Kate Hewitt - The Best Of The Year - Modern Romance 2016

‘If I kiss you now,’ he said, his voice low and husky with desire, ‘I won’t stop at kissing. Your lovely clothes will be ruined and the sex won’t be as good as it should be.’

‘I don’t care,’ she cried, her voice and her body trembling uncontrollably.

‘But I do,’ he told her, and bent to scoop her up into his arms. She gasped, then wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

‘You obviously need more than a quickie in the garden. You need me to make love to you till you can’t move a single muscle. I will tie you naked to the bedposts and make you come and come till you beg me to leave you alone. That is what you need, isn’t it, Bella?’ he ground out as he started carrying her along the path at considerable speed.

She didn’t say a word. Just groaned, then buried her face into his chest.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

WHEN BELLA WOKE the next morning, she was astonished to find herself back in her own bed. She had definitely been in the master bedroom when she’d finally fallen asleep last night. Sergio must have carried her back to her room at some stage but she had no memory of it. The clothes she’d worn the night before were draped over a chair in the corner, her sandals placed neatly underneath.

Clearly, Sergio didn’t want Maria knowing they were sleeping together. No doubt if she knew, Maria would have them married off even quicker than the Countess. Though how he imagined they could keep their relationship a secret for a whole month she had no idea. Maria was a very intuitive woman.

Sighing, Bella rolled over and glanced at the small antique clock that sat on the mantelpiece over the fireplace. Lord, it was past noon! She hadn’t slept so soundly in years. Obviously, a satisfying sex life was the answer to that. And it was satisfying. Very. After their first rather frantic mating last night—up against the back of his bedroom door, no less!—Sergio had proceeded to make slow love to her in bed for ages, Bella adoring the way he’d looked deep into her eyes as he’d done so. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d come. It was no wonder that in the end she’d fallen into such a deep sleep, one where she’d been blissfully unaware of being carried back to her own room.

A soft knock on her bedroom door had her sitting up abruptly, pulling the sheet up over her bare breasts.

‘Sergio?’ she said, feeling perversely shy all of a sudden.

‘No, no, it is me. Maria. Sergio...he has gone to Milan. He left a couple of hours ago.’

‘Oh, yes. He did tell me he was going there today but I forgot. Come in, Maria.’

She opened the door and bustled in, looking uncharacteristically worried. ‘I’m sorry to wake you. Sergio said you had a late night. But I must go home soon. My little Antonio, he has a bad cold and Carlo, he is working on the other side of the lake today.’

‘Then you should go home straight away, Maria,’ Bella said.

Maria frowned. ‘But I have to make your bed and clean your bathroom.’

‘I am quite capable of making my own bed and cleaning my own bathroom. Now off you go.’

‘Are you sure? What about your lunch?’

‘Maria, I am sure I can rustle up something. I saw how much food was in the cupboards and fridge. On top of that, it is only a short walk to the closest village where there is an excellent café and bakery. I have stayed here before, you know. A long time ago, but, as the driver told me the other day, Italy does not change much. And please, do not even think of coming back tonight. I will get Sergio to take me out somewhere for dinner when he gets home from work.’

Maria smiled with relief. ‘You are very kind. I will go now, then.’

‘Yes, please do.’

After Maria hurried off, Bella lay back on the pillow and sighed, having remembered that Sergio planned to go into Milan every weekday from now on, not just today. Which was somewhat disappointing. She’d been hoping to have him all to herself for the next month. Still, the family business was in dire straits, he’d told her during one of his brief rests from lovemaking last night. It had, in fact, been losing money for several years, his father not proving to be as astute a businessman as his grandfather.

‘Of course, the economic climate has changed,’ Sergio had explained. ‘So have the markets. Where once Morelli leather goods were huge sellers, both overseas and here in Italy, they now can’t compete with the cheaper imports from Asia. We don’t have any branches in any other countries any more. They just weren’t profitable. We now use independent agencies to try to sell our wares overseas. Without much success, I’m afraid.’

Bella recalled he’d looked very concerned.

‘Some of the staff have been with the company all their working lives,’ he’d continued. ‘My father found it impossible to let any of them go, but I will have to do some restructuring or all the staff will be out of work. Luckily, I have plenty of money of my own to invest in some much-needed change. But what those changes will be, I have yet to determine. Hopefully, I will get some inspiration tomorrow when I go through the factory and talk to the employees.’

Bella had made all the right noises, saying she had every confidence in him, but in reality she hadn’t been concentrating, her focus distracted by the way he’d been caressing her as he’d chatted away. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. Not that she was any better. As the night had worn on she’d become addicted to stroking him very intimately, loving the way she could bring him back to erection within minutes of his having climaxed. She’d been doing just that when she’d playfully asked him what she had to do to make sure he’d visit her in New York. He’d just smiled and said she didn’t have to do anything special. Just be there when he arrived at her apartment, wearing nothing but perfume.

A smiling Bella had given him her faithful promise, at which point Sergio had stopped talking and started making love to her yet again.

What amazing stamina he had! And what incredible know-how. He knew exactly how to move when he was inside her. And how to move her. She’d been amazed at the various positions he’d shown her. She was already looking forward to Sergio coming home tonight. She would wear something sexy for him. Something new. The village she’d spoken of to Maria also had a nice little fashion boutique. Or they used to. Hopefully, it would still be there.

It was. Though with a new owner. It had also gone very up-market, selling high-end accessories along with designer clothes. Fortunately, the new lady owner didn’t recognise Bella despite her not wearing the red wig, though she did fuss over her once she realised money was no object. Bella’s stylist had drummed into her that buying quality was always worth it in the end, as long as you didn’t buy super-trendy things that would go out of fashion the following year. The owner was delighted when Bella invested in a sundress, a cocktail dress, a pair of shorts, two summery tops and a lovely cashmere wrap, Bella determined to have something for every occasion during her stay here with Sergio. Her last purchase was a pair of sensible but very expensive walking shoes, which would cope with the cobblestone paths better than the sandals she was wearing. Keeping them on, she asked the woman to hold her purchases till she’d had some lunch, which of course she was very happy to do.

Fifteen minutes later, Bella was sitting at an outdoor table connected to a nearby café, eating a delicious salad and drinking some sparkling mineral water when a brilliant idea came to her. At least, she thought it was brilliant. Excitement raced through her veins at the realisation that this might be the answer to Sergio’s prayers. Bella would have called Sergio immediately with her idea, but she didn’t have her phone with her, having deposited it in the top drawer of one of her bedside tables. She’d been determined to remain out of touch with the rest of the world for several days at least; hadn’t wanted to be confronted by the long line of missed calls that would inevitably be there, along with a whole swag of unread messages. Her mother would be the main culprit, trying to find out where she was and who she was with.