Capelli’s Captive Virgin Read online

She was the one who’d broken the rules—by expecting something she couldn’t have.

  The actor was gazing at her mouth with ill-concealed fascination. ‘Have you ever been to Hollywood?’

  ‘Perhaps we ought to dispense with your current wife before you contemplate a replacement,’ Alessio drawled in a soft tone, putting his empty glass on the bar and gesturing towards a table that had been reserved for them in the most secluded area of the Beach Club. ‘Shall we eat?’

  Sensing his black mood, Lindsay glanced at him nervously. Was he still annoyed that she’d misinterpreted the whole situation and dressed for a romantic evening?

  His client didn’t seem bothered.

  In fact he continued to flirt outrageously.

  As the staff served them discreetly Alessio turned the conversation to the issue of divorce and asked a number of blunt, specific questions about the actor’s marriage. Very much the lawyer, he was brief and businesslike, reducing the relationship to a series of cold facts.

  Lindsay concentrated on her food, listening while Alessio dealt with the actor’s questions and then summarised his options.

  She didn’t feel the slightest inclination to intervene or even urge him to reconsider. What did she know about relationships? After last night, she’d decided that she knew nothing.

  And that, Lindsay thought bleakly, was that.

  Another celebrity marriage bit the dust.

  The actor sat back in his chair, his eyes on the gentle curve and dip of Lindsay’s cleavage. ‘Well, if we’re done, Alessio, I feel like relaxing. You’ve no idea how amazing it feels to be able to chill out, knowing that for once your evening is not going to be replayed in the morning papers. Can you spare your assistant for the rest of the evening?’

  ‘I’m afraid not. She has work to do.’ Alessio’s tone was smooth and his eyes blank of expression, but something in his manner delivered his message loud and clear because the actor gave a frown and then shrugged.

  ‘OK. Some other time.’ His eyes lingered on Lindsay’s mouth. ‘Don’t leave without taking my number.’

  ‘Your number is in the file.’ Very much the one in control, Alessio rose to his feet and extended a hand. ‘My team will contact you when you’re back in L.A. Enjoy your stay. And try not to marry your next co-star.’

  Feeling increasingly awkward, Lindsay stood up as well and stammered a goodnight.

  And finally, Alessio looked at her. ‘My villa.’ It was a cool command. ‘I want to work on this straight away.’

  And it was obvious that he was annoyed with her, Lindsay thought miserably as she followed him up a path that led to a villa out of sight of the rest of the exclusive resort.

  He was going to remind her that it had been just the one night.

  He didn’t want to see glamorous red dresses or flowers in her hair.

  Too tense even to react to the luxurious villa or the stunning setting, she flinched as he yanked open the sliding doors that led from beach to living room.

  ‘Nice,’ she muttered timidly and then felt suddenly angry with herself because she’d never allowed herself to be intimidated by him before and she just hated the fact that she felt like that now. By nature honest, she decided that it was best to come clean, however awkward that might be. ‘Look—it was a misunderstanding, all right? When I received your message I thought—’ She broke off and he lifted a brow.

  ‘You thought what? That this was your chance to join the ranks of Hollywood?’

  Taken aback by this unexpected verbal attack, Lindsay just stared at him. ‘What are you talking about?’

  Dark colour accentuated his cheekbones and he prowled across to her, his eyes stormy. ‘I’m talking about you flirting with my client. I’m talking about the flower in your hair, the sexy red dress and the killer heels. That’s what I’m talking about, Lindsay.’

  Her gaze locked with his, she suddenly couldn’t breathe.

  He thought the dress was sexy?

  Even though she could feel the atmosphere sparking dangerously, she felt a wild thrill of pleasure.

  ‘Alessio—’

  His hands were on her shoulders, tight bands of steel. ‘I’m talking about the fact that you’re a relationship counsellor, but you didn’t once try and talk him out of his divorce. Not once.’ His handsome face hard and unyielding, he powered her back against the enormous bed that dominated the room until she tumbled backwards onto the silken cover.

  ‘Alessio—’

  He came down on top of her, bronzed, muscular and very much the dominant male. ‘Why didn’t you try and talk him out of divorce?’ One strong hand buried itself in her hair and he kept his gaze locked with hers. ‘Why was that, tesoro? Was it because you were hoping that you might be the next candidate?’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous—’ Lindsay stared up at him with huge, shocked eyes. Her heart thudding out of control, explosions of excitement turning her body into a simmering cauldron of dangerous sensation. ‘You were the one who told me that you didn’t want me here in my role as relationship counsellor—’

  ‘You dressed for sex. What happened to those principles of yours?’ With a decisive movement, he slid a hand under her bottom and hauled her against the thickened ridge of his arousal. ‘What happened, tesoro? You meet a film star and suddenly a relationship based on sex seems like a good idea?’

  All she could feel was heat. The heat of his body. The heat of his mouth next to hers. The heat of her own desperate need—

  ‘Alessio—’ Her words were smothered by the force of his kiss, his mouth taking hers in a punishing, demanding, volcanic assault that tipped her into a sensual world that was entirely new to her.

  The hot slide of his tongue in her mouth sent a shaft of excitement shooting from brain to belly and her hands clutched at his shirt, tugging it free from his trousers.

  She wasn’t thinking. She was no longer able to think. It was all about instinct. Primal, animal instinct.

  Swearing in Italian, Alessio shifted his weight so that he had full access to her body. Then he pushed her dress up to her waist in a rough, impatient movement that drew a gasp of shocked excitement from her parted lips.

  With no concession to modesty, he slid a demanding hand over her bared body and then pushed her thighs apart and buried his mouth against the most private part of her.

  Lindsay choked out a protest, but he held her with firm, confident hands, his mouth warm against the dampened silk of her panties. Then his fingers curled into the flimsy material and he gave a forceful yank, removing that final barrier with determined fingers before focusing all his attention on that one single part of her that he’d exposed specifically for his pleasure.

  She felt as though she were back in the storm, the entire force of nature directing its power onto her.

  His fingers gentled as he parted her and then she felt the warm, moist flick of his tongue caressing her there and it felt so wickedly good, so maddeningly, impossibly exciting, that for a moment the world went black.

  And then her body exploded into a climax so intense that her hands clutched frantically at the sheets and her body arched against his skilful mouth.

  Weakened and dizzy, she barely had time to catch her breath before he shifted again, this time so that he was over her, once again in a position of domination. His shirt was hanging loose where she’d torn at it and he reached down and dealt with the zip of his trousers with an impatient hand.

  There was a breathless moment of anticipation when she felt the hard silken promise of his masculinity and then he entered her with such a possessive, powerful thrust that her body immediately spun out of control again. Her second climax was as powerful as the first and she heard him groan in disbelief as the rhythmic contractions of her body added to the delicious friction created by his own thrusts. It was blisteringly hot, terrifying and thrilling all at the same time, her body controlled by the primal rhythm he’d set.

  And for Lindsay the pleasure didn’t just peak, it went on and on in a glor
ious shower of ecstasy that was heightened by the warm, silken thickness of his arousal deep inside her.

  She wanted to cry out, but she was robbed of breath and she felt his arm slide under her hips, lifting her, demanding still more from her quivering, helplessly aroused body. He surged into her again and then again, each thrust increasing the incredible intimacy and she was so overwhelmed by the power and strength of him, so utterly dominated by his aggressive sexuality and devastating masculinity that she had no choice but to go where he led her.

  ‘You’re incredible and you feel so good—’He growled the words against her mouth, his voice unsteady as he drove himself deeper. Groaning something in Italian, he slid a hand up her thigh, encouraging her to wrap her legs around him. ‘Sexy, sexy woman—’

  Was she?

  Maybe she was. All she knew was that her body didn’t feel like her own anymore.

  The excitement was so intense that she was almost blind with it, her body meeting the urgent demands of his with the same desperate compulsion that he obviously felt.

  It went on and on, explosion after explosion until she was wild with it, until she could do nothing but rake her nails over the smooth muscle of his powerful shoulders, holding on to the one thing that seemed solid. Again and again she lost control and finally he lost control right along with her, thrusting deeply, filling her with the explosive force of his climax.

  For endless moments neither of them spoke or moved.

  Lindsay lay there stunned, eyes closed, her heart so full of emotion that it stole her breath.

  His head was still buried against her shoulder and his breathing was harsh and uneven. Suddenly her fingers ached to stroke that thick, glossy hair. She desperately wanted to lean her face into his shoulder and kiss him, not with passion, but with love.

  There were things she wanted to whisper to him.

  She wanted to tell him how she felt.

  But that wasn’t allowed, was it?

  That wasn’t part of the deal.

  So she squeezed her eyes tightly shut and forced herself to swallow back all the words that wanted to spill out of her mouth.

  And what was there to say anyway? What could words possibly add to what they’d just shared? Their connection had been total. Their intimacy complete. She’d expressed her feelings through her body. She’d given everything and he’d taken and given right back. Everything.

  So in the end she hadn’t been able to have sex without love.

  She hadn’t been capable of that.

  Alessio lifted his head. She could feel him looking at her, but she didn’t dare open her eyes because of what she might reveal.

  Then he rolled onto his back and pulled her firmly into his arms, his vastly superior strength giving her no opportunity to resist.

  Her head was nestled against his shoulder and her hand lingered on the hard muscle of his abdomen. ‘I should go back to my villa—’

  ‘You’re not moving.’ His grip tightened on her. ‘Except perhaps to stand up and remove that dress. From now on when you’re in my bed, I want you naked.’

  ‘Alessio—’

  ‘I don’t understand you,’ he confessed in a raw tone. ‘You spend your whole life preaching about how sex should be part of a committed relationship and every time we make love, you try to dash off.’

  ‘We’re not in a committed relationship,’ she muttered, her heart thumping crazily. ‘You don’t do relationships.’

  ‘Neither do I do one-night stands.’ He turned onto his side and cupped her cheek with his hand, forcing her to look at him. ‘And you’re not doing them, either.’

  She stilled. ‘I—I thought that was what you wanted.’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘That’s why you were leaving? Because you thought it was what I wanted?’

  ‘Of course. I didn’t want to embarrass you by still being around in the morning.’

  He gave a slow, devilish smile. ‘Do I look embarrassed?’

  ‘You hate morning-after conversation.’

  ‘Who said anything about conversation?’ he drawled softly, rolling her onto her back again and bringing his mouth down on hers.

  This time she woke in his arms, feeling warm, safe and sexually sated. If it had been possible to stop time, then she would have picked that moment, because she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else.

  Watching him sleep, her eyes drifted to the firm contours of his mouth and instantly she felt her body stir. Despite the physical demands of the previous night, she still wanted him.

  Again and again—

  Perhaps she was more like her mother than she’d thought.

  Driven by an impulse that she didn’t even try and understand, Lindsay slid a hand over his bare chest, dislodging the sheet so that his body was exposed. Then she pressed her lips against his shoulder blade, slid lower and trailed her mouth over his nipple and down to his hard abdomen. For a moment she lingered in that dangerous, tantalising spot and then she moved lower and found him semi-erect.

  Without thinking what she was doing, she took him gently in her mouth and felt him harden instantly. She heard his soft groan and felt the bite of his fingers in her hair as she explored his velvet thickness with her lips and tongue, totally addicted to his body.

  The harshness of his breathing told her exactly how he felt about her bold exploration, and then he lifted her and she straddled him, her hair falling forward as she bent to kiss his mouth.

  ‘Maledizione—you’re incredible,’ he groaned and he captured her face in his hands, holding her mouth against his as he kissed her with explicit intent.

  Her body was burning and she shifted her pelvis and lowered herself slowly onto his straining shaft, her eyes closing as he filled her. Then his hands dropped to her hips and he held her, guiding her into an erotic rhythm that sent them both rocketing towards another orgasm.

  Lindsay flopped onto his chest and he locked his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. His skin was warm against her cheek, the dark hairs of his chest tickling her sensitised flesh.

  ‘Buon giorno—good morning.’ His voice was huskily amused and his hold on her tightened. ‘That was an incredibly good way to be woken up.’

  Slightly shocked by how uninhibited she was with him, Lindsay kept her face buried in his neck. She just adored his body and as for what he did to her body—

  ‘I could stay on Kingfisher Cay for ever.’ He smells fantastic, she thought dizzily, pressing her mouth against the bronzed skin of his shoulder.

  ‘You’re enjoying the watersports, tesoro?’ He was still teasing her and this time she lifted her head and looked at him.

  ‘Not just the watersports.’ It was her turn to tease. ‘Soft sand, turquoise ocean, rainbow fish—’

  ‘And what about the sex?’ Supremely confident, he flashed her a smile that melted the flesh to her bones. ‘I thought you didn’t want a relationship based on sex—’

  Did he know how she felt?

  Something shifted inside her, a tiny warning of danger, like a wispy white cloud suddenly appearing in an otherwise perfectly blue sky.

  ‘We don’t have a relationship, Alessio,’ she breathed, kissing him again before he could say anything else. ‘We’re just having sex.’

  And she wasn’t going to think about that now.

  Wasn’t going to think what the future held for her.

  ‘I can’t believe you just said that.’ He sank his hands into her tangled blonde hair and kissed her mouth again. ‘I could play that back to the television networks and make a fortune. Lindsay Lockheart, relationship counsellor, just having sex.’

  ‘I never said that there was anything wrong with sex,’ she protested lightly, gasping as his warm skilled hand curved over her bottom. ‘Just that it was important not to confuse sex with love and use it as a basis for marriage—Alessio, please—I can’t think when you do that—’

  ‘I don’t need you to think.’ With a powerful movement he rolled her underneath him and looked
at her with raw masculine appreciation. ‘I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want you.’

  And that, she thought to herself, her eyes closing as he lowered his head and started to perform yet another miracle on her body, was as big a compliment as any woman was ever likely to hear from the lips of Alessio Capelli.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘SO HAVE you called your sister?’ Alessio passed Lindsay a plate of fruit and some tiny pastries.

  It was late morning and they were enjoying a leisurely breakfast on the wooden deck that stretched over the water. Exotic fish darted beneath them, sending flashes of dazzling colour through the clear blue water. The only sound was the occasional muted splash as a hummingbird skimmed the water.

  ‘I haven’t called her. I haven’t switched my phone on since yesterday.’ Lindsay hesitated for a moment and then glanced up at him. ‘I’ve done a lot of thinking about what you said. And you were right.’

  ‘About what, exactly?’

  Lindsay lowered her gaze and poked at the food on her plate. ‘About a lot of things. I am too controlling. I’ve been treating her like a little girl and she isn’t a little girl anymore.’ She gave a twisted smile. ‘To me she’s still the vulnerable toddler that used to crawl into bed with me and sleep with her thumb in her mouth. I haven’t noticed that she’s grown up. Or maybe I did notice and I just didn’t want to see it.’

  ‘Stop analysing everything.’

  ‘It’s hard not to when you know you’ve done everything wrong. I’ve made it difficult for her to turn to me.’ She felt a lump in her throat and a sense of helpless frustration because she’d tried so hard to get it right—to give Ruby the love she hadn’t had from their mother. ‘In fact, I’ve made a real mess of things.’

  Alessio didn’t respond immediately. When he did, his voice was gruff. ‘Lindsay, if this is about what I said to you during the storm—I’m the first to admit that I know nothing about emotions. You shouldn’t listen to me. I was probably wrong.’

  She couldn’t hold back the smile. ‘Wrong? You think you might have been wrong? Wow. That’s quite an admission coming from you. Shall I tell the press?’