His Virgin Acquisition Part 10

Something that looked like relief flashed in her tearful blue eyes. He'd meant to ask her about her birth control pills, about whether or not they really existed, but he couldn't bring himself to interrogate this new incarnation of Elaine, this vulnerable innocent with the wide, unguarded eyes.

She flushed scarlet and began to search the room visually, carefully avoiding his gaze.

He cupped her chin and turned her face to him gently. "Something you need?"

She blushed to the roots of her blond hair. "I don't have any clothes in here."

He chuckled. "I've seen and tasted every inch of you, cara mia. Your modesty is too little, too late."

"Well, that was different. We were...and now we're..." She pulled hard on the sheets and coiled them around her curvy body, before sliding out from beneath the white duvet and standing up.

"Where are you going?"

Her flush intensified. The spot on her chest where his beard had abraded her delicate fair skin turned a deep mottled rose. "I was going to go get my birth control pills, and then I was going to go to sleep on the couch."

That answered his question about the pills. "You're not sleeping in another room."

"I didn't think that men liked to talk...you know...after..."

"Come back to bed, Elaine. After you get your pills, of course."

She scurried off, her steps restricted by the tightly wrapped sheet.

The woman made absolutely no sense to him. She didn't come across as being nave or sheltered in any way, and she was extraordinarily beautiful. That she had come to his bed without experience just added another piece to her personal puzzle. He prided himself on being able to read people. Business was about more than numbers: it was about gut feeling, it was about intuition. With Elaine his intuition seemed to be on vacation. He was no closer to figuring her out, or her motives, than when she'd first walked into his office with her outrageous proposal.

She came back into the room, her face pink and fresh-scrubbed, her luscious body wrapped in the silk robe they'd discarded on the porch, the sheet draped over her arm.

"See-I wasn't lying." She waved a small pill packet. "I wouldn't risk the company like that." She placed the pills on the nightstand and stood with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked so young and innocent. Some long-ignored protective instinct had him rising from his position and reaching out to her, drawing her down onto the bed.

"So why did you suddenly decide to go to bed with me? Obviously you've made it a point to save yourself."

She shrugged. "Not really. It's like you said-desire and satisfaction. It's not very complicated." A shuddering breath shook her small shoulders. "I've never really wanted to be with anyone like that, and I didn't see the point of taking the step if it wasn't something I really wanted to do." She hesitated for a moment, and then turned onto her side so that she was facing him. "There was one guy that I thought I might...Well, anyway, when I told him I wasn't ready he seemed okay with it. Then the next day at work I found out he was telling everyone I was off-limits to all the guys in the office because I was the boss's plaything." She gave him a pointed look. "I know you've heard the story. Anyway, I haven't been that inspired to try my hand at relations.h.i.+ps again."

Her words held a ring of truth to them, and they sent a sharp pain through his chest. The image of a young, nave Elaine being dragged through the mud by world-weary cynics, her heart broken, her reputation left in tatters, affected him far more than he was prepared for. He didn't want to be a part of that-part of the ugly world that had stolen her innocence in so many ways. But he was a part of it. They had stolen her idealism, her emotional innocence, and he had taken that last piece-her physical innocence-for himself. He wouldn't use it against her, but he had nothing to offer her either.

"This isn't going to be a relations.h.i.+p in any sort of permanent sense. That's not how I do things." He despised the bluntness of his words, but he would not give her time to entertain fantasies of a future for the two of them. That was one reason he'd so carefully avoided women with no experience. They thought of love and s.e.x as two things inextricably linked, and he honestly didn't have any of that kind of love available.

She straightened her spine, her blue eyes emotionless. "I know that. And I don't really want a relations.h.i.+p either."

Once again the woman managed to surprise him. She never said or did what he expected her to do. He'd expected her to be clinging to him and asking him about his feelings, but instead she'd been cool, almost aloof, since returning to the bedroom.

"Then what is it you want?"

Her face turned a deep crimson. Now he knew that the blus.h.i.+ng wasn't an act. She'd blushed like a virgin because that was exactly what she had been.

"The company," she said, her chin set stubbornly.

"I meant what is it you want from me?" A slow smile curved his lips. "What are your terms and conditions?"

Elaine didn't know how to have a conversation with a naked man. It was difficult to concentrate on words when they were so close, with him naked and her clad only in the thin, barely there robe. All she wanted to do was lean in and kiss his lips, run her hands over his bare skin, feel him filling her again, bringing her the ultimate release. Harder still to tell him what she wanted when she had no idea what it was that she wanted or expected.

Could she honestly have a no-strings physical relations.h.i.+p with him?

Yes! her body screamed enthusiastically.

Yes. Her mind confirmed it. When things went back to normal, when Marco was out of her life and she had a.s.sumed her position as owner and CEO of Chapman Electronics, her life would be even more consumed by work than it already was. She would never find the time for a relations.h.i.+p. She had to take this, now, while she had the chance.

And when it was over she would always have the sweetest memories of what it was to be held in Marco's arms. She honestly couldn't imagine ever being with another man, sharing the intimacies that she had shared with Marco. Perhaps it was her inexperience, but she really felt repulsed by the idea of another man touching her. That was why she had to seize the moment. Men did it all the time-satisfied physical needs with no feelings involved. Why shouldn't she do it for herself?

"Twelve months. The physical relations.h.i.+p lasts for the duration of the marriage. Neither of us will be unfaithful, and at the end both parties go away with what we agreed upon," she said, shocked by the steadiness of her voice.

He gave her a wicked grin that made her b.r.e.a.s.t.s heavy and caused a pulse to start pounding at the apex of her thighs. "A business deal, Ms. Chapman?"

"Is there any other kind, Mr. De Luca?" Far from being steady, her voice was now quivering again, this time at the lascivious intent that was written all over Marco's face.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled the sheet away, revealing her body to him. "I think it's safe to say we're officially mixing business with pleasure." He rubbed the pad of his thumb over one aching nipple and she felt herself melting into him, ready and willing for whatever he wanted to do to her.

His lips closed over hers and conscious thought became difficult. Her heart was thudding heavily, and new, strange emotions were swelling in her chest. She felt her eyes growing wet with tears again. If she could keep this purely physical, if she could stop herself from feeling, then everything would be all right. She could indulge in her craving for Marco and come away unchanged.

The thought of leaving him sent a ripple of pain through her body that matched the pleasure being delivered by his skilled hands. And then all thought became impossible as she was pulled down into the swirling undertow of sensation.

"Good morning." The sound of a husky male voice pulled Elaine from her comatose sleep. Gradually her senses returned to her. There was a large masculine hand splayed across her belly, and she could feel...oh...she could feel Marco's erection pressed against her backside.

The events from the night before came flooding back to her with brutal clarity. She'd slept with Marco. He knew she'd been a twenty-four-year-old virgin. She had agreed to a twelve-month s.e.x only relations.h.i.+p.

She had officially lost her mind.

His hand drifted up and began toying gently with her nipples. She moaned. Yes. She'd lost her mind. And if he kept touching her like that it was going to be lost to her forever.

"Good morning." She tried to squirm out of his hold, away from him and back into a realm where critical thinking was possible, but that only brought her into more forceful contact with his burgeoning hardness. The twitch of his member and the accompanying moan of pleasure sent a Shockwave of longing all the way down to her core. She wasn't going to find her sanity anytime soon.

"No need for you to get up. Breakfast will be delivered in a few minutes."

She increased her struggle to get free. "I'm not getting caught naked in your bed!"

"We're newlyweds," he said innocently. "Where else would they expect to find you?"

He rolled over and pinned her on her back, his smile playful. He raised her hands above her head and held them, effectively trapping her. It should have made her angry. It really shouldn't have turned her on. He brought his mouth down and kissed her deeply, pa.s.sionately. He pushed one hair-roughened thigh between hers and she voluntarily let her legs fall open.

The intercom buzzed and Marco moved away from her. "I don't mind getting caught in bed with you, but I don't relish being found in the middle of lovemaking." His smile turned rueful. "I lose my control with you, cara." He looked utterly mystified by the thought.

She couldn't stop herself from openly admiring his naked body as he strode across the room and picked a pair of well-worn denim jeans from the closet. She watched him slide them up his legs and over his tight rear end. Knowing he wasn't wearing underwear was going to kill her at some point today.

She'd a.s.sumed that making love with Marco might take the edge off her desire. She'd been very wrong. Now that she knew what he could make her feel, now that she knew that every promise his sensual lips made, all the dark s.e.xuality his lithe body proclaimed, was understated when compared to the fulfilled promise, she could think of nothing else but tasting him again.

Now that she'd discovered s.e.x, she wondered how in the world people got anything done. That was why, she reasoned, people were so obnoxiously cheerful and scatterbrained at the beginning of an affair. Because good s.e.x scrambled your thoughts and plastered a goofy grin on your face you couldn't erase.

She looked at her reflection in the vanity mirror that was positioned across the room. She definitely had the goofy grin. Her skin was red from the sc.r.a.pe of his whiskers against her delicate face and throat. She knew that if she examined her inner thighs she'd find the same sort of burns. That made her blush to the roots of her hair.

She slipped out of the bed and contemplated taking a chance on going to the bathroom to find her suitcase. She hadn't unpacked yesterday. She'd been resigned to sleeping on the couch, and the idea of hanging her clothing in the same closet as Marco's had seemed like an intimacy too far. Which was just about laughable at this point, since there weren't any physical intimacies left-not any that she knew about-that she hadn't shared with Marco the night before.

Marco walked back into the room at that moment, s.h.i.+rtless and carrying a tray laden with pastries, fruit and meat. He was every woman's fantasy.

She leaned over and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the sheet in a belated attempt to cover herself.

He laughed and shook his head before setting the tray down on the foot of the bed. He gripped the edge of the sheet and unwound it, leaving her exposed again. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips that left her knees weak.

"No need for you to cover up. I much prefer you naked." He brushed a swath of blond hair out of her face. "You look so much softer."

She looked pointedly at the hard cut of the muscles on his torso. "I can't say the same."

"Yes, but that's one of the many wonderful things that are different about men and women. Our differences complement each other."

A small smile tugged at her lips. "I hadn't thought of it that way before."

"Hungry?" he asked, sitting on the bed and gesturing to the tray.

"Starving." She joined him on the bed, still undressed, wondering where the fleeting moment of sanity she'd had when she'd woken up had gone off to. She felt that silly grin spread across her face again as she looked at the handsome face of her lover. Her lover. The grin widened and she knew she looked like the cat that had gotten into the cream and licked the bowl clean. "What's on the menu?"

"Guava, French toast and fresh fruit. And I think that's Spam." He gestured to the pink square slices of meat that were fanned out on the silver tray.

"You're kidding?"

"It's a local favorite."

"I'll pa.s.s." She reached over and picked up a slice of mango.

It felt ridiculously decadent, sitting on the bed with him and sharing a tray, eating with their fingers. When he slipped a bite of guava between her lips and lapped up the juices that dribbled down her chin, the entire breakfast, and any resolve she might have hoped to claim, disintegrated.

After they'd made love they went to separate showers to prepare for the day. Marco had tried to cajole her into his, but she knew that she would give in to the temptation of his naked body and they would end up cloistered in the villa all day. Her body was more than willing to take that option, but she felt she needed to get a grip on the situation, and she wouldn't be doing that if she kept allowing Marco to turn her brain to mush with his expert hands and mouth.

She rummaged through her suitcase and found a pair of white linen shorts and a spring green halter-top made of a slithery, silky material that felt decadent against her bare skin. She had never been so aware of her body before last night, before Marco had shown her what it meant to be a woman. She found she didn't want to blend in with the boys anymore. She wanted to celebrate her femininity, embrace the power of it.

Giddiness fizzed in her veins as she quickly tied back her wavy hair and walked out into the main living area of the villa. "So, what's on the agenda?" she asked.

Marco looked up, and was momentarily frozen by the pang of l.u.s.t that hit him square in the gut and the swelling of emotion that tightened his chest. She looked so young, so vibrantly beautiful. All of her haughty, don't-touch-me demeanor had faded, giving way to a soft, well-loved expression. She looked like a thoroughly satisfied woman, and he couldn't help but glory like a caveman over the fact that he'd been the man, the only man, to make her feel that way. He had brought her to the pinnacle of pleasure and caught her as she fell. He had been the only man to kiss her lush b.r.e.a.s.t.s, to join his body to hers. The novelty of it was extraordinary. No, he wouldn't even call it a novelty; it was much more than that.

He still had no idea what her game was-if there was a game. For the first time he considered that she might be everything she claimed to be. That she wanted her father's company out of a sense of pride and fairness-that she'd entered into their marriage with all her cards laid out on the table. That she had slept with him because she desired him. It hardly made sense, but then it had never mattered one way or the other to him if he understood the inner workings of his mistress's minds. He enjoyed their bodies, but as for their shallow dreams and desires he couldn't have cared less.

Elaine should be no different. She was his wife-that was different-but the marriage was nothing more than a business contract. Their proposed affair was an entirely different matter. It was strictly physical, and if Elaine had designs on making the arrangement permanent, or on scamming him out of his vast fortune, she was sadly out of luck. He wasn't the type of man to be bewitched by s.e.x, even if it was fantastic s.e.x. His emotions and his mind always stayed separate. There was absolutely no way Elaine could ensnare him.

"Business." He flashed her a grin and was gratified to see her cheeks turn rosy pink. She still blushed like an innocent, and in spite of himself he found he enjoyed it fully. "I have a meeting with James to discuss my business plan for the resort."

The look of undisguised longing in her eyes-not when she looked at him, but when he mentioned a business meeting-nearly made him laugh. "Would you like to join us, Elaine?"

A sparkle caught in her blue eyes, and he tried to ignore the surge of satisfaction her happiness gave him. "Well, if you wouldn't mind..."

"It's in the bag," Elaine said confidently as they left James's office later that afternoon.

Marco took in her confident smirk with great amus.e.m.e.nt. "You think so?"

She nodded vigorously, freeing tendrils of hair from her ponytail and bringing them down to frame her face. "Your figures were astounding, not to mention accurate. From what you said in the meeting I can see that your plans will up the revenue by thirteen percent in just two years."

"That's a more generous figure than I had calculated."

"Oh, good-then you hadn't thought of this," she said, almost gleefully. "The very new upscale nightclub you're planning to build on the property can bring in profit from patrons of other hotels and resorts. You don't have to open it to everyone, but making it more inclusive will certainly help it pay for the expense of building it and then some."

"It's definitely a thought."

"It's a good one."

She leaned into him, and the intoxicating scent of her a.s.saulted his senses. He'd had her this morning but his body still felt deprived of her softness, of the fulfillment he'd experienced with her.

"You're very certain of yourself." He leaned in too, and pressed a kiss to her neck, enjoying the little s.h.i.+ver that racked her body.

"You should know that confidence is the key to success," she said breathlessly.

"I thought it was image."

A tortured groan escaped her lips. "I can't remember with you touching me like that!"

"Like this?" He kissed the curve of her neck again.

"Yes. Like that."

"I think it's time to go back to the villa."

"I agree."

The next few days pa.s.sed in a kind of sensual haze. The sale of the resort was nearly finalized, and James had commanded that Marco take the weekend to romance his wife. In Elaine's opinion, he'd done a pretty good job of it. Breakfast in bed, intimate candlelit dinners, and of course amazing s.e.x. She wouldn't let herself think of it as making love. It was too dangerous. Almost as dangerous as when Marco held her hand during a walk on the beach, or when he held her tenderly against his chest while they were in bed, his arms cradling her close to his body.

Monday morning she expected Marco would be back to business as usual, so it was a surprise when he exited the bathroom wearing a pair of shorts and a threadbare T-s.h.i.+rt. "I thought we would spend the day together," he said. "Did my PA happen to buy you a pair of hiking boots?"

She tried, and failed, to quash the giddy sensations that were fluttering through her. For all she knew his taking time out of his busy schedule to spend with his mistresses was perfectly normal.

The term brought her up short. Was she his mistress? No. She most certainly wasn't. They were equals in their relations.h.i.+p. She wasn't dependent on him, and she certainly wasn't expecting to be a kept woman. She had a job, and her ambitions extended far beyond that.

"I don't think I have hiking boots. I have a pair of tennis shoes, though."

"That should be good enough. You don't get seasick, do you?"

"I have no idea."

His teeth flashed bright white against his tan skin and she felt her limbs go slack. "You're going to find out today."

A slim stream of white sand backed by thick foliage came into view. Elaine leaned over the railing of the small yacht to try and get a better view of their destination.

She inhaled the salt air and was thankful, again, that she apparently didn't suffer from seasickness. The yacht cut through the water like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter, the waves parting and giving deference to the bulk of the sleek s.h.i.+p, which virtually eliminated the feeling of being on water.