Oceans Between Us (A Cinderella Romance) (9 page)

People started coming in, and the place quickly filled. Dino eased through the crowd to her side and clasped her hand. "Are you ready to show off your skill on the dance floor,
tesoro
?"

Nobody else was dancing yet. Maria didn't want to be first, especially as it would attract attention to the fact she had Dino with her. "Let's eat now."

They loaded their plastic plates and chatted with Chris and Eric while they ate. Chris pulled a bottle of vodka out of her purse and sloshed a generous amount into Maria's lemonade. "To oil the wheels," she said under her breath.

Maria eyed her cup. She rarely drank spirits, but it might give her enough courage to get up on the dance floor and make a fool of herself.

After she finished the cupful, she felt hot, flushed, and a little giggly. "Will you hide in the corner and waste all our dancing practice?" Dino teased her.

"Course not! I'm ready now." She dumped her plate on a table. Dino set down his can of lager before helping her to her feet. His warm hands engulfed hers, and his laughing brown gaze caught and held hers as he backed onto the dance floor, drawing her with him. He moved so gracefully compared to the other men, as if he had muscles in places they didn't.

He leaned closer and cupped her cheek in his palm, pressing his mouth to her ear. "Now, my beautiful partner, we will show them how it is done." She laughed, all tingly from his breath on her skin, and fell into the now familiar steps of the salsa. As she twirled for the first time, Chris and Tina clapped and hooted. "You are a success, I think," Dino shouted over the music.

After a few songs, Chris shimmied across to them and tried to copy the dance steps. By now, she had obviously had a few too many spiked lemonades. She grabbed one of Dino's hands away from Maria. "Teach me, delicious Dino," she shouted over the music in a bad Italian accent.

Dino cast a questioning glance at Maria. She smiled her assent and released his hand. "Good luck," she mouthed. He led Chris and she stumbled through the steps, giggling.

Eric came up behind Maria and put his hands on her shoulders. "Sorry about this," he said. Maria just smiled and danced with Eric for a while beside Chris and Dino, hoping her sister wasn't going to do anything too embarrassing.

A slow song started. Dino passed Chris back to her husband, turned to Maria, and drew her into his arms. She flattened her palms on his chest, feeling his muscles move beneath his shirt, and pressed her face into the hollow of his neck. The spicy fragrance of his shower gel reminded her of the first few times she had cleaned his room, before she had gotten to know him, before she had fallen for him. She would never be able to enter room twelve again without remembering Dino. Her chest tightened, and she squeezed her eyes closed.

"Maria,
tesoro
," he whispered in her ear. Then he continued whispering in Italian, his voice low, soft, seductive. She melted inside. Being with him was equal parts bliss and torture when she knew he was about to leave.

The slow song ended and the tempo increased again. She eased away from him. "I need a break, Dino. Let's sit this one out." The combination of the alcohol and the other bodies on the dance floor had made her hot. She needed to get outside, get some fresh air. She headed for the door, Dino behind her. The cool sea breeze hit her like a wakeup slap on the cheeks. Her senses sharpened, her ears ringing from the loud music.

"Are you all right?"

She fanned her face. "I'm too hot. Let's stay outside for a few minutes." The noise and the crush of people were suddenly too much. She wanted Dino to herself for a while.

Hand in hand, they wandered across the car park and down the lane to a wooden bench on the edge of the road. She sat and Dino followed suit. From this high up the hill, the view stretched over the cottage roofs. The full moon hung above the sea, painting a golden streak across the rippling water like a living watercolor. "So beautiful," Dino said softly.

"Yes, it is." Maria turned to smile at him, but he wasn't looking at the view. He was staring at her.

His hand lifted to stroke her cheek. "Maria," he whispered her name in his sexy accent, the sound rolling through her like a caress. "I will miss you so much,
tesoro
. I cannot bear to think of it."

A little burst of hope filled her. "Come back and see me again, Dino. You must have some free time."

He dredged up a sigh from the depths of his chest and stared out to sea. "I do not know when I'll have the chance. My manager keeps my schedule full. I didn't even make it home at Christmas."

Dino pressed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes as if his thoughts hurt. "After New York, I will be on tour," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "A few days in each city, then I move on. It is not much of a life,
tesoro
. Not for me, and not for you, I think."

The hope trickled away and left Maria empty and aching inside. Even if she enjoyed traveling, she couldn't live out of a suitcase. She wanted Dino to stay here. But when she tried to visualize him running the Crow's Nest with her, she couldn't. He might have helped her decorate and move furniture, but she had known right from the start that this life was not for him.

They sat silently staring out to sea for what felt like an eternity. Maria's emotions had hardened to a frigid lump in her chest. A hopeless emptiness filled her. She shivered in the wind, goose bumps popping up on her skin. Dino put his arm around her and pulled her towards his warmth. She clutched his shirt and buried her face against his chest.

"Maria,
amore mio
." His hand smoothed over her hair, soothing, gentling. She couldn't bear to lose him. Should she take a chance and go with him? Her parents would be back in a few days to look after the Crow's Nest. But what would she do while he was busy? She'd be left alone in hotels all over the world, knowing nobody, sometimes unable to speak the languages. It would be a million times worse than her trip to Austria. The thought terrified her.

She had known from the start that Dino was wrong for her and still fallen in love with him. How foolish. But if she had the chance to do it all again, she wouldn't change a moment of their time together. At least she knew what it was like to fall in love. He would live on in her heart forever.

Maria raised her head. The moonlight limned Dino's features, glinted in his dark eyes, transformed him into a mysterious man of shadow and light. Tonight was her last chance to make love to him. She snuggled closer and kissed him. Tonight she wouldn't take no for an answer.

***

Dino had fought to control his desire for Maria, told himself he was doing the right thing. But as she kissed him, turning his blood to fire, he struggled to hold his resolve. He returned her kiss, her body soft, warm, and yielding in his arms. Leaving her would be the most difficult thing he had ever done. She had helped him overcome the pain of losing his son, yet in coming here, he had exchanged one pain for another, that of losing her.

Maria shivered and he held her closer. "You're cold,
tesoro
. We should go home." She didn't resist as he helped her to her feet. They walked back to the village hall, his arm around her shoulders to keep her warm. Maria retrieved her bag from inside the hall. They climbed into her car and drove the short distance home.

She clung to his hand as they walked up the path. He took the key from her and opened the front door. They entered the hall and she turned into his arms, pressing her face against his neck. "Don't go, Dino. I want you to stay with me."

"Maria,
amore mio
, I wish I could." Dino held her tight, kissed her hair, and for the umpteenth time wished his life could be different. They stood like that for ages, the only sound the clock ticking in the dining room. She shivered in his arms, her light yellow dress not warm enough for the time of year. "Come," he said, leading her towards the stairs.

When they reached the first landing, she held on to him as if scared he would leave her. He'd only been up to the private top floor where she and her parents lived once, but now he took her elbow and led her up the stairs. At the top, he guided her to her bedroom and opened the door. Her room was much like her, pretty, but not overly fussy. "Get ready for bed," he said. "I will make you a hot drink to warm you up."

As he turned to leave, she gripped his hand and pulled him back. "I want you to warm me up."

Dino leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, a battle raging inside him. It would be so easy to forget his principles and give way to desire. But it wasn't fair to her. "I should not. You know I must leave tomorrow."

"Dino, I want you. This is our last chance."

***

Maria wrapped her arms around Dino's neck and stood on her toes to kiss him. She pressed her body against the hard planes of his, putting every scrap of love and yearning into the kiss. He resisted for a moment, then his arms enfolded her and pulled her close as he answered her passion with his own.

Together, they moved towards the bed. She shoved his jacket off his shoulders and her hands fumbled at his shirt buttons in her eagerness. He solved the problem by yanking the garment off over his head. Her hands explored his warm skin, stroked across his back, his shoulders, glided down over his chest and flat stomach. He was so beautiful, so perfect. And for tonight he was hers.

Dino pulled down the zipper on the back of her dress and she wriggled it down over her hips and let it drop. He took a step away, grasping her fingers, his gaze devouring her. "Maria,
amore
, you are my dream come to life."

His fingers grazed down her sides and he grasped her hips, drew her closer, and trailed kisses from her shoulder to the top of her breasts. She cupped his head between her hands, pressed a kiss to the springy black waves of his hair. They settled on the bed and she worked on his belt, heat flooding through her, everything about him filling her senses.

He shucked his trousers and rid her of her underwear. She floated on the sensation of his skilled lips and hands caressing her body, drawing murmurs of pleasure from her, the blissful sensation of his naked skin sliding against hers. She had imagined making love with him many nights, but her imagination hadn't even come close to reality.

Dino whispered to her in Italian as he stroked and kissed her. The words meant nothing to her, but the beautiful cadence of his voice brushed across her senses, heightening her pleasure. He fished his wallet from his jacket pocket and she watched as he protected himself.

He leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You are sure?"

"If you stop now, I might have to kill you."

He laughed, a low sensuous rumble and moved over her, the wonderful weight of his body pressing her into the mattress.

She hung on tightly to him as he slid inside her, wrapped her legs around him, wishing she could keep him here forever and never let him go. She loved this man, loved him so much it hurt. She couldn't lose him. For Dino, she would try to overcome her fear of traveling. Then the hot, melting sensation washed away all coherent thoughts.

***

Reluctantly, Dino moved off Maria and settled at her side. He drew her into his arms and kissed her hair. His eyes closed, languorous and sated. She was so eager and sweet, so genuine. The soft little murmurs of pleasure she made when he caressed her touched him deeply. The women he usually slept with all seemed to have an ulterior motive, they either wanted him to push their singing careers or spend money on them. Maria was a breath of fresh air. This night would stay with him forever.

"I don't want to go to sleep and waste my last few hours with you," she said, turning in his arms to face him.

"
Tesoro
." Dino stroked her hair, trailed his fingers across her cheek.

"Sing to me. The sort of thing you sing in an opera."

He chuckled. "Those songs are much too loud. But I will sing you an Italian lullaby my mamma used to sing me when I was a boy."

Lying in the warm cocoon of their bed, his arm loosely around her, he started singing softly, tentatively, very aware that his voice was rusty. Maria laid a hand on his chest and watched him with an almost childlike curiosity. She epitomized all the good things that he had lost from his life.

Memories flooded back into his mind, things he hadn't thought of for ages—his happy childhood in Riomaggiore, his brothers and sisters, laughter, a time of hope and excitement before he let himself be drawn along his current career path by Freddy Short's promises of fame and fortune.

Maria's eyelids fell, her cheeks flushed with spent passion. Dino let his song trail away and the sound of her soft, even breathing filled the room.

It hit him then, a flood tide of pain he'd held back that suddenly breached his defenses—he would lose her. She obviously had feelings for him, but yesterday she had made it very clear she would not come to New York. She had her future planned and it was here in Cornwall, running the guesthouse.

Dino rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He imagined what it would be like to stay here and share her idyllic life in Porthale. He would enjoy being with Maria, but he would die a little every day if he could not perform. Singing was as vital to him as breathing.

A nauseating sense of loss swept through him. There was no way they could be together and he must accept that. He curled on his side and drew her into his arms, careful not to wake her. He only had a few more hours to hold her. While she slept, he stroked her hair, pressed his lips to her nose, her eyelids, and her lips, whispered words of love that she did not hear. Said goodbye.