Olivia Gates - One Night In…

Anna felt as if the world were tilting beneath her as the full horror of his words hit her. A whimper of shame and panic rose in her throat and she concentrated every ounce of self-control she possessed on swallowing it.

How could I have got it so wrong? How could I have made such a pitiful fool of myself?

It was pride that enabled her to raise her head and look him in the eye. Muster a small brittle smile. Say a polite, hollow thank you.

But when the door finally shut behind him she threw herself on to the bed and, seizing a pillow, howled out her fury and humiliation into the muffling layers of finest Siberian goose down.

Walking away wasn’t easy, but returning to the upper deck, Angelo grimly congratulated himself.

Whatever he had felt on the beach, she was business, not pleasure.

He wasn’t a man who was overly troubled by conscience. Life had not showered a steady stream of blessings upon him, so he worked on the principle that if he wanted something he had to get it himself. That had made him ruthless.

Reckless.

With money. With rules. With people.

And tonight he had wanted her, but something had stopped him. Some sort of hitherto undiscovered sense of chivalry, which had prevented him from taking her just because he could.

Sometimes he wondered if the nuns in the orphanage still prayed for his immortal soul. Maybe, finally, their prayers were being heard. Maybe there was a glimmer of hope that he wouldn’t be consigned to eternal damnation after all.

He gave a short bitter laugh.

Or maybe he just wanted to make her wait. Who knew how long it might take to get the sale of the château completed? It wouldn’t do to rush things. The longer he kept her on a slow-burn, the better.

And the more satisfying.

In Anna’s dream she was a child again, sitting on her mother’s knee and being rocked.

She looked up into her mother’s eyes, those blue-green eyes she remembered so well, and then a really odd thing happened. They were her mother’s eyes, but they were also Angelo Emiliani’s eyes, and something about that bothered her. She felt safe, protected, loved, but unaccountably uneasy.

When she woke up the rocking continued. For a moment she lay there, as fragments of the events of yesterday and last night came back to her. She sat up with a start.

The boat was moving.

Throwing herself out of bed, she stood up and looked wildly around her. The view through the window showed nothing but sea and sky. She made a sharp exhalation of fury and had reached the door of the cabin before she stopped.

She was still stark naked.

She was in the middle of the ocean and the only items of clothing she had with her were a bikini and a pair of hotpants. Oh, and a sequinned evening scarf—which would no doubt make all the difference should formal dress be required. Collapsing back on to the bed, she pulled the covers up over her head and let out a howl of rage and frustration.

‘Ah, so you’re awake.’

In the darkness beneath the covers she felt her eyes widen in horror and for a second she froze, hoping she’d imagined that dry, mocking voice. But then the covers were drawn back and she found herself staring up into those wicked eyes.

In the clear light of morning his beauty came as a fresh shock. Naked to the waist and wearing only a pair of long shorts, his blond hair was tousled and untidy. He looked more like a carefree golden surfer-boy than a billionaire businessman.

Which was horribly unfair.

Snatching the covers up to cover her breasts, she sat up and glared at him. ‘What the hell is going on?’

That cool, unruffled smile. ‘I brought you coffee.’

‘I don’t want coffee!’

‘I believe the polite response is “thank you very much”. I can assure you, you’re very privileged. I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but I looked in on you earlier and you were rather … exposed. My crew can cope with most things, but a naked eco-warrior might just prove too much, even for them.’

It almost had for him. Lying on top of the cream sheets with her pink hair tumbling over her face and the diamond stud in her navel rising and falling with every sleepy breath, she had looked wild but unbelievably sweet. Like a panther cub. He had to keep reminding himself that if he wasn’t careful she could do real damage.

Anna took a deep steadying breath and pulled the sheet more tightly around her. Making a huge effort to keep her voice level, she looked up at him.

‘Look, Angelo … Last night was …’ Oh, God, don’t blush. Don’t behave like a pathetic, inexperienced kid. Don’t give it away. ‘A huge mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.’

‘So why did you?’

He had set the coffee down on the bedside table and was looking at the newspaper he’d had tucked beneath his arm. He looked totally absorbed, as if what she was saying was a minor distraction.

‘I didn’t have much choice,’ she hissed, thoroughly nettled by his obvious unconcern.

He looked up at her with a slight puzzled inclination of his eyebrows. It was almost as though he’d forgotten she was there for a second. ‘Sorry? That wasn’t how I remember it. I think I asked you if you wanted to go back to your “friends” on the beach—’ he looked back down at the newspaper with a faint smile ‘—and you said no.’

‘I didn’t know then that a cruise around the Med was on the itinerary.’

‘I see. A quick screw. That’s all you had in mind, was it?’ He glanced back up at her. ‘I’m hurt.’

He didn’t look hurt. He look supremely unconcerned, hugely pleased with himself. And immensely bloody gorgeous.

Anna gritted her teeth. ‘We didn’t have sex.’

‘No. But you wanted to.’

Oh, God, the bastard.

Tugging the sheet, she wound it around herself and got up. Sitting in bed she felt at far too much of a disadvantage to be having this conversation. Standing up, she raked a hand through her hair and made a huge effort to keep the hysteria out of her voice.

‘Look, I didn’t have anything in mind. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight. I don’t know—maybe I drank more than I thought. I was upset and—’

‘Upset about what?’

She shook her head. ‘Doesn’t matter,’ she said hastily. ‘What matters now is that I have to get back. I have stuff that I need to do.’

Rubbing a hand through his already dishevelled hair, he strode towards the door. Anna squeezed her eyes shut as he passed within a few feet of her, unable to trust herself not to reach out and touch the body that had haunted her dreams all night. At the door he paused and looked at her with great seriousness.

‘How good are you at swimming?’

‘Very good.’

He nodded gravely. ‘It’s probably about ten kilometres back to shore. Just as well you brought your bikini.’

Anna gave a howl of rage, picked up a book and hurled it in the direction of his head. It missed and she reached for another, but he was too quick for her. The next thing she knew, he was beside her and had caught her wrist in a steely grip.

‘Enough.’

She let herself relax completely for a moment, until she felt his fingers slacken slightly, then seized her chance and gave an almighty lunge to break free.

‘Not enough. Not nearly enough.’

Her only thought was to put as much distance between them as possible, but the bed was in the way. Clasping the sheet to her, she leapt on to it and stood, legs apart, chest heaving, looking down at him.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, now you come to mention it …’

In one swift movement he had reached out and swept her legs from beneath her so that she tumbled down on to the soft cushion of pillows. High on adrenalin, she struggled upright, but he was already on top of her, pinning her arms above her head with one strong hand as easily as if she had been a child. Above her, only inches away from her face, his chest curved. If she lifted her head she could probably brush his nipple with her lips. Her breath was coming in huge, shaky gasps, but the rise and fall of his chest was as steady as ever.