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His Final Bargain(23)

By:Melanie Milburne


'Have you ever been swimming?' Eliza asked Alessandra as they made their way back to the villa in the car.

'Kathleen took me once but I didn't like it.'

'I didn't like swimming at first either,' Eliza said, giving the little  girl's hand a gentle squeeze. 'But after you get over the fear part and  learn to float it's one of the nicest things to do, especially on a hot  day.'

That very afternoon Eliza took Alessandra down to the pool in the garden  for a swimming lesson. With plenty of sunscreen to protect the little  girl's pale skin, she gently introduced her to the feel of the water by  getting her to kick her legs while she held her, gradually working up to  getting used to having water trickle over her face. Alessandra was  frightened at first, but gradually became confident enough to float on  her back with Eliza keeping her supported by a gentle hand beneath her  shoulder blades and in the dish of her little back.

'Am I swimming yet?' Alessandra asked, almost swallowing a mouthful of water in her excitement.

'Almost, sweetie.' Eliza gave a little laugh. 'You're getting better all  the time. Now let's try floating on your tummy. You'll have to hold  your breath for this. Remember how I got you to blow bubbles into the  water before?'

'Uh huh.' Alessandra turned on her stomach with Eliza's guiding hands  and gingerly put her face in the water. She blew some bubbles but soon  had to lift her head to snatch in a breath. She gave a few little  splutters but didn't seem too fazed by the experience.

'Well done,' Eliza said. 'You're a right little water baby, aren't you?'

Alessandra grinned as she clung to Eliza like a little frog on a tree.  'I like swimming now. And I like you. I wish you could stay with me for  ever.'

Eliza's heart contracted sharply at the unexpected love she felt for  this little child. 'I like you too, darling.' And I wish I could stay  for ever too.

A tall shadow suddenly blocked the angle of the sun and she turned and  saw Leo standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. 'Oh … I  didn't realise you were back … Alessandra, your father is home.'

'Papà, I can swim!'

'I saw you, mia piccola,' Leo said, leaning down to kiss her on both  cheeks. 'I'm very impressed. Is there room in there for me?'

'Yes!'

Eliza didn't say a word. She wasn't sure it was wise to share the  pool-even as big as it was-with that tall, intensely male, leanly  muscled body. Wearing a bikini when accompanied by a blind toddler was  quite different from wearing it when there was a fully sighted,  full-blooded man around, especially one who had seen her in much less.  She felt the scorch of his gaze as it went to the curve of her breasts,  which were showing just above the line of the water she was standing in.  She felt her insides clench and release with that intimate tug of need  she only felt when he was around.

A silent message passed between their locked gazes.

Eliza gulped as he stood back up and tugged at his tie, pulling it  through the collar of his shirt to toss it to one of the sun loungers on  the sandstone terrace beside the pool.

His shirt was next, followed by his shoes and socks. The sun caught the  angles and planes of his taut chest and abdomen, making him look like a  statue carved by a master of the art.                       
       
           



       

Marella came out on to the terrace at that point with a tray of iced  drinks. 'I think it might be time for Alessandra to get out of the heat,  sì?' she said with a twinkling and rather knowing smile.

Eliza felt a blush rush over her face and travel to the very roots of her hair. 'It's my job to see to her-'

'Grazie, Marella,' Leo said smoothly. 'I think Eliza could do with some  time to relax.' He bent and scooped Alessandra out of her arms. 'I will  be up later to tuck you into bed, tesorina. Be good for Marella.'

Once Marella and the child had gone Eliza was left feeling alarmingly  defenceless. She covered her chest with her arms, shivering even though  the sun was still deliciously warm on her neck and shoulders. 'What are  you doing?' she asked.

His hands were pulling his belt through the lugs of his trousers. 'I'm joining you in the pool.'

'But you're not wearing bathers … are you?'

A dark brow lifted in an arc. 'I seem to remember a time when you didn't think they were necessary.'

'That was before. It was different then. This place is like Piccadilly Circus. There are staff about everywhere.'

He unzipped his trousers and she watched with bated breath as he stood  there in nothing but his black underwear. He already had the beginnings  of an erection, which was no surprise given how her own body was  reacting. 'Have you missed me, cara?'

She gave her head a haughty little toss. 'No.'

He laughed and slipped into the water beside her, cupping the back of  her head with one of his hands as he pressed a hot kiss to her tight  mouth. It didn't stay tight for long, however. All it took was one  erotic sweep of his tongue for her to open to him with a sigh of bliss.  He tasted salty and male with a hint of mint. It was ambrosia to her.  She responded greedily, giving back as good as he gave, her tongue  tangling, duelling and seducing just as his was doing to hers. Her  breasts were jammed up against his chest, the water-soaked fabric  abrading her already erect nipples.

His other hand ruthlessly undid the strings of her bikini top and it  floated away from her body like a four-legged octopus. He cupped her  free breasts with his hands, caressing her, teasing her with his warm,  wet touch. He took his mouth off hers to feast on each breast in turn.  Eliza arched back in pleasure as his teeth and his tongue grazed and  salved in turn. Her nerves went into a sensual riot beneath her skin.  They jumped and danced and flickered with longing. That deepest, most  feminine ache of all pulsed relentlessly between her legs. She could  feel his hard erection pressing against the softness of her belly. It  awoke everything that was female in her. She rubbed against him to get  more of that wonderful friction.

He made a guttural sound in his throat as he undid the strings of her  bikini bottoms at her hips. The scanty fabric fell away and his fingers  went to her, delving deep.

It wasn't enough. She wanted more. She wanted all of him.

She pulled at his underwear to free him to her touch. She wrapped her  hand around him, rubbing him, teasing him, and pleasuring him as his  mouth came back to hers in a passionately hot kiss that had  undercurrents of desperation.

He suddenly pulled back from her, breathing hard, his eyes glazed with desire. 'I haven't got a condom.'

'Oh … ' Disappointment was like an enervating drug that made her sag as if all of her muscles were weighted by anvils.

His eyes gleamed at her as he backed her against the side of the pool. 'Why the long face, tesoro mio? We can be creative, sì?'

Her body tingled at the thought of just how creative his lovemaking  could be. But then, she too could be innovative when it came to giving  him pleasure. She slithered against him, from chest to thigh, ramping up  his need for her with the same merciless intent he had been using on  her.

He took her by the waist and lifted her up to a sitting position on the  edge of the pool. It was shamelessly wanton to open her legs in full  view of the villa but she was beyond caring.

The first stroke of his masterful tongue made her shudder, the second  made her gasp, and the third made her cry out loud as the ripples  started to roll through her. 'Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop … ' She  clung to his hair for purchase as her body shattered around her.

He gave her a sexy smile as she came back to her senses. 'Good?'

She gave a little shrug that belied everything she had just felt. 'OK, I guess.'

'Minx.' He pulled her back into the water to hold her against him. 'I  should punish you for lying. What do you think would be a suitable  penance?'                       
       
           



       

Send me back to my old life. Eliza gave herself a mental shake and  forced a smile to her lips. 'I don't know … I'm sure you'll think of  something.'

His brows moved together. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing.'

He cupped her cheek, holding her gaze with his. 'Are you still angry with me?'

Eliza was starting to wonder where her anger had gone. As soon as he had  appeared on the pool deck she had forgotten all about their tense  little battle of wills the day he had left to go to Paris. Her feelings  about him now were much more confusing … terrifying, actually. She  couldn't afford to examine them too closely.

'Does it matter to you what I feel?' she asked. 'I'm just an employee.  I'm not supposed to feel anything but gratitude for having a job.'

His expression became brooding as his hand dropped away from her face. 'So we're back to that, are we?'

'You're the one who engineered this,' she said, struggling to keep her  emotions in check. 'You come marching back in my life and issue orders  and stipulations and conditions. I don't know what you want from me. You  keep changing the goalposts. I just don't know who I'm supposed to be  when I'm with you.'