Modern Romance February 2020 Books 5-8. Natalie Anderson

Чтение книги онлайн.

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

      ORLA WINCED. SHE’D been too hasty in her escape. She should have left it a few minutes longer to ensure Tonino was deep in sleep.

      Ashamed at being caught fleeing like an escaped bank robber, she counted to three before turning to face him.

      His bedside light switched on and she found herself staring at Tonino’s gorgeous yet inscrutable face. ‘You don’t have to leave.’

      She tucked a strand of hair behind an ear then tugged at her dress. ‘I can’t sleep in this.’

      There was a moment of loaded silence before Tonino jumped to his feet. ‘Wait there,’ he ordered as he opened a door and disappeared behind it. He came back out moments later carrying an item of clothing.

      Stalking over to her, he pressed it into her hands. ‘Take this. Change in my bathroom. If you look in the cabinet beneath the sink you will find a spare toothbrush. It’s never been used. You are welcome to shower. There are fresh towels. Help yourself to anything you need.’

      ‘I have stuff in my…’

      ‘You are sleeping with me. End of subject. Now, unless you want me to remove your dress and expose the scars you are too frightened to let me see, I suggest you go use the bathroom.’

      Something deep inside her withered painfully.

      ‘I called Aislin,’ he explained into the loaded silence.

      ‘What?’

      He sighed. ‘Go and sort yourself out, Orla. I’ll explain when you’re ready.’

      Defeated, afraid she could cry, which she absolutely did not want to do in front of Tonino, she hugged the clothing to her chest and locked herself in his luxury bathroom.

      Suddenly desperate to wash the shamed feeling off her skin, she double-checked the door couldn’t be unlocked from the bedroom and shed her dress.

      Closing her eyes, she welcomed the rush of hot water that stung her skin and turned her face up to it.

      Was this how she’d felt the first time they’d made love? Ashamed of herself?

      She’d never dreamed she was capable of such wanton, lusty behaviour. Women like her just did not behave in that way. That was for women like her mother, women who embraced chaos, women who didn’t care who they hurt or what others thought of them.

      Orla did care. She cared deeply. Her pregnancy had shamed her more than any walk of shame the evil authorities had made women perform in medieval times. It wasn’t that she’d been unmarried—her grandmother’s old-fashioned views hadn’t soaked into her that much—but that she had given her virginity to a man she’d barely known who she’d then learned she hadn’t known at all. All her life she’d believed she would wait for the mythical perfect man from the realms of fairy tales to appear before giving her heart and her body, not a man she’d known barely two days.

      That she still wanted Tonino as much as she had then, that one touch of his hand in her hair made her want to rip his clothes off… It mortified her. It terrified her how easily she lost possession of herself for him.

      Only when she feared she was using the whole of Sicily’s water supply did she switch the shower off and reach for a huge, fluffy towel neatly laid on the heated towelling rail.

      She found an unused toothbrush exactly where he’d said and brushed her teeth vigorously, as if she could brush away the demons that plagued her as well as any dirt clinging to her teeth.

      And then she shook out the white item of clothing Tonino had given her and felt a tear in her heart.

      It was one of his shirts.

      Before slipping it over her head she buried her nose in it and inhaled the faint trace of his cologne amidst the laundry soap.

      When she finally found the courage to leave his bathroom and face him, she took three large breaths and unlocked the door.

      He was sitting up in bed, the sheets covering him to his waist. He was not on his phone or watching television or reading. He was simply waiting for her.

      ‘Better?’ he asked sardonically.

      Her heart thudded painfully, and she blinked away the wet burn in the backs of her eyes as she nodded.

      He patted the space beside him. It was a command, not an invitation.

      Climbing onto the bed gingerly, she sat beside him, making sure not to sit close enough that their bodies accidentally touched.

      Tonino, however, was not disposed to have her beside him but apart, and, with a glare, he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him.

      ‘Stop fighting me,’ he murmured, dropping a kiss onto the top of her head.

      ‘I’m not,’ she lied even as she wriggled to free herself from his tight hold.

      ‘Relax, dolcezza. I’m not going to rip the shirt off you.’

      His chest hair brushed against her cheek. The musky scent of his skin skipped down her airwaves and filtered into her veins and somehow pushed much of the angst inside her out.

      A pang rent through her heart.

      Being held in his arms like this…

      It felt right. It had always felt right.

      With a sigh she placed her hand flat on the plane of his stomach and pressed a kiss to the warm skin even as she screwed her eyes tightly together to stop the gathering tears from escaping.

      ‘When did you speak to Aislin?’ she asked quietly when she could speak without choking.

      ‘Earlier, when you were getting ready for dinner.’

      ‘Why?’

      He smoothed her hair with his hand. ‘Because СКАЧАТЬ