Chapter Seven

LILY’S HEART CLIMBED into her throat and took up residence there. “You want to do what?”

Nico came into the room, swinging a helmet from one hand. “Come with me, Liliana. It will be fun.”

His expression didn’t exactly look fun loving. No, if anything she’d say those were lines of strain around his eyes. “I—I’ve never ridden a motorcycle. I don’t know how.”

“You have only to hold on to me.” He caught her around the waist with one broad hand, pulled her toward his leather-clad body. “You can do that, si?”

If she fainted from the light-headedness he induced in her with his mere presence, would she get out of the ride? It was a thought. But there was something in his eyes, something that told her she didn’t want him to go alone.

“I’m not sure it’s safe.”

Nothing about Nico was safe. Over the last few days, he’d managed to somehow make her like him the way she had in New Orleans. In spite of the way they’d begun this time, her heart was bound tighter each time she saw him with Danny. Whether he tried to teach their baby Italian, talked nonsense to him or made him giggle, Lily felt herself melting a little more with every moment they spent together.

Having a baby changed people. Had it changed Nico? Was he enjoying fatherhood? Was Danny as important to him as he was to her? The evidence said yes, but she’d learned not to trust herself so easily. Her father had often made her mother happy for varying lengths of time before he broke her heart yet again. It was a lesson Lily needed to remember.

Especially now, when he looked like sin wrapped up and tied with a bow.

“We will go slowly, I promise.”

She motioned at his delicious fantasy of a body. Oh that formfitting leather! She hadn’t been able to get it out of her mind since the first time he’d worn it. “I don’t have the appropriate attire.”

“Jeans, boots and a jacket will do for where we are going.”

She blinked. “Where would that be?”

His smile was genuine, and it sent her pulse into overdrive. “It’s a surprise.”

Fifteen minutes later, Lily found herself climbing onto the back of a wicked-looking motorcycle and cinching a helmet into place. She wrapped her arms around him while the engine hummed and the smell of leather, rubber and motor oil filled her nostrils. The bike was sleek—red and silver—and purred like a kitten. Until he revved it.

Lily clutched him tighter as they roared up the drive. The gates opened and he shot between them. A news van sat around the corner from the entrance, and it launched forward as they passed.

“Maledizone,” Nico said, the sound coming clearly through the helmet mike. There were a few more words in Italian—which she decided were not in the least polite—and then he said, “Hold on, cara.”

“Nico, please,” she said, her heart thrumming as she thought of her sweet baby back at the house, of the last few days of bliss—oh God, why had she agreed to this? “I don’t like going so fast!”

“Trust me,” he replied. “A few moments, we will lose them. I will not hurt you, Lily.”

She didn’t reply, simply tightened her arms around him and laid her head against his back. The motorcycle was designed in such a way that she sat higher than he did, and when he leaned over the bars, she had to lie against him or let go. She chose to flatten herself against him.

The bike roared at incredible speeds down the coastal road. “We are approaching a turn. Lean the way I do, si?”

As if she could do anything different. He braked only a hair, then arrowed into the corner, dipping deep to the left, laying the bike nearly flat—and then they were out the other side as if they’d been fired from a gun. Her breath stuck in her chest.

She dared to turn her head as much as possible against the wind and blurring landscape. Behind them, the van was nowhere to be seen.

“I think you lost them!”

“I can hear you, there is no need to shout.”

“Sorry.”

“Another few minutes, and we’ll get off the road.”

Lily held tight to his torso, finally breathing again when the motorcycle slowed. He made a turn onto a path that led downhill. It was a dirt trail, wide, and lined with brush. They rode on it for several minutes before he turned again and they emerged onto a remote beach.

He took the motorcycle down to the water’s edge and drove along the packed sand there. They went slow enough that Lily was able to sit up and gaze out at the cresting waves. A dark band of clouds had moved in, blocking the sun. The day had gone from bright to gray in the space of a few minutes.

“Will it rain?” she asked.

Nico looked up. “Possibly.”

He didn’t seem too concerned, so she didn’t say anything else about it. A few minutes later, he slowed even more, then came to a stop beside a huge ragged limestone rock that sat like an island in a sea of sand.

“Take my hand and climb down,” he said. “Be sure to watch out for the pipes. They are very hot.”

Lily did as he instructed, removing the helmet while Nico swung a leg over and stood on the sand beside her. He un-snapped his helmet and tugged it off. “That was fun, yes?”

“Um, not all of it,” Lily said. “It was a little fast.”

“Sometimes fast is best,” Nico said, his mouth lifting in that wicked grin that always sent her heart into overdrive. He appeared more at ease now than he had when they’d started. She wasn’t sure what had changed for him, but she was glad for it.

He set his helmet on the seat, placed hers there, as well, then took her hand and led her toward an outcropping of rocks a few feet away.

“Where are we going?” she asked again.

“We’re almost there.”

She had no idea what he wanted to show her. Another rock? More sand? She’d thought he’d already taken her to some of the more beautiful spots on this coast. They rounded the cliff face and Lily jolted to a stop.

Nico turned back to look at her. He seemed oddly solemn. “It is extraordinary, isn’t it?”

Lily could only nod. The cliff face bowed inward at this point, creating a half-round bowl that held the skeleton of a wooden ship. The vessel lay on its side, the wood darkened through years of enduring the elements. The remnants of a tattered flag flapped in the strong breeze coming from the direction of the ocean.

“Is it a pirate ship?” she asked, and then felt silly for doing so. She’d been watching too many Hollywood blockbusters.

“No. In fact, it’s not all that old. It is a replica of the days when Montebianco’s wealth came from command of the shipping lanes. But it sank in strong seas during a regatta many years ago and washed up here.”

“Why wasn’t it moved to a museum?”

He shrugged. “Not enough interest, I suppose.” He walked toward the ship, and she followed, her imagination spinning out a tale. Though he wore leather, she could easily picture him in breeches, standing on the deck and commanding his men to sail into battle. And though the ship was a replica, it made her think of the history of this country and the long line of kings her husband must descend from.

The long line of kings her son descended from.

And suddenly she felt so out of her depth that it frightened her. What was she doing here? Why had a prince—a future king—married her? What happened when he realized she was completely unsuitable?

He would take Danny from her and send her back to America, that’s what.

No.

He would not do such a thing. He couldn’t. He’d lost his own mother, hadn’t he? That had to count for something.

He bent over and grabbed a rock, then hopped up onto one of the thick logs at the base of the ship and hurled it. Lily stopped and watched him, her memories of the last few days tumbling together with her fears. He seemed preoccupied as he put his hands on either side of a gap in the hull and peered inside. Eventually, he pushed away and turned back to her.

His expression changed in a heartbeat.

“Cavolo!” He jumped down and ran toward her. “We must get under cover,” he said, grabbing her arm and spinning her back the way they’d come. That’s when she saw what had alarmed him.

Black clouds hung lower in the sky than before, and the wind picked up speed, whipping her hair across her eyes. She could taste the salt on her tongue from the cool air, and she scraped her hair away so she could see. A funnel cloud danced along the water, moving toward the beach.

“Is that a tornado?” Good God, they had tornadoes here? She’d thought those were a nightmare she’d left behind in Louisiana.

His voice was grim. “It is a water spout. Probably won’t come ashore, but the rain will be quite hard for a while.” They reached the motorcycle and he tossed a helmet to her. “Don’t put it on,” he said when she started to do just that. “We don’t have time to get away.”

“What are we going to do, stand here beside this rock and hope for the best?”

“There is a cave nearby. We’ll wait inside for the worst to pass.” His smile belied the seriousness of the situation. “Don’t worry, cara, the sun will be shining again in half an hour.”

He wheeled the bike toward the cliff, skirted along for a few feet, then slipped between an opening in the white rock. Lily followed, not sure what she’d find inside. A tiny, dank space where she couldn’t see two feet in front of her face? The idea did not make her happy.

But no, the cave opened into a large area with a roof that soared thirty feet or more. Light filtered in from gaps in the rock much higher up the face. The walls glittered with what looked like tiny crystals.

“It was a sea cave once,” Nico said, parking the motorcycle and turning to face her. “Millennia ago.”

Fine, powdery sand covered the floor, punctuated here and there by rocks. He went over to a ledge of smooth rock against one wall and sat down. “I used to come here with my brother,” he said, as if in answer to her unspoken question about how he knew where to find it. “It was very far from the family palazzo, and forbidden—but we did so anyway.”

Lily imagined the two boys in the picture, laughing and running and knowing they were doing something wrong but unwilling to stop. “Did you come often?”

He leaned back against the rock, hands clasped casually on his knees. “Not often, no. It was very far, and difficult to get to. We found the ship one summer, and we tried to come as often as possible. As you can imagine, a wreck would have much fascination for young boys.”

Outside, the rain began to beat against the rock. The wind whipped inside the cave, stirring up the sand. The storm had moved very fast. She imagined them caught in it, shuddered. Thankfully he’d known where to take them or they would be huddling in the wind and rain right this moment.

“Come,” Nico said, holding out an arm. She went and sat beside him, reveled in the warmth of his body as he tucked her in against him. Maybe she should have said no, but she didn’t want to. Not this time.

Nico’s chin rested on her head, and she found herself burrowing closer, her arm going around his waist. It seemed natural, inevitable. If only they could stay like this forever.

“Gaetano died here,” he said softly, and she jerked back, her eyes searching his face. The pain in his eyes was raw—and yet controlled.

“Nico, I—”

“Shh,” he said, pressing a finger to her lips. A thrill of sensation shot through her. “It’s okay, cara mia. He made his choice.”

“What happened?” she said when he took his finger away.

“He drove his car off a cliff nearby.”

Lily shuddered. How awful for them all. “Why did you want to bring me here if it makes you sad?”

He tilted her chin up, his eyes capturing hers for long moments. But then they closed, and he leaned back, away from her. “I sometimes think he’s waiting here. I know he is not, but it gives me comfort to think so.”

Lily couldn’t help herself—she cupped his smooth jaw in her palm, spread her fingers along the fine, strong bones of his face. He felt closer to his brother in this place, and he’d brought her with him. It touched her more than she could say.

“I don’t think that’s wrong,” she said softly. “It happened so recently, you’re still growing accustomed to it.”

He pressed his hand over one of hers, then dipped down and touched her lips with his own. Gently, lightly—so lightly that she was the one to lean forward, the one to demand more.

But he did not give it to her. “There is something about you, Liliana,” he said, his breath hot against her skin. “I don’t know what it is.”

“Perhaps you just don’t know me very well,” she replied, her heart thrumming as their breaths mingled. It was so intimate, so thrilling. She wanted him to kiss her again, as he had the night of their wedding. He hadn’t attempted it in days now, and she was a little too uncertain of herself to kiss him first. “I’m a mystery.”

He leaned away from her, and she bit back a protest. Not at all the effect she’d been aiming for. She wanted to howl in frustration.

“Then tell me something.”

She gaped at him, a hot achy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. “Isn’t it usually the woman who wants to talk first?”

Nico threw back his head and laughed. Lily tried not to join him, but she couldn’t help herself. It felt good. A week ago, she’d have never thought she could share a light moment with him—and yet, in the space of the last few days, she’d seen a side to him she’d only hoped existed.

Was that the real Nico? Or was she dreaming of something that wasn’t truly there?

“Indulge me, Liliana. Tell me something about yourself.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she replied, her eyes downcast as she felt suddenly shy. What could she tell him that wasn’t mortifying? He was a prince, completely unaccustomed to the sort of life she would have led in Louisiana.

“Surely there is something.”

“I’m an only child.”

“I know that.” When she looked up, he was smiling gently. “I know the facts, cara. I don’t know how you feel about them.”

All the facts? That was a rather frightening prospect. Lily twisted her fingers into the fabric of her jacket. How could she reveal her deepest longings and hurts to him? “I’ve never had the luxury of dwelling too much on the past.”

“Were you lonely without siblings?”

“Sometimes. But I had friends. I had Carla,” she said, frowning.

“Do not blame her, Lily,” he said, going to the heart of what she was thinking. “Very few people can resist the lure of such money, especially when they do not have it.”

“I don’t blame her,” Lily said. “How could she say no? You wouldn’t have let her anyway.” She couldn’t blame Carla, though it still hurt. Would she have done the same thing if their positions were reversed? She liked to think she wouldn’t, but how could anyone know what they would do until faced with the choice?

“No,” he said very solemnly. “I would not.”

“And has the price been worth it?” A coil of heat threaded through her veins. He’d bought her and her son as though they were chattel, had put her friend in an impossible position. It still had the power to anger her when she considered it. Their lives were forever altered now.

“I believe so, yes,” he replied. He caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, sucked the tip of her finger. “I’m not sorry, Lily, because our son is worth any price to me.”

Am I?

Lily shivered, but she could not ask the question. “He is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“And the most frightening, no?”

“It wasn’t easy, if that’s what you’re asking. But I wouldn’t trade it.”

“I know you would not.” He dropped her hand, shifted away from her on the stone ledge. “You had no right to keep him from me for so long.”

Lily swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d thought she was doing the right thing for her baby, but now she realized she’d hurt the man who’d fathered him with her silence. They still had a long way to go, but he seemed to genuinely adore his son. “No, I should have contacted you.”

His gaze was sharp. “Do you mean this?”

“Yes.” She glanced away. “I—I was afraid you might take him away from me.”

His eyes burned into her. “We still have much to learn about each other, it seems.”

Feeling somewhat awkward in the silence that followed, Lily leaned back to look up at the soaring ceiling; outside, the rain pounded down. “We get storms like this back home, but they can be much worse. I was terrified of thunder when I was little.”

“But not now?”

Lily shook her head. “No. I had to stop being afraid. I was often alone in the house, and I’d have gone crazy otherwise.”

It was hard staying frightened when you had to learn to take care of yourself because your mother was off in some bar or another. Storms ceased to be significant.

“But you were afraid for a while, yes?”

Lily sucked in a breath. “I learned to deal with it. It was that or go around jumping at every little sound and hiding under the covers whenever it rained.”

“That seems reasonable,” he said gently. “Though it couldn’t have been easy.”

Lily shrugged. “Nobody ever said life was easy.”

Nico’s gaze was thoughtful. “I’m learning what it is about you, I think,” he said, his voice barely reaching her as the rain picked up outside. “You are strong, Liliana. Brave. I find this very compelling.”

“I—”

He swooped in and cut her off with a kiss, his mouth claiming hers hotly. It was shocking, but Lily had no wish to argue about it: she opened to him. Their tongues met, sucking and stroking—pulling her deeper under the tidal wave of desire cresting inside her body.

This. This was what she wanted, this spark, this beautiful passion. All of it, hers.

“Dio, I want you,” he said against her mouth.

“Yes.”

The knowledge sent a thrill through her. He wanted her. Not Antonella, but her.

Strangely, she wasn’t scared. She’d had sex with him once—had only had sex once in her life. And, oh God, she was burning up with the desire to do it again. It’d been pretty good that first time, though mysterious and somewhat frightening, too. But now?

Oh, now…

She knew what to do, knew what to expect. Lily ached with the need for release, felt as if she would die if she didn’t reach that culmination. To hell with her fears. Right now, she wanted her prince.

She put her arms around his neck, pressed in closer. He was warm and big, his body sizzling against hers. One of his hands worked the buttons on her shirt, spreading it open as he moved downward. The air wasn’t all that cool, but against her heated skin, it felt like an arctic breeze. Lily shivered, not from the chill, but from anticipation.

When Nico had her shirt open, he spread the material wide, his lips blazing a trail down her neck, over her collarbone—

Lily gasped as his mouth grazed the soft mound of her breast. “It’s a front clasp,” she managed, and Nico chuckled before releasing the bra and freeing her breasts from the lacy cups. He shaped them, pressed them together, and she leaned back on her hands, thrusting her chest up, toward his seeking mouth.

She wanted him inside her. Her body ached with it. More than anything, she wanted to feel the heat of him, the hard length of him, his naked skin against hers as they moved together. There had been pain the last time, just a little, but she knew there would be none now—in spite of the fact she hadn’t had sex again since that first time, she was more than ready for him.

When his lips closed over one tight peak, she thought she would come simply from the exquisite sensation.

“Oh, Nico,” she gasped.

He growled low in his throat, a sound of possession and male satisfaction. The vibrations shuddered through her, gathered in the center of her feminine core and threatened to shatter her senses. How could she be on the edge so quickly?

He laved each nipple with his tongue, dragged his teeth across the aching points with just enough pressure to make her back arch toward him.

She couldn’t allow it, couldn’t be the only one about to explode with the feelings and sensations of all he was doing. Lily reached for the snap to his pants, smiling to herself as his breath rattled in on a sharp hiss.

The sound emboldened her, and she tugged his zipper down enough to get her hand inside. He was hard, his penis thick and hot beneath her hand. He growled at her again as she wrapped her fingers around him.

“Lily, Dio.”

And then he dragged her into his lap, kissed her hard. She stroked him, tentatively at first, then more boldly as he shuddered beneath her touch.

Finally, he tore his mouth away. Swore. “Stop, Liliana.”

“But you like it,” she said, shocked at how sensual her voice sounded.

He grasped her wrist, pulled her hand away from his pants. “It is not a question of like, but a question of control. Keep doing that, and we’ll be finished before we begin. I want you too much for play.”

“Then we need to begin.”

He closed his eyes, swallowed hard. “Madonna diavola, had I known you would be so eager, I would have taken you to bed and skipped this ride.”

Heat crept up Lily’s neck to her cheeks. “Had you kissed me first, maybe we’d still be there instead of here.”

Nico kissed her knuckles, laughing brokenly, while she tugged her shirt back into place with her free hand, suddenly self-conscious and confused at his hesitation.

“No,” he said, catching her fingers and opening her shirt again.

“Nico, for heaven’s sake, what’s the point if all you’re going to do is talk?”

“Your eagerness is most gratifying, cara mia. A man likes to know he is wanted.”

As if he’d ever had a problem with that. “So does a woman,” she shot back.

“Oh, I want you,” he said as he stood and started shrugging out of his jacket. The dark T-shirt he wore molded to his muscular torso, and Lily dragged in a deep, sustaining breath that smelled of salt and sea, hoping it would steady her erratic heartbeat. The man ought to come with a warning label that proclaimed one word loud and clear: Danger!

“Then what do you plan to do about it?”

His lip curled in a wicked smile. “As many things as I can get away with.”