The Count's Prize (11 page)

‘Well, now you’ve seen my problem—what’s yours?’

Josie could hardly remember. A few minutes ago she had been completely absorbed in her own feelings. Now
they were almost forgotten in the face of Dario’s problems. They were far worse. He sounded so concerned about her, she could hardly bear to reply.

‘It’s nothing like as serious as the things you’ve been going through, but … to be honest, I’ve felt terrible since your birthday, Dario. I want to clear the air between us. I really did have a wonderful time at your party and … afterwards.’

She faltered, and couldn’t help blushing. Dario grinned conspiratorially, bowing his head at the compliment.

‘… But next morning I felt so awkward, I didn’t know how to react. It was the first time I’ve ever done anything like that. All I knew was that I didn’t want you to think you owed me anything, or that I expected any sort of commitment from you.’

‘You made that perfectly clear at the time. I understood and respected your decision, and still do. I didn’t have any difficulty with it then, or now.’ He picked up the photograph of Arietta and put it carefully away in his wallet again. ‘As far as I’m concerned, everything is fine between us.’

It didn’t feel like that to Josie. She blushed even deeper.

‘No … I know I was sending out mixed messages to you. It was all and then nothing …’ Her voice trailed away. Living each day without Dario had been agony for her, yet he seemed so unmoved! If he didn’t accept what she was about to say, the pain would be unspeakable, yet she knew she had to seize the moment and at least try, otherwise she’d never forgive herself for being
a coward. ‘There’s no reason why we can’t be …
friends
for the rest of my stay. Is there?’ she added hurriedly.

Dario went absolutely still for a moment, then turned to clear up his brushes and paints. When he replied, his words were slow and considered.

‘Josie, of course I want that. But let’s be absolutely clear—I don’t want any more misunderstandings. There must be no chance of anyone getting hurt by mistake.’

Josie didn’t reply at once, but eventually, she stammered, ‘W … we’re both adults, aren’t we?’

‘All right, then. However, you’ll have to take the lead. I don’t want you to end up regretting anything.’ The words seemed gentle, yet the tension around his jaw gave the impression of a lethal predator, barely held in check.

Josie couldn’t speak, so she simply nodded. Dario turned away from the building tension, and began to scrub his canvas clean. She watched him, strangely relieved that Arietta’s image would soon be erased.

‘What are you going to paint now?’

He stopped to fold the cloth he held into a pad.

‘I haven’t decided yet,’ he responded finally.

‘Then … how about me?’ Her voice was quiet, but clear.

Dario turned slowly towards her and smiled. It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud that had lingered for far too long.

‘Seriously?’

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

‘Then yes—I’d love to do that. And … I think I’d like to paint you wearing the stunning dress you wore at the
party. The green silk wrapping that covered my wonderful present,’ he said softly.

Looking out over the beautiful view from his studio window, Josie pretended to think. She couldn’t. Her mind was filled with images of a much more seductive kind than mere landscape.

‘The zip of that dress is rather tricky … it’s not something I could manage on my own. I might need your help to get it on and off,’ she whispered, leaving no doubt about who was taking the lead now.

Outside, the last swallows slipped through the sky with the sound of roughened fingertips on silk. Then Dario took the few steps that still separated them and slid his arms around Josie’s waist. She closed her eyes.

‘So why not give in and let me help you for once?’ he whispered into the citrus-scented softness of her hair.

The touch of his breath on her neck sent shivers over her skin. Lust flooded through her body with an urgency that wouldn’t wait for bed. When his hands guided her into turning and facing him, she couldn’t resist. Their first kiss was a slow, haunting moment of quiet bliss. Then Josie opened her eyes and found herself looking over his shoulder—straight at the unfinished portrait of Arietta. Her blood ran cold.

‘You feel chilly,’ Dario murmured, running his hands over her bare arms with lingering appreciation.

‘A breeze must have blown in from the garden. You’d better close the blinds,’ she whispered. He smiled and did so, then turned to her, his eyes asking a question. Josie gathered her courage for a final time and let herself speak the absolute truth. ‘I want you, Dario. Now.’

He looked down at her, the smile lingering on his lips, but his dark eyes were hooded and intense. ‘This is the last chance you have to change your mind.’

‘I want you right now. It doesn’t matter where we are,’ she said huskily.

‘That’s exactly what I was thinking,
tesoro
.’

He pulled away from her, slowly and reluctantly. Still greedy for contact with her, his hand slid down from her shoulder to her hand and finally kissed each of her fingertips in turn before letting go of her. Then Josie took control as she had promised, her heightened state of arousal urging her on. Undressing Dario was a triumph of restraint over animal need. She forced herself to take her time, kissing every inch of skin she exposed. His hands roamed over her, wild and free. She could hear the hiss of his breath and knew he was struggling against his most basic urge to take command. Knowing that acted as a powerful aphrodisiac. Sliding his clothes off over the hard, hot planes of his body and hearing the swish of fine designer fabrics brushing against his skin was so exciting it lured Josie into trying things she had never been tempted to do before.

‘All my experience counts for nothing,’ he breathed into the still, warm air.

‘You don’t know what it means to hear you say that, Dario.’ The thought of being able to please him made her actions feel all the more erotic. When he took hold of her now, she did nothing to stop him. She was bathed in a state of such high arousal, she wanted to be taken and possessed and to hell with the consequences.

‘You are divine …’ His words were as seductive as
the urgent pressure of his body against hers. ‘Dio, but you are everything I have ever wanted in a woman. I want you so much …’

She wanted him, too, with a passion more deep and urgent than anything she had ever known before. With a wordless sound of anticipation, he lifted her onto a low velvet-covered couch in the centre of the room. There, he took possession of her. They made love with a fast, fiery intensity that neither had experienced before—and Josie knew that from now on she would never find happiness with anyone but Dario. When he couldn’t hold back any more, she enfolded him, holding him so close that she felt they were both part of one body. In response, he shouted his pleasure to the skies in one glorious burst of fulfilment.

O
VER
the next few glorious days, Josie completely lost track of time. She was in Dario’s arms, and it was the only thing that mattered to her in any way. She was completely absorbed by him, and her feelings were reflected and magnified in his fascination for her. The two of them became one in a delicious spell of seduction, but Josie was also acutely aware that there was a time limit on her happiness. She had to get back to the project that had first brought her into the charmed embrace of Dario’s influence, before her time in Italy was over.

Catching her hand as she got out of bed one morning, he turned it over and kissed his way from the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist to the bend of her elbow. She gasped, barely resisting the temptation of Dario’s husky ‘Come back to bed?’

She forced herself to draw a line between the two parts of her life, pleasure and work.

He let her go, but when she bent to kiss him goodbye he almost persuaded her to stay. Returning her passion, he kissed her with such fire it drew all the breath from her body.

‘No … stop, I must go, Dario!’ she gasped, laughing—but her heart wanted her to stay for ever.

Watching Josie leave his room filled Dario with a cocktail of feelings. His body wanted her more than ever, but his mind had lost all sense of direction. Josie was so different from the other women who had populated his life so far. They always began to lose their appeal the moment he had satisfied his lust. That hadn’t happened with Josie. Instead of becoming easier to resist over time, he was beginning to find it hard to decide where he stopped and she began. They had been inseparable since that moment she’d walked back into his studio. Their five-hour fling had now stretched into days, and Dario no longer had any idea of how it would end.

Gazing out of his bedroom window over his sunlit estate, he saw Federico’s flock of doves circling over the courtyard. Josie must have thrown them some croissant crumbs as she left. As he smiled at the image, one downy feather detached itself from the flock and swung through the air. Caught by a little up-draught, it suddenly spiralled towards the blue sky again.

Funny
, he thought as he decided to get up and follow Josie out to her work.
This whole business started because I wanted to keep her at arm’s length. Now we might as well be riding on that feather, hovering between heaven and earth
.

It was a journey Josie assumed would be over by the following weekend. She already sighed softly each time Dario opened his appointments diary. His smile widened. Josie had given him the perfect birthday present,
but he’d been planning for a few days and now he knew that she would be getting an even bigger surprise—from him!

Work was a constant thread running through Josie’s life. She could never forsake it entirely, especially as she knew it would be the only thing left to comfort her when Dario was a painful memory, haunting her every moment.

Dario …

She softened at the mere thought of his name. She was almost powerless to resist him. She spent seductive nights wrapped in his arms, and was awakened by his kisses and passion each morning. He was encouraging her to take a more relaxed attitude to life. His influence over her was growing so much that she’d even dropped her famous independence long enough to let him take her visiting his friends. Dario had a formidable network of contacts. He introduced her to people whose private estates contained spectacular ruins, many of which had never been excavated before. Some were interested in hosting parts of Josie’s intended field trips, so she arranged follow-up visits to survey the sites. This was where Dario sprang his biggest surprise of all. Instead of sitting on shady terraces sipping cocktails with his contacts, he was only interested in working at her side.

On days like today he was always there for her, but Josie was sure it wouldn’t last. When her visit to the Castello Sirena ended she would leave, like the swallows. Dario couldn’t follow her. Instead, he would forget
her the moment autumn chills chased all thoughts of their shared summer days away …

The day before she was due to leave for England, Josie was out on site when her phone rang. Dario had been delayed back at the
castello
by paperwork, so she was waiting expectantly for his call. She answered on the first ring.

With luck, he’s going to say he’s on his way
, she thought.

‘Josie!’

It wasn’t the voice she so wanted to hear, and her spirits sank.

‘Bursar,’ she replied evenly, managing to hide her disappointment. ‘I didn’t realise you knew my mobile number. I’m afraid I’m in Italy at the moment, so selling any more raffle tickets for university funds is out of the question,’ she added, hoping he wouldn’t ask her why until she’d had time to dream up some excuse.

‘I know where you are, dear girl. That’s why I’m ringing you. I have some good news.’

Josie racked her brain. She knew how this man worked. Money was everything to him: if he called her ‘dear girl’ she must have more of it than he did.

The chance would be a fine thing
, she thought.
Unless—

‘Don’t tell me the staff’s syndicate numbers came up in the lottery last night?’

‘Ah … no, but in a way you’re on the right track. Remind me—how much money did you request to fund your research and field trips, dear girl?’

His cheery tone convinced Josie that he was building up to ask her some tremendous favour.

‘That depends.’

‘Well … why don’t you think of a number and double it, say, to allow for inflation … wear and tear, that sort of thing?’

There was definitely something up, and there was only one way to flush this particular pigeon out of the undergrowth. Josie picked an enormous figure out of the air. ‘Sixty thousand pounds.’

‘Is that all?’ The bursar sounded disappointed. ‘Couldn’t you make it a round hundred? Taking into account travelling costs, expenses, et cetera, et cetera?’

‘Oh,
easily
,’ Josie said with heavy sarcasm. ‘It was the government’s loss when I decided not to become a Member of Parliament.’

The bursar laughed like a drain.

He
never
laughs at my jokes
, Josie thought.
The sun must really be shining out of me today
. Consumed with curiosity, she tried pushing the envelope a bit further to see if it came back stuffed with used notes.

‘Why stop there? Why not make it two hundred thousand, to allow for shrinkage?’

‘Oh, now, don’t let’s be greedy!’ The bursar chuckled. ‘Count Dario is being generous enough in letting you name your own price.’

Josie froze. ‘What?’

‘Count Dario di Sirena is so impressed with the work you’ve been doing on his estate, he wants to fund your plans to develop student field trips to the area. He thinks it will boost the local economy, so he’s willing to finance
your stay in Italy for as long as is necessary, and pay for all your research, too.’

Josie stiffened. ‘Oh, he
is
, is he?’

‘Yes. We’ve had some good long chats on the telephone. What a
very
nice chap he is!’

‘Delightful.’

‘He told me how much he enjoys seeing you working about the old place and bringing it to life. He’s really interested in being of service to you, Josie.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Yes, he seemed extremely concerned that any financial constraints put on you by the university shouldn’t curtail your ambitions.’

‘Concerned? I’ll bet he was. Hang on, Bursar. I need to discuss this matter with the Count myself, before we decide
anything
,’ she announced, grimly determined that the only nice round figure she would accept from Dario would be a big fat zero.

Dario was sitting in his office, contemplating the di Sirena Monet that hung opposite his desk, when his peace was shattered by a whirlwind in human form. Josie was glowing from her half-mile hike across country and burning with righteous indignation.

‘What the
hell
do you think you’re doing?’

Dario could see from the way she slammed the door that ‘Thinking of you’ was obviously not the answer she wanted. He smiled instead, and gave her a chance to explain. It was a mistake.

‘How dare you extend my stay without asking me? And how dare you pay off my department? I’ve had
to grovel for every penny I’ve ever needed, yet I start sleeping with you and suddenly money is flowing in my direction faster than your flattery! How do you think that makes me feel, Dario?’ she hissed.

Startled by her reaction but determined not to show it, he netted his fingers and watched her over them. ‘Not grateful, that’s for sure,’ he drawled.

Her face changed. ‘I won’t be forced to rely on anyone else’s …’ she seemed about to say something else but then plumped for ‘… money. You’re trying to make me dependent on you.’

‘I thought you understood me better than that, Josie,’ he replied in a more reasonable tone of voice. ‘I think I understand
you
quite well. You’re brilliant at your job and deserve to go as far as possible, yet I’ve heard you speak about how you have to beg for a share of the limited amount available, and you never get enough to use as you’d like on your projects. I have more money than I can possibly spend so, to me, the answer was obvious.’

Josie plonked her hands down on the edge of his table and leaned over to glare straight into his face. ‘Maybe it is, to you. In fact you’re just another hypocrite! And God knows what you’ve made me look like in front of my colleagues!’

Dario stood up sharply, making her jump back.

‘What have they got to do with anything that goes on here? And as for calling me a hypocrite—
dannazione
! This funding for your project would mean you could stay here for longer. You don’t want to leave here tomorrow any more than I want you to go—so what’s hypocritical about trying to keep you here? I’m trying to
help, Josie. Whatever is wrong with that?’ Dario continued, exasperated. ‘What
is
wrong with you?’

‘Nothing!’ she yelled—although he noticed she could no longer meet his gaze. ‘Unless you call honesty and integrity faults!’

‘It’s a bit difficult holding a conversation with you when you’re so far up on your high horse!’ he retorted. ‘Why don’t you come down to earth so we can discuss this like adults?’

‘Oh, would you
listen
to yourself?’

‘No—you listen to
me
!’ he snapped back. ‘At first I thought you were too delicate a flower to get involved with me. Now you come bursting in here like poison ivy! If you really want the truth, I wanted to make up for the way you’ve been treated in the past. What’s so bad about that?’

‘Just about everything! Can’t you see?’

‘No!’ Dario flopped back in his chair, throwing up his hands in disbelief. ‘How can you say that?’

‘
I
want to be in charge of what I feel and what I do and where I go, and by paying money to try and keep me here, you’ve made me feel like a … like a common …’ Josie couldn’t bring herself to say the word, but it was obvious which one she had in mind.

Dario’s jaw dropped when he realised what she meant. ‘How dare you? I would never dream of paying a woman to sleep with me,’ he said coldly.

‘You don’t have to! You’ve got power, prestige, influence, social standing—what woman wouldn’t want a part of that?’ she yelled.

‘Not you, obviously.’

She stared at him, hot and red and breathing very fast.

Making a supreme effort, Dario wrenched his attention back from her pulsating breasts to her face. It was funny how every tiny detail had fixed itself so firmly in his mind—the slight gap between her teeth, the way she kept brushing her hair behind her ears when she was angry—
or nervous
, he found himself thinking.

‘This is it, Dario,’ she said in a voice full of venom. ‘I don’t want to be your mistress any more.’

That was a shock. ‘Really? I don’t remember asking you to become my mistress in the first place. I didn’t think that was the arrangement.’

Her angry flush became the nervous pink of embarrassment.

‘S … stop it! You didn’t have to ask me. N … not in so many words. You wanted my body and … and … and, I wanted yours …’ She blushed even deeper at the admission. ‘I was only going to be here for a little while. That’s why we agreed to enjoy this while it lasted, and then put it all down to experience.’

‘But we’re both getting so much enjoyment, so much
pleasure
out of your stay. Why don’t you like the idea of extending it?’

Because I can’t stop wanting you!

‘This isn’t about the length of my stay, Dario! Can’t you see what you’ve done? I’ve lobbied and argued and written and rung everyone I could think of for months and months, trying to get funding for my project, but nobody’s taken me seriously. Then you push a pile of cash at them and
ecco
! Everything’s fine and dandy.
But you can’t see how this makes me feel—and, what’s worse, you’ll
never
understand—not in a million years!’

She burst into noisy tears of rage and frustration.

Dario stared at her. His sister was the only person he had seen cry real tears before. It was such a shocking sight, it took him a few seconds to react. Then in a flash of movement he was on his feet and pulling Josie into his arms. That made her howl all the louder. His arms full of weeping woman, Dario wondered how and why they were getting further and further away from the gentle dwindling of passion and eventual amicable parting he’d had in mind.

He heard her snivel something that might have been ‘I’m a total failure …’ and held her closer still.

‘How can you say that?’ he asked in a reply that could cover all sorts of eventualities. It seemed to work. There was an unsteady pause in her tears.

‘I’ve always known it,’ she said slowly, her words still stippled with tears, ‘because every time I let anybody get under my skin, it all goes wrong. First my dad walked out, then my fiancé, and now you’re trying to lead me into the same trap! Not even work can save me this time. I was happy here while there was a strict time limit. I could accept that, and it meant I didn’t have to worry about our future. I knew we didn’t have one. Now you’ve extended my stay here.’