Free Bellissima by Anya Richards Page B

her said she would not believe him, and her estimation of him would be lowered by what she conceived of as a lie. The defenses she had built up around herself, which he had begun to demolish, would be redoubled. Somehow he would convince her—with his body and actions first—before declaring what he now accepted to be the reality of why they were so drawn to each other. Before him sat the woman who held his heart, was the companion and lover he had longed for and had hardly dared hope of ever finding.
    He would not let her go but, for now, the best he could do was get her to voice her reservations, so he could destroy them, one by one.
    “Is it madness, sweet Jane?” He smiled as he asked it, joy coloring the words so they were like the lyrics of a song. “Is it lunacy to want you as much as I do?”
    Her eyes darkened, and she moistened the corner of her lips with the tip of her tongue before she replied. “It must be. How could it be anything else but insanity to risk everything we are, just for a few moments of pleasure? I would never forgive myself if harm should befall you because of me.”
    Her voice wavered slightly on the last words, and Sergio was unable to resist covering her hands, where they fidgeted on her lap, with one of his. Her fingers stilled, and he squeezed them, trying to impart to her the strength of his determination, his knowledge that what they were doing was absolutely, undeniably right .
    “You have even more to lose, cara mia , and yet you came to me. Why?”
    “I cannot resist you.” How stark was her voice, almost despairing. “I could not stay away.”
    Rising, Sergio tugged on her hands, bringing her to her feet. Holding her gaze, hoping she could see in his all he wanted to say but held back, he replied, “And if you hadn’t come, I would have been forced to skulk outside the servant’s entrance of the Lowells’ house, waiting for your return, desperate to know why you abandoned me, furious with disappointment. Heartbroken.”
    It was as close as he could come without declaring himself, and he saw the way her eyes widened slightly at his words, the wash of color that stained her cheeks. The sweet pink lips trembled, but all she said was, “You could never skulk, Sergio. They would have the Bobbies on you in a thrice.”
    “I would become a character in a music hall skit—the spurned lover dragged away, crying out his beloved’s name.” He smiled, just a little, at his own absurdity, yet feeling he would make himself out to be the fool if it would make her his.
    The small huff that broke from her lips was one of mingled amusement and disbelief and, to his relief, she smiled too. “You have too much dignity to make such a display of yourself.”
    “Ah, cara mia, per te farei di tutto .” Before she could ask him to interpret, he shrugged, and lifted his hand to cup the softness of her cheek. “I would do anything for you.”
    And bending, he covered her lips with his, not gently but with the masterful pressure he knew she loved and found irresistible, his tongue demanding entrance to the moist heat of her mouth. Immediately she granted it, a soft moan flowing from her open lips into his, to be joyfully absorbed.
    It was not a lustful kiss, although his deep need for her would always be an underlying melody to the symphony of his emotions. Instead he tried to impart his sincerity, the tenderness welling in his heart and the intense possessiveness she inspired. He didn’t fool himself into thinking it would be an easy path to keep Jane in his life. There were too many impediments, not the least of them Jane’s belief that their association would be brief, transient. He would somehow have to convince her otherwise, for with her in his arms, the sweetness of her responses making his heart pound, Sergio knew without doubt she was his and always would be.
    He gentled the kiss, lifting his mouth away and resting his hands on her shoulders to hold her in place when she leaned in,