Page 21 of Bride of Betrayal
He kissed her again and she fell into it, twining her arms around his neck and bringing their bodies even closer. His hands were smoothing up and down her back, her waist, hips, fingers tugging her underwear down and off.
Now, cupping one breast and squeezing the firm flesh. Angelica pulled back, breathing heavily. ‘I need you, Leo…now.’
She could only read the stark need she felt mirrored on his face and it buoyed something inside her. In this…they were equal. No messy past, no tense present, no uncertain future. Justnow.
Somehow, he manoeuvred them to the bed and Angelica tumbled back, looking up at Leo. He was so tall and proud and powerful, and yet she could imagine that even he hadn’t been a match for a gang in the prison, intent on showing him who was master of that domain. Certainly not him.
The lurid scar hovered on the edge of her vision and made her feel emotional again. She reached out her arms. ‘Leo…’
He made a move towards her and then stopped, cursing softly. ‘I need to get protection…’
He’d turned and was walking towards the en suite before Angelica could get a word out to tell him she was protected. Still protected. She’d gone on the pill during their brief affair and she’d stayed on it through the marriage to Aldo, terrified that if things changed and he hadn’t been inhibited sexually by her, that he might force her into his bed…and the thought of that, and possibly a baby… Angelica couldn’t countenance such a thing, so she’d made sure she was protected.
Leo was still in the bathroom. Angelica felt a slight draught from somewhere skate over her skin. She came up on one elbow. ‘Leo?’
‘Leo?’
He heard her asking for him and every single cell in his body was straining to return, wanting to obey the drumbeat of need in his blood. But Leo had just caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and couldn’t move.
His expression was stark. He looked almost fevered. Eyes glittering with hunger. Jaw tight with need. Muscles bunching, taut. His head was filled with the image ofher, as she’d lain on the bed just now. Long limbs, soft curves. Dark hair spread out on white sheets. Dark, sharp nipples, asking for his tongue to surround them and make them even sharper.
Curls at the juncture of her legs where he could remember how she’d felt when he’d entered her, how she’d moulded around him so tightly, sending his mind into orbit.
It struck him like a slap across the face. He was about to dive back into the fire that had almost consumed him three years ago, leading him down a path where he’d almost forgotten who he was and where he’d come from. What he’d witnessed, the senseless brutal murder of his entire family at the hands of a rogue Mafia goon, high on drugs and calling in a debt. Trying to impress his peers. That’s when Leo had vowed to himself—to never be in a position where he had to watch everyone he loved be destroyed again.
Angelica had told him she loved him. But it had been a lie. When he’d rejected her, she’d gone from him straight into his best friend’s bed. Together they’d betrayed him. And yet here he was about to forget the three years of purgatory they—she—had inflicted on him? The knife scar itched, as if her touch had brought those awful moments back to life, when he’d been surrounded, unable to move and then he’d felt a sharp, inexplicable pain, followed by intense heat and shock. Blood everywhere. Men backing away laughing. ‘Now you have real blood on your hands.’
But their faces morphed into hers. She must be laughing at him, at how easily he was forgetting his outrage. How quickly he was opening his arms to her again. How weak he was. He went cold inside, the flames of desire doused by a reality check.
Leo stood up straight and grabbed a towel, lashing it around his waist and tying it. He went to the door and opened it. Angelica was on the other side, wearing his shirt, holding it together with one hand. She looked concerned. ‘Are you OK?’
Leo forced down the heat he could already feel pooling deep down, just at the sight of her in his shirt, knowing she had nothing underneath, hair tumbled around her shoulders. That beautiful sexy mouth plump from his kisses.
Dio.Before he could change his mind, he said, ‘I think you should go back to your room. This was a mistake.’
It took a second for Leo’s words to register but when they did, Angelica felt them in her gut, like a physical blow. She was winded. Almost felt like doubling over.Of course, rang in her head. Of course he had planned this. How to humiliate her with maximum effect. Get her on her back, naked, begging him…and then…slap her aside.
She took a step back, clutching the shirt to her chest, glad she’d put it on at the last minute. She’d been concerned. Leo had been in the bathroom for long minutes. Her concern mocked her now. Had she learnt nothing?
She heard herself say, ‘Why?’ Even though she knew the answer.
Leo’s face was tight. Eyes dark. ‘It’s just… I wasn’t thinking. This isn’t a good idea.’
A little harsh laugh came out of Angelica’s mouth before she could stop it. ‘Oh, you were thinking all right. You knew exactly what you were doing, but you’ve done us both a favour. You’re right, this isn’t a good idea.’
She turned before he could see the emotion rising to choke her and went to the door of the bedroom, pulling it open. From behind her he said, ‘Angel, wait… I didn’t intend to do this…like this.’
Angelica didn’t turn around. She said, ‘You didn’t used to be a bastard, Leo, but maybe you’ve changed, like I have.’
She walked out.
Leo had slept badly. Angel’s words reverberated in his head all night.You didn’t used to be a bastard.His conscience pricked. He could see how it might look to her, but he hadn’t set out to seduce her and then reject her.
But he couldn’t have trusted that she was sleeping with him with no agenda. Especially after what had happened.
Except she hadn’t looked as if she had an agenda. She’d looked as if he’d punched her. The colour leaching from her face. Eyes wide.Hurt.They’d reminded him of her expression that morning in Venice, when he’d told her to leave. After she’d declared she loved him.
But that had been an act, in league with Aldo,he asserted, even though it suddenly felt a lot less easy to believe.
