Читать книгу Postcards From…Verses Brides Babies And Billionaires - Rebecca Winters - Страница 48

SHE REACHED OUT, boldly running her hand across his bare chest, just as she had done that very first night in Paris a lifetime time ago. Only that time the room had been too dark for her to appreciate his perfection. Right now the faint glow of the candles bathed the room in just enough light.

Her sense of exposure intensified, but with his eyes locked on hers and the heat she saw there some of her self-consciousness melted away. He was just as turned on as she was—just as wild with anticipation as he seemed to drink in every inch of her body. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes as he ran his hands down her body. He cupped both her breasts, teasing her hardened nipples through the silk and lace of her delicate bridal corset.

The structured silk garment had originally been designed for practicality, not seduction. But as Rigo turned her around and she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror she began to understand the appeal of such feminine lingerie. She watched his eyes darken as he slowly pulled the laces loose. The fabric brushed against her already sensitive breasts as the whole thing loosened and came to rest around her hips.

Rigo moved against her, the heat of his erection pressing on her lower back as his tongue licked a path up from the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder. Their eyes met in the mirror as his fingers explored her bare breasts, and Nicole couldn’t resist moving herself back against the hardness of him.

Her hand seemed to reach down of its own accord to touch him through the fabric of his trousers. The pace of his breathing increased as she squeezed his length, then ran her fingernails down the hard ridge of his erection. The sound of his guttural moan filled her with pleasure, and her own heartbeat was now thumping powerfully in her chest.

Rigo suddenly grabbed her hand, pulling her with him across the room to the king-size four-poster bed. He sat on the coverlet and positioned her so that she stood facing him, trapped between his thighs. Her corset was dropped to the floor entirely, followed swiftly by her underwear.

Nicole instinctively moved to cover her abdomen, knowing that the faint marks from her pregnancy were now in full view for him to see.

Rigo moved Nicole’s hands away, holding them by her sides as he looked his fill.

‘Don’t hide yourself from me.’

He leaned forward, taking one taut nipple in his mouth, his hands roaming on a path down her sides to cup her behind. And what a behind it was, he thought as he squeezed tight.

Nicole began to relax, her body leaning into him as he kissed a trail between her breasts. She was unsure of herself, of her appearance. Why, he had no idea. He couldn’t make it any clearer how sexy he found her, how ridiculously turned on he was.

So he stopped talking, instead focusing on showing her with his tongue, running it down her abdomen. With the way his hands caressed the front of her thighs, spreading them apart so that he could stroke his knuckles along the soft dark hair between. He slipped one fingertip inside the crease to tease her with gentle touches before running a smooth rhythm up and down the crease of her lips.

Every one of her husky moans made it harder and harder not just to bury himself deep inside her and end the torture. He settled for moving a finger to her slick entrance, sliding it deep and setting a slow rhythm before adding a second. Nicole groaned deep in her throat, whispering something incoherent as he continued pleasuring her.

He bit hard on his lip, knowing he was the only man who had ever brought her this kind of pleasure. She was destroying his control with her unschooled responsiveness. There was no pretence in the way she dug her fingernails into his shoulders and let a harsh breath hiss out from between her teeth as her climax began to build.

He felt her muscles tighten and slowed his pace, wanting to draw out the torture a little longer. He had waited long enough to want to take his time. He wanted to tease her right to the brink, then feel her come apart on his tongue. Without hesitation he moved her back a pace and dropped to his knees in front of her. She didn’t have a moment to protest before his tongue was sliding against her centre, stroking her in long, slow movements in time with his fingers.

Nicole grabbed a fistful of his hair as she moaned her release, each delicate spasm sending tremors against his tongue as he rode it out with her. He stood up, then laid her down on the bed, covering her body with his. She felt like hot silk… A man could drown in pleasure like this. It was like nothing he had ever felt and they had barely even got started.

She opened her legs for him, pressing herself against his erection without any of the nerves from earlier. A good orgasm apparently made his wife brave. He smiled to himself. He must make note of that for future reference.

He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her hard and deep, knowing she could taste herself on his tongue. That fact only served to make him harder as he lay back on the bed beside her and grabbed her by the waist. He wanted her on top of him, so that he could watch her as he made them both come.

Nicole tensed, her hand on his chest as she half leaned over him. ‘Rigo…’ She bit her lip, her voice hesitant.

‘Just trust me.’ He pressed a kiss to her lips, holding her waist and guiding her on top of him so that her thighs cradled his hips completely. He held his breath as she slowly lowered herself to him, capturing his erection in a vice-like grip of molten heat.

Rigo head tilted his head back against the pillow, the sensation of delicious tightness almost more than he could bear. Nicole lifted her hips slightly, sending fresh waves of pleasure up his spine.

‘Yes—just like that,’ he urged, groaning as she repeated the motion and circled her hips in a slow, tortuous rhythm.

From this angle he had a full view of every tantalising curve of her body. The full high peaks of her breasts, the inward curves of her waist. She was like something that had walked straight out of his wildest fantasy. He took a moment to relish the fact that she was entirely his. The knowledge that he had been the only man to see her this way, to feel her as she lost control of herself…

He sucked in a breath as she leaned over him, giving him the perfect opportunity to claim her breasts once more. She was fast gaining pace, sliding against him in a steady rhythm as she braced her hands on the bedposts above them. Rigo thrust upwards in time with her, feeling his pleasure intensify. He had never felt an orgasm build this slowly, seeming to thrum up the tension in every nerve ending of his body.

He took one of her hands from the bedpost and guided it to her clitoris. ‘Show me how you like it…’

Nicole’s eyelids fluttered down as her fingertips drew a slow circle on her clitoris. Knowing he was watching her touch herself was both shocking and intensely sexy. She forced herself to open her eyes, to look down at him as she brought them both closer to their release. The pleasure was so intense she almost stopped, her breath coming hard and fast as she rode him.

Rigo seemed to sense her uncertainty. ‘Harder,’ he growled, sinking his fingertips into her hips.

He thrust upwards, filling her so completely that she cursed. His eyes widened, and his hands tightened on her hips as he repeated the motion, over and over. She could tell that he was close—just as she was. Her fingers worked faster. Her orgasm was building with such intensity it took her breath away. When she finally shattered into a million pieces Rigo wasn’t far behind her. A few sharp thrusts were all it took for his muscles to tighten beneath her and spasms to ripple through his powerful body.

Nicole tried to move, not wanting to collapse on top of him, but Rigo kept his grip on her hips. He groaned low in his throat as he buried his mouth in the valley between her breasts and pulled her down to cover him. She relaxed her muscles, unable to hold herself up any longer, and gloried in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

‘I have been thinking about doing that for weeks,’ Rigo whispered in her ear. ‘Watching you ride me while you touch yourself…’

Nicole shied away from his erotic words, her bravery fast waning.

He nipped the skin just below her ear, his voice a low rasp. ‘You have no idea what it does to me to have you in control like that…’ His words were slurred with tiredness as his body turned so that they lay on their sides, his arm around her waist, holding her close against his chest.

Nicole heard the moment his breathing slowed and sleep claimed him. She felt his heat surrounding her, protecting her, and as she looked down she caught the glint of his gold wedding band in the dim light. After all the pleasure she had just experienced she had almost forgotten that they were married. She was someone’s wife now.

And this man—this utterly sinful, passionate man—was her husband. The concept of man and wife had never truly held any weight with her until today. But as she had stood in the church and made a vow to love and honour the man beside her she had been jarred by an errant thought.

She wasn’t quite sure if she had been acting.

Rigo lay on his stomach, his face completely relaxed in sleep and mere inches from hers. Nicole had no idea what time it was, but judging the brightness of the sun at the windows it was late morning. She turned on her side, taking in the sheer presence of him. A strange tingling sensation began in her stomach as she raked her gaze down over his muscular shoulders, over the smooth olive-toned skin that lay bare down to his hips before being covered by the soft white sheets.

If she moved her foot ever so slightly the sheet would slip down further, revealing just a little more… She bit her lip, smiling at her own wayward thoughts.

She tested her theory, shifting her foot and watching as the sheet slipped down an inch. One tanned, toned buttock was revealed and she felt her breath catch. Her eyes darted up to his face. Thankfully he was still sleeping. Her throat was painfully dry, her heartbeat quickening, but still she got braver. With one smooth flick she pulled her foot away completely. The sheet came away, too, bringing every hard, muscular plane into view.

His body shifted suddenly, and Nicole froze as his muscles flexed before his entire body turned so that he lay on his back. She looked up, and sure enough he was wide-awake, watching her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

‘Please, by all means carry on. Don’t let me disturb you.’

Rigo’s husky drawl made her cheeks warm as he reached out to stroke a hand lazily down her ribcage.

Of course, him being on his back now meant that an entirely different plane of muscles was on show. Nicole looked away, focusing instead on his face. His eyes were crinkled at the sides with the effort of holding in his amusement.

‘I have absolutely no idea what the etiquette is for this situation.’ She looked up at the ceiling, trying not to smile herself.

‘This is new territory for me, too, Nicole.’

She looked back at him, one brow raised. ‘Oh, come on—you’ve probably done the “morning after” routine so many times you’ve lost count.’

‘None of those women were my wife.’

She was his wife.

Nicole’s brain seemed to trip over the words uncomfortably. It all just seemed so surreal. Here she was, lying in bed with him after a night of the most intense lovemaking she had ever experienced. Granted, it had only been her second time, and with the same guy. But still…

She bit her lip. ‘We should probably talk about how this affects…everything.’

‘Is that what you want to do?’ he asked.

He was looking at her with a gaze so heated it made her skin prickle. He rolled over, pushing her down to the bed and covering her body with his own. His skin was deliciously bed warm, and hard against her. She realised she had been waiting for him to do just this—that her body had been craving contact with his from the moment she’d opened her eyes.

‘If you want to talk, by all means go ahead. But I can’t promise I’m going to pay attention.’

His head bent down to trail kisses past her collarbone. Nicole felt the scorching heat of his tongue make a trail down the sensitive underside of her breast. He wasn’t playing fair at all.

‘I’m just not sure what we’re doing, that’s all…’ she breathed, groaning as his tongue darted across her nipple in one harsh flick.

‘Clearly I’m not doing it correctly.’

His gaze held hers captive as he took her whole nipple into his mouth, caressing it with his tongue and lips until she moaned low in her throat. He moved her legs apart, settling his body between her thighs. He fitted perfectly there, the dark hairs on his abdomen trailing down to where his erection pressed, hot and heavy. She looked up at him, finding his eyes trained on her.

‘I want you, Nicole.’ His voice was a husky whisper. ‘God help me, but I want my wife in my bed. I can’t think of anything but having you underneath me, crying out with pleasure.’

He moved a fraction of an inch. She sucked in a breath as the tip of him slid ever so slightly against her most sensitive spot. Her eyes drifted closed. The delicious pressure was taking over.

‘Look at me,’ he said, lowering his body weight onto his forearms so that his chest lay against hers. ‘Tell me that you want this.’

It wasn’t a demand, but also not quite a question. She urged her sex-hazed brain to respond, but couldn’t find the words. Every inch of her skin was being burned up with his heat. Her legs rose to grip his hips, silently begging him to end the torture. He was still waiting, watching her intently.

‘I want this,’ she whispered, pulling his head down to close the final gap between them.

Her kiss was hungry and filled with the need that consumed her. He was just as out of control. She could feel it in the way his shoulders trembled under her touch. This felt different from last night somehow. Maybe it was the light of the day that made it more real.

She forced herself to open her eyes as he pulled away, grabbing a foil pack from the bedside cabinet and sheathing himself.

His eyes never left hers as he entered her. Her body stretched and moulded to him, heat filling her and travelling up in waves across her abdomen. The angle of his erection sliding against her seemed to increase the pleasure almost to breaking point. It was overwhelming and yet not enough, all at the same time. He lay flush against her, his mouth and tongue devouring hers as he moved his hips in a slow rhythm that was blissful torture.

Nicole felt the tension in her sex building, felt the pleasure radiating through her in long waves but not quite seeming to crest. She clutched a fistful of the hair at the nape of his neck, willing him to go harder, to end the torture. Rigo kept his pace, his face buried against her neck, whispering something she vaguely recognised as Italian.

When she finally reached the peak she fought the urge to sink her teeth into his shoulder as molten heat coursed through her body in magnificent waves. With one final thrust he sank himself deep inside her and groaned his own release.

Rigo smiled as Nicole released her death grip on the armrest as soon as the ‘fasten seat belts’ sign was switched off. The bright light in the cabin seemed to exaggerate her pallor as she leaned her head back and exhaled softly.

The child, on the other hand, had been asleep in her car seat since they’d arrived at the airport an hour before. Nicole had anxiously confided her worries over cabin pressure to the stewardess, but he could see now that her worry was only partly about Anna.

‘You are a nervous flier?’ He raised a brow, thanking the attendant as she laid down two glasses of sparkling water and an assortment of light snacks.

Nicole moved to fuss over the blankets that cocooned the child, checking the belt that held the seat in place. ‘I’m not usually, but it’s Anna’s first time on a plane.’

‘And she is looking a damned sight better than you do right now.’ He smiled. ‘Relax, it’s a short flight to Siena, and I assure you my jet is well maintained and completely safe.’

‘I know that.’ She forced a wan smile, letting out one long breath. ‘I’m fine—honestly. I’m looking forward to getting a break from the publicity. That’s enough to get me through this flight.’

‘We won’t be disturbed at the estate—that much I can guarantee.’

He had made sure to organise security for their stay, knowing that there were no real boundaries for the paparazzi. He had also arranged for the nanny to fly over for a few days, to facilitate some alone time with his new wife. He realised he was looking forward to taking some time off from work, and the thought made him pause. He had woken this morning more relaxed and satisfied than he had been in a long time. And yet on their drive back to Paris he had found himself tenser than ever.

The wedding photos had been on the magazine’s website, setting off a storm of publicity he knew would be the final step in undoing any damage to the Fournier deal. The original scandal had all but disappeared from the most prominent tabloids once the news of their engagement had filtered through.

He looked down at his sleeping daughter, now legally a Marchesi by name as well as blood. He should be relieved that things were going to plan. The new developments in his relationship with Nicole would only strengthen their partnership—or so he hoped. She didn’t seem the type to believe in the fairy tale of marriage. She had said herself that love was just a romantic notion, hadn’t she?

He sat forward. ‘Nicole, I was thinking about—’ He stopped, noticing the faint yellow tinge to her cheeks. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ He leaned across the table between them, pressing his hand to her forehead. She was cold and clammy.

She pushed his hand away, shaking her head as she took another deep breath, this time groaning openly. Without another word she stood up and moved like lightning down the luxurious cabin, shutting the bathroom door behind her with a loud click.

Anna let out a small cry in her sleep. The commotion had been enough to disturb her. He silently willed the child not to stir, but of course her eyelids began to flutter before she opened her eyes wide and settled them straight on him.

He had chaired intense, high-risk meetings between multi-billion-euro corporations in the past. He had given keynote speeches in front of tens of thousands of people. But this… He winced as his daughter’s face scrunched up and her eyes filled with tears. This terrified him. He stood as Anna began to sniff, the tears welling in her eyes as she looked up at him.

‘I’m not your mamma—I know,’ he said, feeling utterly ridiculous. She didn’t understand a word he was saying.

The sniffs turned to sobs, and after a moment of indecision he hurriedly undid the seat belt and lifted the small bundle into his arms. She was light as a feather and fitted neatly against his chest. The cabin was cool, so he kept a blanket wrapped tightly around her. He was probably doing it all wrong, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore. He smiled as he felt a tiny fist grab on to his shirtfront. Two perfectly round blue eyes took him in, unapologetically curious.

The bathroom door opened and Nicole emerged, looking slightly less pale. She stood frozen for a moment, watching him with a strange look on her face. As soon as the baby caught sight of her mamma she was wriggling and craning away from him. Nicole made quick work of taking her into her arms and holding her close.

‘Sorry about that,’ she said quietly. ‘I suffer from travel sickness from time to time. The worrying probably didn’t help.’

‘It’s fine. I seem to have avoided breaking her for the time being.’

Nicole smiled, hugging Anna close to her chest. ‘She’s quite sturdy now, really. She was actually five weeks premature—you should have seen her when she was born…’

Nicole’s voice died away, her words hanging between them, heavy and uncomfortable. Then Anna laughed, reaching up to grab a handful of her mother’s dark hair.

‘I should probably go and freshen up,’ Nicole continued awkwardly. ‘I’ll take her with me this time. You probably have work to do.’

Rigo nodded, glancing at from his emails onscreen as she gathered up a bag of toiletries and disappeared into the bedroom at the back of the plane. Something dark and uncomfortable began to uncoil in his chest.

She was beautiful, his daughter. How he hadn’t seen the resemblance straight away he would never understand. But the mind played cruel tricks when it was angry, and he had most definitely been angry. He had missed so much already. He wondered if the little girl would somehow have already erected a great big wall between them. Or if she would remember his absence and think of him forever as somehow lacking as a father.

As Rigo stepped out onto the veranda of his Tuscan villa he was once again filled with a sense of bone-meltingly deep calm. He nursed a cup of freshly brewed espresso in his hands and sat down to watch as pink fingers of sunlight spread across the dawn sky above the vineyards. The villa sat on acre upon acre of sprawling lush green hills and farmland. He listened to the glorious absence of traffic noise, pedestrian voices and all the other sounds he associated with his life in Paris.

Nicole appeared beside him, dressed in only a light silk robe, her hair spread over her shoulders in a tumble of loose errant waves. He had made love to his wife once more in the night, after waking to feel her long limbs tangled with his own, and then again just before they had decided to get up early for breakfast.

‘This view is breathtaking.’ She sighed, leaning forward against the balustrade as she cradled her own steaming cup of coffee in her hands. ‘If it were mine I would never leave.’

‘Technically it is yours now.’ He stirred his coffee thoughtfully. ‘I bought this place to help drum up profit in the local area, with the vineyards and the stables, but I don’t think I’ve set foot here more than twice in the past few years.’

‘Don’t you ever take time off?’ she asked. ‘Wait—I already know the answer to that question.’

‘I live a very busy life, as you know. But I have been ordered by my PR team to take this honeymoon so I plan to make the most of it.’

‘You make it sound like such a chore.’ Nicole’s expression dropped a little, her eyes drifting away to gaze out at the sudden sparkling fountains of water that had begun to fly through the air as the sprinkler system began to drench the land.

‘I’m sorry if my lack of enthusiasm offends you, but I’m simply not built to be idle. It makes me feel edgy.’

She looked up at him. ‘That’s possibly the first spontaneously personal thing you’ve ever said to me,’ she said. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you might be made of stone under all that muscle.’

‘I think we both know that I don’t run cold with you, tesoro.’ He reached out to trap her in the circle of his arms, pulling her close.

Nicole laid her coffee down on the table beside them, placing her hands flat on his chest. ‘We communicate well in bed—that much is true. But I’m talking about when we’re not in bed, Rigo. It makes me uncomfortable to think that you know practically everything about me while I still know so very little about you.’

‘What would you like to know?’ he asked, leaning back against the balustrade.

‘I don’t know.’ Nicole laughed. ‘That’s like asking me how many grapes grow in this vineyard.’

‘About five and a half tons per acre, give or take.’ He smirked at her answering glare. ‘I’m joking—that’s just a guess.’

‘Isn’t there a Rigo Marchesi that you have never shown to the world?’

His expression faltered for a moment, and the emotion in his eyes was so intense it made her breath catch. But just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone, making her wonder if she had simply imagined it.

‘I have never lived under any pretence like you have, Nicole. The Marchesis don’t have the luxury of keeping secrets,’ he said nonchalantly, taking another sip of his coffee. ‘If you want to know more about my secret wine collection, now, that is something I can do.’ He smiled—a brilliant expression that transformed the previous shadows in his face.

Nicole looked at his smile and felt something bloom inside her. That small little seed of silly hope that she knew she was clutching tight to her chest. He was still holding back a lot of himself. But was she naive to hope that their attraction might bloom into something deeper if given the chance? They would be here together for the next couple of weeks, and she was determined to make the most of her chance to dig under the protective armour he seemed to wear.

After they’d washed and dressed they spent the day exploring the grounds of the estate, with Rigo seeming more at ease holding Anna as he pointed to all the different types of grapes that grew in the massive vineyard.

Nicole tried her best to step back and let him take the lead. She hadn’t expected him to be so interested in his daughter. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that he would be an involved father when she had already seen how much he worked. But as Rigo leaned down and dropped a kiss on Anna’s cheek she felt another layer of the armour around her heart crack apart. Anna nestled her face into his shoulder and Rigo’s brows rose in surprise.

‘I think she’s starting to like me.’ He looked to where Nicole stood, watching them.

She tried to laugh, ignoring the way her heart soared at the sight of him holding his tiny daughter. That pesky glimmer of hope bloomed once more in her chest, making her want things she couldn’t have.