Harlequin Presents January 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: Sheikh's Desert Duty\Nine Months to Redeem Him\Fonseca's Fury\The Russian's Ultimatum (45 page)

He turned to her. ‘I'm not interested in the past any more, Serena. I'm interested in the here and now.'

Serena swallowed. Something fragile seemed to shimmer between them...tantalising. And then he got out of the car and she sucked in another shaky breath.

He came around and opened her door, extended a hand to help her out. She took it, and when his gaze tracked down her body and lingered on her breasts a pulse throbbed between her legs.

He tucked her arm into his as they moved forward and joined similarly dressed couples entering a glittering doorway lit by hundreds of small lights. It was a scene Serena had seen a million times before, but never heightened like this. Never
romantic.

She asked herself as Luca led her inside, greeting someone in Portuguese, if they really could let the past go. Or was that just what Luca was willing to say so that he could bed her and then walk away, with all that resentment still simmering under the surface?

‘Do you think you could crack a smile and not look as if you're about to be subjected to torture?'

Serena glanced at Luca, who had a fixed social smile on his face. She sent up silent thanks that he couldn't read her thoughts and said sweetly. ‘But this
is
torture.'

Something flared in his eyes—surprise?—and then he said, ‘Torture it may well be, but a few hours of social torture is worth it if it means that a
favela
gets a new free school staffed by qualified teachers.'

Serena felt immediately chastened. ‘Is that what this evening's ball is in aid of?'

Luca looked at her assessingly. ‘Among some other causes. The global communities charity too.'

Serena thought of that sweet little girl in the village—a million miles away from here...and yet
not
.

‘I'm sorry,' she said huskily. ‘You're right—it
is
worth it.'

Serena missed Luca's speculative look because a waiter was interrupting them with a tray of champagne. Luca took a glass and looked at her when she didn't.

She shook her head quickly and said to the waiter, ‘Do you have some sparkling water, please?'

The waiter rushed off and Luca frowned slightly. ‘You really don't drink any more?'

Serena's belly clenched. ‘No, I really don't.' She made a face. ‘I never liked the taste of alcohol anyway. It was more for the effect it had on me.'

‘What was that?'

She looked at him. ‘Numbing.'

The moment stretched between them...taut. And then the attentive waiter returned with a glass of water on a tray for Serena. She took it gratefully. Luca was getting too close to that dark place inside her.

To her relief someone came up then, and took his attention, but just as Serena felt hopeful that he might forget about her she felt her heart sink and jump in equal measure when she felt him reach for her hand and tug her with him, introducing her to the man.

* * *

Luca was finding it hard to concentrate on the conversation around him when he usually had no problem. Even if he
was
with a woman. He was aware of every tiny movement Serena made in that dress, and acutely aware of the attention she was attracting.

He was also aware that she seemed ill at ease. He'd expected her to come back into this kind of environment and take to it like the proverbial duck to water, but when they'd first come in she'd looked
pained
. It was just like in the jungle, when she'd proved him resoundingly wrong in his expectations of her.

Now her head was bent towards one of the executive team who managed his charities abroad, and they were engaged in an earnest conversation when Luca would have fully expected Serena to look bored out of her brains.

At that moment her head tipped back and she laughed at something the other woman had said. Luca couldn't breathe, and the conversation stopped around them as she unwittingly drew everyone's eye. She literally...
sparkled
, her face transformed by her wide smile. She was undeniably beautiful...and Luca realised he'd never seen true beauty till that moment.

His chest felt tight as he had a vision of what he'd subjected her to: dragging her into the jungle on a forced trek. She'd endured one of the most painful insect bites in the world. She'd stayed in a rustic village in the depths of the Amazon without blinking. She'd endeared herself to the tribespeople without even trying. It had taken him
years
to be accepted and respected.

And the miners—some of the hardest men in Brazil—weathered and rough as they came—they'd practically been doffing their caps when Serena had appeared with him, as if she was royalty.

Luca could see the crowd moving towards the ballroom and took Serena's hand in his. She looked at him with that smile still playing about her mouth and a sense of yearning stronger than anything he'd ever felt kicked him in the solar plexus. A yearning to be the cause of such a smile.

As if she was reading his mind her smile faded on cue.

‘Come on—let's dance,' Luca growled, feeling unconstructed. Raw.

He tugged Serena in his wake before he remembered that he didn't even
like
dancing, but right now he needed to feel her body pressed against his or he might go crazy.

When they reached the edge of the dimly lit dance floor Luca turned and pulled her with him, facing her. The light highlighted her stunning bone structure. That effortlessly classic beauty.

Unbidden, he heard himself articulate the question resounding in his head. ‘Who
are
you?'

She swallowed. ‘You know who I am.'

‘Do I really?' he asked, almost angry now. ‘Or is this all some grand charade for the benefit of your family, so you can go back to doing what you love best—being a wild society princess?'

Serena went pale and pulled free of Luca's embrace, saying angrily, ‘I've told you about me but you still don't have the first clue, Luca. And as for what I love best? You'll never know.'

She turned and was walking away, disappearing into the vast lobby, before Luca realised that he was struck dumb and immobile because no woman had ever walked away from him before.

Cursing under his breath, he followed her, but when he got to the lobby there was no sign of a distinctive red dress or a white-blonde head. The way she'd stood out in the crowd mocked him now. His gut clenched with panic.

He got to the open doors, where people were still arriving. He spotted the valet who had taken his car and accosted him, asking curtly, ‘The woman I came with—have you seen her?'

The valet gulped, visibly intimidated by Luca. ‘Yes. Sir. I just saw her into a taxi that had dropped off some guests.'

Luca swore so volubly that the valet's ears went red. He stammered, ‘Do—do you want your car?'

Luca just looked at him expressively and the young man scurried off.

They were on a hill overlooking the city. Luca looked out onto the benignly twinkling lights of Rio and the panic intensified. He recalled Serena saying she wanted to see the sunset... Would she have gone to the beach? At this time of night?

Panic turned to fear. He took out his phone and made a call to Serena's mobile but it was switched off. Rio was a majestic city, but at night certain areas were some of the most dangerous on earth. Where the
hell
had she gone?

* * *

Serena stalked into the apartment and the door slammed behind her with a gratifyingly loud bang. She was still shaking with anger, and her emotions were bubbling far too close to the surface for comfort.

She kicked off her shoes and made her way out to the terrace, taking deep breaths. Damn Luca Fonseca. It shouldn't matter what he thought of her...but after everything they'd been through she'd foolishly assumed that he'd come to see that she
was
different.

This was the real her. A woman who wanted to work and do something worthwhile, and never, ever insulate herself against life again. The girl and the young woman she'd been had been born out of the twisted machinations of her father.

Her hands wrapped around the railing. Self-disgust rose up inside her. To think that she was willing to go to bed with a man who thought so little of her. Where was the precious self-esteem she'd painstakingly built up again?

She knew where... It had all dissolved in a puddle of heat as soon as Luca came within feet of her. And yet she knew that wasn't entirely fair—he'd treated her as his exact equal in the jungle, and earlier, in the charity offices, she'd been surprised to find that he'd already put in motion discussions on her idea for a high-end tourist shop showcasing products from the villages and credited her with the plan.

She heard a sound behind her and tensed. Panic washed through her. She wasn't ready to deal with Luca yet. But reluctantly she turned around to see him advancing on her, his face like thunder, as long fingers pulled at his bow-tie.

She still got a jolt of sensation to see him clean-shaven. It should have made him look more urbane. It didn't.

CHAPTER EIGHT

L
UCA
THREW
ASIDE
his bow-tie just before he came onto the terrace and bit out, ‘Where the hell were you? I've been all over the beachfronts looking for you.'

His anger escalated when he saw Serena put her hands on her hips and say defiantly, ‘What was it? Did you think I'd hit some nightclub? Or that I'd gone to find some late-night pharmacy so I could score some meds?'

Luca stopped. He had to acknowledge the relief that was coursing through his veins. She was here. She was safe. But the rawness he felt because she'd walked out on him and looked so upset when he'd suggested she was acting out a charade was still there.

An uncomfortable truth slid into his gut like a knife. Perhaps this
was
her. No charade. No subterfuge.

And just like that, Luca was thrown off-centre all over again.

He breathed deeply. ‘I'm sorry.'

Serena was surprised. She blinked. ‘Sorry for what?'

Honesty compelled Luca to admit, ‘For what I said at the function. I just...
You
...'

He looked away and put his hands on his hips. Suddenly it wasn't so hard to say what he wanted to say—as if something inside him had given way.

He dropped his hands, came closer and shook his head. ‘You confound me, Serena DePiero. Everything I thought I knew about you is wrong. The woman who came to Rio, the woman who survived the jungle, the woman who gave those villagers the kind of courtesy not many people ever give them...she's someone I wasn't expecting.'

Serena's ability to think straight was becoming compromised. Emotion was rising at hearing this admission and knowing what it must be costing him.

Huskily she said, ‘But this
is
me, Luca. This has always been me. It was just...buried before.' Then she blurted out, ‘I'm sorry for running off. I came straight here. I wouldn't have gone near the beaches—not after what you said. I do have
some
street-smarts, you know.'

Luca moved closer. ‘I panicked. I thought of you being oblivious to the dangers.'

Now Serena noticed how pale Luca was.
He'd been worried about her
. He hadn't assumed she'd gone off the rails. The anger and hurt drained away, and something shifted inside her. A kind of tenderness welled up.
Dangerous
.

She had to physically resist the urge to go to him and touch his jaw. Instead she said, ‘I'm here...safe.'

His hands landed on her hips and he tugged her into him. She was shorter without her heels. He made her feel delicate. Her skin was tingling now, coming up in goosebumps in spite of the warm air. Emboldened by his proximity, and what he'd just said, she lifted her own hands and pushed Luca's jacket apart and down his arms.

He let go of her so that it could fall to the ground.

Without saying anything, Luca took her by the hand and led her into the apartment, stepping over his coat.

Serena let herself be led. She'd never felt this connection with anyone else, and a deep-rooted surge of desire to reclaim part of her sexuality beat like a drum in her blood.

Yet when Luca led her into what she assumed was his bedroom, because of its stark, masculine furnishings, trepidation gripped her. Perhaps she was being a fool? Reading too much into what he'd said? Didn't men say
anything
to get women into bed? There was so much in her past that she was ashamed of, that she hadn't made peace with, and Luca seemed to have an unerring ability to bring all of those vulnerabilities to the fore. What would happen when he possessed her completely?

Her hand tightened around Luca's and he stopped by the bed and turned to face her. Serena blurted out the first thing she could think of, as if to try and put some space between them again. ‘I lost my virginity when I was sixteen...does that shock you?'

He shrugged, his expression carefully veiled, ‘Should it? I lost mine at sixteen too—when one of my father's ex-mistresses seduced me.'

Serena's desperation rose, in spite of her shock at what he'd just revealed so flatly. ‘It's what men expect, though, isn't it? For their lovers to be somehow...innocent?'

Luca made a face. ‘I like my lovers to be experienced. I've no desire to be some wide-eyed virgin's first time.'

A wide-eyed virgin she certainly was
not
. Innocence had been ripped from her too early.

Luca pulled her closer and heat pulsed into Serena's lower body. She could feel his arousal between them, thick and hard. It scattered painful thoughts and she welcomed it like a coward.

‘I want you, Serena, more than I've ever wanted anyone. I've wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you...'

For a heady moment Serena felt an overwhelming sense of power. She reassured herself that the emotions rising inside her were transitory; sex had never touched her emotionally before, so why should it now?

When he reached for her Serena curled into him without even thinking about it. It felt like the most necessary thing. The world dropped away and it was just them in this tight embrace, hearts thudding, skin hot.

His fingers spread out over her back, making her nipples harden almost painfully against the material of the dress. And then he lowered his head and his mouth was on hers, fitting like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Serena's lips opened to his on a sigh, tongues touching and tasting, stroking intimately. Her hands wound up around his neck, fingers tugging the short strands of hair, exploring, learning the shape of his skull.

Luca's wicked mouth and tongue made her strain to get even closer. After long, drugging moments he drew back, breathing harshly. Serena had to struggle to open her eyes.

‘I want to see you,' he muttered thickly. ‘Take down your hair.'

Serena felt as if she was in a dream. Had she, in fact, had this dream more often than once in the past seven years? She lifted her hand to the back of her head, feeling incredibly languid, and removed the discreet pin. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders, making her nerve-ends tingle even more.

Luca reached out and ran his fingers through it, then fisted it in one hand as the other reached around her to draw her into him again, kissing her with ruthless passion, tongue thrusting deep.

Serena's legs were starting to wobble. Luca's mouth was remorseless, sending her brain into a tailspin.

His hands came to the shoulders of her dress and pulled with gentle force, so the material slipped down her arms, loosening around her chest. She broke away from his mouth and looked up into dark pools of blue, feeling insecure.

Her arms came up against her breasts. Luca drew back and gently tugged them away, pulling the front of the dress down, leaving her bared to him.

She wore no bra, and Luca's gaze was so hot her skin sizzled. He reached out a hand and cupped the weight of one breast, a thumb moving over one puckered nipple. She bit her lip to stop from moaning out loud.

And then Luca put his hands on her hips and pulled her into him, hard enough to make her gasp, and replaced his thumb with his mouth, suckling on that hard peak roughly, making her back arch.

His erection was insistent against her and Serena's hips moved of their own volition.

Luca lifted his head.
‘Feiticeira
.'

Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, ‘What does that mean?'

‘Witch,' Luca replied succinctly.

And he kissed her again before her mind could catch up with the fact that his hands were now pushing her dress down over her hips so that it fell to the floor in a silken swish.

He put one hand between their bodies and Serena held her breath when he explored down over her belly and lower, until he was gently pushing her legs apart so that he could feel for himself how ready she was.

Serena felt gauche, but wanton, as Luca moved his hand between her legs, over her panties. She lowered her head to his shoulder when her face got hot, and her breathing grew harsher when his wicked fingers moved against her insistently.

He slipped a finger under the gusset of her panties and touched her, flesh to flesh. Serena bit her lip hard enough to make tears spring into her eyes. She wanted to clamp her thighs together—the sensation was too much—but Luca's hand was too strong.

Her legs finally gave way and she collapsed back onto the bed, heart thumping erratically.

Luca started to undo his shirt, revealing that broad and exquisitely muscled chest. A smattering of dark hair covered his pectorals, leading down in a silky line under his trousers to where she could see the bulge of his arousal.

Serena's brain melted and she welcomed it. She didn't want to think or analyse—only feel.

His hands moved to his trousers and he undid them and pushed them down, taking his underwear with them. His erection was awe-inspiring. Long and thick and hard, a bead of moisture at the tip.

‘Seven years, Serena,' he said throatily, ‘For seven years I've wanted you above any other woman. No one came close to how I imagined this.'

She looked up at him, taken aback. She watched as he reached for something in a drawer in the side table. He rolled protection over his length. There was something unashamedly masculine about the action.

‘Lie back,' he instructed gruffly.

Serena did, glad he was giving instructions because she couldn't seem to formulate a single coherent thought.

Luca curled his fingers under the sides of her panties and gently took them off. Now she was naked. And even though she'd been naked in front of men before it had never felt like this. As if she was being reborn.

Luca came down over her on strong arms, their bodies barely touching. He kissed her, and those broad shoulders blocked everything out. Serena reached up, desperate for contact again, her hands touching his chest and moving down the sides of his body, reaching around to his back, sliding over taut, sleek muscles.

Luca broke away. ‘You're killing me. I need you...
now
. Spread your legs for me.'

Serena's entire body seemed to spasm at that husky entreaty. She moved her legs apart and Luca came down over her, his body pressing against hers. She could feel the thick blunt head of him pushing against her, seeking entrance.

She opened her legs wider, every cell in her body straining towards this union. Aching for it. She looked up at him, her whole body on the edge of some unknown precipice.

As if some lingering tension shimmering between them had just dissolved, Luca thrust in, hard and deep, and Serena cried out at the exquisite invasion.

It was sore...he was so big...but even as she had that thought the pain was already dissipating to be replaced by a heady sensation of fullness.

‘Serena?'

She opened her eyes. Luca was frowning. She hadn't realised that she was biting her lip.

He started to withdraw. ‘I've hurt you.'

There was a quality to his voice Serena had never heard before. She gripped him tight with her thighs, trapping him. ‘No,' she said huskily. ‘You're not hurting me... It's...been a while.'

He stopped, and for an infinitesimal moment Serena thought he was going to withdraw completely. But then he slowly thrust in again and relief rushed through her.

Luca reached under her back, arching her up into him more as he kept up a steady rhythm that made it hard to breathe. She could feel her inner muscles tight around him, saw his gritted jaw, the intense look of concentration on his face.

Luca pressed a searing kiss to her mouth before trailing his lips down, closing them over one nipple and then the other, forcing Serena's back to arch again as spasm after spasm of tiny pleasures rushed through her core.

She locked her feet around the back of Luca's body and he went deeper, but she couldn't break free of that sliver of control that kept her bound, kept her from soaring to the stars. A blinding flash of insight hit her like a smack in the face: she recognised now why she couldn't let go in this moment of intense intimacy—the reason why she'd never let herself feel this deeply before—it was because she'd always been too afraid of losing control.

Which was ironic. But being out of control on drink and medication had been—perversely—
within
her control. This wasn't. This was threatening to wrench her out of herself in a way that was frankly terrifying.

A small sob of need escaped Serena's mouth as that elusive pinnacle seemed to fade into the distance. The turmoil in her chest and body was burning her. But she couldn't let go—even as she heard a guttural sound coming from Luca's mouth and felt his body tense within her before deep tremors shook his big frame and his body thrust against her with the unconscious rhythm of his own release.

She felt hollowed out, unsatisfied.

Luca withdrew from her body, breathing harshly, and Serena winced minutely as her muscles relaxed their tight grip. As soon as Luca released her from the prison of his arms she felt the need to escape and left the bed.

She barely heard him call her name as she shut the bathroom door behind her, locking it. Her legs were shaking and tears burned the back of her eyes as the magnitude of what had just happened sank in. There was something fundamentally flawed, deep inside her. She'd been broken so long ago that she couldn't function normally now. And Luca had to be the one to demonstrate this to her. The ignominy was crushing.

Serena blindly reached into the shower and turned the spray to hot, stepping underneath and lifting her face up to the rush of water. Her tears slid and fell, silent heaves making her body spasm as she let it all out.

She heard banging on the door, her name. She called out hoarsely, ‘Leave me alone, Luca!'

And then, mercifully, silence.

Serena sank down onto the floor of the shower as the water beat relentlessly down over her body. She drew her knees up to her chest and dropped her head onto them and tried to tell herself that what had just happened
wasn't
as cataclysmic as she thought it was.