The Arranged Marriage (9 page)

Was he regretting it? Feeling guilty?

How much did this intimate sharing with her tonight mean to him? Had it just been a surge of lust that was now exhausted? Would he go back to Michelle, having purged the desire that had disrupted his commitment to her?

Gina’s heart fluttered anxiously. Lying here in the darkness with him, remembering their tumultuous mating, her body still so vibrantly alive from being aroused to heights she’d never known...it just didn’t feel right for it to have no meaning beyond this one night.

“Gina...”

Her name, coming deeply from his throat, sounded like a velvet purr, so soft and sensual it sent tingles all over her skin. His hand slid over hers, interlacing their fingers, gripping possessively. Her pulse instantly leapt with wanton excitement. He could not intend to part from her. Not yet.

“I won’t say I’m sorry this time. I’m not sorry at all,” he continued, slowly lifting her hand to his mouth and grazing his lips over it as though savouring the femininity of its shape and texture, or paying some homage to what she had given him as a woman. “Tell me you’re not sorry either, Gina,” he murmured gruffly.

“I’m not sorry, Alex,” she answered truthfully, the hope for more from him galloping through her heart.

He sighed, as though venting deep relief. “At least that’s all right then. Problem is...I didn’t use protection. How does that sit with you?”

It almost blew her mind that she hadn’t thought of it herself. There hadn’t been any reason for her to be using any means of contraception, so she wasn’t. Even nursing a secret desire for Alex King hadn’t spurred her to such a practicality because she hadn’t really believed anything would come of the attraction. Certainly not this... here... tonight!

Frantically she counted up the days since her last period. Having a regular cycle made it relatively easy to work out her
safe
times. It was over three weeks, which meant she was past the fertile span. Relief whooshed through her.

“It’s okay. No risk,” she assured him feelingly.

“You’re not on the pill,” he deduced from her long hesitation.

“No. I never have been. And I wasn’t expecting...”

“I wasn’t, either.” He squeezed her hand, reinforcing the mutuality of their acting without any premeditation. “But I can’t say I haven’t been thinking of you, wanting to know...” Another sigh. “Earlier tonight...”

“I wanted you, too,” she acknowledged quickly, seeing no reason to let him take responsibility for a desire she shared. There was no denying how much she’d craved knowing what it might be like with him.

He lowered her hand, released it, then hitched himself up on his side to look directly at her. She braved meeting his gaze, knowing she couldn’t hide from this situation and needing to see what was on his mind. It was too dark to read his expression with any accuracy but his face didn’t seem to reflect concern. More a gentle bemusement.

“So here we are,” he murmured, as though it were some amazing trick of fate that he hadn’t quite come to terms with, although it was certainly to his liking. The burr of pleasure in his voice was unmistakable.

As much as Gina wanted to hug his pleasure to her and blot out everything else, her mind circled his words—
here we are
—and latched onto the big tormenting question...
Where was Michelle?

Wasn’t he thinking of his fiancée at all?

The temptation to keep it that way battled with the urge to ask. Earlier this evening he’d declared kissing her wasn’t fair. Had
fairness
now lost all meaning in the face of what they’d felt together?

His gaze travelled slowly over her nakedness and his hand followed the same path, lightly tracing and caressing her soft curves, making her skin tingle again— too seductive a distraction to keep fretting about Michelle Banks.

“You are addictively beautiful...every part of you lushly perfect,” he murmured, and although Gina knew it wasn’t true, it was so sweet to hear, coming from him, she wasn’t about to point out any faults. Besides, the way he touched her
was
making her feel voluptuously beautiful, and it was wonderful to bask in the sense of being absolutely desirable—here and now, when she most wanted to be with this man.

It gave her the courage to explore his magnificent maleness with far more sensual pleasure this time since there was no longer the urgency that had driven both of them earlier. To her mind he really was perfection and she savoured the freedom to touch and exulted in the positive responses that revealed he was still excited by her and every contact she made delighted him.

It wasn’t just sex, she thought. They were making love to each other, and her whole being was gradually caught up in a world circumscribed by sheer sensation—the flow and ebb of it, erotic ripples, huge waves of pleasure, exquisite peaks—nothing forbidden nor unwelcome because it was all part of an ever-deepening journey of intimacy that drew them into doing whatever took their fancy long into the night.

No words were spoken. None seemed quite right. It seemed there was a continual flow of communication on a far more elemental, instinctive level... something that words might spoil because they couldn’t really express this kind of sharing. Better simply to feel and keep going with the feeling.

It was, for Gina, an entrancing revelation of how it could be with both partners so physically enthralled with each other—a potent mixture of awe and tenderness and passion and sensuality. She was mostly conscious of an amazed joy in the intense pleasure of their sexual harmony, and how incredible it was that it could go on and on. Satiation came slowly, accompanied by a contented languor that soothed them into sleep.

An end or a beginning?

Neither of them even thought of asking that question.

Only time would resolve it.

“Mama?”

Marco’s whisper and his touch on her arm brought Gina instantly awake. She looked straight into big-eyed wonder. Her son’s highly expressive gaze flicked beyond her and back again, the unspoken question bringing a sharp clarity to her mind and a shock wave to her heart.

Alex King in bed with her!

She lifted a finger to her lips to keep Marco silent, then quickly whispered, “Go back to your own room and Mama will be there in a minute. Okay?”

He nodded reluctantly, curiosity obviously rife. Gina was intensely grateful he did her bidding without arguing. At this point she had no idea what answers to give him. She needed time to think but there was no time right now. Fast action was required if Marco wasn’t to be drawn into a situation that was too complicated to be presented to a little boy who saw things in very simple terms.

Mama had been sleeping with Alex King.

Hopefully Marco hadn’t taken in they were both naked. As Gina carefully slid out from under the bedclothes, she was intensely grateful that fact had been mostly hidden from her son. How she was going to explain what he had seen was difficult enough and she certainly didn’t want Alex disturbed and contributing anything she hadn’t had the chance to monitor first. The situation was highly sensitive, given his engagement to Michelle Banks—was that still on?

She looked back at him as she donned the clothes she’d set out on a chair before going to bed. His thick black hair was mussed, a five o’clock shadow darkened his jaw. Neither factor lessened the impact of his strikingly handsome face. Even with his eyes closed, he could still stir the desire that had engulfed her last night. His wonderfully muscular shoulders, the satin smoothness of the skin stretched over them, the tempting hair on his chest...

She wanted to touch him again, but was he really hers to touch? Was it stolen pleasure? She forced herself to keep on dressing, hands busy pulling on the T-shirt printed with blue butterflies, buttoning the denim skirt, strapping on brown leather sandals. It made her feel like a thief, creeping around the room, collecting her belongings, but she felt too uneasy about the consequences of waking Alex to do anything else.

The need to remove herself and Marco to their own home ground pressed urgently. She didn’t want to be involved in
a scene
here. Let Alex sort out his life and come to her if last night held any real meaning to him.

The morning after...

The enormity of what they’d done shivered through her as she slipped out of the nanny’s room, closing the door as noiselessly as possible on the intimacy they had shared. Would he pursue a relationship with her or...she shook her head, her mind shying from contemplating any other outcome.

Alex could find out where she lived and worked from his grandmother if he wanted to. A man chased if he was truly drawn to a woman. His arrival or non-arrival on her doorstep would tell her where she stood with him soon enough. Best to concentrate on Marco now.

He was sitting cross-legged on the nursery bed, patiently waiting for her to give him permission to speak, his big brown eyes agog with interest. Gina smiled warm reassurance at him as she crossed the room, setting her overnight bag down close to him and laying the plastic bag containing her evening dress at the foot of the bed.

“Have you been to the bathroom?” she asked softly.

He nodded.

“Let’s get you dressed then.” She pulled his clean set of clothes from her bag. “Can you manage these while I go to the bathroom?”

‘“Course I can. But, Mama...”

“Ssh! Other people in the castle are still asleep, Marco. We’ll talk when we go downstairs.”

He frowned but started pulling off his pyjamas. Satisfied her instructions would be followed, Gina hurried off to use the ensuite facilities, acutely conscious of the need to achieve a respectable appearance as fast as she could. Although it was early morning, and a Sunday, someone would undoubtedly be astir in the castle and she couldn’t depart without leaving a thank-you message for Isabella King. Such kind hospitality demanded courtesy in return.

Nevertheless, she didn’t want to be caught up in any long conversation, didn’t want to risk any kind of embarrassing situation, not in front of Marco. Bad enough that he’d witnessed what he had. If he blurted out the truth to Isabella King...
Please let it all stay private,
she willed frantically.

It was almost seven o’clock when she led Marco downstairs. Having persuaded him to stand guard over her bags in the huge foyer, she went in search of castle staff and was relieved to find Rosita in the kitchen. The housekeeper’s welcoming smile was swiftly replaced by an anxious frown as Gina made her leave-taking speech.

“But you are expected to stay for breakfast. At the very least, breakfast,” came the pleading protest.

Gina poured out apologies and excuses and was profuse in her gratitude for the kindness extended to her. Remaining firm about going was difficult in the face of the pressing entreaties to stay, especially as Rosita trailed her back to the foyer, insisting Mrs. King would be most upset not to have Gina’s and Marco’s company this morning.

“Please tell Mrs. King it’s family business. I’m sure she’ll understand,” was the best exit line Gina could come up with, quickly bustling Marco outside and determinedly heading for her car.

Thankfully they were beyond earshot before Marco’s questions started. “Who was the man in your bed, Mama?”

“It was the man we met at the castle before, remember? He showed you the fish in the pond.”

“I ‘member. The nice man.”

“Yes. And the castle is his home.”

“Doesn’t it have another bed for him?”

“Yes, but last night he came to your room to see if you were all right. He found you snuggled up under the bedclothes and thought he should lift you back on the pillow. It woke you up, remember?”

He shook his head.

“Well, you cried out and I heard you. When I came into your room, there was Alex—the nice man—giving you a cuddle. He put you back to bed and tucked you in. Then he wanted to talk to me so we went into my room. He waited to make sure you went back to sleep all right and we both got tired and fell asleep ourselves.”

Marco thought about that for a while, then nodded. “The bed was big enough for him, too.”

“Yes.” A child’s simple logic was wonderful, Gina thought, hoping her explanation would fully satisfy him.

“He
is
a nice man, isn’t he, Mama?” came the stress-free conclusion.

“Yes,” she heartily agreed.

Too nice for Michelle Banks! But was Alex thinking of ending his commitment to his fiancée? How could he be unfaithful to her and not change his mind about his future course?

Hope moved swiftly into a churning sickness.

Last night had to mean something.

It had to.

Since she could not keep Gina Terlizzi and her son from leaving, Rosita decided she might as well tidy their rooms and take the bed linen to the laundry. Isabella had announced she would not come down to breakfast until eight o’clock. It was always so when she attended an evening wedding reception. There was time to spare.

She entered the nanny’s room and came to a shocked halt. The bed was still occupied. By a man! And it looked like... Rosita took a deep breath and tip-toed to a better vantage point for recognition to be unmistakable... Alessandro! A bare-chested Alessandro! And there were his good clothes strewn carelessly around the floor!

It could mean only one thing.

Rosita now had a clear understanding of Gina Terlizzi’s early departure. She tip-toed out of the room, not wanting to disturb the sleeping Alessandro. It could be a big embarrassment to do so. Besides, this was Isabella’s business and her employer would want to be told at once that her grandson had not spent last night with Michelle Banks.

Over her many years of employment at the castle, Rosita had listened sympathetically to the concerns Isabella had voiced about her family and its future. She was proud of being a trusted confidante and she was very aware that Michelle Banks was not a wife Isabella favoured for her oldest grandson. The plan to put Gina Terlizzi in his way had worked. Although how far it had worked with Gina now gone...

Rosita shook her head worriedly. She wasn’t sure it was wise to interfere in other people’s love-lives. Strong attachments could stir dangerous passions. But this
was
family business. Isabella would know what to do. She had to be told. At once!

Alex woke slowly, conscious of a deep sense of well-being he didn’t want to lose. It was only as he vaguely searched for the reason behind it that the memory of being with Gina filtered into his mind.

Gina...

Hadn’t she been nestled against him when he’d fallen asleep? Suddenly aware of being nakedly alone in the bed, he whipped around to check where
she
was, his eyes very sharply open.

Gone. And not one sign of her left in the room anywhere he could see. A glance at his watch showed a few minutes past nine o’clock. No wonder she was gone. Her son would have woken hours ago. And what had felt so very right to both of them in the darkness of the night might not have felt so right to her in the light of the morning. If Marco had found them together... highly probable in the circumstances...how had she explained it?

Alex frowned over that thought. He wished she hadn’t excluded him from any responsibility over what had happened. Easier, perhaps. Less awkward. But he
was
responsible. More so than she, since he had come to her. Though not intentionally. After the break-up with Michelle, he’d been brooding over what kind of marriage he did want—a wife who shared his values, children...

Shock hit him. Had he told Gina his engagement was over? What had he said in the heat of the moment? He remembered her protesting his presence in the nursery, more or less asking why he wasn’t with Michelle...and he’d replied...

Forget Michelle!

Damn it! That wasn’t enough. God only knew what Gina was thinking this morning but it wouldn’t be good. His fault. His blind fault for not communicating his situation clearly. He’d lost himself so fast in the seductive promise of all he’d sensed coming from her—all she gave—nothing else had mattered to him.

But it mattered now.

Alex hurled off the bedclothes, galvanised into action by the hope that Gina was still at the castle, lingering over breakfast with his grandmother. It was an outside chance. The doubt instantly arose that she would have stayed on in these circumstances, yet maybe the need to gauge his reaction to what had happened was strong enough to hold her here.

He grabbed his clothes and sprinted to his own quarters, reasonably confident he wouldn’t meet or be seen by anyone along the corridor at this hour on a Sunday morning. A quick shower and shave, fresh clothes, and he was downstairs by nine-thirty, his mind having raced through various scenarios and his responses to them, though he could be faced with something entirely unpredictable.

Trying to reduce his inner tension before he reached the breakfast room was difficult. He didn’t want his grandmother latching onto the situation between him and Gina before he had resolved it himself, or at least gone some way towards sorting out where they stood with each other this morning.

An upfront announcement that his marriage to Michelle was off seemed the best way to soothe any distress Gina was feeling on that score, as well as distracting his grandmother from the more sensitive area he’d have to negotiate with her guest and protégée. There was Marco to consider, as well. Had the little boy seen him in bed with his mother?

Keyed up to meet and deal with multi-level problems, Alex’s mental train was thrown off course again when he reached the breakfast room and found only his grandmother occupying it. He paused in the doorway to re-gather himself. Luckily her gaze was turned towards the windows at the end of the room. They faced east to give a view of the sunrise over the ocean, if one was up early enough to watch it.

The sun was long risen this morning but the rolling ocean sparkled in its endless movement, almost a hypnotic view if one looked long enough. A coffee cup sat on the table by her hand which was resting idly next to it. Breakfast had obviously been cleared away. His grandmother wouldn’t have been expecting him to join her. His usual practice was to stay with Michelle on Saturday nights. If Gina and Marco had been here, they’d eaten and gone before he’d even woken.

Caught in the dilemma of what best to do now, he was still standing in the doorway when his grandmother drew herself out of her private ponderings and looked at her coffee cup. As she reached for the bell to summon Rosita, Alex knew the option of simply absenting himself at this point was gone. Before he could move, her sharp gaze flicked to him.

“Alessandro...this is a surprise,” she said with an air of expectation that couldn’t be denied.

“Good morning, Nonna,” he replied, forcing himself into a casual stroll forward and an even more casual inquiry, “Your guests are gone?”

“If you mean Gina Terlizzi and her son...?” A raised eyebrow because she had not given him that information.

“Gina told me last night you had invited them to stay overnight,” he quickly supplied.