Artie went to him and grasped him by both hands. ‘Oh, Luca, you were only a child. Kids do stuff like that all the time, especially teenage boys. You mustn’t blame yourself. But I understand how you do…you see, I blame myself for my mother’s death and my dad’s disability.’
‘I do understand.’ His eyes were full of pain. ‘There were times when I wished I had been the one to die. I’m sure you wished the same. But that doesn’t help anyone, does it?’
‘No…’ She leaned her head against the solid wall of his chest, slipping her arms back around his waist. ‘Thank you.’
‘For?’ The deep, low rumble of his voice reverberated next to her ear.
Artie looked back up at him. ‘For listening. For understanding. For not judging.’ She took a little hitching breath and added, ‘For wanting me when I thought no one ever could.’
Luca brushed his thumb over the fullness of her lower lip, setting off a firestorm in her flesh. ‘I want you. I’ve tried ignoring it, denying it, resisting it, but it won’t go away.’ His voice dropped to a lower pitch, tortured almost, as if he was fighting a battle within himself between what he should do and what he shouldn’t.
Artie licked her lips and encountered the saltiness of his thumb. ‘I want you too.’ She touched his firm jaw with her hand. ‘I don’t see why we have to stick to the rules. We are attracted to each other physically. Why not enjoy the opportunity? How else am I going to gain experience? I’m hardly going to meet anyone whilst living here, and we’re married anyway, so why not?’ She could hardly believe how brave she was being, speaking her needs out loud. But something about Luca made her feel brave and courageous. His desire for her spoke to her on a cellular level, making her aware of her body and its needs in a way she hadn’t thought possible.
Luca cupped one side of her face in his hand, his thumb stroking over her cheek in slow, measured strokes. A frown settled between his brows, his eyes darker than she had ever seen them. ‘Is that really want you want? A physical relationship, knowing it will end after six months?’
Maybe it won’t end.
Artie didn’t say it out loud—she was shocked enough at hearing it inside her head.
Since the accident, she had denied herself any dreams of one day finding love, of marrying and having a family. She had destroyed her family, so why should she have one of her own? But now she had met Luca, she realised what she was missing out on. The thrill of being attracted to someone and knowing they desired you back. The perfectly normal needs within her body she had ignored for so long were fully awake and wanting, begging to be assuaged. ‘I want to know what it is like to make love with a man,’ Artie said. ‘I want that man to be you. I trust you to take care of me. To treat me with respect.’
He stroked her hair back from her forehead, his eyes dark and lustrous. ‘I can’t think of a time when I wanted someone more. But I told myself I wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation—of you. I don’t think it would be fair to give you false hope that this could lead to anything…more permanent.’
She leaned closer, winding her arms around his neck. ‘Stop overthinking it. Do what your heart is telling you, not your head. Make love to me, Luca.’
Luca placed his hands on her hips and bent his head down so their lips were within touching distance. ‘Are you sure? There’s still time to change your mind.’
Artie pressed her lips against his, once, twice, three times. ‘I’m not changing my mind. I want this. I want you.’
He stood and drew her to her feet, dropping a warm, firm kiss to her lips. ‘Not here. Upstairs. I want everything to be perfect for you.’
A short time later, they were in Luca’s bedroom. He closed the door softly behind them and ran his gaze over Artie. She had expected to feel shy, self-conscious about her body, but as soon as he began to undo the buttons on her top, she shivered with longing, desperate to be naked with him, to feel his skin against her own.
He kissed her lingeringly, taking his time nudging and nibbling her lips, teasing her with his tongue, tantalising her senses with his taste and his touch. His mouth moved down to just below her ear and she shivered as his lips touched her sensitive skin. One of his hands slipped beneath her unbuttoned top, gliding along the skin of her ribcage to cup one of her breasts. His touch was gentle and yet it created a tumultuous storm in her flesh. Her nipple tightened, her breast tingled, her legs weakened as desire shot through her like a missile strike.
‘I want to touch you all over.’ His tone had a sexy rough edge that made her senses whirl.
‘I want to touch you too.’ Artie tugged his T-shirt out of his jeans and slid her hands under the fabric to stroke his muscular chest. His warm, hard flesh felt foreign, exotically foreign, unlike anything she had touched before. She explored the hard planes and ridged contours of his hair-roughened chest, marvelling at the difference between their bodies. A difference that excited her, made her crazy with longing, eager to discover more.
Luca unclipped her bra and gazed at her breasts for a long moment, his eyes dark and shining with unmistakable desire. ‘So beautiful.’ His thumbs rolled over each of her nipples, his gaze intent, as if he found her breasts the most fascinating things he’d ever seen. Before this moment Artie had
