Safely cocooned in the cabin and its welcome air conditioning, Siena rested her head back. Her heart was beating erratically, her stomach a twisted knot.
She wished she knew why she was feeling so out of sorts, althoughout of sortsdid not do justice to the skittish violence of what was happening inside her. Whatever it was, it was getting worse.
Was she coming down with something? Some illness? Siena was rarely ill, barely even suffered from period cramps… She briefly wondered if she could be pregnant, but her last period had been only ten days ago, so that was a no, and as soon as she’d discounted that possibility, she quickly skipped to another explanation because it made her heart race even harder to think of herself as pregnant with Elio’s child. A cold? She’d had a couple of stinkers in her lifetime, but no, whatever was wrong with her was no cold either.
It was no illness at all, she was forced to admit painfully. Whatever was happening to her was emotional, and it was all to do with Elio and that tightrope she was walking.
She didn’t hate him anymore. Not even a little bit.
Maybe that was it, she suddenly thought with a sharp pang. Maybe it was the possibility of him still holding hate in his heart for her making her feel so emotional.
Could he still hate her? Could the man who made love to her with such passion and intensity, who held her the whole night through, whose eyes had burned with anger when he’d told her without telling her that she’d not been to blame for Stefano’s actions, couldthatman really still loathe her?
How could she endure it if he did?
Back at the villa her heart was starting to call home, they made small talk over a glass of aged whisky. She had the feeling something was playing on Elio’s mind too, but before she could ask what that something was, the manager of her Milan casino called.
“I need to take this,” she said with a sigh. It was probably a question he’d intended to ask her in person when she’d been expected to come in that night. But, of course, she hadn’t travelled to Milan because she’d spent the evening dining with Elio.
It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, and all because she’d been about to get in her car and be driven away from him, and it had suddenly occurred to her that she might not see him again until she got back from Milan in the early hours. He often surprised her by turning up at whatever casino she happened to be at, but not always, and she never invited him to join her. In that moment, knowing it might be another sixteen hours until she could be with him again had suddenly felt intolerable.
His mouth quirked at the sides. “Then take it.” He downed the last of his whisky. “I’ll take my shower. See you upstairs.”
She nodded and answered her phone, watching him walk out of the living room with a tightening chest. Mercifully, the manager had only a quick question he needed answering, andshe stepped into the bedroom as the bathroom door was being closed.
Closing her eyes, she imagined Elio standing beneath the showerhead in all his naked magnificence, and wished as she wished every morning when he left her in bed that she could join him in there. She wished it every evening too, just as she was doing now.
What was stopping her? The unspoken rule that had developed between them since they’d become lovers that all physical affection and intimacy had to be kept to the confines of their bed? Or her old vow that she would never be the one to instigate sex between them? She’d held on to that vow so hard, so determined to never let him think that she wanted him in any way when he’d known it longer than she had.
He’d been surprised at her fleeting kiss outside the warehouse that morning, she suddenly remembered. As surprised as she’d been. When her driver had turned the car, she’d been unable to resist one more glance at Elio. He’d been standing there, watching her car, his fingers on his lips, as if he’d been touching the mark her mouth had made on them…
The shower kicked into life, and so did Siena.
Stripping off her clothes, she let them fall into a puddle on the floor before walking to the bathroom door. Not giving herself any time to think about what she was doing, she opened it.
He turned at the sound.
Their eyes caught. His chest rose. Siena’s heart rose with it and caught fire.
The roar of her pulses drowning out the noise of the falling water, she stood beneath the spray with him and slid her hands over his wet shoulders.
She’d fallen for him, she thought dimly. Somehow, in the course of their marriage, she’d fallen for Elio. Whether it waslove or not, she didn’t know, knew only that being with him had become as necessary as breathing.
Pressing her naked body flush to his, she lifted onto her toes and kissed him.
His response was explosive.
Mouths fused, tongues entwined, he backed her against the tiled wall and lifted her up against it.
Her legs wrapped tight around his waist, he drove inside her, his thrusts frenetic, bringing them both to a quick climax.
After they’d soaped each other clean and dried their bodies, Siena took Elio’s hand and led him to the bed.
If Elio had fallen into a dream, he would give all the wealth he’d accumulated to never wake from it.
All those years spent fantasising about fucking and subjugating this woman, humiliating her with her own desire…
He’d never allowed himself to imagine her taking the lead with those soft blue eyes gazing into his with an emotion filled with anything but hate.