Under the Italian's Command (12 page)

She was in such a state of bliss it took her a moment when she shut the bathroom door to notice what was hanging on the back of it. As she took it in her heart stopped beating, and all the strength drained from her body. How could anyone be so cruel? ‘Lorenzo…’ Her angry voice shook.

‘Yes?’ he called back, sounding completely unconcerned.

‘What is this?’
Carly
demanded, flinging the door open. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She refused to believe he could be such a monster.

‘What on earth’s the matter with you,
Carly
?’

She was determined not to cry or lose her cool, and so instead she tilted her head towards the fabulous Chloe dress hanging on the back of the door, still in its clear Cellophane wrapper. To add insult to injury, it was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. Low-necked in a clear blue silk, it had a defined waist and spaghetti straps, and a skirt that was softly flaring and would fall just below the knee. It was a dream of a dress, a dress that only a beautiful and slender woman would wear.

Lorenzo frowned at her. ‘Don’t you like it?’

Her response sounded like an animal in pain.

‘It’s not that bad, is it?’ he said incredulously, coming closer to look. ‘I spent a long time choosing it, but if you don’t think it’s right—’

‘Right for what, Lorenzo?’ she managed to choke out.

‘Right for you,’ he said, as if that were obvious. ‘Look, it’s no big deal. If you don’t like it I won’t be offended. Wear it tonight, and then throw it away.’

‘No, just a minute…say that again.’

‘Say what again?’

She wanted to wind back time over and over, and hear him say it a thousand times. ‘The dress is for me?’

‘Well, there’s no one else here,’ he said, ‘and I’m certainly not going to wear it.’

But what if it didn’t fit? He’d bought her a dress; he’d gone to all that trouble just for her? And it wasn’t just any dress, but the most beautiful dress in the world…Of course it wouldn’t fit. She went hot and cold at the prospect of trying it on. Clothes like this were made for thin, elegant women…She threw an anxious glance at it and then looked away. She couldn’t bear to see it. She dreaded the look of disappointment on Lorenzo’s face when he
realised
that the dress wouldn’t even make it over her breasts, let alone her hips.

‘Take your shower,’ he said, ‘and then call me in if you have any trouble putting the dress on.’

She’d rather die and was already looking for a window wide enough to climb through.

‘There are some shoes over in the corner to go with it.’

Her cheeks blazed as she stared at them…They were gorgeous too. ‘You guessed the size of my feet?’ She blushed scarlet; size yeti.

‘No…’ He came back and caressed her face, making her look at him. ‘I went into your bedroom and checked.’

Of course!

‘What’s the problem?’ he said. ‘You’re going to look beautiful. Or is that a problem? Do you still want to hide yourself away beneath bundles of old clothes? I think it’s time to show off that fabulous figure and walk tall at my side in five-inch heels.’

‘I’m already tall,’ she pointed out. And her mother had advised that flat shoes were the best option, because no man wanted a woman to tower over him.

‘I’ll still be taller than you,’ Lorenzo told her. Taking hold of her shoulders, he drew her in front of him. ‘
Carly
,’ he murmured, staring into her eyes. ‘You’re beautiful. Why can’t you believe that?’ He tipped up her chin, making her look at him. ‘You are not going to tie your gorgeous hair into a knot, and you are going to wear the dress and shoes I have chosen for you. And if I tell you you’re beautiful, then that’s what you are. All you have to do is believe…’

He kissed her brow, her eyes, her lips…‘You’re beautiful,’ he said again. ‘
Siete
una
donna
giovane
bella
… Now go and take that shower or people will wonder where we’ve got to.’ As usual he made no attempt to hide his wicked smile. ‘Go,’ he said, urging her into his private bathroom. ‘I’ll take the staff bathroom, and I’ll be back in a few minutes to help you dress…’

After she had showered,
Carly
stared at the fabulous dress beneath its polythene cover. She’d left her hair down as Lorenzo had requested, so that it floated round her naked shoulders. The bronze and copper curls seemed to have taken on a life of their own, and it was a life that defied her attempts to scrape it back and flatten it down. She had even put the shoes on…and was sure she was now about ten feet tall. She felt as if it was her first day in court, or the day she sat her first exam, or—

‘Oh, to hell with it!’
Carly
exclaimed, ripping the dress from its hanger. If she was going to be humiliated she might as well get it over with.

The designer gown fluttered over
Carly’s
naked skin like a caress. The fabric settled on her curves as if it had been fitted properly in a couturier’s atelier. The
colour
couldn’t have provided a better foil for her auburn hair, and the length was perfect. She stared at her reflection in astonishment. She was transformed. She had never worn a party dress in her life before. She had never shopped for one. Why would she? She had never worn anything that embraced her figure rather than concealing it.

‘Can I come in yet?’ Lorenzo called.

Opening the door a crack, she put her face close to it. ‘I can’t manage the zip—’ The moment she spoke she wished she hadn’t. Would it even do up?

Lorenzo opened the door fully and stood, staring at her.

‘Will I do?’ she asked nervously.

‘
Buon
cielo
!’ he exclaimed. ‘Did I say you were beautiful? I lied. You are exquisite. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Where have you been hiding yourself,
Carly
Tate?’

‘I’m not sure if the zip will fasten up.’

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Lorenzo dropped a reverent kiss on the nape of her neck as he reached behind her. ‘It fastens easily,’ he said. ‘The dress fits you perfectly, as I knew it would. And now I’m going to be the proudest man at the party, and everyone will envy me…’

‘You’re the kindest man I know.’

‘Kind?’ he said wryly. ‘Someone should tell you there’s a degree of self-interest when a man buys a beautiful woman a gift.’ His smile eased into a grin. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’

As he offered her his arm she caught a flash of the king-fisher silk lining beneath his sober three-piece suit. His socks would be equally exotic. What was a man like this doing with her? He was so different from every other man. He was so dazzling, he blinded her. Lorenzo dared to be different. He dared. And that was what she loved about him…

She loved him,
Carly
realised
with a jolt. It wasn’t just in her imagination as she had thought. She loved Lorenzo. She had fallen in love with Lorenzo
Domenico
.

‘OH, NO, LOOK at my cake.’
Carly
stared in dismay at the buffet table.

‘It looks fine to me.’ Lorenzo ran a hand through his shower-damp hair.

‘You look fine to me, but the cake doesn’t,’
Carly
argued, darting a glance around to make sure they weren’t being overheard.

Lorenzo’s eyes warmed with a new familiarity. ‘
Carly
?’ he said, removing a strand of hair from her love-stained lips. ‘Try and concentrate, will you?’

‘That’s exactly what I am doing,’ she insisted, holding his gaze.

‘On the party,’ he reminded her. ‘I want you to see how well it’s going. Look,’ he said, turning her to see as another colleague squeezed past them with a loaded plate of food. ‘It’s a huge success.’

‘Unlike my cake,’ she said, grimacing. ‘No one’s brave enough to try a slice of green cake.’

‘I am.’

‘But it’s oozing unattractively beneath the lights.’

‘All the more reason to eat it quickly,’ Lorenzo pointed out, squeezing her arm. ‘I’m sure it will taste fantastic. Why don’t you cut me a slice, and let me start a trend?’

The cake almost made it as far as the plate, but then she dropped it. As she was crouching down to clear up the mess Lorenzo joined her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

‘For what?’

For being clumsy, for not sticking to her diet, for not remembering to cover her freckles with fake tan before she set out for the party this evening…

The list went on and on. But most of all she was sorry she was determined to believe everything Lorenzo said when it could only end in tears. ‘For not being a better baker,’ she fudged,
realising
he was still waiting for her answer.

‘There are classes for things like that,’ he said dismissively. Springing up he cut a slice of cake, and then proceeded to feed her.

‘No more, please,’ she begged, fearing for her disappearing waistline.

‘I don’t want to risk you shrinking away.’

‘No danger of that,’ she said self-consciously.

‘Haven’t you noticed the way people are staring at you?’

‘They’re wondering why I’ve changed my clothes, that’s all,’ she said, turning to glance around.

‘I don’t think so,’ Lorenzo disagreed. ‘They think, as I do, that it’s great to see you happy and great to see you looking so lovely and so loved…’

‘Loved?’ She laughed and made a joke of it. ‘I’d hardly win a popularity poll here.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Lorenzo argued.

She looked round in embarrassment, hoping no one had heard him. ‘If you carry on like this I won’t be able to get my head out of the door.’

‘I think we’ve got a long way to go before we reach that stage,’ he said. ‘But in the meantime,
Carly
, why don’t you enjoy your triumph?’

At the end of the evening the party was declared a success, just as Lorenzo had predicted. Everyone said that in future all social events must be left for
Carly
to arrange.

As for
Carly
, she had just one regret and that was if she won the Unicorn scholarship she wouldn’t be around to
organise
anything. It had surprised her to discover how much she had enjoyed the challenge of arranging the Christmas party, and in no way did she see it beneath her, or a menial task. How could she, when it had brought pleasure to so many people? Plus it was a way to get to know them better, which she’d never had the confidence to do before.

‘You worked a miracle tonight,’ Lorenzo told her as they walked home together. ‘You took my measly budget and turned it into something everyone will talk about for years to come.’

‘I’m not sure I can top my Northern night.’

‘You don’t have to. You’ll think of something else for the next time, and whatever you do will be well received. Tonight’s triumph will become your badge of
honour
, your success story by which you will be known from now on.’

‘You talk as if there’s going to be no more law.’

‘You can do whatever you want to do,’ he told her in a voice that had suddenly turned serious.

Alarm bells sounded, but she didn’t want to break the easy mood between them by raising the
spectre
of the Unicorn scholarship. ‘You make it all sound easy, so romantic.’

‘You know me better than that,
Carly
. An event planner couldn’t have done better than you did tonight. I’m just pointing out that the world’s your oyster. Now stop fumbling with the lock and give me that key.’

‘You’re impatient.’

‘There are some things that can’t wait, and you’re one of them—’

But the first thing
Carly
saw when Lorenzo opened the front door was a letter from her mother sitting on the mat.

‘Leave that now,’ he said, dragging her close so he could bury his face in her hair.

At first she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She was far too tense as she held the letter in her hand, but Lorenzo took matters, or, rather,
Carly
, into his own hands, and made her forget.

Tugging off their clothes as they ran, they laughed and stumbled their way down the hallway.
Carly
was heading for her bedroom, but Lorenzo cut her off at the pass. ‘My room,’ he insisted, swinging her into his arms. ‘The bed’s bigger, and we’re going to need every inch of it.’

A bed! A real bed! Oh, bliss. She threw herself down on top of it, making Lorenzo laugh. She didn’t care what he thought, she only knew she wanted him. Reaching up, she demanded he kiss her without further delay. The blue dress had clearly worked some magic, because he took her in his arms and told her she was beautiful again.

‘Okay, okay,’ he murmured as she laced her fingers through his hair and tugged. He dropped a kiss on her swollen mouth. ‘I get the message…’

‘But not quickly enough,’ she complained.

The gorgeous silky dress floated to the floor with her lacy thong, and then the bed dipped as Lorenzo came to lie down beside her.

‘I can’t,’ she said in a moment of panic as he loomed over her. ‘Just wait a minute…I’m not ready…Oh…’

‘Really?’

‘Oh,’ she said again, this time more quietly and with wonder. How could she have forgotten how big he was in so short a time?

‘There,’ Lorenzo teased softly against her lips as he pressed her knees back. ‘There, you see, you can…What a good, brave girl you are.’

‘Yes, aren’t I?’
Carly
agreed, groaning with satisfaction as he remained quite still, giving her every opportunity to
savour
the moment.

She grew bolder, and wrapped her ankles around his neck. He supported her, holding her bottom and kneading it gently as he sank slowly inside her. ‘How does that feel?’ he murmured, as if he didn’t know.

It felt delicious. With Lorenzo nudging and rubbing places that only seemed more receptive to his touch now they had known it she could barely manage to voice a ragged sigh. He knew everything she liked as if by instinct. He took his time, moving slowly, and even withdrawing completely, so that she knew the pleasure of having him re-enter her again and again and again, and he was right about them needing every inch of the bed. He was intent on working his way steadily through all the positions suggested by her ambitious doodles until he found the ones that pleased her most.

‘You greedy girl,’ he murmured softly, placing one finger over her swollen mouth.

‘You make that sound like a compliment,’ she whispered.

‘That’s because it was…’

Words dissolved into sensation as Lorenzo made lazy passes with his tongue against her lips. Then he plunged deep, matching that action with another, and repeating it until her hips moved convulsively beneath him. ‘I want it…I want it again,’ she panted in desperation.

‘And you shall have it,’ Lorenzo assured her. ‘When I tell you to, you’ll let go with me, and it will be bigger and fiercer and stronger and scarier than anything you’ve ever known.’

‘I believe you,’ she cried, beside herself with excitement.

She opened herself as wide as she could for him, holding herself in place, offering herself; wanting it, wanting him—

‘Now!’ he rasped fiercely in her ear, taking her with him.

But this time he didn’t stop when she
quietened
, but kept right on moving, slowly to begin with and then building the pace until they were working fiercely together. When the moment came it was like an explosion of pleasure, and when she cried out in amazement approaching fear he looked at her and knew he couldn’t enjoy sex more than this. He needed this…

He needed her.

He shook himself round in time. What he needed was sex, pure and simple.

He needed
Carly
…

The words kept on like a siren call in his head. He drove it out and moved to take her again.

‘Don’t you ever need to rest?’ she asked him.

‘If you’ve had enough—’

‘I didn’t say that,’ she assured him breathlessly, writhing sinuously on the bed. Putting her arms above her head, she allowed them to rest on the pillows in an attitude of wanton seduction. ‘I just thought you might need to recharge your batteries.’

‘I don’t know which brand you use,’ he said, progressing the metaphor, ‘but I suggest you find yourself a more reliable supplier.’

‘I think I just did.’

‘Good…then why don’t you shut up, relax, and let me do the work?’

That was the sort of instruction she was more than willing to take.

It was much, much later when Lorenzo suggested they take a shower together. ‘And after that I suggest we indulge ourselves in a feast of chocolate and champagne.’

‘I love your suggestions.’

He carried her into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He didn’t warn her about the icy water, and she shrieked as it cascaded over them.

‘Not too cold for you, I hope?’ Lorenzo queried dryly, and when she complained that it was he suggested a cure.

‘You’re insatiable,’ she accused him.