A Ring for Vincenzo's Heir(16)

Alone in the shadowy bedroom, standing next to the enormous bed, Scarlett and Vin looked at each other.

"What now?" she whispered, shivering. "What should we-"

Before she could finish her sentence, before she could even finish her  thought, Vin pulled her roughly into his arms. Claiming her lips as his  own, he twined his hands in her long red hair, kissing her with deep,  ferocious hunger that could not be denied.





CHAPTER SIX

VIN HADN'T FELT so emotionally out of control for a long, long time.

All night, he'd been forced to endure feelings he'd ignored for twenty  years, since he'd left Italy and closed the door marked "love and  family" forever in his mind.

But that door had been wrenched open. He was out of practice dealing  with any feeling but anger, so staggered by conflicting emotions.

Right now, there was only one thing he wanted to feel.

This. Kissing Scarlett, Vin stroked his hands up her arms, feeling the  silky fabric of her empire-waist dress slide beneath his fingertips.  Feeling the warmth of her body beneath. He could be sure of this.

And this. He deepened the kiss, teasing her with his tongue.

Her sigh was soft in his mouth, like a whimper, but he felt the way she  moved, her belly hard against his, her breasts swollen and soft.

This was all he wanted to feel. What he could physically grasp. What he could hold.   





 

Scarlett.

Distantly, he heard the raucous noise of the party downstairs in the  courtyard. But here in the hush of the darkened bedroom it felt  strangely private, even holy. This was a place out of time, belonging to  them alone.

Vin felt her tremble against him. Her lips parted beneath his, open and  ripe for the taking. The rational part of his brain disappeared. It was  like he'd never kissed anyone before.

He caressed her cheek, running his hand down the back of her neck,  through her long hair tumbling down her shoulders. He drew back, looking  at her. She was so sexy. So impossibly desirable. Beneath the silk  bodice of her dress, he could see the hard nipples of her swollen  breasts.

His body was screaming to take her now, take her hard and fast.

He exhaled, forcing himself to stay in control. She was heavily pregnant  with his child, so he'd have to be gentle. She would need to be on top.  To set the rhythm.

Plus, she was nervous. He felt that in her hesitation, in the way she'd  shyly asked for separate rooms. She was afraid of what their lovemaking  would start between them.

She was right to be afraid.

He intended to use every weapon he had to make her fall in love with  him. To make her acquiesce to his every desire, and give him total  command.

He needed to lure her slowly. Until she wanted him so badly that she was  the one pushing him back roughly against the bed, and climbing on top  of his naked body, easing her soft, wet core around him, driving him  hard until they both screamed, clutching each other-

He shuddered with need. Patience, though a virtue, wasn't his strong point.

But he was starting to suspect that the torture of wanting her, and  waiting for her, would make this conquest the single most spectacular  sexual event of his life. For that, it was worth a little self-control.

If he could keep himself from losing it...

He gentled his kiss, making his lips seductive and soft. She leaned her  body against him, reaching up to twine her hands in his short dark hair,  pulling his head down harder against hers. Her rough, savage kiss made  him feel so, so good, his body taut, his blood rushing and pounding and  spiraling with need-

With a silent curse, Vin pulled away. She wouldn't be able to resist now  if he drew her to the bed. He saw that in her sweetly mesmerized face.  She wasn't the problem.

He was.

He couldn't lose control. Not now. Not ever. He needed a new strategy to force himself to slow down.

Scarlett's big eyes gleamed in the shadowy room as she looked up at him,  dazed with desire. Cupping her cheek, he said in a low voice, "You have  had a long day, cara. You need some comfort. Let me take care of you."  Her forehead furrowed, then smoothed as he ran his hand gently along her  shoulder. "I saw a marble tub in the en suite. Shall I start you a  bath?"

"A bath?" she said, sounding bewildered, and he couldn't blame her.

"A deliciously sensual bath." He smiled. "One you'll want to linger in."

"That would be lovely-if you're sure you don't mind?"

She was already sighing in anticipation. She had had a stressful day, he  thought. Considering she'd woken up that morning a single mother, a  cook working in a Swiss chalet, and now was in Italy, Vin's fiancée, the  proven mother of his child, with a ten-carat diamond on her finger.  She'd met his family and was about to share his bed. That was a lot of  change for anyone. And more was soon to come.

He smiled down at her. "It will be my pleasure."

And it would be.

Going into the luxurious en suite bathroom, Vin turned on the water,  then looked around quickly. How to make it even more romantic? Pulling  fresh roses from a nearby crystal vase, he crumpled rose petals into the  warm running water. But he wanted more. Digging through the bathroom  cabinet, he found expensively perfumed bubble bath and triumphantly  discovered four candles and a box of matches in the bottom drawer.

"Can I come in?" she called.

"Not yet." He carefully placed the candles around the white marble  bathroom with its elegant silver fixtures. He checked the water  temperature-not too hot-and added a few more rose petals over the  bubbles for good measure. He lit the candles, then turned out the  lights. "Now."

Scarlett came into the bathroom, then stopped, her mouth agape. She  looked at him, her own beautiful face suddenly nervous. As well she  should be, he thought smugly.

"For you, cara," he said innocently. "I'll leave you to it."

He did leave the bathroom. He was that much of a gentleman. In the  bedroom closet, he found his clothes unpacked in a drawer and pulled off  his formal white shirt and tailored black trousers, exchanging them for  just one article of clothing that would be easy to take off-low-slung  sweatpants. When he heard the water slosh in the bathtub, heard her sigh  as she descended into the warm, fragrant water, he gave a single knock  on the bathroom door and pushed it open.   





 

The white bubbles covered Scarlett's naked body modestly in the  flickering candlelight. Only the tops of her breasts and a small bit of  belly protruded as she looked back at him in surprise.

Her long red hair was piled high in a topknot, but tendrils of hair fell  down her neck. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her full lips red and  parted.

Vin had braced himself for seeing her naked, but the image still hit him  low in the gut. Very low. It wasn't like he could hide his desire,  either, in the low-slung sweatpants. His chest was bare, showing his  shape from hours burning off energy and rage in the boxing gym and  martial arts dojo. His hard flat belly was dusted with dark hair, like  an arrow pointing down to the center of his desire.

So be it. Let her look.

Let his intentions be clear.

"What are you-" Her voice came out a croak. She swallowed, then looking  up at his face, she said in a steadier voice, "What do you want?"

"I told you." He came closer, giving her a sensual, heavy-lidded smile. "I want to make you feel good."

"You made me this bath."

"I can do even better," he said silkily. "If you'll let me."

For a moment, she seemed to hold her breath.

"What did you have in mind?"

Vin sat behind her, on the tiled edge of the enormous marble tub.

He knew he could reach down, turn her face to his and claim her lips.  Claim all of her. But he forced himself to take it slow. To seduce her,  bit by bit.

"Let me show you," he said softly.

With agonizing slowness, he lowered his hands to her naked shoulders  peeking out above the bubbles. Amid the flickering shadows, he sucked in  his breath at the sensual shock of feeling her warm, slippery skin  beneath his fingers, and knowing that she was naked beneath the rose  petals and bubbles, there for his pleasure, just waiting for him to  claim her.

Closing his eyes so he wouldn't be tempted by the soft sway of the water  visibly caressing her round breasts, he began to rub her shoulders. His  massage was light at first, then gradually he increased the pressure.

Scarlett exhaled, as though the stress of months or years was melting  beneath his touch. Using his fingertips, his thumbs, he rubbed the knots  away from her shoulders and neck. She closed her eyes, her rosy face  the picture of pleasure as she leaned against his hands, like a cat  meeting his stroke.

After a few minutes, when her face was blissfully peaceful, his hands  began to move differently. Slowly, he moved past her shoulders to her  upper arms, then her neck. He brushed the tender flesh of her earlobes  with the flicker of a caress.

By now, the bubbles had mostly disappeared, and he could see the curves  of her naked body beneath the water. He had himself under control  now-for the moment-but he was also only a man. Too much of this and he  might dive headlong into the enormous bathtub with her, to make love to  her against the hard marble, amid the slosh of the cooling water.