Latin Lovers: Italian Playboys: Bought for the Marriage Bed / The Italian GP's Bride / The Italian's Defiant Mistress

Nina clenched her teeth. ‘What about your boyfriend? Isn’t he turning out to be the dream ticket you thought he’d be?’

‘Cut it with the sarcasm, Nina. We had an agreement, remember? If you don’t follow through I will come and collect Georgia and begin the adoption process and you will never see her again. It’s your choice. You can phone bank the money to me right now or you know what will happen. Don’t forget, I only have to make one little phone call to that new husband of yours and your secret will be out.’

Nina knew she was caught in an impossible situation. It was too late for explanations to Marc about who she really was. How would he deal with the news of her deception so soon after tying himself to her in order to give Georgia her father’s name?

‘How did the wedding go, by the way?’ Nadia asked with a hint of mockery. ‘Was it everything you dreamed of?’

‘You know it wasn’t,’ Nina bit out. ‘I felt like a complete fraud the whole time.’

Nadia laughed. ‘But not for wearing white, darling. You’re one of the few brides entitled to wear virginal white. What a pity your husband doesn’t fancy you. I bet I could get him into my bed if the tables were turned.’

Something in her sister’s tone irked Nina enough to respond. ‘Actually, he does fancy me.’

Nadia’s mocking chuckle grated on Nina’s nerves. ‘Only because he thinks you’re me. If you were acting in your own personality he wouldn’t take a second look. You’re too boring.’

Nina held on to her temper with an effort. ‘I don’t think it’s such a good idea for you to call me. If someone other than me picks up my phone—’

‘I’m going to keep calling you until the money is in my account,’ Nadia threatened. ‘And if I don’t get you on this phone I’ll try the land line.’

Nina let out a sigh of resignation. ‘All right, I’ll do it. I will transfer the money.’

‘Atta girl,’ Nadia cooed. ‘I knew you’d see sense in the end. Ciao!’

Nina waited until her fingers had stopped shaking before pressing in the necessary digits to process the transaction. Once it was done she did her best to settle for the night but she found it impossible to relax enough to get to sleep. But, strangely enough, it wasn’t the money and what she had just done with it that was keeping her awake. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the feel of Marc’s mouth out of her mind, the way his tongue had darted with male urgency into the soft recesses of her mouth, making a mockery of every single kiss she’d ever had bestowed upon her in the past.

Marc didn’t kiss tentatively or even in an exploratory manner. He kissed with ferocious intent, setting her blood instantly alight. She could still feel the pounding of it as it ran through her veins, making her heart skip as if it just couldn’t keep up with the pace of her pulse.

It was impossible to ignore her growing awareness of him, the way he made her feel when he so much as looked at her with the dark censure of his eyes. She felt her skin rise in reaction every time, the soft hairs at the back of her neck standing to attention as if waiting for his hand to reach out and touch her there.

She couldn’t believe her own foolishness. She had fallen in love with a man who had nothing but hatred for her. Even if he found out the truth about who she really was, she knew he would never forgive her for deceiving him. How could he? She wasn’t Georgia’s mother. She could not give him what he wanted because what he wanted wasn’t hers to give.

She gave the pillow another frustrated thump before flopping back down. This was hopeless. What she needed was exercise and plenty of it. She glanced at the bedside clock and grimaced when she saw it was well past midnight. Too late for a walk around the block. Then she thought about the gym and pool downstairs, and her legs were already over the side of the bed when she hesitated.

Could she risk it?

What if Marc heard her?

She rummaged for her faded bathing suit before she could change her mind. A long swim in the heated lap pool was just what she needed. It was a huge house, and besides, Marc was probably already deeply asleep.

She didn’t bother with turning on the lights; instead she put the baby monitor remote on top of her towel on one of the comfortable-looking loungers and slipped into the warm silvery moonlit water.

Her tense muscles began to unfurl as the water held her in its liquid embrace, the slip and slap of the water against the sides of the pool the only sound as she carved her way through length after length.

She stopped to re-tie her loosened hair and, blinking the water out of her eyes, looked up to see a pair of very male tanned legs standing on the pool deck. She slowly lifted her head and locked gazes with Marc.

He stood looking down at her for a long moment while the silence crawled around them.

‘What’s wrong, Nina?’ he asked. ‘Are you finding it difficult to get to sleep alone?’

She tilted her chin at him. ‘No, are you?’

His eyes dipped to where the water was lapping against her breasts and she felt a shiver of reaction pass through her as if he had just brushed her there with his fingers. She felt her nipples begin to push against the worn Lycra of her bathing suit, the bare skin of her arms and legs prickling in awareness. She tried not to stare at his lean tanned body but it was incredibly difficult to ignore the flat plane of his stomach, the rippling muscles of his abdomen and the dark trail of hair that disappeared into his black shorts.

She craned her neck to maintain eye-contact, her stomach giving a little startled moth-like flutter when he began to lower himself into the water.

‘W-what are you doing?’ She shrank away.

‘What do you think I am doing?’ he asked.

She turned to get out but her foot slipped on the steps and she went under instead. She felt Marc’s hands on her waist as he steadied her, his body so close behind her she could feel every ridge and plane as she came upright.

The air she desperately needed in order to take her next breath stopped somewhere in the middle of her throat as he slowly turned her around so she was facing him. She could feel the magnetic pull of his body, drawing her closer and closer, even as the rational part of her brain insisted she step out of his hold. His fingers spanning her waist tightened fractionally, and one of his hard muscled thighs came between her trembling ones.

‘I don’t think this is such a good idea,’ she said, hoping he wouldn’t notice the nervous up and down movement of her throat.

‘What is not a good idea?’ he asked, his eyes burning into hers.

‘Th-think of what it could cost you …’ Her eyes skittered away from his as she felt his hard thigh press even closer.

His hands slid upwards from her waist to hold her shoulders so he could secure her shifting gaze, his voice low and deep as if it had been dragged across gravel. ‘Do you think I give a damn about the money?’

She moistened her lips and then wished she hadn’t when his gaze dipped to her mouth and lingered there.

‘It’s a l-lot of money … and if it was doubled …’ She stared at the line of his mouth, wondering if he was going to allow himself to kiss her. Just one kiss. That wouldn’t be breaking his vow to keep the marriage unconsummated, would it?

His head came down slowly, his mouth stopping a mere breath away from the tingling surface of hers. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she felt herself rock towards him, her body seeking the hard warmth of his like a small iron filing did a too-powerful magnet.

At the first touch of his lips on hers heat licked like a hot tongue of flame, igniting her senses into a blazing roaring fire of need. He plundered her mouth, sending her head snapping back as his tongue thrust determinedly into her moist warmth, his arms pulling her into him where his body pulsed and throbbed.

Her hands went around his neck, her fingers plunging into the thickness of his hair, her breasts tight against his chest, their aching points nothing to the storm that had just erupted between her thighs. She could feel the dampness of need he’d awakened, the silk of sensual desire that called out for him with silent but fragrant pleas.

His hands came to her breasts, shaping them through the worn fabric, his warm palms covering her possessively, his mouth still determined on hers. He pushed the shoulder straps aside and uncovered her, the roughened edge of his fingertips running over her nipples until she ached to feel the rasp of his tongue there as well.

As if she had spoken her need out loud, he lifted his mouth off hers and bent his head to her exposed breasts, moving his mouth and tongue in tightening circles until she became unsteady on her feet.

He came back to her mouth, taking it with renewed pressure as if in tune with the fire of need he was fighting to control.

Her hands slipped down to his waist, her inexpert fingers skating over his shorts where they were distended, his erection reaching towards her, as if seeking her feathering touch.

He groaned into her mouth as she shaped him, and again, even more deeply, when her fingers slipped inside to where he pulsed with increasing urgency.

He tore his mouth off hers and stared down at her, his dark eyes burning with unrelieved need, his chest rising and falling against hers as he struggled to rein in his galloping breath.

‘This is exactly what you planned, is it not?’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘You wanted to make me eat my words, every one of them.’

‘No!’ Her hands fell away from his body with a little splash. ‘No, of course not.’

He gave a rough grunt of derision. ‘It’s another of your tricks. You like to play the innocent now and again to put me off the scent of your real motives.’ He dropped his hold and stepped back from her, his eyes still scorching her with contempt.