‘No,’ she lied, glad it was too dark for him to see how embarrassed she was. Eva Skavanga, embarrassed by a couple making love?
And terrified at the thought of penetrative sex with a man.
How humiliating would that be if Roman knew? And how would those fears play out when they reached the palazzo?
‘Watch the loose rocks here,’ Roman said, putting a firm hand under her arm. His grip was firm and strong, and, in spite of her turbulent thoughts, she trusted him. She glanced up, wishing she could confide in him, but she could never do that, not where such personal matters were concerned. In Skavanga she took control. She forged the path, but here she was glad of Roman’s guiding hand on her arm.
‘It’s flat now,’ he said, letting her go. ‘There’s nothing you can trip over.’
Except her heart.
‘Thanks...’
They walked side by side, but there was too much space between them. She felt the lack of him. She felt the lack of his touch.
‘Stay close, Eva.’
She smiled in the darkness. ‘I will,’ she promised. ‘I will dog your footsteps until we have that talk.’
He laughed. ‘Is that a promise?’
‘You can count on it.’
Roman’s laugh was warm, and she tucked it away in her heart. It belonged to tonight, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t keep it close.
They carried on up the snaking path that led to the palazzo. The grand edifice glittered above them beneath a moonbeam spotlight like an icing-sugar mirage. Eva hoped her own goals were more substantial. She hadn’t forgotten why she was on the island, and was as determined as she ever had been to make Roman listen to her concerns.
He’d slowed down for her as the climb was growing steeper and took the chance to ask her if she’d enjoyed the party when she stopped to catch her breath.
‘How could I not? Other than when you sold me down the river with that kiss. But I’ll get you back.’
‘I’m counting on it.’
She sucked in a fast breath, and he guessed she hoped he hadn’t heard her. He’d enjoyed the party too. ‘Maybe you should get out of Skavanga and test yourself some more.’
‘Maybe I should,’ she agreed. ‘The music was great,’ she admitted, leaning back against the rock face. ‘It made me happy and sad within the space of a tune. Does that sound crazy?’
His lips pressed down as he shrugged. No more crazy than lingering with this complex girl on the way to taking her to bed. And how could he not be pleased that she shared one of his favourite passions? ‘Music touches me too,’ he admitted, coming to stand beside her.
Dio! Where was he going with this?
Deeper than he usually went with a woman, that was for sure.
‘You make me so angry,’ she admitted wryly as she stared into the night.
‘I do? You don’t seem very angry.’
‘Not now.’ She smiled as the night breeze lifted her hair. ‘But earlier...’
‘Ah.’ She was referring to that kiss.
She smiled as she stared out across the sea. ‘You make me laugh at myself, Roman, and I guess that’s long overdue.’
‘You don’t expect me to comment, do you?’
‘You’d better not,’ she warned. And then she turned to him. ‘Why do you always tease me?’
‘Authority, influence and opportunity.’
She shook her head. ‘You are incredible.’
‘I like to think so.’
He brushed the hair off her face. They stared at each other for a moment. ‘Come on,’ he said.
She took his hand. He liked that.
* * *
She felt safe with him and that was crazy. He made her wish she could be different—bold in every area of her life. He made her wish she could lighten up and have fun—fun that didn’t involve scoring the bullseye at darts or playing the winning shot at pool.
Glancing up, she thought the faint tug of his lips was all the reminder needed that a woman as inexperienced as she was really shouldn’t be flirting with a man like Roman Quisvada. She let go of his hand. She’d forge her own passage. Eva Skavanga was all about front and fantasy, while Roman was more reality than most women could handle. If he knew the truth about her—the whole truth—he’d probably laugh at her. She’d probably join him. What would he think about her being ‘one of the boys’ because she’d never had the courage to be ‘one of the girls’—to be tested, to be lined up against all the pretty, smart, sassy girls, and fall so far short she wasn’t even in the game.
‘Am I going too fast for you, Eva?’
Probably. ‘No.’ She laughed as she forced herself to keep up. This was all going crazy fast.
Roman waited for her at a turn on the path and smiled at her when she drew close. In her fantasies he always took centre stage. How could he not when Roman Quisvada was a natural-born hero? And after that kiss at the wedding...
But in real life? Sexually speaking, he was way too much for her. Better to start with a quiet man, a timid man—
A man you could direct? her cynical inner voice demanded. Where would that get you?
Catching hold of her as she went to walk past him, Roman brought her in front of him. ‘Are you really so woefully lacking in self-belief, Eva?’
‘What? No. What brought that on?’
‘I can read you, Eva. I can read you like a book.’
She turned her face away, acutely conscious of Roman’s light grip on her naked arms. Lack of self-belief was the least of her problems. The night had closed around them and there was no one in sight... No sounds except for the soft susurration of the surf. Would he kiss her? Would he kiss her again because he wanted to and not to mock her?
Roman answered the question by dipping his head to stare into her eyes. He made her wait. He made her wait until she swayed towards him. She held her breath as he teased her mouth, inviting her to kiss him back. She was longing to enter his dark and very sensual world, where there was no compulsion to join him, but there was an open invitation. Was it possible to be intoxicated by the senses? She thought it might be as Roman kissed her in a way that left no room for reasoned thought. He was rampantly male and unapologetically sexual. He towered over her, and yet there was no suggestion he would use his hugely superior strength to overwhelm her.
Perversely, this made her fantasies run riot, along the lines of being pinned down and subjected to every type of pleasure known to man—and a few she didn’t know about that she felt sure he would. Holding her around the waist, Roman used one hand to cup her face, so gently her will ebbed like the tide. Leave it much longer and she would be lost. He made her want more...so much more.
Until his hand slipped down to cup her buttocks. What was natural and instinctive for him was frightening for her. It was too intimate. It was everything she craved, yet feared, and, having lost her confidence, she pulled back.
‘Eva?’ Roman’s lips brushed her mouth, fogging her brain.
A woman of her age afraid of sex?
‘Why are you frightened of me?’
‘I’m not—okay, maybe I’ve heard things—’ Desperate lie, and she hated herself for it.
‘Do you believe everything you hear, Eva?’
He looked at her slender shoulders, pale and vulnerable in