Dr. Zinetti's Snowkissed Bride (13 page)

‘Really?' His eyes glittering dark, he slid the robe off her shoulders and Meg gasped and made an abortive grab for it.

‘What are you doing?'

‘You told me you're not that feminine. I prefer to make my own decisions about these things.' He trailed a leisurely
hand over the curve of her hip. ‘Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you.'

Meg made another grab for her robe. ‘Dino, please…' Scarlet with embarrassment, she tried to cover herself but he dropped it on the floor behind him.

‘You think I care what dress you're wearing? You think that's why I want you? So how do you explain the fact that I wanted to strip you naked when you were wrapped up in layers of thermal insulation on the mountain?' The heat of his mouth was a breath away from hers and she could feel hard muscle through the thin fabric of his shirt. ‘You think I'm interested in the way you wear your hair?'

Transfixed by the look in his eyes, Meg felt the room spin. ‘Dino—'

‘Just for the record, I don't care about any of that.' He backed her against the door in a purposeful movement. ‘I care about the woman underneath. If you want the honest truth, there is nothing sexier than a sleek, athletic body, and yours is the best I've ever seen. Is this your bedroom?'

Her heart hammering, Meg nodded and he swept her up, strode into the bedroom and deposited her in the centre of the bed. Then he threw off his jacket and came down on top of her, pinning her arms above her head so that she couldn't wriggle away. Stretching out his free arm, he flicked on the lamp by the bed and a soft golden light spread across the room.

Mortified, Meg twisted under him. ‘Let me go. I'm going to punch you in a minute.'

‘Then there's no incentive to let you go,
tesoro.
' His sensual mouth curved into a devastating smile. ‘I have you captive. No more running. No more avoidance tactics. For tonight, you're mine.'

‘At least turn the light off.'

‘No. How can you not know you're beautiful? You have an incredible body and working alongside you for so long has
been driving me crazy.' He lowered his mouth to her neck. Licked at the sensitive spot below her ear. ‘What are you scared of, Meg? Why are you always pushing me away?'

Her body was quivering. ‘Because that's what I do. Because you're going to hurt me and then you're going to hurt Jamie and I'm not going to let you.'

He lifted his head, his eyes deadly serious. ‘Let's get one thing straight.' He took her face in his hand, forcing her to look at him. ‘I'm not going to hurt your son, Meg. That's just not going to happen.'

‘But if—'

‘It is
not
going to happen.'

Which meant what, exactly? She tried to work it out but he was kissing her again and suddenly her brain was too fuzzy to make the necessary connections. Meg writhed underneath him but he didn't budge. He just kissed her until she thought her brain was going to explode—until her body was shrieking with a need that only he could satisfy, and all the time his clever fingers touched, caressed, explored. ‘Don't do that.' Her voice was a soft plea. ‘Damn you, you're not playing fair.'

Ignoring her, he trailed his mouth down her neck and lingered on the swell of one breast. ‘Who said anything about fair? We stopped playing fair when you decided to run from me without explanation.' He closed his mouth over the peak of her nipple and Meg felt an explosion of sexual excitement spear her body.

‘Don't—please.' She gasped the words. ‘When you do that I can't…'

‘You can't what? You can't resist me? You can't think straight?' Dino lifted his head and looked at her from under lowered lids, his eyes glittering in the dim light. ‘Good. Because that's how I feel about you. By the time I've finished with you, you're going to be in no doubt that you're a woman.
It doesn't matter how you're dressed, Meg. In fact, clothes are an irritation if I'm honest. I just want to strip you naked.'

Meg felt as weak as a newborn kitten. She knew she should push him away, but her body and brain appeared to be disconnected. As he tortured her with fingers, lips and tongue, she lost contact with the part of her brain responsible for decision-making. She wriggled and writhed underneath him, driven wild by his skilled touch. Her head swam, her body trembled, and when he brought his mouth back down on hers, she felt as though she'd lost her mind. Hot, hard and demanding, he took her mouth in a searing kiss that left her in no doubt as to how their evening was going to end. It was crazy and desperate, his tongue meeting hers in a skilled, knowing assault that was shattering in its intensity. When he dragged his mouth from hers, she moaned a protest and locked her hands behind his head.

‘Don't stop. You can't stop. You started this…'

‘And I'm going to finish it. I love your hair,' he breathed, sliding his fingers through the silky mass, ‘I love your hair loose like this—that night after we rescued Harry, that was the first time I'd ever seen you with your hair down. Every day since then I've wanted to see it again. Can you feel what you do to me?'

He moved her hand down his body and Meg felt her heart leap and her mouth dried as she touched him intimately.

Oh, yes, she could feel.

She could feel the throbbing heat of him against her—could feel the power and size of him. And she knew he could feel what he did to her because his fingers were touching her, skilfully exploring the hot, moist core of her body, and it felt so unbelievably good that Meg gave a moan of disbelief. It felt as though she was being burned at the stake, her body devoured by a dangerous cocktail of sexual heat and wicked
anticipation, the throb in her pelvis almost agonising in its intensity.

Finally, when she was ready to beg, he pulled away from her, but it was only a brief pause before he came back over her, his eyes glittering dark as he lifted her hips.

‘Look at me!' His voice was thickened by raw passion. ‘I want you to look at me. I want you to know it's me.'

‘I know it's you, Dino.' With difficulty, she galvanised her dazed brain and looked. And looking added another dimension to the whole sensual feast because his eyes blazed almost black with a raw passion that threatened to explode out of control.

Beyond the windows, a thick layer of snow covered the ground but here, in the intimate atmosphere of her bedroom, scorching heat simmered between them. The outside world had ceased to exist.

Meg felt him, hot and hard against her, and then he was inside her, entering her with a series of slow, purposeful thrusts that took him deep. For a moment she didn't dare breathe, and then a wild rush of excitement shot through her and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, feeling him with every nerve ending and fibre of her body. He was still wearing his shirt and she tore at the last of the buttons, frantic to touch him, desperate to run her hands over the satin-smooth muscle of his shoulders.

He murmured something in Italian and then thrust deeper, his body sinking into her tender, sensitised flesh, and Meg went up in flames. Scorching, explosive excitement engulfed her and he started to move, each skilled stroke designed to drag the maximum response from her. His shirt hung loose and she sank her fingers into the sleek muscle of his hard shoulders, completely out of her mind with the pleasure he created.

It was wild and out of control, her teeth on his shoulder,
his hand in her hair as he drove into her, sending them both rocketing skywards. Meg felt her body shatter into a million sparkling pieces and she heard him groan her name as he hit the same peak. His mouth came down on hers again and they kissed all the way through it, the erotic stroke of his tongue adding to the intensity of the moment.

It had to end, because nothing so intense could possibly last. Meg felt him shift his weight from her, his breathing unsteady as he rolled onto his back and covered his face with his forearm.

Feeling nothing like herself, Meg stared blankly at the ceiling. She could have told herself that she'd reacted in such a wild way because she hadn't had sex for so long, but she knew that wasn't true. The truth was, she'd reacted in such a wild way because Dino drove her wild. He was the sexiest, hottest man she'd ever met and when she was with him her body had a will of its own. She'd wanted him so badly she hadn't thought about anything else.

Slowly, he turned his head to look at her. ‘
Mi dispiace, tesoro
—sorry.' His voice was husky, his tone holding a mixture of apology and amusement. ‘I had hoped for a little more finesse than that. But I have wanted to get you naked for such a long time, my control was seriously challenged.'

He'd wanted her that badly?

Not for anything would she admit how flattering it was that a man had wanted her so badly he hadn't even bothered undressing. He lay next to her, his shirt undone to the waist, exposing a powerful chest and hard, defined stomach muscles. ‘You're not even undressed.'

‘I was in a hurry,' he purred, ‘but any time you want to do something about that, just go ahead.' He locked his hands behind his head, his eyes challenging her.

Meg swallowed. ‘I really am sorry I ruined your evening.'

He gave a slow, satisfied smile. ‘My evening turned out extremely well,
tesoro
. How was yours?'

Blushing, she snuggled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. ‘Not bad.'

‘Not bad?
Not bad?
' Laughing, he rolled her onto her back. ‘Then I'd better try again, because I want a lot more from you than “not bad”.'

He kissed his way down her body, ignoring Meg's gasp of shock.

‘Honestly, Dino, you can't…'

But he did. And when she was pliant and trembling, he rolled onto his back and lifted her so that she straddled him. Her hair flopped forwards, brushing his chest, and this time he entered slowly, his hands hard on her hips as he filled her. His eyes never leaving hers, he made it the most intimate experience of her life. She saw the faint sheen of sweat on his brow and the tension in his powerful shoulders. And then he started to move inside her and she closed her eyes as she felt her body accommodate the whole silken length of him. And nothing had ever felt more right. It was all about the moment. Not the past, or the future, just this one moment. ‘
Belissima.
You're beautiful,' he said thickly, his dark eyes hot. ‘You feel incredible.'

‘So do you.' She gasped the words and then leaned forward and kissed him, her hips matching the perfect rhythm he set.

He groaned her name and tightened his grip on her hips. ‘Slow down,
tesoro,
or I'll—'

‘You'll what?' Feeling her feminine power, Meg smiled and licked at his mouth. ‘You'll what? Struggling to hang onto control, macho man? Have you got a bit of a problem there?'

His jaw hard and set, he muttered a curse and drove into her hard, and her ability to tease him evaporated in the sudden
heat of their passion. She couldn't speak or think. As he hit his peak she felt her body do the same, convulsing around the thrusting length of him and exploding into the heavens.

‘M
UM
?
Mum!
'

‘Oh no!' Waking in a panic, Meg shot out of bed, her heart hammering. Light peeped through a gap in the curtains and she grabbed the clock and tried to focus on the numbers. ‘It's nine o'clock? Dino, we overslept. I didn't mean you to stay the whole night. Jamie's home! You have to go. Quickly! Oh, why didn't I set the alarm? I'll take them into the kitchen and you sneak out the front door.' Flustered and panicking, she grabbed the first thing she could find, which just happened to be a pair of ancient jeans she'd worn the day before to clean the bathroom. Thrusting her arms into a jumper, she freed her hair and turned to look at him.

It was a mistake.

He was six feet two of sleepy, gorgeous man. The sight of his powerful shoulders and shadowed jaw was enough to make her want to leap straight back in to bed again. He had to be the sexiest man alive.

‘Mum?'

‘Dino, move!' In desperation, Meg threw his dress shirt at Dino, forcing her mind from sex to motherhood. It was an uncomfortable and unfamiliar transition. ‘Put something on, quickly. I'm so cross with myself…' Shaking, she pushed herself into her trainers. ‘We shouldn't have done this. I don't want to hurt Jamie.'

‘
Calma, tesoro.
Calm down. No one is going to hurt Jamie.' His voice still husky from sleep, Dino swung his legs out of the bed and she had a brief glimpse of wide shoulders and rippling pectoral muscles before he shrugged on the shirt she'd thrown him.

It was impossible not to notice that he was aroused and Meg gave a gulp. ‘Dino…'

‘It will be fine now you're not walking around naked.' A wry smile touched his mouth as he intercepted her glance. ‘Go to your son, Meg, before he comes to you.'

For a second their eyes held and, in that single breathless moment, Meg felt something shift inside her. Whatever they'd shared in the darkness of the winter night hadn't gone. It was still there. And it felt good.
And confusing.

Her head in a spin, she turned and shot out of the room, closing the door firmly behind her just as Jamie came thundering up the stairs. ‘Hi, sweetheart! Did you have fun at Grandma's house?'
Did she look as though she'd spent the night having sex?

No, of course not.

As far as Jamie was concerned, she'd spent the night alone.

‘Hi, Mum.' Snowflakes dusted his coat and his cheeks were pink from the cold. ‘Where's Dino?'

Or maybe not.

Meg tightened her grip on the door handle.
So much for sneaking him out of the house.
‘Wh-why are you asking? What makes you think that Dino—?'

‘His car is parked outside the front door.' Jamie bounced up to her and hugged her round the waist. ‘Did he do a sleepover? I'm really sad I missed it.'

‘Yes, he did a sleepover. He had to do a sleepover because he…er…he…well, it really doesn't matter. Tell me what you did with Grandma. Did you wrap presents?' Meg swung Jamie
up into her arms before he could charge into the bedroom and carried him back down to the kitchen. ‘You're getting too heavy for me.'

‘I'm going to get even heavier because Grandma is making us pancakes.'

Which meant her mother wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. Feeling as though she was facing a firing squad, Meg walked into the kitchen. Hoping Dino would take the chance to escape, she closed the door behind her.

Moments later it opened and Dino walked in.

Ignoring Meg's appalled glare, he ran his hands through his ruffled hair and smiled at her mother, who was assembling the ingredients for pancakes. ‘
Buongiorno
. I must apologise for my appearance but I wasn't planning on staying the night.'

Meg's mouth fell open and she caught a glimpse of her mother's smug smile before Jamie threw himself at Dino. ‘You had a sleepover.'

‘
Sì
, a sleepover.' Dino swung the boy into his arms and smiled at him while Meg watched, her heart in her mouth. His jaw was dark with stubble and eyes had the same sexy, dark brooding quality that had seduced her out of her knickers the night before. And seeing him with her child made her feel…

Vulnerable.

It wasn't just about her, was it? It was about so much more than her. He'd promised not to hurt her child, but no one could make a promise like that, could they? He wasn't even Jamie's father. Not that you'd know that by looking at the two of them together.

Jamie was clinging, his arms locked around Dino's neck like bindweed. ‘I didn't know you were doing a sleepover.'

‘I'm afraid the Batmobile let me down. Really she is a warm-weather car. You know that. She has a high-performance
engine and that makes her very temperamental. She loves the warm weather, but I insist on driving her in the winter so occasionally she punishes me by refusing to start. All that snow yesterday upset her. I was stranded here. Your mum kindly let me stay.'

Impressed by his impromptu excuse, Meg relaxed and then spotted the sceptical look on her mother's face. The excuse might work on Jamie, but it wasn't going to work on Catherine Miller. She was a much tougher audience to convince.

Jamie bounced in Dino's arms. ‘Wow—so now you're here you might as well stay the whole day. Sundays are my favourite day because we have pancakes for breakfast. Say you'll stay—
please
. Do you like pancakes? I have them with maple syrup and chocolate.'

Dino winced. ‘Together?'

‘Yup, that's how I like them. And then we're going to buy our Christmas tree. You could come.' Jamie held his breath and so did Meg because she couldn't bear to see his disappointment. And she knew that he was going to be disappointed. There was no way Dino would want to spend the day choosing Christmas trees, was there?

Her lower lip clamped between her teeth, Meg waited for Dino to deliver a smooth excuse, but instead he nodded. ‘Thanks for inviting me, I'd love to come. As long as we call in at my house on the way so that I can change my clothes. I can't choose a Christmas tree wearing a bow-tie.'

‘I could lend you something…' Jamie looked at his shoulders doubtfully ‘…but I don't think I have anything that would fit you. You look like a real live Superhero.' He squeezed Dino's shoulders with his hand, completely unselfconscious. ‘How do you get muscles like that? I want to have muscles. I want a six-pack. I do sit-ups, but so far I haven't even got a two-pack. Will you show me how?'

Dino grinned and lowered him to the floor. ‘I think you
might have to wait a few years for a two-pack. When the time comes, I'll show you how. Meg, can I use your bathroom for a shower?'

The thought of him in her shower sent the colour flooding into her cheeks. ‘Of course.' Her mind was in a spin as she attempted to decipher what was going on. Why had he agreed to spend the day with them?

Displaying none of her reticence, Jamie grabbed his hand. ‘I'll show you where the bathroom is. Do you need a towel? You can borrow one of mine. Would you prefer Superman or The Incredible Hulk? Did you bring a sleeping bag for your sleepover?'

Meg watched them, man and boy, her heart twisting as she saw hero-worship and trust in her son's eyes. This is what it should have been like. How it should have been for Jamie. Didn't every child have a right to that?

Part of her wanted to reach out and hug him close—warn him that trusting came with a high price. But another part of her—a small part—wanted to walk further down the path and see where it led.

As the door closed behind them, her mother handed her a cup of coffee. ‘Jamie really likes him. Relax.'

‘The fact that Jamie really likes him is the reason I can't relax. Jamie is so trusting. He just doesn't see bad in anyone. I'm afraid…' Meg curled her hands around the mug. ‘I'm afraid he's going to get hurt. How far do I let this go? How close should I let him get?'

‘You can't protect him from everything.'

‘No, but I can try.' And by allowing Dino into her life she was risking not just her own happiness, but Jamie's. When Dino decided that he'd had enough of her, it wouldn't just be her that suffered, would it?

Her mother measured out flour and added it to a bowl. ‘I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. Sometimes,
Meg, you need to take big strides through life, even if that means falling over. You fell, hard. And now you need to get up again. You need to be brave.'

Meg was affronted. ‘I am brave.'

‘Yes, when you're walking through a blizzard, or hanging off the end of a rope. But then you've never been scared of the physical stuff. If it doesn't frighten you then it isn't brave. And what frightens you is the emotional stuff.' Catherine added eggs to the flour and whisked. ‘I'm glad he stayed the night.'

‘I didn't plan that. But you gave him a key so he barged his way in.'

‘Good. You can thank me any time you like. I'm not sorry about that. I am sorry we caught you unawares. I should have thought of that and phoned first.'

‘Nothing happened, Mum.' Horribly uncomfortable, Meg pushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘He slept in Jamie's room.'

‘Meg, I may be old but I'm not stupid. And neither are you. If you let that man sleep in Jamie's room then you are even more of a desperate case than I think you are.' Her mother gave a tiny smile. ‘Really, you don't have to lie to me. I know I'm your mother, but frankly I'm delighted that you've finally had sex. Looking at Dino, I have every confidence that it was excellent sex. I'm thrilled to see you finally letting your guard down. Can you pass me some milk from the fridge?'

Meg dragged open the fridge door and stood for a moment, hoping that the cool air would reduce the heat of her face. ‘I don't want him to come and get the Christmas tree with us.'

‘Why not?'

‘Because it's a family trip. Our routine.' She closed the fridge door and handed her mother the milk. It was impossible to contain her fears. 'And because he's just being polite. I'm sure the last thing he wants is to spend the day with us.'

‘You don't know that. He doesn't strike me as a man who has a problem with decision-making. If he didn't want to come, he would have told you. I think you're spending too long second-guessing him. Sometimes you just have to take people at face value.'

‘I did that once before, remember?'

‘Yes, I remember.' Catherine poured milk slowly into the batter mixture, whisking all the time. ‘But you can't let that one episode of bad judgement affect all your life choices.'

Meg frowned. ‘You think Hayden was bad judgement?'

‘Appalling judgement. It was completely obvious that he was shallow, selfish and totally focused on himself.'

‘It was obvious?'

‘Right from the first day.'

Meg scowled. ‘But you didn't think to mention it?'

‘You were nineteen. Would you have listened if I'd mentioned it?'

‘Probably not.' Meg put her coffee down on the table in a huff. ‘But given I'm so much older and wiser now, perhaps you'd better tell me now what you think about Dino.'

‘I think he's clever, good looking, responsible, strong…' Her mother whisked skilfully. ‘Sexy, of course, but I'm sure even you can see that bit without me pointing it out.'

‘So he's Mr Perfect.' But her mother was impervious to Meg's sarcasm.

‘No. There are shadows there. Scars.' Her mother frowned. ‘He's led a real life. A life with ups and downs and traumas. A life like any other. But he's man enough to face those things head on and deal with them. Learn from them. He's not the sort to run from anything awkward or difficult.'

Meg gaped at her. ‘How long have you spent with him?'

‘I don't need long. It's one of the advantages of getting on in years. You have plenty of past data to draw on. Can you rinse some blueberries? Dino didn't look too excited at the
combination of maple syrup and chocolate. The least we can do is feed him something he enjoys.'

‘Mum, I don't have any blueberries! I don't have anything in my fridge except the basics, you know that. I know how to cook food a seven-year-old likes. Spaghetti. Meatballs. Chicken in breadcrumbs.' Meg's mood dropped even further. Good sex wasn't enough to sustain a relationship, was it? ‘If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I'm doomed.'

‘Well, let's hope Dino likes chicken in breadcrumbs. Just remember to throw out mouldy cheese. There are blueberries in the basket by the door. I brought them with me. And a Christmas cake that I iced for you.'

‘Thanks.' Her mind in turmoil, Meg smiled absently. ‘Jamie will love that.'

There was a pause while her mother put the bowl to one side. ‘Why didn't you go to the ball?'

Meg dug through her mother's basket and retrieved the fruit and the cake. ‘I don't want to talk about that.'

‘I was very surprised to see Dino at my door.'

Guilt squirmed in her stomach. ‘I'll pay for the tickets.'

‘I don't think he was worrying about the money.' Her mother rinsed the blueberries and tipped them into a bowl. ‘He was worried about you. He likes you, Meg.'

Meg thought about the night before—
about the passion they'd shared
. ‘Maybe.'

And she liked him. Which made the whole thing all the more terrifying.

‘Why not let the relationship take its course?'

‘Because when it crashes to the ground, I don't want Jamie caught in the rubble.' Meg broke off as Jamie bounded back into the room, Rambo at his heels.

‘Dino didn't actually need any help, so I let him shower on his own.' He climbed onto a chair and helped himself to
a handful of blueberries. ‘He's going to go with us to buy a tree. Isn't that cool?'