Her Exquisite Surrender. Lucy Ellis

herself.

       He only wished he had known that five years ago.

      Natalie sat across from Angelo in a restaurant in Sorrento an hour later. He had given her the choice of eating in or out and she had chosen to go out. It wasn’t that she particularly wanted to mingle with other people; it was more that she wanted to keep her head when around him. She couldn’t do that so well when she was alone with him.

      The passion they had shared had stirred up old longings that made her feel uneasy. She was fine with having sex with him—more than fine, truth be told. It was just she knew he would want more from her.

      He had always wanted more than she was prepared to give.

      How long before he would ask her to think about staying with him indefinitely? Then he would start talking about babies.

      His mother had already dropped a few broad hints when she had helped her choose her wedding dress. Natalie’s stomach knotted at the thought of being responsible for a tiny infant. She could just imagine how her parents would react if she were to tell them she was having a baby. Her mother would reach for the nearest bottle and drain it dry. Her father wouldn’t say a word. He would simply raise his eyebrows and a truckload of guilt would land on her like a concrete slab.

      Angelo reached across the table and touched her lightly on the back of her hand. ‘Hello, over there,’ he said with a soft smile.

      Natalie gave him a rueful smile in return. ‘Sorry … I’m hardly scintillating company, am I?’

      ‘I don’t expect you to be the life of the party all the time, cara,’ he said. ‘It’s enough that you’re here.’

      She looked at his fingers entwined with hers. She had missed his touch so much in the years that had passed. She had missed the way his skin felt against hers, the way he felt under the caress of her hands. She had lain awake at night with her body crying out for his lovemaking. Her body had felt so empty. So lifeless without the sensual energy he shot through it like an electric charge.

      ‘What are you thinking?’ he asked, stroking the underside of her wrist with the broad pad of his thumb.

      She met his chocolate-brown gaze and felt her insides flex and contract with lust. ‘Do you want dessert?’ she asked.

      ‘Depends on what it is,’ he said with a sexy glint.

      She could barely sit still in her chair for the rocket blast of longing that swept through her. ‘I’m not in the mood for anything sweet,’ she said.

      ‘What are you in the mood for?’ Still that same sexy glitter was lighting his eyes from behind.

      ‘Nothing that takes too much time to prepare.’

      ‘I can be a fast order chef when the need arises,’ he said. ‘Tell me what you want and I’ll deliver it as fast as humanly possible.’

      Natalie shivered as he came behind her to pull out her chair for her. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up as his warm wine-scented breath coasted past her ear. She leaned back against him, just for a brief moment, to see if he was aroused.

       He was.

      She smiled to herself and walked out of the restaurant with him, her body already quaking in anticipation.

      Angelo had barely opened the door of the villa when she slammed him up against the wall as if she was about to frisk him.

      ‘Hey, was it something I said?’ he asked.

      Her dark blue gaze sizzled as it held his. ‘You promised me dessert,’ she said. ‘It’s time to serve me.’

      The entire length of his backbone shuddered as she ran her hand over his erection. ‘Who’s doing the cooking here?’ he asked.

      She gave him a wicked look and brazenly unzipped him. ‘I want an appetiser,’ she said.

      It was all he could do to stand there upright as she sank to her knees in front of him. He braced himself by standing with his feet slightly apart. When she was in this mood there was no stopping her. He was just happy to be taken along for the ride.

      And what a ride it was.

      Fireworks went off in his head. He couldn’t have held back if he had tried. She ruthlessly teased and caressed him until he was barely able to stand upright. His skin went up in a layer of goosebumps and his heart raced like a fat retiree at a fun run.

      She stood up and gave him a wanton smile that had a hint of challenge to it. ‘Top that,’ she said.

      ‘I can do that,’ he said, and swept her up in his arms.

      He took her to the master suite. He dropped her in the middle of the mattress and then pulled her by one ankle until she was right between his spread thighs. He leaned over her, breathing in her scent, his mouth coming down to claim her in a sensual feast that had her shuddering in seconds. She bucked and arched and screamed, and even batted at him with her fists, but he wouldn’t let her go until he was satisfied that he had drawn every last shuddering gasp out of her.

      She lay back and flung a hand over her eyes, her chest rising and falling. ‘OK, you win,’ she said breathlessly.

      ‘It was pretty damn close,’ he said, coming to lie next to her. He trailed a finger down the length of her satin-smooth arm. ‘Maybe we should have a re-match some time soon, just to make sure?’

      She rolled her head to look at him. ‘Give me ten minutes.’

      ‘Five.’

      ‘You’re insatiable.’

      ‘Only with you.’

      A tiny frown puckered her brow and she turned her head back to look at the ceiling. ‘Have there been many?’ she asked after a pause.

      ‘Does it matter?’

      She gave a careless shrug, but the tight set of her expression contradicted it. ‘Not really.’

      ‘I was never in love with anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.’

      ‘I’m not.’

      He sent his fingertip over the silky smooth cup of her shoulder. ‘Is it so hard to admit you care for me?’ he said.

      She shoved his hand away and got off the bed. ‘I knew you would do this,’ she said in agitation.

      ‘What did I do?’

      She turned and speared him with her gaze. ‘I don’t love you,’ she said. ‘Is there something about those words you don’t understand? I don’t love you. I like you. I like you a lot. You’re a nice person. I’ve never met a more decent person. But I’m not in love with you.’

      Frustration made Angelo’s voice grate. ‘You don’t want to love anyone, that’s why. You do care, Tatty. You care so much it scares the hell out of you.’

      She clenched her fists by her sides. ‘I can’t give you what you want,’ she said.

      ‘I want you.’

      ‘You want more,’ she said. ‘You’ve said it from the beginning. You want a family. You want children. I can’t give you them.’

      ‘Are you infertile?’

      She rolled her eyes heavenwards and turned away. ‘I knew you wouldn’t understand.’

      He came over to her and took her by the upper arms. ‘Then make me understand,’ he said.

      She pressed her lips together, as if she was trying to stop an outburst of unchecked speech from escaping.

      He gave her arms a gentle squeeze. ‘Talk to me, Tatty.’

      Her eyes watered and she blinked a couple of times to push the tears back. ‘What sort of mother would I be?’ she asked.

      ‘You’d