Page 29 of Cipriani's Innocent Captive
He slid his hand under her tee-shirt and the warmth of her skin sent his body immediately into outer orbit. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and he curved his big hand over her breast and gently teased her nipple until it was ripe and throbbing between his skilful fingers. They tumbled onto the bed, he settled her under him and straddled her so that he could see her face as he continued to tease her.
As usual, Katy’s brain was losing the ability to fire on all cylinders, especially when he pushed up the tee-shirt and lowered himself to suckle her nipple. He looked up and caught her eyes, then flicked his tongue over the stiffened bud before devoting his attention to her pouting lips, kissing her again until she felt as though she was coming apart at the seams.
‘Well?’ He nuzzled the side of her neck and she wriggled and squirmed underneath him, hands on his waist, pushing into the waistband of his trousers and feeling his buttocks.
‘Oh, I think we’ll just drift apart,’ Katy murmured. ‘You know the sort of thing. You’ll be working far too hard and you’ll be spending most of your time in the Far East because of the deal you’ve managed to secure. I’ll grow lonely and...who knows?...maybe I’ll find some hunky guy to help me deal with my loneliness...’
‘Not if I have any say in the matter,’ Lucas growled, cupping her between her legs and rubbing until the pressure of his hand did all sorts of things through the barrier of her clothes.
‘No,’ Katy panted, bucking against his hand as she felt the stirrings of an orgasm building. ‘I have to admit,’ she gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders, ‘That finding another man wouldn’t work, so perhaps you’ll have to tire of me not being around and find someone else instead...’
And how she hated the thought of that although, she laughed shakily to herself, in the game of make-believe, what was the big deal? ‘Let’s not talk about this.’ She tugged apart the button on his trousers and awkwardly tried to pull down the zipper. She looked at him and met his eyes. ‘We can be engaged...for two months. Long enough to find out that we’re not really compatible and short enough for no lasting damage.’
‘You’re the one calling the shots.’ Lucas nipped her neck, reared up and yanked off his shirt, before proceeding to undress her very, very slowly and, when she was completely naked, pushing apart her thighs and gazing down for a few charged seconds at her stupendous nudity. ‘And I like it... Now, stop talking. It’s time for action, my wife-to-be...’
CHAPTER EIGHT
KATYHADAweek to think about what would happen when they arrived back in London. The surprise announcement of their engagement had hit the headlines with the fanfare of a royal proclamation. Sitting in the little square in the island’s town, whilst they sipped coffees in the sunshine, she had scrolled through the newspapers on her phone and read out loud some of the more outrageous descriptions of the ‘love at first sight’ scenario which Lucas had vaguely hinted at when he had called, firstly, the anxious Ken Huang and then his personal assistant, who had been instructed to inform various elements of the press.
Lucas had been amused at her reaction to what, for him, was not entirely surprising, considering the extent of his wealth and eligibility.
Now, finally on the way back to London, with the helicopter that had delivered them to his super-yacht due to land in under half an hour, the events of the past few days no longer felt like a surreal dream that wasn’t quite happening.
It was one thing to read the centre pages of the tabloids and marvel that she was actually reading about herself. It was quite another to be heading straight into the eye of the hurricane where, she had been warned by Lucas, there might still be some lingering press attention.
‘At least there’s been some time for the story to calm down a bit,’ he had told her. ‘Although there’s nothing the public loves more than a good, old-fashioned tale of romance.’
‘Except,’ Katy had quipped, ‘A good, old-fashioned tale of a break-up.’
Lucas had laughed but, now that the story was out in the open, now that her parents had been told and had doubtless told every single person in the village and beyond, Katy was beginning to visualise the fallout when the phoney engagement came to an end. In short, her theory about the end justifying the means was beginning to look a little frayed at the edges.
She had spoken to her parents every single day since the announcement and had played fast and loose with fairy stories about the way her heart had whooshed the minute she had clapped eyes on Lucas, the second she hadknownthat it was the real thing. They had wanted details and she had given them details.
Katy knew that she would have to face all sorts of awkward questions when this charade was over. No doubt, she would be an object of pity. Her parents would be mortified that yet again she had been short-sighted enough to go for the wrong guy. If they ever happened to meet Lucas in the flesh, then they would probably suss that he was the wrong guy before the fairy tale even had time to come crashing down.
The world would feel sorry for her. Her friends would shake their heads and wonder if there was something wrong with her. And, inevitably, there would be malicious swipes at her stupidity in thinking that she could ever have thought that a relationship with someone like Lucas Cipriani could ever last the distance.
Who did she think she was?
And yet she was happy to close the door on reality because the thrill of living for the moment was so intense. It ate everything up. All her incipient doubts, and all her darkest imaginings about what lay beyond that two-month time line they had agreed upon, were swept aside and devoured by the intensity of appreciating every single second she had with him.
The timer had been set and every feeling, every sensation and every response was heightened to an excruciating pitch.
‘I have something to tell you.’ Lucas pulled her towards him. It still surprised him the way he couldn’t get enough of her. ‘Tonight we will be the main event at a black-tie ball.’
Katy stared at him in consternation. ‘Tonight?’
‘The Chinese company’s throwing it. It seems that Ken Huang is keen to meet you, as are all the members of his family—and, in all events, with signatures now being put to paper, it’s a fitting chance to celebrate our engagement publicly as well as the closing of the deal. Your parents, naturally have been invited to attend, as have your friends and other family members. Have you got any other family, as a matter of interest?’
Katy laughed. ‘Shouldn’t you know that?’
‘I should,’ Lucas said gravely, ‘But these things sometimes get overlooked in a hectic whirlwind romance.’ She was wearing a little blue top and some faded cut-off jeans and, if they had been anywhere remotely private, he would have enjoyed nothing better than getting her out of both items of clothing.
‘I’ve never been to a ball in my life before,’ Katy confided, brushing aside her unease because not only would she have to mix with people she had no experience of mixing with but she would also beon show. ‘It would be nice if Mum and Dad came, but honestly, I doubt they will. It wouldn’t be their thing at all, and my dad’s calendar is so packed with community stuff that he will struggle to free up the time without more advance warning.’ She sighed and looked at him a little worriedly.
Lucas was overwhelmed by a sudden surge of protectiveness that came from nowhere and left him winded. He drew back slightly, confused by an emotion that had no place within his vocabulary. ‘It’s no big deal.’
‘It’s no big dealfor you,’ Katy told him gently. ‘It’s a huge dealfor me.’
