THE ITALIAN DUKE’S WIFE Read online

  dizzily, as his fingers untangled from her hair and

  his hand stroked down her body, moulding her hipbone,

  his fingers pressing into the curves of her bottom

  as he held her with both hands and pulled her

  into his own body so that she could feel how hard

  and aroused he was. He kissed her with shockingly

  deliberate intimacy as he caressed the quivering flesh

  of her stomach, then stroked his fingers along the hip-

  hugging line of her silky knickers, teasing her eager

  flesh with a softly tantalising touch that made her

  press closer to him until he responded to her need and

  slipped his hand into the softly fluted leg of her underwear

  to cover her sex.

  Completely lost, Jodie made a small delirious

  sound of pleasure into his kiss that turned to a broken

  exclamation of shocked delight when he slid his fingers

  into her waiting wetness. The feel of the slow

  movement of his fingers over her aroused flesh was

  both an exquisite pleasure and an almost unbearable

  torment. She wanted him to go on doing what he was

  doing, but she wanted him inside her as well, filling

  her, satisfying the need that was tightening round her.

  She moaned out loud as he plucked softly at the

  aroused nub of her clitoris, her own hand going immediately

  to the thick thrust of his own erection, easily visible

  beneath his clothes but frustratingly separated

  from the full intimacy of her touch by them.

  "Wait," she heard him tell her thickly, and then he

  was lifting her, placing her back on the bed before

  swiftly removing his clothes. She lay back, her head

  on the pillows, watching him with an absorbed, hungry,

  unashamed eagerness, her breath coming in soft

  little panting gasps of need, her hand resting over her

  own sex, not to protect it, but to quieten it as it pulsed

  its clamouring message of readiness.

  His nakedness excited her so much. She couldn’t

  drag her gaze away from the stiff length of his erection

  as it thrust upwards from the soft dark mat of his

  body hair. It crossed her mind that she should be feeling

  virginal fear instead of such a delirious sense of

  eager excitement. He was leaning over her, removing

  her briefs, watching her as he did so. Heat and shock

  suffused her as he slowly slid one finger the length

  of her wetness. Greedily her body lifted towards him

  and his finger traced her again, stroking and lingering,

  caressing the hard little nub of excitement clamouring

  for his attention and then slowly, very deliberately,

  sliding inside her. Jodie gasped and then moaned in

  delight as she felt him stretching her gently, still caressing

  her.

  His body was covering hers now, and he was kissing

  her. Eagerly she kissed him back, only stopping

  when she felt the loss of his pleasure-giving fingers.

  Her eyes rounded and her face burned when he lifted

  his hand towards her lips and told her thickly, "Taste

  yourself on me." Hesitantly she opened her mouth and

  let him place his fingers within it, closing her eyes

  and obeying his whispered, "Suck them," as she drew

  in the taste of her own arousal mingled with the taste

  of his skin and felt the power of the aphrodisiac he

  was giving her.

  Now she was totally lost, a mindless slave to her

  own sexuality and need as his hands and his mouth

  caressed every part of her. Her shoulder, the inner

  flesh of her arm, her breasts, her belly, and she

  writhed and moaned and reached for him with her

  own hands and mouth, savouring the sharp taste of

  him as she breathed in his intimate man scent and felt

  its erotic impact on her senses. She ached to let her

  tongue-tip circle the stiff shiny head of his sex, but

  Lorenzo wouldn’t let her. Instead his tongue was exploring

  her, tracing a sensual pathway of fiery pleasure

  over her wetness, stroking firmly against her clitoris,

  taking her far, far beyond the furthermost

  reaches of her own sensual imaginings. She wanted

  him so much. Too much…

  Abruptly, reality pierced her sexual arousal and she

  tensed, pushing Lorenzo away whilst her body

  screamed its pain at her denial of its pleasure.

  Lorenzo sat up, frowning, and made to take her in

  his arms, but Jodie resisted him and shook her head,

  telling him fiercely, "No!"

  "What? What are you saying? You want me — you

  were giving yourself to me…" he insisted fiercely.

  "And you want to prove that all women are like

  your mother — that we all lie and cheat. Yes, I do want

  you," she agreed shakily. "But I want my self-respect

  more."

  As she spoke she was wriggling away from his restraining

  arm and getting off the bed, hurriedly gathering

  up her scattered clothes, fully aware that

  Lorenzo was watching her but not daring to look back

  at him in case her resolve wasn’t able to withstand

  her doing so.

  Lorenzo lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

  The ache he could feel inside himself was just physical,

  that was all. And the emotion burning inside him

  was just furious anger that Jodie should dare to say

  to him what she had. She meant nothing to him.

  Nothing!

  The emptiness of his bed without her was something

  that he welcomed, rather than regretted. As he

  would welcome the emptiness of his life once she had

  gone from it, he assured himself fiercely.

  The reason he had been so sexually aroused by her,

  so sexually lost in the sweetness of her, was simply

  that it had been too long since there had been a

  woman in his bed. And that was a need he could

  easily satisfy. Right now, if necessary, simply by

  making a phone call. And if he couldn’t reach any of

  the many women whom he knew would be pleased

  to receive his summons — well, he knew, although not

  from personal experience, that Florence, like any

  other city, had its high-priced and high-class hookers,

  women who knew how to please a man without making

  any demands on him other than their fee.

  But why pay a hooker when remembering one was

  enough to cool his sexual desire? When he had first

  met Caterina she had made no secret of the fact that

  she had several rich lovers, even if later she had

  claimed that it was not true and that he had misunderstood

  her. And his mother, with the expensive gifts

  she had received…a reward for her infidelity, even if

  they had only been from one lover. His heart started

  to thud angrily.

  He got up off the bed. Five minutes later, standing

  beneath the lash of the shower, he could feel his heartbeat

  returning to normal.

  What really infuriated him was that Jodie, whom

  he had begun to consider someone whose thinking

  was sound and rational, should start making such ridiculous

  and unfounded accusations. How dared she<
br />
  accuse him of being so emotionally damaged that he

  wanted her to lie to him to reinforce his belief that

  her sex could not be trusted? He had proved that he

  trusted her, had talked to her about things that were

  so close to his heart he had never discussed them with

  anyone else. Did she really think that he would do

  that and then try to create a reason to mistrust her? It

  was totally illogical that he should do such a thing—

  like a panicking child trying to protect itself from being

  hurt because it feared to love.

  After all, it wasn’t as though he was afraid he might

  be falling in love with her and was fighting desperately

  against doing so, was it? Was it?

  He turned off the shower and reached for a towel.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THEY had been married for nearly a week, during

  which time no mention had been made by either of

  them of the night of their wedding. Lorenzo was icily

  polite and indifferent towards her when they were together,

  and Jodie had taken to spending so much time

  sightseeing that at night she simply fell into an exhausted

  sleep the moment she went to bed.

  But now they were back at the Castillo, the final

  paperwork having been dealt with to transfer its ownership

  to Lorenzo.

  "I have not forgotten that I still have to fulfil my

  part of our bargain," he told Jodie crisply as they

  crossed the Castillo’s courtyard. "I have put in hand

  the necessary arrangements for us to fly to London at

  the end of the week for your ex-fiance."s wedding. The

  Cotswolds hotel I have booked us into is in a place

  named Lower Slaughter?"

  "Oh, yes. I know it," Jodie acknowledged. If it was

  the hotel she thought it must be, it was very exclusive

  and expensive.

  "I thought you would want to keep some distance

  between ourselves and your former home."

  "Yes, I do," Jodie agreed colourlessly. She certainly

  did not want anyone realising that she and her brand-

  new husband were sleeping in separate rooms.

  Especially not when she was going to be flaunting her

  happily married state under everyone’s nose. She exhaled

  hesitantly.

  "I’ve been thinking," she told Lorenzo quietly. "I’m

  not sure that It’s such a good idea for me to…to go

  ahead with what I’d planned."

  "But that was your whole purpose in agreeing to

  marrying me."

  "Yes, I know."

  They had reached the hallway now, and Lorenzo

  was frowning as he studied the untidy pile of suitcases

  and boxes heaped in the middle of the floor.

  "We"ll discuss this later," he told Jodie as an inner

  door opened.

  Caterina swept in, declaring dramatically, "So, you

  have arrived to flaunt your triumph and throw me out,

  have you? Well, You’re too late. I am leaving of my

  own accord. You think you have gained a victory,

  Lorenzo. But in truth you have gained nothing other

  than this crumbling ruin and a wife you do not want.

  And all for what? For the sake of some old paintings

  and so that you can keep a promise made to an old

  woman," she taunted him bitterly. "We could have had

  so much together, but now it is too late. Ilya will be

  here for me soon."

  "Ilya?" Lorenzo questioned sharply.

  "Yes. We met when he was interested in buying

  this place. He has been a good…friend to me. And

  now…" She pouted and then smiled rapaciously.

  "You mean he’s your lover?" Lorenzo checked her

  curtly.

  "Why should I answer you? But, yes, we are lovers,

  and we will be married once his divorce comes

  through. He is sending a driver for me, and someone

  to collect my things."

  She turned and looked at Jodie. "Be careful that

  Lorenzo doesn’t use you as he did me. And, if he

  does, make sure that he doesn’t impregnate you.

  Because he will force you to abort your child, just as

  he forced me to abort mine."

  Jodie could feel the blood leaving her face. She

  looked wildly towards Lorenzo, expecting to hear him

  deny Caterina’s horrific accusations, but instead he

  simply turned on his heel and left.

  "that’s not true," Jodie whispered. "It can’t possibly

  be. Lorenzo would never—"

  "What? Have you fallen in love with him already?"

  Caterina mocked her. "You little fool. You mean

  nothing to him, and you never will. And it is true.

  Lorenzo forced me to abort my child. If you Don’t

  believe me, go and ask him. He will not spare you

  by lying to you about it. Not Lorenzo. His pride

  wouldn’t let him." She started to laugh, stepping past

  Jodie as a car swept into the courtyard.

  Jodie had no idea how long she had been out here,

  sitting alone in the Castillo garden, trying to cope

  with the violence of her turbulent emotions.

  It wasn’t true what Caterina had said to her, she

  told herself stubbornly. She had not fallen in love

  with Lorenzo. But she wanted him. Physical desire

  was not love. But it was a manifestation of it. She

  could not love a man who not only did not love her,

  but who did not even recognise what love was. But

  what if she did?

  "It’s getting dark, and if you stay out here much

  longer You’ll risk ending up with your leg aching."

  She hadn’t heard Lorenzo come into the garden,

  and automatically she moved deeper into the shadows,

  because she was afraid of what he might read in

  her expression. She tensed as he sat down beside her.

  "You’re right. I’d better go in," she told him in a

  thin, emotionless voice.

  "Why Don’t you want to go back to England?"

  "What?" Jodie looked at him blankly. She had almost

  forgotten their earlier conversation, thanks to the

  inner turmoil Caterina’s comments had caused her.

  "There must be some reason," Lorenzo persisted.

  "I’m not sure that It’s something that I want to do

  any more," she admitted reluctantly. "It seemed a

  good idea at the time, and…and it even gave me a

  sense of purpose — something to focus on. But now…"

  Now her old life seemed a million years away, and

  she didn’t care what John and Louise did or thought,

  because now… Because now what? A fear that she

  didn’t want to give any room to was uncurling inside

  her with all the clinging tenacity of a killer vine. Was

  this seismic shift in her emotional focus because she

  was falling in love with Lorenzo?

  Falling in love? That implied that she was in the

  middle of an act she could halt, she decided with relief,

  clinging to that thought in desperation. And she

  would halt it, she decided fiercely.

  "I think we should go."

  "Do you?" If she argued with him now, would he

  start thinking that it was because she might be falling

  in love with him? No way did she want that.

  "Yes. I
t will help you to find closure and be a way

  to draw a line under your relationship with both of

  them. Then you will be able to move on."

  "Mmm. I suppose You’re right."

  "I know that I’m right," Lorenzo said. "I just

  wish…"

  "What? That you had married Caterina?"

  "No," he denied sharply.

  "Did you…? Was it…? Was it true what she said

  about — about the baby?" Jodie whispered, unable to

  stop herself from asking the question that had been

  splintering and festering inside her since Caterina had

  made her accusation.

  "Yes," Lorenzo admitted heavily.

  Jodie shuddered. "Your own child!" she protested

  with revulsion. "How—?"

  "No! Caterina was not… It was not my child. But

  that does not diminish my guilt. I hadn’t thought…

  That was the trouble. I didn’t think. I just assumed,

  with the arrogance and stupidity of youth, that—" He

  broke off and Jodie could see the tension in his jaw.

  "Caterina and Gino had been engaged for about six

  months when she boasted to me that she had a new

  lover. She had never forgiven me for ending our brief

  relationship, and I think she thought she could make

  me jealous. She told me that she was to have his

  child, but she had told Gino the child was his. I was

  angry on behalf of my cousin, whom I knew loved

  her deeply, with all the self-righteous anger of the

  very young. I tried to force her hand. I told her she

  must tell Gino the truth or I would do so myself. I

  wanted Gino to know what she was — and, yes, it is

  true I hoped he would end the engagement. For his

  own sake. But instead of telling Gino the truth she

  had her pregnancy terminated — and told Gino she had

  lost the child. He was devastated, and immediately

  insisted on marrying her. So, through my interference,

  one life was lost and another destroyed."

  Jodie had to swallow as she heard the raw emotion

  in his voice. "You weren’t responsible."

  "Yes, I was. If I had not interfered she would have

  had the child."

  "And she would have gone on lying to your

  cousin."

  "I tried to play at being God, and no man should

  do that. I tried to control her behaviour because I had

  not been able to control my mother"s. She left my

  father and she left me, too, to be with her lover.

  Caterina stayed with Gino, but, like my mother, she

  sacrificed her child for her own ends. It felt like I had