Page 208 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

‘Look at this beautiful island we’re on. I’m sure we can come up with a few ideas.’

She smiled up at him, her eyes as blue as the waves rolling into the cove below them, and the tempo of his body shifted once more. Heat crackled in his veins and the simmering frustration melted away, only to be replaced with an entirely more pleasurable burn. They had shared a night of mind-blowing sex but, as satisfying as that reunion had been, Domenico was hungering to do it all over again.

He moved closer, succumbing to temptation and taking possession of her body with his hands. ‘I actually already have a few ideas,’ he shared as his fingers loosened the tie at her waist and delved beneath the silky fabric of her bright robe to meet the warm, soft skin beneath. ‘And none of them involve you wearing clothes.’

‘Wow.’ Domenico went hard all over as Rae emerged from the bedroom. He’d thought she couldn’t look any better than she had that afternoon when they’d spent a few hours on their private beach and she’d played in the waves in an emerald-green strapless bikini. However, in a pale gold sequinned wrap dress, with straps that curled up towards her neck and a neckline that dipped low enough to hint at the full swell of her breasts, she was a sight capable of setting him on fire. ‘You look incredible.’

His eyes devoured every inch of her as his gaze swept from her head to her toes and then back again, a single look not enough. The dress showed off her figure to perfection—her toned legs, the sexy curve of her hips and slim waist, the globes of her breasts. The reaction of his body was immediate, his thoughts leaping ahead to when he could skim his hands across her body and peel away the material, sampling each piece of tender flesh as it was revealed.

‘Is this one of your own designs?’

Colour bloomed in her cheeks. ‘It is. An idea I was experimenting with that didn’t quite work out, but I loved it anyway. How could you tell?’

‘I can see your touches in it.’ Lightly, he touched the fabric between his fingers and then her, tilting her chin up to accept the graze of his lips. The taste of her as addictive as ever, he had to force himself to take a step back before he started to act on his fantasies and they never made it to the party.

‘The car is outside. We should go. It would be poor form for us to be late.’

The journey to Lorca’s home was brief, a short drive along the winding coastal roads with amazing views all around, the rocky outcrops on one side and the drop to the glittering blue waters on the other. It pleased Domenico that he was able to enjoy the view, his relaxed mood a drastic change from the tension that had been simmering in his blood for days, and perhaps weeks.

As much as he wished he could credit himself with the turnaround of his mood, it was Rae who had calmed him, reminding him of who he was and what he was capable of. It was her advice to take the day for himself, which had been the right thing to do, and it was her company that had made the day as fun and relaxing as it had been. It didn’t surprise him but it did trouble him because, as his guard dropped, he was revealing more and more of himself to her. His deepest and darkest depths.

Rae had proved to be the balm he’d so desperately needed so he couldn’t say he regretted sharing as much as he had, but he detested that she had witnessed him at his most vulnerable, when he was lost in the darkest reaches of his mind. It was not a place that he liked to go to, so to have shown it to her was...unsettling at the very least. He had never wanted anyone to know how damaged he was inside...but now she did. And if that valve on his emotions loosened any further then she would know almost everything, all the ugliness that he wanted to hide.

If their relationship had been secure, perhaps he could live with that, but right now she was his wife in name only. At least that was all she was supposed to be, but he knew a part of him hadwantedto open up to her that morning. To let her in that way, to feel more of what he had felt the previous night. The peace that had come from sharing.

‘You need her, Domenico,’Elena had insisted after Rae’s departure, as she had tried to encourage him to go after her.‘You need her.’

He’d denied it being true then, because how weak would a man have to be to admit to needing the woman who had turned her back on him? So, as happy as he was to have her by his side as they exited the car and walked up to Lorca’s house, he was determined to resist it again now.

Because shewashis wife in name only and in a matter of a few months she would leave Venice and him. So there would be no more sharing of his emotional secrets. The only intimacy they would share from now on would be physical.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

RAEGAZEDOUTat the mesmerising view, staring at the spot where the indigo sky merged into the glimmering expanse of the sea. The stars were out in their thousands, the night air was balmy and so far it had been a wonderful night, following on from an idyllic day with Domenico.

Their seafood lunch at a waterside restaurant and afternoon enjoying their private beach had reminded her of the better days of their relationship, where everything had been so easy and carefree.

There had been a void in Rae’s life before she’d met Domenico. In spite of her sisters and friends, her job at the bridal boutique and her dreams for the future, Rae had always felt as if something was missing. Something vital. She’d assumed it was the void left by losing her parents and the suddenness with which they’d dwindled from a family of five to one of three. But then she’d met Domenico and that void had evaporated. Suddenly everything had been dazzlingly, beautifully bright. She’d felt happy again, excited and hopeful in a way she hadn’t in the longest time.

The same kind of happiness that was streaming through her as she stood there, enjoying the evening. Had she been that happy after leaving him and returning to London? she caught herself wondering. Rae hadn’t allowed herself to consider it at the time, but she knew it would be a lie to say she had been completely content. She’d made herself busy and forced herself to focus on the future, but without Domenico that chasm in her heart had opened again and she was only aware of it now because, after their day together, she felt it a little less keenly.

But she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with that. As happy as Domenico made her, it could only be temporary. Because their time together had an expiration date, and once they hit it Rae would be returning to London.

Even though you have already thoroughly blurred the lines of your arrangement with him? And with each hour that passes you’re only growing closer.

Rae’s heart raced with her thoughts. They had grown closer, closer than they had ever been in the past. Even their intimacy had been different, charged by their emotional vulnerability with each other. There was only one matter that Rae had not yet shared with him—the truth about her mother’s death—and that was proving to be a weighty burden. The guilt she felt about her continuing silence was immense because Domenico wasn’t holding anything back. He had been raw and unguarded, answering any question she asked, and Rae felt that she was truly starting to know him, the real, beautiful, complicated man that he was.

At the outset she’d thought that getting answers to her questions about his past would help her reach a place of closure, where she could walk away and leave him behind, but with all that she was learning her heart was opening up to him more than ever. And that was alarming to realise because one day their situation was going to end, and the more engaged her feelings became, the more likely it was that her heart would break into a hundred pieces when it did. Maybe that was another reason why she was clinging to her secret, because once Domenico knew everything she would belong to him in a way that was undeniable. And she wasn’t ready for whatever it was between them to be anything more than what she had agreed to—a fake and temporary marriage.

‘You’re looking very thoughtful, Signora Ricci.’ Drawn from her pensive moment, Rae looked up to see their host, Santiago Lorca, approaching at a leisurely pace. She had met him briefly when they had arrived and her first impressions had been of a warm and welcoming man.

‘I’m just admiring these stunning views of yours,’ she lied. ‘The plot of land you have here is incredible.’

‘It has been in my family for generations,’ he shared, leaning back against the curved stone wall, ‘apart from a brief period. When my father was a young man they went through some hard times and lost almost everything. It was a mission of mine to get it all back for him.’

‘Was he here to see you achieve it?’ Rae asked, hoping for a positive answer.

‘He was, but he sadly didn’t live long enough to enjoy it.’

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