His Expectant Lover (5 page)

The strange tingling that she felt when he touched her escalated to something more when his hand slipped underneath her sweater. She gasped but leaned into his hand, wanting more. “Please don’t stop,” she whispered against his mouth.

Antonio looked down at the woman in his arms and knew that he’d never felt this kind of urgency to be with a woman, to make love to her. He wanted to press himself into her heat, but at the same time, he wanted to savor every reaction, every new part of her he was discovering. When he’d first met her, she was shy and nervous. There was no shyness now. And he could feel her trembling in his arms, but he didn’t attribute that to any sort of nervousness. No, he knew that she was just as into this as he was and that turned him on even more.

All of those sexy sounds were making it very difficult for him to control his body. He had to keep pulling back, slowing down, reminding himself to savor this time with her. And Andie wasn’t helping him with that effort much. The noises she kept making were driving him crazy with need. She seemed to love everywhere he touched her, and he loved touching her. He quickly whipped her sweater off, tossing it to the side then leaned away from her so he could see her breasts. Damn, they were beautiful. Not huge, but they gently filled his hands. He let his thumb rub over her hardened nipple and groaned when she shivered again, pressing her body closer. Her hips were cradling his erection against her stomach but it wasn’t enough. He had to have her completely naked.

Lifting her up, he carried her to his bed, laying her down in the center. Looking down at her was a mistake. Her slender curves and long legs were too enticing. He pulled her slacks off, smiling at how she helped him, obviously just as eager as he was. He liked that. There was no subterfuge with Andie. It was so refreshing. Everything she was feeling was right there. No lies, no fabrications, no omissions. She was just Andie. Lovely, beautiful Andie that drove him crazy as she looked up at him, hopeful and flushed.

Antonio ripped off his clothes, grabbed several condoms out of his bedside table and tossed them onto the bed. “Prepare yourself, my beauty,” he grumbled. “This is going to be a long night.” With that, his mouth captured hers, mating with her in the simplest way even while his hand moved up her body, starting to explore her soft curves with his fingers.

Pulling away, he looked down at his hand, enjoying her amazingly soft skin and the way it turned pink when she got excited. “You’re so beautiful,” he groaned, his lips capturing the nipple his thumb and forefinger had just been teasing.

Andie arched her back when the heat of his mouth covered her breast. Never in her wildest imagination had she thought that she could feel like this. She wanted the feelings to go on forever and, at the same time, needed him to stop. She couldn’t do this but she couldn’t stop him. She didn’t want him to stop. She was confused and something down low in her belly was throbbing and aching, needing to have his touch.

“Oh my goodness, Antonio! I can’t...”

He chuckled and nipped at her hip. “Yes you can.” And he proceeded to show her exactly how much she could take, loving every moment of it. When she wouldn’t open her legs for him, he stood up and started with her feet, nibbling on the arch and chuckling deeply when even that caused her to grab hold of the sheets with both fists. Her eyes looked up at him, imploring him to stop and help her. “Are you going to give me what I want?” he asked, sliding his hands higher up her calf, his fingers tickling the sensitive skin behind her knee. When her leg relaxed once more, he slid his fingers down her thigh, closer and closer to his goal but when she allowed him entry, he pulled back, giving her only a teasing touch.

Andie gasped when his fingers touched her in that secret place, then she almost screamed when he pulled away. “No!” she yelled at him, her eyes closing tightly as she tried to control what was happening to her in some way. He wouldn’t let her have her leg back, but nor would he give her body what she needed. “Please, Antonio!”

“What do you want?” he asked her, his body on fire and his eyes showing the intensity of his burning ache.

Andie opened her eyes to look at him, her mouth fell open as she tried to form the words but she was too embarrassed to say them, too self-conscious of what she needed from him right at this moment.

“Tell me what you want,” he commanded as he treated her other leg to the same, spiking her need higher as his fingers tormented her overly heated body.

“Don’t stop!” she begged when his fingers moved to that place again.

“Invite me in,” he told her, his voice low and rough as the scent of her arousal drifted upwards.

Andie had no idea what he meant, but she felt like her body was going to explode at any moment. “I don’t understand!” she cried out but when his fingers started to move away, she grabbed his wrist, her need overriding any sort of embarrassment. “Don’t you dare!” she practically growled to him.

That was exactly what Antonio had been waiting for. He didn’t hesitate, moving his body closer. Looking down at Andie, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen as she laid on his bed draped only in desire. And when his mouth took possession of that sensitive bud, she splintered apart too quickly, but he still thoroughly enjoyed watching her climax.

When her body started to relax once more, he kissed his way back up to her breasts, almost laughing at how she tried to push him away as the sensitive nipples ratcheted up her body once more. “No more,” she moaned, shaking her head when she noticed that his mouth was about to…. “Ahhhh!”

Antonio ripped open a foil packed and put on protection before sliding into her heat. He had to grit his teeth at how good she felt. “You’re so tight, Andie,” he growled, sliding back out and then in again. “Relax for me,” he coaxed.

Andie heard his words but had no idea how to relax. That seemed like an impossible command to follow but she tried. But then he pushed that fascinating part of himself into her deeper and she gasped, her body arching once more, welcoming him. Again he shifted out, then pressed into her.

“Please!” she begged him again, her hands grabbed his shoulders as she tried to bring him deeper inside of her. She couldn’t take this torment much longer.

Antonio heard her voice, noticed the pleading in her eyes and pushed harder into her. When she stiffened in his arms, he stopped, frozen at the discovery. “Andie,” he called down to her.

Andie bit her lip, more than a little startled by the pain of his sudden invasion. But she’d asked for that. Demanded it, actually. When the pain slowly subsided, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. She almost laughed, realizing suddenly that he was probably more startled than she was. Reaching up, her hand cupped his rough jaw. “I’m okay,” she whispered to him.

Antonio felt something inside of him shift with her touch and reassurance. She’d been a virgin? And she was reassuring him that she was okay? It should be the other way around! Damn it, this was wrong on so many levels!

He suddenly felt her clench around him and he couldn’t hold back any longer. That fluttering or whisper inside of his chest…he could ignore that. It wasn’t important.

This was important, he thought as he shifted inside of her again. He pulled on all of his control and looked down at Andie, watching her beautiful, expressive face, trying to make sure that this was the best experience of her life. He refused to let himself go no matter how perfect she felt, no matter how strongly he wanted to just let go. Unfortunately, all of his control broke when he felt her start to clench around him more tightly, her legs lifting to wrap around his waist and her body arched. Thankfully, she screamed out her orgasm only moments before his own release came.

Antonio had tried to make this experience the best she’d ever had, but he knew that it had been the most incredible of his own life and that strange sensation came back.

Afterwards, he pulled her close, cradling her still trembling body against his own and pulling a blanket to cover her while his hands sifted through her silken hair. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, or even if he liked it or not.

One thing he knew for certain; Andie was dangerous.

Staring up at the ceiling, Antonio cradled Andie against his side. His hands couldn’t stop touching her, no matter how conflicted he felt inside.

He felt her hands on his chest and covered hers with his own, keeping her hand there. He liked it. He liked it a lot. His other hand slid up her back, smiling when she wiggled against him.

“I love you,” she whispered, her cheek resting against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She actually smiled when his heart sped up and her hand turned over underneath his.

Antonio wasn’t sure what had just happened. Her soft words, her gentle touch followed so closely by the most incredible sex of his life was like a gentle trap, closing him in.

Her words had initially caused his heart to soar, but then his stomach contracted with dread. Love! He tossed the word around in his mind, testing it out. Did he love her? He definitely felt something for her, but he refused to define it as love. He’d done that emotion before and it had turned out badly. He was done with love.

And she couldn’t love him either, he told himself. Because if she loved him, he would end up hurting her. That made his stomach clench painfully, causing him to feel almost sick at the idea. No, it was too soon for her to be in love with him. He wasn’t that luc…He mentally halted that thought. It would be the worst luck if she really were in love with him so he refused to believe that.

Rolling onto his side, he loomed over Andie, enjoying the way her body curled into his, her legs already making room for his knee so he could settle exactly where he wanted. “You don’t have to say that after sex, Andie,” he said and kissed her shoulder. “It is perfectly normal and human to enjoy sex without all the pointless declarations.”

Andie stared up at him as the hurt swelled over her. “I’m sorry?” she whispered, biting her lower lip as her mind worked through his words again.

“Sex is a natural human function,” he told her. “You don’t need to tell me that you love me simply because you’ve given in to the need to have sex with me.”

Andie suppressed the pain that ripped through her. She’d just opened her heart to him, given her body to him and he was reducing it down to a physical urge?

“I think I need to go,” she whispered, pushing against his shoulders. She didn’t just think it, she knew she had to get out of there. Fast! She could not let this man, the man she loved with every fiber of her being, see her cry. It was bad enough that he thought she’d just put an emotion on their actions to justify what they’d just shared. But she refused to let him see how badly he’d just hurt her.

“No you don’t,” he countered, still hovering over her.

She pushed against his shoulders, her legs disentangling from his as she wiggled out from under his enormous body. “Yes. I really need to go,” she told him frantically. He let her go, but only because he thought she needed to go to the bathroom.

So when she grabbed her slacks and other clothes, he wasn’t quite sure what was going on. “Andie? What are you doing?” He didn’t like her actions. Not one little bit!

“I have to go,” she said again, turning her back to him so she could put her bra back on.

He stood up and took her arms but pulled back when she jerked away from him. “Hey, don’t get mad simply because I don’t think we need to make this into more than it is,” he told her.

He didn’t love her, he told himself. But he sure as hell didn’t want her to leave. He enjoyed her company more than any other woman he’d ever known. And the sex was mind blowing. So why did he feel like his gut was about to toss at the idea of her leaving?

It damn well wasn’t love! He refused to love anyone.

Andie had to get away from him before she truly broke down. She’d just given him her trust and her love and he’d slapped it back into her face. “I just have to go, Antonio. I have to get back home.”

“An hour ago, you were perfectly happy in my arms, eager even. Nothing has changed, Andie.” He was practically growling with frustration at her need to get away from him. He didn’t understand his reaction and he was furious with her for making him feel like this. But he damn well didn’t want her to leave him.

She shivered as she pulled her sweater over her head. “Yes, well, I guess I made a mistake.”

He grabbed her arms and spun her around. “You didn’t make a damn mistake. Can you just stop and let’s talk about this?”

No, he didn’t love her but there was no way he was letting her leave him. She was his! She’d just given herself to him in the most selfless way and she damn well couldn’t take that back. “You’re being too emotional about what just happened.”

She wiped the tear away that slipped from her eye lashes. “No. I’m not being emotional at all. Back in your arms, I was being emotional.” She hiccupped as the pain of what she’d just done and given and sacrificed hit her full on. She loved him so much but she’d been an absolute fool to think that he would reciprocate her feelings. “Now, I’m being calm and reasonable.”

Antonio ran a frustrated hand through his hair, unconcerned about what it looked like now. His only concern was stopping Andie from leaving him. “You’re being ridiculous. Just because I didn’t say the words, you’re going to throw away what we have?”

She stopped and turned back to him, clutching her purse to her chest. “What do we have, Antonio?” Had she misunderstood? Was he more emotionally committed and she’d just…she wasn’t sure what to think any longer.

He looked into her soft, brown eyes and wanted to touch her, to pull her back into his arms and make love to her. He didn’t have words for what he felt for her. But he could show her if she’d just let him. “We have a great relationship, Andie. Just stop and think about what we just shared.”

She shook her head, looking up at him. Possibly for the last time. “From what I understand, you just had sex with me.”

He was starting to hate that word. “Great sex!” he corrected, hands fisted on his hips as he glared down at her, completely naked and unconcerned about it.

She nodded her head and looked down slightly. “Yes. You had sex. And I made love to you.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the palazzo, feeling like her whole body was going to split apart with the pain of leaving him.

It took a moment for her words to sink into his muddled mind. But when they did, he felt his heart lighten slightly. And then he realized that she was no longer standing in front of him with those beautiful brown eyes staring up at him with hope. She was walking out the door! “Where are you going? You don’t have any place to stay.” Antonio whipped a pair of jeans out of his dresser drawer, determined to go after her. She was too sweet and innocent for this world and there was no way he was letting her out of his life. She was his, dammit!

“Andie, don’t you dare leave this house!” he roared after her. “It’s late and we can talk about this in the morning when we’re calm.”

Andie heard him but couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to stop! She needed to run and hide, to be alone to figure out how she’d been so stupid as to fall in love with a man who wasn’t capable of the tender emotion. Unfortunately, as soon as she stepped out of his house, she realized that they were out in the country and she had no way of getting back to the city. She didn’t speak the language so she couldn’t even call for a cab. Nor did she have a phone to call someone.

She slumped down onto the steps of his amazing house, defeat tearing her up inside.

She didn’t care. She just let all of her emotions flow freely, unable to contain them any longer. Good grief, she could barely hear him through the incredible pain that was tearing her apart.

Andie felt his presence even as she buried her head in her arms, refusing to look at him. She loved this man so deeply and he felt nothing for her. Well, nothing but lust. She was disgusted with him for being so shallow and appalled with herself for falling so hard for a heartless man.

She felt him walk up behind her but couldn’t look up at him. She didn’t want to see him and yet, her whole body wanted to reach out and feel his arms around him once again. She was crazy to need comfort from the same man who had hurt her so deeply.

“Go away, Antonio,” she told him but she sounded more pathetic than firm as she wiped the tears from her cheeks, not wanting him to see her cry.

“I’m sorry,” he grumbled. Antonio looked down at the woman and felt his stomach twist. He bent down low and lifted her into his arms, not sure what else to do. He wanted to ease the pain she was feeling but he wasn’t exactly sure how to do that. Carrying her back to his room, he held her close to him, gently cradling her while she wept all over his chest.

Why the hell did he care? Women have tried tears on him so many times before and he’d been immune, repulsed even. But Andie’s tears were different and he didn’t understand why or what to do to stop those tears. He kissed the top of her head, running his hands over her back, trying to comfort her.

When her shaking hands came up to touch his rough cheek, he couldn’t hold back any longer. Pressing kisses all over her face, he pressed her back against the mattress. He was frantic now to ease her tears, wanting to hear those soft sighs and startled moans when he touched secret places on her body, just like earlier in the evening.

Before he’d become an ass.

Before she’d said something that made him feel….both good and horrible.

He could make her happy again. As he kissed and explored every inch of her slender figure, he was determined to make her happy again. When he entered her this time, she was trembling and begging him and he gave her everything he had. And afterwards, when their breathing had quieted, he pulled her into his arms, not willing to let her go for any reason. He needed her close, needed to hear her steady breathing as she drifted off to sleep. Only when her body was relaxed against his could he finally allow himself to fall asleep as well.

Andie woke the following morning to dim sunshine creeping into the magnificent bedroom and her body clinging to Antonio’s. His arms were wrapped around her as well but she knew that he didn’t mean what his arms and legs were telling her. He might have made love to her more times than she could count over the past several hours, but what she felt for him was so much deeper than what he felt in return.

Her body ached from his touch and her heart ached from his lack of touch. She had to go but she let herself savor the warmth of his arms for a few more moments.

In the end, she had to extricate herself from his embrace. No matter how much she wanted to just snuggle up to him and pretend that this…whatever it was that they shared together…was more than it was, she had to face reality. She had to get back to the real world and her real life. She’d been gone too long and without any communication with her agent, Johanna. It was Monday morning and she should have gone back to New York yesterday and checked in.

She took a quick shower and dressed, not bothering with makeup. She didn’t feel very pretty today anyway. When she walked out of the bathroom, Antonio was still sleeping. Andie allowed herself one more look, then walked out of his bedroom, refusing to cry.

Downstairs, she followed the sounds to the kitchen and was relieved to see a robust looking woman standing in the kitchen making something that smelled delicious. “
Buongiorno
,” she greeted the woman in Italian.

“Good morning,” the woman smiled right back and Andie was relieved that she spoke English, albeit with a heavy Italian accent.

“Is there any way I could call a cab to come pick me up?” Andie asked.

The woman looked surprised. “You don’t want to wait for Mr. Antonio?” she asked. “He will drive you where you want to go. Until then, sit down and have some coffee and breakfast.”

Andie shook her head. “No. Thank you very much for the offer, but I need to go.”

The woman hesitated, but she rubbed her hands on her apron. “You need a ride, my Gio will take you.”

Again, Andie shook her head, her eyes wanting to weep but she fought the urge. There would be plenty of time to cry once she was away from here. “That’s okay. I need to get to the airport to catch a flight. I’ll just call a cab,” she reiterated. “Or is there a bus stop somewhere close by?”

The woman shook her head. “No. Mr. Antonio would not like you catching a cab. My Gio, he will take you to the airport. Just let me call him,” she said firmly. The woman didn’t wait for Andie to argue but stepped out of the kitchen and walked down the hallway. A few moments later, the woman bustled back in. “He bring car around to the front. I make you breakfast. You no can leave without food,” she said.

Andie was becoming frustrated with the woman’s kindness. But what was a woman to do? She couldn’t argue with kindness. As long as Gio and this motherly woman could get her out of here without waking up Antonio, she’d go along with it.

Andie accepted the warm croissant and the thermos of coffee, then followed the woman through the beautiful house to the front door. “This is Gio. He my son and he take you anywhere. Just tell him where.”

Gio was holding the back door to a beautiful Mercedes sedan. Andie looked up at the second floor of the house one more time, then sighed and slipped into the luxurious back seat. Gio raced around to the front and Andie’s shoulders sagged with relief when he pulled away from the house.

Andie hadn’t anticipated such kindness and she almost broke down in tears again, but she forced her mind to stop. She had to get back to New York, go grocery shopping, pick up drying cleaning, get to the gym… She made a mental list of all the things she would do when she returned so that her mind wouldn’t wander down the path towards Antonio. She was still holding the untouched thermos and croissant when Gio pulled into the airport. She left both of them on the seat, not able to stomach food and she couldn’t drink coffee.