Italian Mavericks: Bound By The Italian's Bargain. Miranda Lee

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      Bella steeled herself as she turned her head to look at him, guessing already that Sergio wasn’t wearing any more clothes than he had earlier. She’d glimpsed bare arms as he’d reached out to grip the railing.

      She’d been right. A lot of him was still bare. Bare arms. Bare chest. Bare legs and feet.

      The black satin boxer shorts he was wearing weren’t as revealing as his swimming shorts. But it was obvious that he was naked underneath them. Bella’s PJs weren’t much better, made up of shorts and a sleeveless shirt top with a low V neckline.

      ‘I’ve been having trouble sleeping for some time,’ she told him truthfully enough. She could hardly say that he was the reason. ‘I usually take a sleeping tablet but I forgot to bring mine with me. You wouldn’t have any, by any chance?’ she added, sneaking another glance his way. Oh, Lord, what a masochist she was!

      ‘Sorry,’ Sergio replied. ‘Don’t believe in them. Not that I usually have a problem with insomnia. I work out quite a bit and swim a lot. On the odd occasion I can’t sleep—like now—I try Mother Nature’s sleeping tablet.’

      Bella turned and stared at him, frustration making her voice sharp. ‘Well, I’m sorry, Sergio, but I don’t think a cup of chamomile tea is going to do the trick.’

      He laughed, his dark eyes glittering with humour. And something else. Something smokingly hot.

      ‘I wasn’t suggesting chamomile tea. I was talking about sex. Don’t you find that after an orgasm or two, you drop off to sleep quite easily?’

      Bella didn’t know what to say to that. She’d never had one orgasm, let alone two. She’d come close a few times—or thought she had—but had never experienced total satisfaction. Just total frustration.

      ‘Yes, well, I’m between boyfriends at the moment,’ was all she could think of to say.

      He looked at her long and hard, and Bella’s heart beat so fast she was sure he must hear it.

      ‘You don’t need a boyfriend to have sex, Bella. Just a man. You’re welcome to use me, if you like. As I pointed out earlier, I’m a man,’ he added, a devilish gleam in his eyes.

      She just stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. Who would have believed that Sergio could be so...so...?

      Bella could not find the right word. Sexy wasn’t strong enough. Wicked was closer to the mark.

      An image popped into her head, of how big he’d looked in those very revealing swimming trunks, and of how she’d tried to imagine what it would feel like, having a man of his size inside her. Her mouth dried at the thought, her heartbeat going truly haywire.

      ‘You can’t be serious!’ she blurted out at last.

      ‘I’m very serious.’

      ‘But I...you...we...’

      ‘Are not related in any way,’ he finished for her. ‘We never were. Look, I’ve always fancied you, Bella. Especially after you grew up and became all famous and gorgeous. If truth be told, most of the male population in the world fancies the beautiful Bella. So it won’t be any hardship to make love to you.’

      Bella gulped, shock and temptation having rendered her speechless. Not in her wildest dreams would she have thought Sergio would offer himself to her in such a fashion. She wanted to say yes. She really did. But finding that one little word was so hard.

      ‘I don’t usually go to bed with a man just to get some sleep,’ she hedged.

      He shrugged. ‘There’s always a first time for everything.’

      ‘I...I don’t know, Sergio,’ she said, trying to find some reason—any reason—to say no, panic a heartbeat away. ‘People say sex has a way of spoiling friendships.’

      ‘Come now, Bella, it’s not as though we live in each other’s pockets. When this month is over, you’ll wing your way back to New York and we probably won’t see each other again for another decade.’

      Bella frowned, not liking that thought one bit.

      ‘What’s that expression?’ Sergio said with a wry smile, reaching out to take her by the shoulders and pull her towards him. ‘Friends with benefits? That is what we can be, Bella. Friends with benefits.’

      Bella made no comment. She couldn’t. Because by then his mouth had covered hers.

       CHAPTER TEN

      SERGIO TRIED TO keep his head. Tried to take things slowly. But this was Bella he was finally kissing. Bella who was melting against him and moaning in that soft, sexy way women did when they were turned on. Any momentary worry he’d had that she might not respond to him was banished at the sound of that first little moan, his control banished at the same time. His hands shook as they lifted from her shoulders to clasp her cheeks, holding her face captive while he pried those luscious lips apart and sent his tongue deep into her mouth. She welcomed it avidly, her own tongue entwining with his in an erotic dance that had him fully erect in seconds.

      His groan was half passion, half pain. With great reluctance he dragged his mouth away from hers, knowing that he needed a breather or he would never last the way he wanted to last. No way could he disappoint her. Not this first time. Not if he wanted Bella to want more than just a one-night stand.

      ‘Wow, Bella,’ he said lightly as he returned his hands to her shoulders. ‘You are some kisser.’ Of course, she’d had a lot of practice. Not a thought he relished. ‘Unless you want to have sex out here on the balcony,’ he went on drily, ‘I suggest we adjourn to the bedroom.’

      She blinked up at him, face flushed, eyes somewhat glazed.

      ‘Bella?’ he prompted when she said nothing. ‘Your room or mine?’

      She still didn’t speak, seeming disoriented. Maybe she hadn’t expected to like kissing him as much as she obviously had. Whatever, Sergio wasn’t about to let her go cold on the idea of having sex with him. So he bent and scooped her up into his arms and carried her swiftly into the master bedroom. She made no protest, though her eyes rounded when he laid her down on the black satin sheets that graced the king-sized bed.

      She still didn’t say anything.

      ‘Look, if you’re one of those women who don’t like to talk during sex, then say so right now,’ he said, deliberately using conversation to dampen the urgency of his own desire.

      ‘I don’t like to talk,’ she said, her voice low and husky.

      He shrugged. ‘Pity, it’s good to know what a woman likes or doesn’t like, especially the first time.’

      ‘I see,’ she said, her lovely eyes clinging to his in a way that made him want to kiss her again. But he didn’t dare.

      ‘So is there anything you especially like?’ he asked. ‘Besides kissing, that is. I can see you like that.’

      She frowned as though she was at a loss to answer. ‘No...not...not really,’ СКАЧАТЬ