support her without his help.
‘You pick this moment to say let you go?’ he demanded harshly.
‘I can’t help it,’ she gasped. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t go on. This isn’t-what should be happening.’
‘I’d love to know what “should be happening” according to that cunning little brain of yours. Look at me!’
He gave her a little shake that forced her to meet his eyes with their look of grim condemnation.
‘What should be happening, Helena? Should I just trail forlornly away like a whipped puppy because you’ve decided against me? If you thought that you were deluding yourself. I’ve warned you before not to take me on. You were very foolish to ignore that warning.’
‘It’s not as you think-’ she cried.
‘Be glad you don’t know what I’m thinking right now. It would make you shiver. Who did you think you were dealing with?’
‘It’s just that I’m not quite ready-’
‘Don’t play the innocent with me. You knew what was going to happen when you walked through that door. You knew before that, in the gondola, back at the restaurant-unless I misunderstood what we were talking about.’
‘Let go of my arms,’ she said desperately. ‘Salvatore, I mean it. Let me go now.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
TO HER relief Salvatore released her. She backed away from him towards the tall window, but he followed her, speaking in a harsh, ragged voice.
‘You didn’t come up here with me expecting to hold hands.’ Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he drew a sharp, angry breath. ‘Dio mio, I was right about you all the time. You planned this whole thing, you scheming, spiteful little tease. Is this how you get your perverted pleasure?’
She was about to try to explain, to defend herself, but she was stopped by a flash of lightning that came through the window, illuminating the room for a second, then vanished. In that dazzling moment she saw the man standing close to her, the magnificence of his naked body.
Her mind was sharp with bitter irony. This was the moment that had haunted her thoughts and her fevered sensations, when she would see the truth about him, finally discovering if her fantasies had been correct. And they were. He was everything she’d hoped, his legs as long and muscular, his stomach as flat, his buttocks as taut.
She saw the arousal he was fighting to control, fierce, threatening, promising. His chest was rising and falling as though the effort to stay in command of his desires was torturing him, but there would be no yielding, for this man never yielded either to himself or another.
Here was the fulfilment of the dreams she’d barely admitted to herself, and it had happened now, at the worst possible moment. For above all she saw the terrifying look on Salvatore’s face; a look of sheer, murderous hatred.
It was like finding herself in an alien world. What she was seeing in him now was no mere annoyance at last-minute frustration; rather it was as though he’d been taken over by another man, one driven by deep, violent feelings beyond her experience.
Common sense warned her to end this quickly, calm him down, get rid of him as soon as possible, but she had the sensation of standing in the middle of a furnace. Far from being frightening, it was exhilarating, rousing her temper to match his, carrying her to unpredictable heights. Common sense couldn’t compete.
‘I planned nothing,’ she snapped. ‘But you’re so eager to think the worst of me that you twist everything.’
‘What do I need to twist? You’ve sent me one message throughout the evening and a different one now, and I guess I know why. This is how you operate, isn’t it? Teasing a man, hoping to drive him into a frenzy?’
Temper drove her to say defiantly, ‘What do you mean, hoping? I’ve never had any difficulty.’
She made the words deliberately incendiary. It was madness to provoke him, but she was too angry to think straight.
‘Is that how you get your fun?’ he sneered. ‘How many men have you driven to the edge
‘You pick this moment to say let you go?’ he demanded harshly.
‘I can’t help it,’ she gasped. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t go on. This isn’t-what should be happening.’
‘I’d love to know what “should be happening” according to that cunning little brain of yours. Look at me!’
He gave her a little shake that forced her to meet his eyes with their look of grim condemnation.
‘What should be happening, Helena? Should I just trail forlornly away like a whipped puppy because you’ve decided against me? If you thought that you were deluding yourself. I’ve warned you before not to take me on. You were very foolish to ignore that warning.’
‘It’s not as you think-’ she cried.
‘Be glad you don’t know what I’m thinking right now. It would make you shiver. Who did you think you were dealing with?’
‘It’s just that I’m not quite ready-’
‘Don’t play the innocent with me. You knew what was going to happen when you walked through that door. You knew before that, in the gondola, back at the restaurant-unless I misunderstood what we were talking about.’
‘Let go of my arms,’ she said desperately. ‘Salvatore, I mean it. Let me go now.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
TO HER relief Salvatore released her. She backed away from him towards the tall window, but he followed her, speaking in a harsh, ragged voice.
‘You didn’t come up here with me expecting to hold hands.’ Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he drew a sharp, angry breath. ‘Dio mio, I was right about you all the time. You planned this whole thing, you scheming, spiteful little tease. Is this how you get your perverted pleasure?’
She was about to try to explain, to defend herself, but she was stopped by a flash of lightning that came through the window, illuminating the room for a second, then vanished. In that dazzling moment she saw the man standing close to her, the magnificence of his naked body.
Her mind was sharp with bitter irony. This was the moment that had haunted her thoughts and her fevered sensations, when she would see the truth about him, finally discovering if her fantasies had been correct. And they were. He was everything she’d hoped, his legs as long and muscular, his stomach as flat, his buttocks as taut.
She saw the arousal he was fighting to control, fierce, threatening, promising. His chest was rising and falling as though the effort to stay in command of his desires was torturing him, but there would be no yielding, for this man never yielded either to himself or another.
Here was the fulfilment of the dreams she’d barely admitted to herself, and it had happened now, at the worst possible moment. For above all she saw the terrifying look on Salvatore’s face; a look of sheer, murderous hatred.
It was like finding herself in an alien world. What she was seeing in him now was no mere annoyance at last-minute frustration; rather it was as though he’d been taken over by another man, one driven by deep, violent feelings beyond her experience.
Common sense warned her to end this quickly, calm him down, get rid of him as soon as possible, but she had the sensation of standing in the middle of a furnace. Far from being frightening, it was exhilarating, rousing her temper to match his, carrying her to unpredictable heights. Common sense couldn’t compete.
‘I planned nothing,’ she snapped. ‘But you’re so eager to think the worst of me that you twist everything.’
‘What do I need to twist? You’ve sent me one message throughout the evening and a different one now, and I guess I know why. This is how you operate, isn’t it? Teasing a man, hoping to drive him into a frenzy?’
Temper drove her to say defiantly, ‘What do you mean, hoping? I’ve never had any difficulty.’
She made the words deliberately incendiary. It was madness to provoke him, but she was too angry to think straight.
‘Is that how you get your fun?’ he sneered. ‘How many men have you driven to the edge
Similar Books
