen that particular moment to roll onto his back.

As he started to turn over, t
he arm that had been curled around her waist was slowly dragged over her hip to her thigh where it hit bare skin. Jenesa should have moved away to avoid any prolonged contact, but when the palm of his hand flattened on her thigh and then curved around to expand his exploration of naked flesh, it was all she could do to keep from trembling beneath his gentle caress and beg him not to stop. Fearful that any movement on her part would be misconstrued as an invitation, she remained frozen, locked in a gloriously sensual type of hell where she couldn’t deny the pleasure his touch gave her but didn’t dare give into it either.

Despite the monumental effort she was making to remain impassive, Jenesa knew it was only a matter of time before her body
gave her away. It was becoming increasingly difficult to contain the instinctive response to arch her back and purr like a contented cat each time his fingers stroked her skin, but it was the mounting internal heat that threatened to betray her. In a few seconds she would be burning up inside, driven to a feverish pitch Raffaele would easily recognize, given the innate talent he possessed for provoking her into that mindless state of unbridled passion.

Wrestling with her libido was becoming a full-time job
, and being this close to Raffaele only made matters worse. It would have been easier to catch a sunbeam in a jar than to rein in the turbulent emotions twisting and turning inside of her, but that didn’t stop Jenesa from making a valiant effort. She contemplated her options; everything from pretending to roll away from him in her sleep to leaping out of bed with an indignant retort about taking advantage of her – a ridiculous accusation, but one that would quickly and effectively curtail any further physical contact. 

Except you don’t really want that, do you?
   

With his hand making a slow, reverent sweep over her skin, it was impossible to keep her
thoughts from straying. Torn between clinging to her resolve and folding to the flood of sexual urges, Jenesa could almost believe there really was a devil on one shoulder saying,
Go for it, you know you want him
, and an angel on the other encouraging her to be strong for Jillian’s sake.
You’ll be sorry
, the angel warned.  Laughter from the red devil.
Don’t listen to her!
Let him have his wicked way with you, what harm can it do?
Thankfully, it was a temptation Jenesa didn’t have to fight for long because she had the sinking feeling the little devil in her was winning.  

It was Raffaele who put an end to her dilemma, although not in the manner she would have expected.
Swearing under his breath, he jerked his hand away as if he was shocked to find it roaming across her bare thigh. Jenesa had to wonder whether he was still groggy from sleep when he’d discovered a warm body beside him and instinctively reached for her. It was probably the most natural thing in the world for Raffaele to wake to a woman in his bed, which made it doubly hurtful that he seemed so appalled when he remembered who was lying next to him.  

There was a rustle of movement as he
threw the covers back and shifted away from her, followed by tense silence as Jenesa waited for him to do or say something. As the minutes dragged on, anxiety stock piled in the pit of her stomach until it became a genuine, physical pain. She rolled over and then sat up, determined to apologize for imposing on him and make her exit as quick and painless as possible. But the opportunity to speak was snatched away when Raffaele turned on a lamp, blinding her for the few seconds it took him to whip around and push her back against the mattress. 

Pinned beneath his body with her wrists shackled by
his strong hands, Jenesa cowered when his piercing gaze locked with hers. Even as a deafening clap of thunder rattled the windows, she couldn’t say for sure what presented more danger; the storm raging outside the mansion or the one that was beginning to brew inside the bedroom.

                                               
SEVEN

Madre de Dio
, he was frightening her. Raffaele loosened his grip on her wrists, his expression softening as he lowered his head and kissed her trembling lips. True, he had been half asleep when he’d first felt her soft, warm skin beneath his palm, but he was fully awake by the time his hand migrated to her enticingly rounded bottom. Instantly aroused, he hadn’t been able to resist touching her until it finally dawned on him that Jenesa was an unwitting participant and that he was taking advantage of the trust she’d extended by sleeping with him. 

Disgusted by his lack of scruples, Raffaele hastily yanked his hand away and put some distance between them
, but during the intermittent silence of the storm it became evident to him that Jenesa was awake. He’d fallen asleep to the slow steady rhythm of her breathing, but didn’t recall hearing it when he’d been caressing her and, listening for it now, could not discern any sound from her at all. Which meant Jenesa must have been awake the entire time and aware of every light touch. Anger rose, hard and sharp; toward Jenesa for deliberately baiting him, and at himself for being gullible enough to fall for it.

Acting on impulse, he turned on the light, convinced that when she saw how livid he was, the proof of
Jenesa’s deceitful behavior would be written on her guilt-ridden face. But what he glimpsed behind those dove gray eyes had nothing to do with guilt and everything to do with unadulterated fear and distrust. That bothered Raffaele on levels he didn’t want to think about, let alone scrutinize too closely. Consequently, he did the only thing he could think of that would simultaneously prevent further introspection on his part and alleviate the apprehension on hers; Raffaele kissed her.

Getting her to s
urrender to his gentle coaxing took some time, but Jenesa finally responded with a resigned sigh. Gradually, the tension left her body, giving way to a different type of tautness that told him she was equally aroused. Raffaele knew he should stop. He knew where it was leading and how it would end if he continued to kiss her, and yet he was utterly powerless to harness the hunger she unleashed in him.  Jenesa Harding was like a drug; the addictive kind that got into your blood stream and inhibited the ability of your brain to function. It was the only explanation he had that would account for the way he was behaving. 

For a man who had always looked upon w
eaknesses of any sort with cold distain, he was clearly succumbing to this particular one without much of a struggle.  Raffaele didn’t indulge in alcohol or smoking, or even minor dependencies like a routine cup of coffee in the morning or binging on sweets. He did not want his mind or body to be dominated by an outside force, and that included the pleasures of sex. He’d dated countless beauties in the past and, yes, he had slept with many of them, but he never became so enamored of a woman that he was blinded to everything else.  He hadn’t allowed himself to.     

A mental reminder about the
promise he’d made to Jenesa, as well as his own loathing of unhealthy obsessions, was like pouring a glass of ice water over his head when he really needed a full-body dunking, but it was enough to cool the fever burning inside him. Raffaele drew his head back and released his hold on her to prop himself up on his elbows. Jenesa’s eyes had a soft, faraway look; a decided improvement over the fear he’d seen hovering behind them a short time ago.

“I owe you an apology for scaring you…and for kissing you.”

“Now I really feel foolish,” she smiled up at him. “I had this crazy idea that the kiss
was
your apology.”

“In that case, I’m not the least bit sorry I kissed you
.”

Jenesa’s expression sobered. “I
don’t regret it either, but I think it’s…safer if we didn’t allow it to happen again.”

                                                     ***

She waited for Raffaele to disagree, though she knew he wouldn’t. He understood what she meant about it being safer; she was one kiss away from giving herself to him again, and he was one kiss away from taking her. The chemistry was too strong between them, too volatile, and it wouldn’t take much to send them both plummeting into the depths of that same fiery passion they’d shared at his suites. It was going to take a joint effort to keep the embers of sexual desire from bursting into flames at the smallest provocation.

“It’s probably best that I go back to my own room,” Jenesa reluctantly proffered.

“No!  You will stay here with me,” Raffaele said with such force, it never occurred to her to oppose him. 

He rolled onto his back, taking
her with him and hitching her up close to his side.  Her head was nestled against his shoulder, and one hand had the delicious pleasure of resting on his massive chest. Corded muscles rippled beneath Jenesa’s palm as he reached to turn off the light; yet another test of her shaky resolve to preclude sex from their relationship for the time being. 

She closed her eyes and tried to block out
the rampant thoughts, which only made it more difficult to ignore the thunderous booms outside that seemed to be getting louder and closer together by the minute. Focusing on anything else was an exercise in futility because her restless mind insisted on making a u-turn and driving right back to Raffaele.
If you insist on fantasizing,
a
t least put some clothes on him
, Jenesa chastised herself.  She’d gotten a brief glimpse of Raffaele in black boxers when he’d turned on the light and now the image stubbornly refused to be banished.

“Sleep,” Raffaele ordered. 

“I was almost asleep until you barked at me.”

“I do
not
bark, Miss Harding, and
you
are a little liar.”

Jenesa smiled in the darkness. “
Okay, so maybe I was having trouble falling asleep.”

“
Because you are terrified of storms.”

“
I’m…not.”

“Then why were you running as if you’d just seen the Grim
Reaper and fighting me like a wild cat? There is nothing to be ashamed of,
carissima
,” he added softly, “we all have something we are afraid of.”

“Storms in genera
l make me uneasy, yes, but they don’t scare me. It’s only this particular storm that has me unnerved.”

“Why is that?”

“
Why?
Because I’m in a strange house with cannons going off every few minutes while the wind and rain try to work up a hurricane. It sounds angry and hostile and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the house crumbled down around us and the ocean swallowed this island whole!”

“
It seems your imagination has been very busy tonight,” he teased.

Jenesa
bolted upright with an indignant huff. “Don’t tell me you think the thunder and lighting and that…that
torrential
downpour outside are figments of my imagination?”

“Calm down,” Raffaele said as he pulled her back down. “I did not mean to upset you.
The storm sounds much worse than it is and I can assure you this house is as solid as the rocks it was built on. Trust me,
bella
, you are perfectly safe here.”

“If you say so,” Jenesa quipped, not entirely convinced.

“I have been coming to this island for years; it has weathered storms much worse than this one without anything more damaging than a few pieces of unsecured patio furniture getting tossed around. It was constructed with safety being a key factor,” he told her. “The windows, shower doors, and even the glass tables in this house are made of the highest quality tempered glass.”

“Tempered glass?”

“Specially treated to withstand more than normal glass would, and if it does get broken, the glass will crumble into chunks rather than splinter into jagged shards. With five boys who were not always conscious of their surroundings when being unruly, my parents took every precaution to keep us from getting seriously injured, especially since the nearest doctor is two islands away.”

Jenesa seized the opportunity to
talk about his brothers as a guise to garner information on Luca. “Are you close with your parents and brothers?”

“I am Italian,” Raffaele stated, as if
having a tight-knit family and being Italian were synonymous. 

“
It couldn’t have been easy to keep the peace if your brothers are as…assertive as you are.”

Raffaele chuckled. “What an eloquent way of saying you believe we are a brood of domineering males,
carissima
. I suppose we are, but out of respect for our mother and an even deeper respect for our father’s leather belt, we kept the boisterous behavior to a minimum. We were taught that our love for one another should always take precedence over any other ruling factors in our lives and to rely on each other’s strengths rather than capitalizing on weaknesses.”

“It sounds as though your parents instilled some very strong moral values in their sons.”

“And their daughter. Milana is the youngest; both protected and spoiled rotten by her big brothers.”

Tears sprang to Jenesa’s eyes for some inexplicable reason.
She could hear the pride and admiration in his voice when he spoke of his family, but Milana obviously held a special place in his heart. It was that gentler side of his nature that she was drawn to; a side she doubted many people were allowed to witness. Did all the Vittorio brothers possess such conflicting qualities? 

To the world,
he was a man of power and strength; as fierce and predatory as a lion, but she suspected that beneath all the calculated gruffness and male swagger was a big heart with the capacity to love a woman the way she deserved to be loved. The type of love you dream about as a naïve young girl and read about in romance books; passionate, consuming, everlasting. That’s what it would be like to be married to Raffaele, a lifetime of waking up to a man who began each day the way he ended it; making love to the woman who had captured his heart.

I
t was never going to happen, not with her anyway, and she would do well to keep that in mind. Not an easy task when she was lying so close to him a breath of air couldn’t squeeze between them. Conversation being the only available diversion at the moment, Jenesa grasped at it, affecting a tone she hoped sounded curious but not suspiciously so.   

“Tell me about your brothers
, what are they like?”

There was a short pause before Raffaele spoke. “It is…difficult to sum
up their personalities without some elaboration, but in the briefest of terms I would have to say Simon, who is the oldest, is the most serious-minded.  He took the helm at Vittorio Enterprises when my father retired and approached his responsibilities with excessive gravity. Then he met Lilly, got married, and started having babies. His priorities changed and he passed a large portion of the load to Logan.”

“I met both
of them at the party. Logan is married to the woman with the beautiful red hair, right?”

“Yes, that’s Shelby.
They had a rocky start, but are very happy now. Logan was never as somber as Simon, although his single-minded determination was just as strong. After the birth of his daughter, he continued to run the company, but now that he has a son on the way, I imagine there will be another reorganization to decide who will take charge.”

“Wouldn’t that fall to the next in line?”

“To Dante?” Raffaele laughed. “No, he would never agree to it. Oh, he is extremely proficient at his job, there is no question about that, but even before he discovered he had a daughter, Dante wasn’t interested in being the Ring Master. You see, he fell in love with Paige but they had a falling out and he didn’t know he had a daughter by her until Daniella was four. Fortunately, things worked out; he married Paige, and they now have a son, Leo.”

“So, that leaves either you or…” Jenesa stopped short. She’d nearly blurted out Luca’s name and given away the fact she knew it was Raffaele lying beside her. 

“Raffaele,” he supplied.

“Yes, that leaves either you or Raffaele to take over.” 

Irrationally, Jenesa was disappointed he’d chosen to perpetuate the lie. She had no right to feel hurt by it, not when she was guilty of playing the same game. It was a conscious decision not to divulge who she really was, and now Jenesa had only herself to blame when it inevitably hit the fan and came flying back at her.

“My brother and I are too much alike,” Raffaele said. “With three older brothers shouldering the bulk of responsibility, both of us have developed a preference for remaining behind the scenes.
” 

“Surely,
one of you would have to take the position if Logan bows out, as you seem to think he will.”

“If it became necessary, yes, one of us would step up.”

“I know it’s really none of my business, but that hardly seems fair. If your older brothers have a choice, why shouldn’t you? It seems to me that you would all be happier if there was a division of labor as opposed to one of you taking control.”