VITTORIO'S LOVER (Vittorio Series) (9 page)

“Pull yourself together,” she muttered.

If she went out there looking as if she wanted to throttle him, Raffaele would know she’d been snooping around Luca’s office and uncovered something she shouldn’t have. The last thing she wanted was for Raffaele to know she was on to him. Which meant she needed to get her anger under control. It wasn’t easy, but after pacing the length of the office for a good ten minutes, she did manage to erase the scowl from her face.

It was alarming to discover
how quickly Raffaele could melt the hostility she’d felt for him only moments before. As she approached the reception area, he rose from the chair, disarming her with a welcoming smile. Concluding it was safer to keep some distance between them, she stopped when she got within three feet of him. For all the good it did. Raffaele simply took one long stride to tower over her before Jenesa had the presence of mind to take a step back.

He studied her face for a moment, a slight crease forming on his brows.
“Everything is all settled? Your sisters have agreed to cover for you?”

“For a few days. I’ll have to check in if my stay is going to be longer than that.”

“Something is still bothering you,” he said with a gentleness to his voice that warmed her from the inside out.

“
I don’t know you,” Jenesa’s reply was blunt.

“I thought we had established that as the point of spending time together.”

“We did, and I’m sorry for being so indecisive. It’s just that I’ve never done this sort of thing before and I’m…well, I’m…”

“Nervous?”

Jenesa nodded, feeling more like an inexperienced school girl than ever. She could feel the heat of a blush working its way up her neck and cursed herself for admitting what he did to her. It didn’t help that Raffaele seemed pleased by her revelation, or that his cure for her case of the jitters was to slip his arms around her waist.

“
Wh-what are you doing?” She asked, the color in her cheeks burning brighter; it was a silly question, and the amusement dancing in his eyes told her Raffaele thought so too.

“
Tell me something,
cara
. When you first started the business and began taking on new clients, was it difficult to talk to them?”

“Yes, but what does that…”

“And the more clients you met with, the easier it became?”

“
Naturally, but…”

“So it was the repetition of performing these acts that eventually alleviated the uneasiness
?”

Jenesa hesitated to answer. She wasn’t sure where the conversation was leading, although it seemed a safe enough subject. Why, then, did she have the uncomfortable feeling he was boxing her into a corner?

Choosing what she hoped were non-committal words, she replied, “That could be said of any situation.”

“Precisely.
And in this particular situation, there seems to be a high level of anxiety whenever you come into close physical contact with me. So…” he pulled her closer, “in the interest of helping you overcome any insecurities in this area, I propose frequent therapeutic sessions.”

“How magnanimous of you,”
Jenesa said dryly. “You have quite a talent for smooth talk, Mr. Vittorio. Tell me, do women actually fall for your lines?”

His deep laughter
intensified the heat that was already building inside her. “As a matter of fact, they do. Which makes you very unique,
innamorato
. Such a pity you are immune to my…smooth talk. I intended to use the same line of reasoning for garnishing more kisses.”

Jenesa bit back a groan. As if they had a will of their own, her eyes s
hifted to his mouth where a teasing smile stole her breath away.
What was she doing here?
  Raffaele was rich and powerful, a natural born charmer, and more handsome than any man had a right to be. Primitive male sexuality seeped from every pore of his muscular frame, infiltrating her defenses and making her vulnerable to his masculine perfection. He was like a fine wine that you can’t help over indulging in, even knowing how dearly you are going to pay for it the morning after.

But
I’m not immune
, she thought despondently. That was the problem. Common sense told her a man like Raffaele couldn’t possibly find her attractive. And yet, when she lifted her eyes to his, the undisguised desire was so intense it sent a tremor coursing through her. Slowly, slowly, his dark head inched closer until his lips lightly brushed the corner of her mouth.

“
You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” he murmured.

Second thoughts?
She couldn’t think at all with Raffaele’s mouth hovering over hers; taunting her, torturing her, driving her half mad. His breath was warm against her skin, the distance between their lips so infinitesimal even the slightest movement would have brought them together. What was he waiting for? It was cruel to tease her this way, to let the tension mount for so long she felt like a bow string that had been pulled too tight. It was agonizing.

“Madre de Dio,”
Raffaele ground out, “you are killing me.”

S
tartled and confused by his harsh tone, Jenesa’s head snapped back. Fully expecting to find a dark scowl on his face, it took her by surprise to see a pained expression in its place. Raffaele was paying a heavy toll for his restraint; she could see it in the taut lines of his clenched jaws and the firmly compressed lips of his sensuous mouth. That’s when it finally dawned on Jenesa why he was holding back. He knew what he did to her, that she would be powerless to stop herself once he kissed her. This was Raffaele’s way of giving her control over the situation and allowing
her
to decide whether it went any further.

Knowing that he wielded the power to bend
her to his will but had chosen not to filled Jenesa’s heart with an emotion she didn’t dare put a name to. She should have extracted herself from his arms while there was still a miniscule chance she had the strength of mind to do it. If she had, Jenesa wouldn’t have made the mistake of gazing into his eyes and turning her world upside down in the process.

I
t was the raw hunger brewing in the depths of his fathomless eyes that was her undoing; twin vortexes of hot desire that promised the kind of unbridled passion erotic dreams were made of. She hadn’t uttered a word, hadn’t revealed her turbulent emotions in any way that she was aware of, and yet somehow Raffaele knew. Fire curled deep in her belly, the flames jettisoning through Jenesa’s blood stream when he acknowledged her silent surrender with a low, husky growl.

Possessed by a ravenous sexual yearning infinity stronger than anything she’d ever felt before
, Jenesa speared her fingers through his thick, black hair and dragged his mouth down onto hers. A helpless whimper escaped as Raffaele crushed her in his arms, molding Jenesa’s soft body to his harder, masculine planes and angles. She was burning up inside; a searing, molten heat that made her wonder inanely if it was possible to spontaneously combust.

D
rowning in the heady sensations his kisses evoked, Jenesa felt herself slipping beneath the dangerous waters that were swirling around her, but she didn’t care. Even the protest she tendered when Raffaele swept her up into his arms was half-hearted.

“I’m too heavy,
you’ll strain your back or…”

“
Trust me,
carissima
,” he rasped out, “the strain I am feeling at the moment is
not
in my back.”

The muscles in her
abdomen clenched. She’d felt the proof of that statement only seconds ago when her hips had been nestled against his thighs. It excited her to know how aroused he was and that she was responsible; it was a new experience for Jenesa to feel so…sexy and provocative, and she didn’t want it to end. Apparently, Raffaele was of the same mind because the gentle assault on her mouth suddenly became decidedly more aggressive.

Vaguely, it registered that he was carrying her down the hallway. To his office? To the soft leather sofa she’d been seated on earlier? It didn’t matter as long he didn’t stop kissing her and
she remained firmly locked in his arms. Raffaele shifted her weight for a few seconds while he fumbled with the door, a move that encouraged Jenesa to cling more tightly to his neck. Kicking the door closed behind them, he negotiated his way through the room and then another doorway. She knew this only because it was necessary to enter it sideways and her feet had nicked the door frame.

Raffaele
didn’t seem to notice; his determination to plunder her mouth undaunted as his determined stride carried them across the room. Even after lowering Jenesa to her feet, he continued to kiss her. Long, sensual, drugging kisses that made her feel as if she was floating on air. Exactly when the languorous mood began to shift, Jenesa couldn’t say. The only thing she was conscious of was a mounting internal heat and a desperate need for something more.

Her hands slipped from around his neck to rest on the corded muscles of his chest. She could feel the hammering of his heart against her fingertips and the
ensuing ripple as he drew in a ragged breath. Emboldened by his response, Jenesa unfastened the top button on his crisp, white shirt and then another, trembling with anticipation as her hands slid beneath the fabric to caress Raffaele’s bare skin. It was like tossing a lighted match into a keg of gunpowder.

“
Si…si, bella donna
, touch me,” Raffaele pleaded gruffly.

And she did. Frantically tugging his shi
rt from his waist band and popping a few buttons in her haste. Impatiently, Raffaele ripped his shirt open, sending the remaining buttons flying across the room. Air hissed from his lungs when Jenesa pressed her palms to his flat stomach, splaying her fingers as her hands slowly migrated over the light dusting of hair that trailed upwards. She pushed the shirt off Raffaele’s broad shoulders in the same leisurely manner, relishing the feel of his smooth skin and the way his big body shuddered with each feathery touch.

He was beautiful,
perfect; his chiseled features a flawless work of art. In Jenesa’s line of work, she frequently dealt with corporate executives, some of them exceptionally handsome and blatantly obvious about their attraction to her. Flattered as she was by the attention, none of them had even come close to having the devastating effect on her that Raffaele did. Just looking at him stimulated feelings and sensations she’d never experienced before. Her skin tingled, her pulse spiked, and it seemed as if every nerve ending in her body sprang to life.

It was scary and exciting at the same time.
And extremely addictive
, Jenesa thought as she completed her reverent exploration of his bulging biceps and returned to his chest. Caught up in the pleasure of indulging herself, Jenesa was completely unaware of the sexual tension she was creating or how dangerously close Raffaele was to losing control until it was too late. With an animalistic growl, his hands clamped down over hers and maneuvered Jenesa’s arms behind her back.

“My turn,” he said
with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

Imprisoned as she was, Jenesa was defenseless against the punishing kiss he dealt her. Not that she
could have…or would have fought him off. She wanted him more than anything in the world, more than her next heartbeat, her next breath. The instant his grip loosened she wound her arms around his waist and let her head fall back, shamelessly inviting him to trail hot, moist kisses down the column of her throat while his marauding hands conducted an intimate exploration of her body.

Cupping her bottom, Raffaele ground their hips together, impressing upon her the full extent of his
eagerness to finish what they’d started. Jenesa’s thighs quivered, her breath coming out in jagged gasps as she struggled to drag air into her lungs. It was too much.
He
was too much. Too male, too potent, too sexually charged. And yet, she ached for him with a need that was so ferocious it bordered on pain.

“
Dio,
Io vogtio te,”
he bit out with a savage edge to his voice. “I want you.”

“I w-want you, too,” she whispered hoarsely, a violent tremor
spearing through her when Raffaele’s hand moved to the small of her back. She felt him tug at the zipper on her dress, felt the warmth of his hand as he slowly guided the zipper down.               “Wait…please,” she squeaked. “Is there some place we can go…somewhere more private?”

Raffaele laughed softly. “More private than my bedroom?”

Jenesa drew her head back, eyes widening as she glanced around the room. “How did we get here?”

“I carried you,
bellissimo
. Don’t you remember?”

“Yes, but…I thought you’d taken me to your office.” Her brows drew together in confusion. “Y
ou have a bedroom connected to your office?”

“Of course not,” he laughed again, drawing her back into his arms. “It is extremely satisfying to know you are so affected by my kisses that you were oblivious to the elevator ride and took no notice of the apartment as I carried you to my bedroom.”