Page 38 of In Bed with Her Billionaire Bodyguard

‘It’s okay,’ he assured her, as if sensing her inner battle.

‘It’s not,’ she replied, refusing to let him excuse it, the way he clearly tried to excuse his mother’s behaviour. ‘And she should never have done that to you,’ she whispered harshly. ‘You should never have had to sign such a thing, certainly not in exchange for your silence,’ she insisted, and even though it made her want to question their own agreement, this was about him and about his mother, not them. No wonder he had made a career from living in the shadows, from keeping secrets. Yes, he had become a protector, a saviour to some—she was sure. But at what cost?

‘Luca you did therightthing by taking the money. Because you made something of your own. Something you can be proud of. And that means something. The man you have become owes nothing to that woman,’ Hope said, sure of her words, but unsure whether she had the right to say such a thing.

His eyes on her were fierce. Shefeltwhat it meant to him to hear that. And somewhere in that molten silver unwound passion and a heat so intense she felt a flush rise to her skin. But in spite of that passion, she still needed him to know one thing.

‘You shouldn’t have to live in the shadows. You deserve more, Luca.’

He nodded his acceptance of her statement, not once taking his eyes from her, but she still felt that he held a part of himself back.

‘Hope, no one can know,’ he warned, and she knew that this wasn’t a request from the wrong side of a legal agreement. It was the request of a son determined to protect his mother. And she would do anything to honour it.

They spent the rest of the afternoon chasing each other across the runs and slopes of white powdery snow. After a few forced moments of happiness to change the mood over lunch to something lighter, the lie became the truth, as if they were both determined to put the past behind them and focus only on the present. As if they were both aware that time was running out before they returned to London and would have to stop whatever this thing was between them. Because even as every part of her being wanted Luca with a ferocity that scared her almost, she knew that their relationship wouldn’t, couldn’t, survive the scrutiny of the press.

So after a few slopes they embraced the freedom of their movements, allowing it to lift her heart that afternoon as they sped across dramatic vistas with barely a soul to see. The sweeping sound of her skis on snow, Luca’s delicious—and sometimes wicked—laughter, all standing out against the backdrop of a clear blue sky without a hint of a cloud.

She convinced Luca to let them go to one of the ski bars on the way down the mountain, promising to keep her goggles on as they shared a mulled wine and were tempted to shots of Jägermeister, the syrupy sweet alcohol with a punch. It had almost been a game, how far they could push each other without the displays of affection they both so clearly wanted.

Stomachs growling from a full day of skiing and a barely touched lunch, they sneaked into a bistro and, after securing a table in the back of the restaurant, they wolfed downschnitzel, and buttery greens and mashed potato for Luca andfritesfor Hope, who rarely let herself indulge in so much naughtiness in a week, let alone a day. And as the crispy, salty crunch exploded on her tongue, she began to wonder just how much she had sacrificed in becoming the face of Harcourts. As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, Luca distracted her with a forkful of garlic mushrooms that she couldn’t resist.

Reluctant to make the trip back on their skis through the wooded forest in the dark, Luca arranged for a car to take them back to the chalet, from a service he trusted, and the moment they were through the front door, Luca was peeling her clothes from her body and she was frantically tugging at his. He walked them down the hall to where the spa rooms were and guided her towards the hammam.

‘Shower first,’ she said against his lips and he simply shook his head, pushing her onto the glass-panelled room, his urgency, his need for her pressing against her stomach, and driving her beyond rational thought.

‘I’ve wanted to do this all day,’ he growled into her ear.

He picked her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist, and backed against the door so that it opened for them, pressing a button on the panel on the side that filled the room with a delicate-scented steam that brought a slick sheen to her skin in seconds. He sat with her once again on his lap, only this time he brought her leg across so that she straddled him, the thick blunt head of his penis teasing her folds.

He took her mouth in a kiss that was carnal, invasive and possessive, burning her hotter than anything the steam room was capable of. She rolled against him, her hips, her thighs, her chest, unfurling inch by inch, her entire body craving the feel of him against her.

And she was in heaven until she heard Luca curse with frustration.

‘Condom,’ he growled, and he pressed his forehead against hers.

For a moment Hope’s mind went blank and then rushed back in a heartbeat. ‘I’m on the pill. Contraception. I’m on it. And I’m clean,’ she said in a rush.

He looked up at her, she could see the warring in his eyes. The desperation to be that intimate with her, but also the awareness of consequences, of mistakes. She wouldn’t force this on him, it was his choice as much as it was hers. No one had the right to take that from anyone.

‘I’m clean too,’ he said, and she understood the incredible trust he had placed in her.

She nodded in answer to his unspoken question. She wanted this more than she wanted her next breath.

‘But Hope, this is going to be hard and fast,’ he warned, the wicked promise bringing a wetness to her core. In answer to his unspoken question, she rose onto her knees enough to reach between them and grip the length of his erection, hot and thick in her palm. Her thumb brushed the head of his penis, where a small bead of moisture already tipped against her finger.

‘You’ll be the death of me, Harcourt,’ he growled against her lips, as she guided him to her entrance. His hands, one on each of her sit bones, palmed the backs of her thighs, spreading her for him, his fingers dipping into her folds.

‘You’re so wet,cara,’ he said.

‘That’s what you do to me,’ she whispered into his ear, before sinking down onto the steel of him as he rose up to meet her with a powerful thrust that drew a cry from her lips.

She spread her knees wider, sinking just that bit more onto him, and felt him pulse deep against her core. Her head fell against his shoulder, a sob exploding from her chest. With one arm around her waist and the other pinning her chest to his, he withdrew slowly, a delicious torture, before slamming back into her with a guttural cry. Bracing herself against his shoulders as he held her just slightly above him, again and again he pounded into her, forcing her towards an orgasm she wasn’t sure she’d survive. Luca filled her so completely, she felt all of him as he moved within her, but when he found that little rough patch of nerves hidden deep within her, Luca hitting it again and again until he became so hard, so steely within her, it felt alchemical.

‘I’ve got you,’ he whispered as he thrust into her again. ‘I’ve got you. You can let go,’ he said.

As if that was what she’d been waiting to hear her entire life, she gave in, standing in the path of the orgasm building between them as it crashed down on them like a tidal wave and all she could do was surrender.

Luca had never come so hard in his entire life. Aftershocks still burst through his body, even as he picked up a thoroughly ravished Hope and walked them into the shower stall. Turning on the spray of warm water, he lathered his hands in the shower gel and gently began to wash her body. She felt delicate under his touch, but he knew the strength of this woman—even if perhaps she wasn’t always sure of it herself. Lust-drunk dark eyes watched him as he ran soapy hands gently between her legs, caressing and cleansing as he went.

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