were able to do this for Alfonso.’
‘Good.’ He took a sip of brandy. ‘That makes me feel less guilty.’
‘Guilty?’ Harper laughed. ‘I can’t imagine you ever feeling guilty about anything.’
‘Then that shows how little you know me.’ Suddenly serious, Vieri leant forward in his chair.
Harper blinked. ‘That’s true.’ She really did know very little about this enigmatic man who was now, remarkably, ridiculously, her husband.
‘Then perhaps we should do something about it.’
‘Like what?’ Her words came out as a gasp.
Vieri shrugged his elegant shoulders. ‘I would be lying if I didn’t admit that a few things were coming to mind.’
Their gazes clashed, the few things he was referring to all too clear in the swirling depths of his eyes. Harper felt the frantic beat of her heart in her throat.
‘You are a very special person, Harper.’ The sincerity of his gaze held her captive. ‘I really mean that.’
‘Well, thank you.’ Harper gave an embarrassed laugh but it was silenced by a fingertip pressed against her lips.
‘And I would very much like to make love to you.’
Shock ricocheted through her, swiftly followed by a clench of lust, deep in her groin. It was the way he had just said it, as if it were so easily possible, as if it could just happen. Which of course it could. Harper swallowed hard. But it shouldn’t, should it?
Fighting to find some logic, some reason in this swirl of madness, Harper stood up, gazing at the vaulted ceiling as if the answer had to be hiding there somewhere. ‘But this was never part of our agreement.’ Her voice sounded husky, as if it belonged to someone else.
‘Hang the agreement.’ Suddenly up on his feet, Vieri came and stood before her, cupping her chin in his hand. His cool façade had slipped, revealing the dark passion beneath. ‘Right now I want you, Harper. You have no idea how much.’ His breath feathered across her heated face, his words sending spasms of yearning right through her. ‘And I believe you want me too.’
‘Yes.’ Harper stared into his eyes, suddenly unable to hide the truth any longer.
A smile curved Vieri’s sensuous mouth. ‘Bene. So what do you say? Will you let me take you to bed tonight?’
Oh, God. Harper had never wanted anything more in her life. But she couldn’t just say yes. Could she?
‘I...I don’t know, Vieri.’ Still she tried to rationalise her thoughts that now only drummed with one, sensuous beat.
Reaching forward, Vieri picked up a stray tendril of hair and, after a moment’s hesitation, tucked it behind her ear. ‘One night together, Harper, that’s all I’m asking, all I’m offering. One night of pleasure.’
It was so tempting. He was so, so tempting.
‘I think we deserve that.’
Did they? Harper had no idea what they deserved. But as Vieri’s face came towards her she felt her eyelids flutter closed and when his lips touched hers she knew she was powerless to resist. The kiss deepened immediately, the tidal wave of sensation kicking in again until the pleasure was so strong she couldn’t feel her feet any more, didn’t know which way up she was. With his lips moulded against her own, firm and tight, yet silky and persuasive, their hot possession left no room for doubt or thought of any kind, and she could do nothing but let herself be pulled into the swirling abyss, dragged under by the current, left gasping for air. It was suffocating. It was drowning. And it was impossible to fight.
She wanted him! And even though a quiet voice told her to be careful, warned her of the consequences, a much louder one was screaming at her to do this. To let go, to live for the moment. That if she didn’t, she would regret it. The sort of regret that would stay with her for the rest of her life.
Breaking away from the kiss, she felt for his hand, tipping her head to look up at him, still needing that final confirmation. And there it was. With his pupils dilated until his eyes were almost black, Harper had her proof. She could see that he was hanging onto the very last threads of his control and that was all she needed to know. He wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. And that was the most empowering feeling ever.
‘Let’s go.’ With a confidence that surprised her, she tugged on his hand, leading him out of the dining room. But by the time they had reached the echoing hallway, Vieri was beside her, one arm around her waist, hurrying them both up the long flight of stairs as if the very devil were on their heels. They flew down the corridor together until they reached their bedroom door.
Or at least the bedroom that they supposedly shared. In fact, as far as Harper knew, Vieri had never so much as set foot in there. True to his word, from day one he had found himself another room in the castello, Harper didn’t know where. She had told herself she didn’t care. So she alone had used this bedroom, slept in the ornate ‘marriage’ bed, dressed in front of the fancy gilt mirror. And even though she had told herself it was a relief, that the last thing she had wanted was the awkwardness of sharing a room with Vieri and all the mixed emotions that would have stirred up, in truth it had only made her feel more alone.
But tonight all that was going to change. Opening the door, Vieri pulled her in behind him but the sight that met Harper’s eyes stopped her in her tracks. The bedroom had been filled with candles, burning low now that several hours had passed. In the flickering light, Harper could see a trail of rose petals leading to the bed, the four posts of which had been decorated with winter foliage and long-stemmed red roses, twisting up and around and over the canopy, giving it a wonderful, Sleeping-Beauty-like quality.
‘It seems the wedding planners have been busy.’ She gave a light laugh, intended to show that she knew this ridiculously romantic setting had no real heart behind it, had nothing to do with Vieri.
‘So it would seem.’ He looked around him, puzzled.
‘I think we can probably guess whose idea this was.’ She raised her eyebrows, giving Vieri a neutral smile.
‘Alfonso!’ They spoke his name together.
With a low laugh Vieri took hold of her hand and navigated them along the path of petals towards the bed. ‘He is completely shameless. He will stop at nothing to bring us together.’
‘I know.’ They sat down together on the bed, Harper’s heart banging loud enough to wake the entire castello as she looked at their hands clasped together in Vieri’s lap, thought of where they might soon travel. ‘And it seems he has succeeded.’
‘Yes.’ The air between them thickened, vibrating with desire. With his fingers stroking against her palm, Harper felt her eyelids close, her whole body tingle with erotic awareness.
‘You want this?’ His breath whispered softly against her face.
‘I want this, Vieri.’
She had never wanted anything so much in her entire life. It was an all-consuming yearning that obliterated all doubt, took all reason and turned it into so much dust. The need for him to be hers, to possess her, as no man ever had, was so strong, so overwhelming, that it didn’t matter that she knew they had no future together. Tomorrow didn’t matter. Hell, an hour’s time didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Vieri took her in his arms and made love to her right now.
Opening her eyes, she gazed at the chiselled features of his handsome face, registering the slash of heat beneath the olive skin, the determined set of his jaw showing his restraint, the way he was holding back. But most of all she saw the swirling depths of desire in his eyes; she saw how much he wanted her. And that was all she needed.
Her hands flew to his chest, rapidly unbuttoning his waistcoat and pushing it over his shoulders before pulling his tie undone. She moved to start on the buttons of his shirt but Vieri took over, sweeping her effortlessly from the bed and setting