Page 19 of A Baby Scandal in Italy

‘There is no need for you to give me false compliments now we are not in public,’ she mumbled, remembering how he had looked unimpressed by her before the party.

‘I should have told you how stunning you look. The truth is, I wanted to keep you to myself instead of attending the party. Don’t you believe me?’ Rafa must have sensed that Ivy doubted him. He put his hands lightly on her shoulders and turned her to face the mirror. ‘Feel how much you turn me on,’ he murmured as he pulled her against him so that her back rested on his chest. She caught her breath when she felt the hard ridge of his arousal nudge her bottom.

Ivy stared at their twin images in the mirror and hardly recognised herself. She had been so busy caring for Bertie for the past three months that she’d only ever worn jeans and baggy sweatshirts. Her party dress was more revealing than anything she’d worn before, and subconsciously she had chosen it because she had wanted to make Rafa notice her. She’d been disappointed by his lukewarm reaction before the party, but now his burning gaze sent a lick of fire through her veins.

She wasn’t aware of him undoing her zip until he tugged the top of her dress down to expose her breasts. The air felt cool on her heated skin, and her nipples sprang to attention.

His breath hissed between his teeth. ‘I had a bet with myself that you were not wearing a bra.’

‘My shoulder hurts when I reach behind my back to do my bra up. Anyway, I don’t need to wear one, because I haven’t got much up top,’ she said ruefully.

‘Your breasts are perfect.’ Rafa was still standing behind her and nuzzled his lips against her neck while he cupped her small breasts in his hands. His darkly tanned fingers made an erotic contrast to her pale breasts as he rubbed his thumb pads across her nipples, sending a sharp tug of pleasure down to Ivy’s molten core.

‘Every part of you is perfect,’ he said thickly, tugging the clingy dress over her hips so that it fell to the floor. Rafa muttered something in Italian as he slid his hands down to the bare skin of her thighs above the lacy bands of her stocking tops.

Ivy trembled as he explored her inner thighs and discovered the damp panel of her silk panties. She had never gone this far with a man before. She’d never wanted to. But Rafa was a magician, and his touch cast a spell on her so that, when he slipped his fingers into her knickers and lightly brushed them over her moist opening, she parted for him, and it felt natural for him to slide one finger inside her. It was new, wonderful and faintly shocking as she watched him caressing her in the mirror. She wanted more, and made a choked sound of disappointment when he took his hand away.

He laughed. ‘Bed,’ he said thickly, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her across the room. ‘I am as impatient as you are,mia belleza.’

The satisfaction in his voice pushed through the sexual haze surrounding Ivy’s brain and sent a ripple of unease through her. Rafa pulled back the bed cover and laid her down on the black satin sheets. His fingers circled her ankles as he unfastened the straps on her shoes and slid them off.

She watched him tug open the buttons on his shirt and shrug it off his shoulders. In the subtle light from the bedside lamps, he was a work of art, bronzed and beautiful, with his tight abs and the arrow of dark hairs over his flat stomach. Ivy wanted to stay in the moment, to lose herself once more in his smouldering sensuality, but it was too much, too soon, and Rafa was tooeverything.He put his hands on his belt buckle and reality hit her like a ton of bricks.

She levered herself so that she was sitting upright. ‘Rafa... I’m not...’ Before she could saysure about thishe interrupted.

‘Don’t worry if you are not using contraceptives. I am always prepared.’ He pulled open the bedside drawer and took out a handful of condoms.

Of course he was prepared for sex. Ivy’s heart dipped as he dropped the foil packets onto the bed. She imagined all the women he must have brought to the penthouse and made love to in his huge bed.

‘That’s not what I meant.’

She forgot what she had been about to say when he knelt on the mattress and bent his head to her breast to take her nipple into his mouth. The pleasure of him sucking on the tender peak was so intense that she was tempted to succumb to the throb of desire and allow him to appease the ache between her legs.

But what would Rafa think of her, and more importantly what would she think of herself? She wasn’t a prude, and had not expected to be in love with a guy when she had sex for the first time, but she’d hoped she would be in a relationship where there was friendship and respect. Her fake engagement to Rafa would end in a couple of months. He wanted to have sex with her because she was convenient.

‘You are so responsive. I want to be inside you, now.’ Rafa stood up and quickly dispensed with his trousers. The sight of his powerfully masculine body in a pair of boxers that did not hide the bulge of his erection filled Ivy with panic. She tensed when he lay down on the bed beside her and drew her into his arms.

‘Do you trust me?’

‘What?’ He pushed his hair off his brow and his eyes narrowed on her tense face.‘Cara.’His voice was strained, his frustration evident in his clenched jaw. ‘That’s not important right now.’

‘Of course it’s important. I don’t want my first time of making love to be with a man who doesn’t trust me. And I don’t think you do.’

‘Your first time?Seriously?’ He blew out his breath when she nodded. Rafa rolled away from her, breathing heavily. ‘It would have been a good idea to mention your virginity before now.’

‘I told you that I’d never had a lover. It’s not my fault if you didn’t believe me.’ Ivy felt vulnerable and confused. Her body still ached for Rafa’s caresses, but she knew she was right to be wary, and tears filled her eyes.

‘Why are you crying?’ he asked curtly. ‘I would never try to force you to make love if that is what is worrying you. I respect your decision.’

Ivy had not doubted that he was honourable, and his shuttered expression made her feel worse. ‘I can’t help it. I cry when I’m upset, and I wear my heart on my sleeve.’ She couldn’t bear Rafa to see how he had broken through her defences, and she gave a muffled sob as she scrambled off the bed and flew towards the door.

‘Ivy, wait.’

Ivy hesitated and turned her head to look at Rafa. His gut twisted when he saw tears running down Ivy’s face, and he knew he was to blame. The boy he had once been had blamed himself when his mother had cried and he had not known how to console her. Deep down, he’d believed that his mother had not loved him, and he was a disappointment to her. Why else would she have been desperate to have another child?

His ex-wife had not loved him. Tiffany had fooled him into believing he had a daughter and that they were a happy family until her lies had been exposed. In his darkest hours, Rafa wondered if he was flawed in some way that meant he was unlovable.

Why was he thinking about love of all things? He desired Ivy and had wanted to have sex with her. He had not intended to upset her. She’d responded to him with a fiery passion that had made his body ache, and he’d been sure she’d wanted him to make love to her. Her revelation that she was as innocent as she sometimes seemed blew his mind. He couldn’t blame her for rejecting him. When she chose her first lover, he hoped she would choose a better man than him.

---