Page 45 of 2 Books in One Bundle
He took her hand again, so strong and secure. It was hard to know when she began to think of him like that. A place of safety rather than the man who wanted to take everything away from her. A pang almost like pain struck her belly. She wouldn’t think about it. He hadn’t mentioned anything. After what they’d spoken of, he must now understand why Easton Hall was so important to her. Anyhow, she’d overheard him talking on the phone to someone about repairs. Surely that meant they could return home soon?
As much as she loved the small slice she’d seen of Italy, Matteo’s villa in Como, Louisa still yearned for that place to go back to. Cool and green. The place where her formative happy memories had been made.
‘I can hear you thinking again,’ Matteo said. ‘Remember, you can always say no.’
That shook her from her introspection. The thing was, she didn’t want to say no. Her life had been cloistered. Louisa realised how stuck she’d been and now she wanted to catch up. Experience what other girls at her school had talked about, before her imaginary illness had taken over her life. Travels with their families, dreams of kissing boys, adventures...she was making up for years of lost time. She said no so often, to invitations from people in the village, to the young man at the grocer’s who’d asked her for a coffee once. She wanted her life to be full of yes.
‘I trust you,’ she said and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back. Instead of going to the house he led her through the gardens to an open-sided pavilion, surrounded by marble columns. Inside lay a gleaming blue swimming pool the colour of the sky, the water sparkling in the sunlight.
‘I thought you might like to learn how to swim, or, at least, to get in the water and see what it’s like.’
He’d kept his promise. When they’d first arrived here, she hadn’t believed he would. But now...tears stung her eyes. He remembered. He hadn’t forgotten.
Matteo let go of her hand and pulled his polo shirt over his head, tossing it onto a recliner that sat on the tiled surface surrounding the pool.
‘Do you want to try?’
Her mouth dried. Would she ever get over the look of him? That caramel-brown skin, so different against her own. The hair smattering his chest, arrowing down to beneath the waistband of his shorts. Those muscles, ridged and rippling across his torso. She wanted to keep looking. She wanted to touch. Except...
‘I don’t have a swimming costume.’
‘What a shame.’ His grin in response was pure wickedness. ‘Do you need one?’
She stilled, flooding with heat. The thought of him and her, bodies slick against one another. Then reality bit.
‘People might see.’
‘There’s no one around. My staff have the afternoon off. If you don’t want to, I’ll just take a quick swim and we can do something else.’
He unbuckled his belt, undid his shorts and pushed them down. She’d almost hoped he’d be naked but he wore black swimming trunks underneath.
She nodded to him. ‘That seems hardly fair.’
He laughed. ‘Life’s not fair, Lulu.’
He strolled to a panel on the wall and pushed a button. Louvres of the pavilion ceiling closed halfway. ‘The sun’s bright. I don’t want you to burn.’
His thoughtfulness, it almost undid her. She could dissolve on the spot, right here. Matteo didn’t seem to be aware of how he affected her. He turned and dived into the gleaming water. Swimming a lap of the pool under the surface before coming up at the other end then swimming back to her in freestyle, powerful strokes slicing through the water. When he reached the end he stood, water to his waist. Dripping from him like diamonds. Shook his head then ran his hands through his hair.
‘Coming in?’
She looked out into the secluded garden. She caught a glimpse of the lake from here, but it was mainly hidden by shrubs. Nobody would see her other than him. Her heart thumped a skittish rhythm, something like nerves. He’d seen her naked before, and after the things they’d done she wasn’t sure why nerves should hit her as if she were an innocent all over again. But she’d promised herself that she’d be open to these new experiences. Her hair was in a long plait today, so she didn’t have to worry about it getting knotted. There were really no excuses other than her own fears, so she took a deep breath, kicked off her shoes, grabbed her dress and pulled it over her head.
His wicked smile fell away. His mouth, partly open. A look crossed his face then, something far more intense and focussed. Desire written all over him. Her nipples beaded. All of her flushing under his admiring gaze.
‘The stairs are right there.’
His voice ran rough across his skin as he pointed to the side of the pool. She unclipped her pretty lace bra. Wriggled out of her matching panties. Walked to the water’s edge and put her toes in, the water cool against her overheated skin. Then she stepped ankle deep, down further to knee deep, then to mid-thigh.
Matteo held out both of his hands as she hesitated, trying to recall the few times she’d ever been in a pool before, experiencing the mix of joy at the feel of the water against her skin with the terror of what would happen if she went under.
‘I won’t let you go.’
‘I know.’
She took both his hands as he walked backwards, and she stepped off. It wasn’t deep here, yet her mother’s voice kept whispering in her ear.‘What if you drown?’
She tried to shut out the words. Matteo wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
