Luca appeared to ponder this. ‘My personal assistant? No.’ His lips pressed down as he shook his head. ‘What about Keeper of the Crown Jewels? More accurate?’
‘This is serious,’ Callie warned. ‘Please stop teasing me. If I’m going to attend my first ball with you, I need to know where I stand. That’s the only way I’m going to feel comfortable.’
‘Comfortable was the wrong word. I can see that now,’ Luca admitted. ‘I want you to feel sensational. As the ball is tomorrow evening you’d better choose one of these gowns to make sure you do.’
But that wasn’t what she was here for. She had come to Fabrizio to talk about their baby.
What about the promise she’d made to Ma Brown to send a full report on the ball? Callie glanced at the glamorous gowns twinkling on the rail. She wouldn’t be able to get into any of them in a few months’ time, not that she’d have any use for a ball gown when she went home. ‘I’ll look ridiculous,’ she fretted as she rifled through the rail.
‘You’ll look beautiful,’ Luca argued, making himself comfortable. ‘Let’s make a start.’
‘I’ll change in the dressing room,’ she said, picking out the aquamarine gown that had first caught her eye. ‘And I’m not coming out if I look a freak.’
Safe behind the door to her dressing room, Callie stared at herself in the mirror and grimaced. The gown that had looked so pretty on the rail did fit well, but, apart from being so heavy, it was too tight. It pushed her breasts up and her confidence down. But that wasn’t what really worried her. When she emerged from the dressing room, Luca agreed. ‘You look like a mermaid,’ he said as she wiggled her way across the room.
‘Thank goodness that’s a no.’
‘Unless you plan to hop into position at my side?’ he suggested.
‘I could drift towards you in this,’ she suggested when she had changed into the next dress, a coral number with long chiffon floats flying from each shoulder.
‘Nah. You’ll only get caught in the door.’
‘You know me too well.’
‘I’m getting there,’ Luca admitted dryly as Callie chose another dress.
‘This one?’ she asked uncertainly, blowing fronds of fern-like decoration away from her face.
‘You look like a market garden,’ Luca dismissed as she performed a twirl.
True enough, the big floral pattern wasn’t her best look.
‘What about this one?’ he suggested, selecting a plain, intricately beaded flesh-coloured gown.
‘Yes. That’s nice,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll try it on.’
With the dressing-room door closed between them again, Callie stared at her reflection in amazement. She actually looked quite good. Smoothing the delicate fabric over her frame, she had to admit that the gown Luca had chosen was both elegant and sexy. She might have known he’d have exquisite taste. The shade of the fabric matched her skin tone so exactly it was almost possible to imagine she was naked. Naked and shimmering with a slit up the side of the dress that almost reached her waist. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
Luca said nothing at all. His face was completely expressionless. This was Luca at his most dangerous, she thought. ‘No,’ she warned when he stood up and prowled towards her.
‘Why not?’ he husked. ‘It’s not as if I can make you pregnant.’
‘Luca!’
He swallowed her protests in a kiss, and it wasn’t just a kiss but a whole-body experience that made her hunger for him eclipse everything. His hands were warm on her body. He knew every slope and curve. The gown was so sheer, so delicate, that his touch transmitted effortlessly through it as if they were both naked. Memories bombarded her, memories of pleasure, memories of trust.
‘I want you,’ he growled. ‘Right here. Right now. I can’t wait.’
‘Neither can I,’ she assured him fiercely.
Luca had already found the slit at the side of the dress. She only had to move slightly for his fingers to brush dangerously close to where she needed him. Her breath caught as he handled her with the skill that promised so much more. She was wearing nothing beneath the gown but a flimsy thong. Held together with not much more than a hope and a prayer, the thong stood no chance against Luca’s assault. Ripping it off, he cast it aside and rammed her up against the wall. Breath shot out of her as his hand found her. With teasing strokes, he tested her readiness. That didn’t take long. Freeing himself, he nudged his thigh between her legs and, dipping at the knees, he took her in one long, firm thrust. From there it was a wild, noisy ride to their goal, but even when she shrieked as she lost control he kept on plunging until her throat was hoarse, and her body was alight with pleasure.
‘I can’t feel you,’ she complained when she was able to talk again.
‘What?’ Luca demanded, frowning into her eyes.
‘Not that—’ She groaned with pleasure as he flexed inside her. ‘I mean your naked body,’ she explained. Tugging at his shirt, she made her meaning clear. ‘I want to feel all of you hot and hard against me.’ They ripped his clothes off between them and tossed them aside. ‘Better!’ she approved as his heat rasped against her body.
‘Still not enough for you,’ he guessed. Taking hold of her hands, he pinned them above her head, and with his other hand locked around the front of her dress, he ripped it from her body.
The beautiful gown was shredded, ruined. Disaster. But she didn’t care. All that mattered was this. Rubbing her breasts against him tormented her nipples until they were taut little buds, composed entirely of sensation. They had a direct link to her core, and her hips worked involuntarily in her desperation for more contact. She couldn’t remain still. She couldn’t remain quiet. She was noisy and demanding. Scrambling up him, she locked her legs around his waist.
‘More?’ he suggested in the deep, gravelly voice with its flavour of Italy that could always make her tingle.
‘Are you purposely withholding pleasure from me?’ she demanded.
Luca laughed softly. ‘As if I’d dare.’
‘Don’t make me wait,’ she warned.
His answer was to nuzzle her neck with his sharp black stubble until she was a seething mass of lust. ‘I just asked, did you want more?’ he reminded her.
He surely didn’t expect an answer to that question.
THE BALL GOWN was ruined. No point worrying about that now. She’d skip the ball. That was the last thought in Callie’s head as Luca made rational thought impossible. He was making love to her. This wasn’t just sex. They were natural together. This was so good, so right. This was fierce. When the moment came, she was wild with fear of the precipice she was facing, but Luca husked soothing words of reassurance and encouragement in his own language as he kissed her over the edge.
‘Greedy,’ he whispered when she quietened.
‘You make me greedy,’ she complained, smiling with contentment as she crashed against his chest.
Finding the nook just below his shoulder blade, she snuggled close as he carried her to the bed. A deep sense of this being right filled her completely. They belonged together. He laid her down gently on the bed and came to lie with her. When he brought her into his arms, her breathing slowed and her limbs grew weightless. Problems nagged at the back of her mind, but they could wait until tomorrow. Right now she could do nothing more than close her eyes and drift away.
He held Callie