Page 39 of The Housekeeper and the Brooding Billionaire

For a second Charlotte let herself wonder what it would be like if Alessio truly cared for her. To be loved by a man of such intensity and, she’d learned, integrity. His wife must have felt...

No, she couldn’t go there.

‘Nor would I. I’m leaving for Venice in a couple of months. It will be a huge career move for me, a step towards achieving my goals.’

Yet tonight she’d take a chance. Ignore the world’s rules and her own and follow her instinct.

Suddenly Alessio smiled, and something inside her melted. It wasn’t a carefree smile, more a twist of the lips that looked almost painful. Yet that look, and the blazing heat in his eyes, turned her knees weak.

‘Then we’ve no time to waste.’ A second later he held her in his arms, not in a waltz hold this time, but cradled up high against his chest, her long skirts trailing.

It was so sudden Charlotte was still catching her breath when he strode out of the room towards the grand staircase.

She opened her mouth to protest that he couldn’t possibly want to carry her up several flights of stairs. But she didn’t say a word.

His display of machismo did the strangest things to her common sense. Instead she rested her head against his hard shoulder and relished every moment of those powerful arms sweeping her ever higher in a possessive embrace that spoke to the primitive heart of her.

‘At last.’ Alessio wasn’t even breathing heavily as he lowered her to her feet beside the vast bed that dominated his room.

Charlotte’s heart beat wildly somewhere up in her throat as she palmed the lapels of his dinner jacket, her hands a little unsteady. Because they really were going to do this. Because, against the odds, Alessio wantedher. It seemed remarkable, but she had no intention of pausing long enough to question her good fortune.

She wished she had more experience to draw on.

At least she had enthusiasm on her side.

‘What are you smiling about?’

‘Us. This.’ She lifted her face to his. ‘Sometimes, rarely, life can be a gift, don’t you think?’

His eyes widened as if the thought had never occurred to him. Charlotte felt a pang of regret that he’d lived in the shadows of grief for so long.

Then, to her surprise, Alessio grinned. It transformed him, and she clutched at his lapels for support. What wouldn’t a woman do to make him look like that every day?

‘I do like gifts.’ His voice was a sensual thread that wove around her, teasing erogenous zones and trailing awareness through her. This man had brought her once-dormant body out of hibernation with a vengeance. ‘I especially enjoy unwrapping them.’

His fingertips skimmed the wide neckline of her dress, making her shiver and lean closer. He still hadn’t kissed her. Would it be gentle and sweet or urgent?

As if reading her thoughts Alessio bent his head, but instead of touching his mouth to hers, he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her bare shoulder. She shuddered as a tumult of sensation thundered through her. His hands slid around her back as his mouth followed the line of her bodice across to her breasts. He paused, his breath hot against her cleavage, but not as hot as the molten desire pooling low in her body.

‘Alessio!’ Her knees sagged, and she might have slid to the floor but for his encompassing embrace.

‘Patience.’ Yet there was nothing patient about his deft hand dragging the long zip down her back, then sliding the material off her shoulder and down her arm.

Cool air brushed Charlotte’s skin, her back and breast, for she didn’t own a strapless bra and only wore knickers beneath the dress. She felt her nipples pucker, exposed to the night air.

There was a hiss of indrawn breath, then a low, heartfelt flood of Italian that she couldn’t understand. Except when she opened eyes she hadn’t realised had closed, she read Alessio’s expression, his reverence and delight as he cupped her breast in his warm, capable hand.

He looked as blown away as she was, and Charlotte felt a punch of triumph that indeed this wasn’t one-sided. Whatever tomorrow brought when they returned to their positions as boss and employee, they were equals now.

Her eyes fluttered shut at the onslaught of profound bliss as he brought his mouth to her breast and the world fell away.

‘Alessio.’ It was a hoarse plea of encouragement and wonder as he took her nipple between his lips and sucked. Fiery darts zapped from her breast to her groin and back. The knees that had nearly collapsed stiffened, and she pressed closer, moving restlessly, needing contact.

He planted his feet wide, one hand splayed across her buttocks. He pulled her to stand in between his legs, bringing her into contact with that swollen ridge of masculine potency as he lifted his head.

She saw stars then. Tiny glimpses of light in those deep green eyes as if he glowed from within. Or perhaps the stars were inherhead, products of the explosion of sensation within her.

‘Charlotte.’ He held her gaze as he lifted his left hand to her right shoulder and pushed the narrow velvet band down her arm. Now her other breast was exposed, yet instead of feeling hesitant, standing half naked before a man still fully dressed, she felt powerful. Because of what she saw in his expression and the throb of his erection against her belly.

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