Seduced by Innocence (9 page)

He sensed her trembling and his spirits soared. At last he would discover the secret that had so far eluded him: the secret of
her.
Then, perhaps, he might have peace.

“Let me see you without this thing,” he growled. With an impatient movement, he took the mask from her face and tossed it away. “Now you’re you again.”

But his words were fatal. Herself was just what Terri didn’t want to be. It was someone else who’d offered herself up to his lovemaking with shameless abandon, and as he forced her to become Terri again, the old shame and reservations came alive. With despair, she felt the magic die, leaving her cold and awkward. “Maurizio...”

“Hush, let me love you...”

“No, wait—please—”

“I’ve waited so long already.” He was kissing her as he spoke, his lips making a determined assault on her face, her neck, her breasts.

“Maurizio, please.” She began to struggle. “I can’t do this.”

She felt him freeze, and when he moved back to look at her, his face was hard. “More games, Teresa?”

“It isn’t a game—I swear—I don’t know what happened, but I can’t...please, I can’t!”

He made an angry sound and moved away from her. Terri took a horrified look at her own bare breasts, the peaked nipples telling the unmistakable story of her wantonness, and she hurriedly covered herself. She rose quickly from the bed and turned away from him. “I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly.

“Sorry? You play your coquettish tricks on me and say you’re
sorry?
”

“It wasn’t any trick,” she cried angrily. “I couldn’t help it. One minute it was all right and the next—it wasn’t.” She added lamely, “You shouldn’t have taken off the mask.”

“Are you telling me you can only make love from behind a mask?” he demanded cruelly.

She was pale. “That might just be it.”

“Now I’ve heard everything. Of all the excuses for making a fool of a man—”

“I wasn’t trying to make a fool of you.” His hard face told her that he didn’t believe her. He looked implacable and unforgiving, and she shivered. “Please, Maurizio, I’d like you to go.”

“Willingly,” he said through clenched teeth. Without a backward look, he strode to the door and slammed it behind him.

A
fter the way Maurizio had stormed out, Terri wondered if she would ever see him again, but the next night, when once more she left work at nine, he was there waiting for her, leaning against a wall as if he had all evening at his leisure. Her heart leapt, but she kept her manner light as she fell into step beside him. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?” she asked.

“It means I ask
you
to forgive
me.
I overreacted and behaved badly.”

“I wasn’t playing coquettish games, Maurizio, truly. I just—I don’t know what came over me.”

“Hush. It’s over. I come in sackcloth and ashes.”

His expression was so droll that she laughed and relaxed. “Aren’t you overreacting again, coming to meet me when you have more important things you should be doing?” she challenged.

“There’s nothing more important than taking care of you,” he said lightly.

“You speak as if I were in danger.”

He shrugged. “All foreigners are in danger in a strange city, especially in winter.”

“But Venice isn’t strange to me anymore. I’ve fallen in love with it. I don’t believe anything bad could happen to me amid such beauty,” she mused, looking around her at the ancient buildings that were half-visible in the gloom.

“Then you haven’t studied Venice’s history,” Maurizio observed. “This has always been a dangerous place, where love and murder walked hand in hand.... Look at that corner,” he said, pointing ahead. “Did you see a man slipping away or was it a trick of the light? You can’t tell. The shadows promise much but hide everything. And if the man was real, is he lover or assassin? Will he pierce your heart with passion—or a stiletto? When you discover which, it will be too late.”

Terri laughed and let him put an arm about her shoulder and draw her close. Maurizio enchanted her when he was in this mood. And then she wondered whether it was the man who enchanted her or the whole mysterious city, of which he was but a part.

“What are you thinking?” he asked quickly, turning her chin up so that he could look into her face.

Caught by surprise, she replied with instinctive honesty, “I was wondering whether it’s Venice or you that I—”

“That you what?” he asked when she checked herself.

“That I like so much,” she finished lamely.

“Only ‘like’? A moment ago, you were in
love
with Venice.”

His eyes gleamed at her in the darkness, challenging her with what she’d almost said. Terri shrugged and tried to sound natural. “Like—love—whatever,” she said.

“As you say,” he answered blandly, but his smile unnerved her.

It was as if he could look into the bottom of her heart and read secrets there that she hadn’t even admitted to herself. Even after the disaster of last night, he must know how easily he could evoke her desire. Suddenly, she felt herself blushing from head to toe; every part of her body was burning, out of control. She wanted to touch him and have him touch her, not in the friendly way he was doing now, but intimately, as he’d done the night before. Wanting him was irrational after she’d rejected him, and she was ashamed of her own desire. Her shame at something so natural made her angry with herself, but she couldn’t help it.

Abruptly she turned away, freeing herself from Maurizio’s arm and heading toward the Midas Hotel with hurrying steps. “Why do you run away from me?” he asked, catching up. “Don’t you trust me anymore?”

“I’m not running away from you,” she said with a hint of breathlessness. Firmly she slowed her steps, telling herself not to be foolish.

After a moment, his arm went about her shoulder again. “What do you want of me, Teresa? You seem to tell me two different things at once. Do you want me to leave you alone or do you want
this?
”

On the words, he drew her into the shadows. His arms tightened gently about her and the next moment his mouth covered hers. At first he kissed her cautiously, as though anticipating rejection, but Terri was incapable of protest. She’d spent a lonely night, fearing that this joy was lost to her forever. Now her fears were banished. The feel of Maurizio’s lips on hers obliterated everything but him, and she was drowning in sensation, fears forgotten, yearning only for this to last forever.

“Teresa,” he murmured as he kissed her. “Teresa...tell me that you want me...in spite of everything....”

His burning lips made it impossible for her to answer, nor did she want to answer. She wanted only to stay in his arms until the end of time.

She’d closed her eyes, to enjoy more fully the feeling of being alone in a private world with Maurizio. Now she let them open slightly. Through her lashes she had an eerie sense of seeing all Venice at once. Bridges, palaces, mysterious narrow passages leading to infinity, all seemed to float before her.

And then she tensed at something she thought she’d seen. Opening her eyes wide, she had a glimpse of a man standing on a small bridge nearby. He was immediately below a lamp that threw livid shadows across his face, distorting his features, but she could tell that he was regarding her with an air of puzzlement and sadness. Then he moved, the light on his face changed and at once Terri cried out,
“Leo.”

Maurizio tensed and pushed her away from him, staring intently into her face. “What did you say?” he demanded.

“Leo—my brother—I saw him.” She wrenched herself free from Maurizio and ran to the bridge. It was empty. “He was here,” she cried.
“I saw him.”

“Or the force of your longing made you imagine him,” Maurizio told her.

“I didn’t imagine him,” she cried fiercely. “He was there and it was Leo.”

“Then where is he now?”

“Listen, I can hear footsteps. Over there!” She darted across the bridge and plunged into the maze of passages that confronted her. “Leo,” she cried frantically.
“Leo...”

But there was no sign of him, only the sound of echoing footsteps nearby, then far off. “Leo,” she cried again.

“Teresa.” Maurizio was by her side, “Stop and think a moment....”

“I’ve no time to think,” she said frantically. “Leo was there. I
saw
him. I must find him.”

Before he could stop her, she darted away again, trying to locate the steps, but constantly mocked by their elusiveness. As she ran, the darkened streets were full of echoes, and she couldn’t tell which were her own steps and which those of her quarry. She cried his name desperately and the echoes threw it back to her.

At last the chase took her out of the little alleys. She saw a gleam of water and realized she’d come to one of the smaller side canals. Just up ahead, she thought she made out a figure darting over a bridge. She ran faster, trying to catch him, not seeing how close she’d come to the water. There was a shout, a cry of warning. Too late she saw her foot slipping toward the edge of the bank, and the next moment she was falling. She hit the water before she fully understood what was happening, and then there was only the cold darkness engulfing her as she went down, singing in her ears. She thrashed around madly, but there was darkness in all directions, and for a terrible moment she didn’t even know which way was up. She had a nightmare vision of sinking forever, condemned to eternal existence in this dreadful void.

Then a hand, apparently from nowhere, seized her firmly. Another hand took hold of her, and she felt herself being pulled up and up, until they broke the surface, and she realized that Maurizio had come in after her and fished her out.

A little way ahead, the stone bank was broken by steps running into the water. He drew her along to them and helped her out. Terri collapsed onto the steps and sat there, coughing and spluttering, shivering from the effect of the chill air on her wet body. Overhead she heard Maurizio yell, “Hey, Pietro,” and when she looked up, a gondola was hurriedly approaching. “Get in quickly,” Maurizio said. “Pietro, take us to the Midas.”

As he spoke, he was almost shoving Terri under the
feltz.
He followed her, pulling curtains tightly closed behind them, and the next moment, the gondola swayed as they cast off. Terri was shivering as much from shock as cold, and Maurizio pulled her into his arms, rubbing her to keep her warm, but also shivering himself. Terri clung to him, taking comfort from the feel of his strong body, and the beat of his heart, which seemed to shake his whole frame.

“Come close to me,” Maurizio said urgently. “I’ll keep you warm.” He tilted her chin so that her face was turned up to him. In the darkness, he couldn’t see her face but he could sense her warm breath against his lips. “Teresa,” he murmured.

“Did you see him?” she whispered. “Did you see where Leo went?”

He made a soft sound that was perilously like a curse. “Will you forget him?”

“How can I forget him? He’s my brother—and something strange has happened to him.”

“It wasn’t your brother. That’s just wishful thinking.”

“You don’t know that,” she insisted.

“Teresa, that was not Leo,” he said emphatically. “It couldn’t have been.”

“Why not? How can you be so sure?”

She sensed a frisson go through him as though the question made him uneasy. “Because—because—why should Leo run away from you?” he said.

“I don’t know. That’s why I have to find him.”

“Teresa, stop this,” he said desperately. “You can’t spend your life chasing fantasies. You’re cold and wet. All that matters now is getting you home before you take a chill.”

“I’m not cold,” she said, discovering it to be true. Through a crack in the curtains, a light played briefly over Maurizio’s face, vanished and appeared again. Terri could just make out his expression turned toward her, intent, angry—and something else that she didn’t have time to analyze.

“I’m not cold, either,” he said hoarsely. “I’m burning—feel how I burn—
Teresa.
” The last word was muffled as his mouth covered hers again. He held her fiercely, pulling her hard against him.

Terri felt her heart pounding as never before as she surrendered to his kiss. The man she’d glimpsed and lost was forgotten. There was only Maurizio and her growing passion for him, a passion he was doing everything to inflame by the movements of his tongue and the urgent caresses of his hands. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, and the knowledge thrilled her and spurred her on to kiss him back with new ardor. She reached up eager hands and wound her fingers in his hair, offering herself to him completely as his mouth left a trail of burning kisses down the length of her neck. The reserve of years was melting into nothing. In another moment, he would claim her here in the rocking gondola, and she would have no power or will to refuse.

A bump as they touched the landing stage brought her back to herself. “We’ve arrived,” Maurizio said tersely. “Come.”

He jumped out, holding Terri’s hand to help her up the steps. Before she could go far, he swept her into his arms and ran into the hotel with her, ignoring curious stares from passersby. The lift door was open and he hurried in, not noticing the other occupant until they were on their way up. “Good grief, whatever happened?” Bruno demanded.

“She fell into the water,” Maurizio said.

“And you heroically dived in after her?” Bruno asked with raised eyebrows and the suspicion of a wry smile.

“This isn’t funny,” Maurizio snapped. “I’ve got to get her dry before she catches pneumonia.” His eyes met Bruno’s, commanding him to be silent. Bruno’s eyebrows lifted again, but he said no more.

As soon as they were in Terri’s room, Maurizio set her down and began to strip off her sodden clothes. “Get the rest of your things off quickly,” he growled, tossing her dress aside.

“What about you? You could catch cold, too.”

He gave an unexpected smile that seemed to flow right through her. “I’m Venetian,” he said softly. “The water of my city is as natural to me as dry land. It’s strangers who have to take care.” Abruptly he left her, heading for the bathroom. Terri realized that she was almost naked. Her underwear clung to her revealingly, and she was swept by a wave of self-consciousness. Maurizio returned with a towel and a bathrobe, which he tossed to her. Then he returned to the bathroom and shut the door.

Terri hurriedly threw off her underclothes and wrapped herself in the bathrobe, which belonged to the Midas and was the color of gold. It was too large and enveloped her chilled body gloriously. She rubbed her hair until it was almost dry, then sat down at the dressing table to comb it out. The woman who looked back at her from the mirror was a mass of confusion, with everything reflected in her face. There was the brief joy of thinking she’d found Leo, the anguish of seeing her hope destroyed, but most of all there was the memory of Maurizio’s embrace. The feel of his arms about her was still there and his kiss seemed to be imprinted on her lips.

She drew a long breath as it all came back to her, and she closed her eyes, feeling heat stream through her body. She was as conscious of him as if he were crushing her against him, caressing her lips with his own. Now that she was alone, she could admit the truth to herself, and the truth was that she wanted him with all the passion of which she was capable, passion that had been stifled for too long. For years, her barriers had been in place, but now this man had swept them aside, releasing something deep within her that threatened to consume her. The fears of last night were gone, and she was eager to yield to her desire. She could no longer hide that from herself.

She opened her eyes and caught her breath at what she saw. Maurizio had come silently out of the bathroom and was standing watching her. He, too, had changed into a bathrobe, which was roped in lightly at the waist in such a way that the top hung open, revealing his brown, muscular chest. He moved slowly toward her, his eyes meeting hers in the mirror, until he was standing immediately behind her. Only then did Terri realize that her own robe had fallen wide open, revealing her breasts, with the peaked nipples that told the story of her desire. For a brief moment, the old shyness returned and she made an instinctive movement to cover herself, but before she could succeed, Maurizio had dropped his head to lay his lips against her cheek. Their touch was light but it was as if he’d burned her with coals. Searing awareness went through her and she threw her head back, offering herself to him ecstatically. She could feel his fingers at the edge of the robe, pulling it back and down her arms.