Page 3 of The Virgin's Dance with the Devil
Drawing his eyebrows together, he cast her with a pleading look and placed a hand on his chest, right where his heart rested. “Please?” he beseeched, practically fluttering his long, dark eyelashes. “One little dance?”
When he put it like that, how could she refuse? And it was only one dance. And he was Federico Esposito, so agreeing to one little dance was probably safer than a flat-out refusal. One little dance, and then she would glue herself to Luisa.
“Okay. One dance.”
He broke into a grin so wide faint lines appeared at the sides of his eyes. “You have just made my evening.” Stepping closer, he put his hands on her hips.
The warmth of his touch was frighteningly electric and made her want to bolt, and she had to summon all her courage to place her hands lightly on his shoulders.
Marisa wasn’t the most confidentdancer at the best of times, and she’d never danced with a man before… Okay, she had once, but that had been with her dad at a family party, and so didn’t count. To have her first real dance with a man who happened to be the notorious Federico Esposito made her limbs stiffen and her torso go rigid.
“Relax. I don’t bite,” he murmured before putting his mouth to her ear and with seductive good-humour added, “Unless invited to.”
With the warmth of his breath dancing against her sensitive skin, revulsion and a curious excitement laced her spine. Frightened at how hard her heart was beating, she would have wriggled out of his hold if he hadn’t slid his hands from her hips to the bare skin of her lower back and closed the tiny gap between them.
A shock of sensation flushed through her, and suddenly she was struggling to breathe, every ragged inhalation pulling in a microdose of his scent.
He smelled beautiful. There was none of the overpowering cologne so many of their countrymen liked to douse themselves in. Federico smelled clean and fresh. She couldn’t say why, but his scent reminded her of fresh oranges warming in the hot summer sun. Without thinking, she slid her hands up to hook around his neck and pressed her cheek into his chest.
His hold on her tightened.
“I’ve been watching you all night.” His breath was hot on the top of her head. “You eclipse every woman here.”
But she couldn’t speak, not with her breasts crushed against him. She could feel the heat of his skin and the strength of his heartbeat through the silk of his light blue shirt. There was something incredibly solid about him, a masculinity that made her feel her femininity in a way she never had before.
The tune they were swaying to stopped. Another track came on.
She concentrated hard to pull in a full breath and then slid her hands down to his chest to gently push him away.
She had to summon all her courage to meet his stare. Clearing her throat, she said, “That’s our one dance done.”
His hands moved back to her hips. There was something wolfish about the hungry gleam in his eyes. “Another?”
The temptation to hook her hands back around his neck was almost overwhelming, the gleam in his eyes close to hypnotic. If she hadn’t spotted her sister slinging her handbag over her shoulder and her brother-in-law rising from the table to exchange a manly embrace with Dante, there was every chance she’d have agreed.
With escape now real, relief shot through her. Smiling, she shook her head. “Thank you, but it looks like we’re leaving.”
His forehead creased in disappointment. “Already? It’s so early.”
“It’s not up to me. I’m travelling with my sister and brother-in-law.”
His hypnotic stare not leaving hers, he caught her hand and threaded their fingers. His hand was practically twice the size of hers. “Stay. I’ll see you get safely home.”
This should not be such a tempting proposition… “I live a two-hour flight away.”
He squeezed her fingers. “I can get you home. Don’t leave me when we’ve only just found each other.”
Her brain in serious danger of becoming scrambled, Marisa shook her head to give herself a much-needed reality check. This was Federico Esposito, thug, notorious lothario and breaker of hearts.
She tugged her fingers out of his. “Don’t worry, Federico – there are plenty of other women for you to find here.”
“But you’re the onlywoman I see… and call me Rico.”
“Get yourself to an optician,Rico. You’re a little young to be losing your eyesight.”
He put his hand back to his heart. “Your beauty has blinded me.”
“Invest in new sunglasses then.” Absurdly amused, she grinned and stepped around him. “Thank you for the dance. Enjoy the rest of the party.”
