Kidnapping His Bride (5 page)

Kicking off the covers, she breathed a sigh of relief as the air stirred by the whirling fan overhead brushed against her bare legs. She turned her head to the right, staring out the open window at the dark night that beckoned. She still lived in her parents’ home, the house she grew up in, as did her sister. It wasn’t unusual in a traditional Italian household to have the daughters in their childhood home until they were married.

Looked like Cat would be living here a little longer than she originally thought.

She should be relieved that she didn’t have to go through her scam of a marriage, that Rafe let her go so easily. Instead, she felt…empty. Unsure. More than anything, she felt lonely.

And so,
so
stupid.

Rolling on her side, she stared out the window, counting the endless tiny twinkling stars that dotted the black velvet sky. Was it a mistake, ending it with Rafael? Funny how she worried over ending something that never existed in the first place. Yes, they’d shared one kiss—plenty of kisses, actually. All of them earth-shattering, bone-melting kisses, but she couldn’t base her entire life on a mere kiss.

Could she?

Despite the fact her lips still tingled, her body ached to be held in his arms. Her reaction to him was frustrating, exhilarating, and irritating, all at once. She wished he didn’t matter. She wished she could look at him and feel absolutely nothing.

But she couldn’t.

Cat heaved a loud sigh and forcibly closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep. Maybe she shouldn’t have broken it off with Rafe, but it was too late now for regrets. Ultimately, she would realize this was for the best. She couldn’t be tied down. Not by a man who would eventually hurt her.

She recalled her mother greeting them upon their return home from the party earlier. Her sad expression when she asked Annalisa if their father had made an appearance. The dark circles under their mother’s eyes, her thinning hair, liberally shot with gray. Hair she used to take such pride in now looked weak and frail.

Much like her mother appeared weak and frail. Her vibrancy, her happiness had faded over the years, all at the hands of her husband. Carlo Campioni had destroyed his beautiful Anna with his neglect, his mocking cruelty, slashing at her self-esteem repeatedly until she was left in tatters, harder and harder to piece back together.

No way would she be like her mother. Being with Rafael, marrying him…she knew it would’ve resulted in Cat being slowly torn apart. She couldn’t have it. She’d done what was best.

Pushing aside her silly loneliness, she sank deeper into the pillow, her limbs growing heavy, her breathing slow. She could do whatever she wanted now. No future husband to think of, no wedding to plan, no bitter sister to deal with now that her marriage had been called off. She could leave if she wanted to. Maybe she could go to Chicago on her own, visit her family, maybe even work at the Campioni location there.

Not that Annalisa would want her to leave. She enjoyed bossing Cat around all day.

Cat frowned, her eyes popping open. Her sister’s seemingly jealous, horrible mood swings made her insane and she didn’t understand it. Annalisa had always been the brighter one, the prettier one, the daughter with all the expectations. She’d taken over the family business with ease, as if she was born to step into the position.

Granted, she was almost four years older and still not married, a sort of kiss of death amongst their family and friends, but she was a modern woman. At least Annalisa wouldn’t be married and miserable at such a young age like so many of the girls that they grew up with. If she wanted to, her older sister could travel and do anything she wanted, which Cat had envied all these years while she waited for Rafe to come around in vain.

But could Annalisa really? Now that she’d taken over Campioni, maybe she couldn’t. Annalisa had responsibilities now. There was a business to run, employees to oversee, sales to handle, all because their father had abandoned them, the business, everything.

Not too long ago, Annalisa would constantly threaten to go back to the States and find a nice, handsome American boy to marry. She used to throw little fits about leaving to find a real man, especially after they would see Rafael. Cat knew they were always in reaction to her so-called fiancée.

More than once, Cat wondered if her sister had a crush on Rafael. Not that she’d ever ask or that her sister would ever confess, but it had crossed her mind more than once.

Foolish. No more fits for Annalisa over her younger sister’s impending marriage, thank God.

When sleep finally crept into her consciousness, Cat went willingly. Her mind finally calmed, quieted. Her body relaxed, the tension slowly easing from her muscles. And as her worrisome thoughts left her, she slipped into blissful nothingness.

Tomorrow would be better. It had to be.

She dreamed. Though it felt so wonderfully real, she knew it had to be a dream since she’d never had a man in her bedroom before…

Smelling him first, she breathed deep, the spicy, masculine scent filling her nostrils, intoxicating her like a drug, making her yearn to seek out more. She reached out toward the warmth, the solid feel of him and came into contact with hard, hot flesh. Stroking slowly up a man’s arm, she felt his thick biceps beneath her fingers. She caressed and squeezed, marveling at the smooth skin, the muscle she felt flexing beneath.

He moved closer, hovering above her, her faceless man who’d boldly joined her in her bed. She felt his touch before she saw it. Calloused fingers traced the line of her jaw, the tip of her chin, the corner of her mouth. A breathy sigh escaped her at first contact, and she licked her lips, swore she heard her mystery man groan.

The dream felt enticingly real. Big hands rested on either side of her head, flattening her pillow, and she turned, felt the sting of her hair pulling against her scalp. He had her pinned, his fingers in her hair, his body pressing closer, closer…

Cat’s eyes flew open and saw the man—a very real man hovering above her in the darkness. She couldn’t make out his face, had no idea who it was and she parted her lips, her lungs seemingly frozen since no sound came out.

But she recognized the scent of him, the feel of him…

“Rafael?” Her voice squeaked, disbelief filling her and she struggled against him. “Wh—what are you doing?” she asked, her voice rising.

“Sshh.” He rested his finger against her lips, silencing her. “I don’t want to wake anyone in the house.”

Of course he didn’t. Talk about causing a scandal. “Why are you here?” she whispered fiercely.

Could she admit that it gave her a thrill, having him somehow sneak into her room, sitting with her on her bed? Yes, she’d split with him. Yes, she didn’t want to marry him.

But there was something extremely exciting about having a man in her bedroom in the dead of night. A man she’d imagined in her bed more than once.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” His voice was soft, his touch softer as he drifted his fingers through her hair.

“How did you get in?” Her bedroom was on the second story. Yes, she had her window open, but had he actually scaled the wall?

“I have my ways.” Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could make out the flash of white teeth when he smiled. Her heart tripped over itself at first sight of his wicked grin, her breath stalling in her throat, and she swallowed hard.

His answer was proof enough that he’d done something so extremely reckless as scale the wall of her family’s home just so he could slip inside her room. Was he crazy?

He had to be. He also needed to leave. If they were caught together in her room in the middle of the night, her mother would freak. Her sister would demand retribution. And her father would most likely force her to marry Rafe. She couldn’t have that.

Cat frowned. Had he come here on purpose? To force her hand into marriage? God, she hoped not. She thought less of him enough already. She didn’t want to believe he would be so purposely cruel as to trick her and her family like this.

“You should leave,” she said, her voice firm as she tried to sit up. But he pressed his hand against her shoulder, holding her firm and she had no choice but to lie there and wait for his next move.

Damn him and his masculine strength.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured, his deep, sensual voice rippling along her nerve endings. He sounded dangerous, dark and mysterious. Leaning in, his face was in hers, his warm breath wafting across her lips, making her tremble. “Did you really think I would let you go so easily?”

“Rafe…” Her voice trailed off, a gasp escaping her when he brushed her mouth with his. His lips were hot and damp, that brief touch setting her skin on fire, and she closed her eyes, furious at her traitorous body and how easily she reacted.

How she wished she wouldn’t react at all.

“You want freedom, an adventure. What if I promised you all of that and more?”

Her eyes popped open as hope rose within her. She immediately squashed it down. He was trying to fool her. How could he promise her freedom with marriage? It made no sense. “You don’t mean it.”

“Oh, but I do.” Rafe bent over her, pressing his cheek next to hers, his mouth right at her ear. “I would give you whatever you want, Catalina, if you would just come away with me.”

His pretty little future bride actually snorted at his suggestion. It was adorable, though, that snort. He found every little thing Cat did adorable.

He was smitten. Hadn’t realized how badly until he had her in front of him earlier, ready to fight, ready to walk away from him without a backward glance. Which she’d done, much to his surprise.

No woman had ever walked away from him before. He left first. Always. Catalina Campioni intrigued him. He’d thought her a simple Italian girl he was going to marry, but there was more beneath the surface. Much more.

And he’d quickly become determined to discover those mysteries, what she hid, what she was really like. He wanted to get to know her, just as he promised earlier.

Just before she turned him down.

Rafe could admit her defiance was a turn on. Sick, twisted bastard that he was, he’d never looked so forward to a challenge before.

“And go where? As if I would never leave with you. Are you crazy?” she asked incredulously.

Maybe he was, he didn’t know. He knew one thing—he was crazy for her. Thought he might go crazy if he couldn’t have her. But was it more a case of wanting what he couldn’t have?

He pushed that ugly thought aside.

“I might not give you a choice,” he whispered as he leaned down to press his mouth to hers in a searing hot kiss. Her lips parted for him easily, the little moan that escaped her fueling him as he slid his tongue against hers, taking the kiss instantly deeper. He pressed closer, his body hardening when he felt her soft, supple form clad in only a thin nightgown.

She wrenched her head away from him, abruptly breaking their kiss. “Stop,” she said between panting breaths, her tiny hand resting against his chest. “I don’t want you to kiss me.”

All lies. Her reaction gave her away. “Stop denying the attraction between us. You know it’s there. The minute my lips are on yours, you open for me. You want this. You want me.”

She stared up at him, her chest rising and falling at a rapid pace, drawing his gaze to her full breasts that pressed against the thin cotton of her pale pink nightgown. A sinful body covered by a sweetly innocent nightgown with a little white satin bow in the center of the bodice, for the love of God—she was a contradiction he wanted to explore further.

More than anything, he wanted to bed her. He knew it was wrong, to let his lust for her control him, but damn it, he’d known this woman would eventually belong to him for years. To have her suddenly ripped out of his life made him want her even more.

“I don’t want what you have to offer.” She narrowed her eyes as she glared up at him. Her fingers curled into his shirt, her nails scraping against his chest. “Is this some sort of trap? Do you want to get caught with me in my room so you have no choice but to marry me?”

He hadn’t thought of it—and the idea was tempting, as wrong as he knew it was to even contemplate such a thing. “I don’t want to marry you…yet. I want to show you what you want to see. I want to be the one who offers you that taste of freedom you yearn for, Cat. Let me take you wherever you want to go. Whatever you want to see.”

“We shouldn’t do this.” She pushed at his chest and bucked her hips, nudging against his burgeoning erection. He grimaced at first contact. “Rafe, please.”

Christ. She said it like that and it aroused him beyond measure. Her soft, sexy voice whispering
please,
the way she clung to him. He could imagine her begging him in other ways. Sexy ways. Naked ways. “Come away with me, Cat.”

“No.” She shook her head, her gaze cutting away from his, her fingers still curled in his shirt.

“Cat.” Reaching out, he gripped her by the chin, forcing her to look at him. “Come. With. Me.”

“Why? So you can trap me into a loveless marriage and then abandon me? So you can impregnate me and force me to have an endless stream of babies to ensure the Renaldi line will carry on? Where you’ll end up leaving me alone and pregnant and miserable and feeling unloved like my poor, miserable mother? I don’t think so.”