Molly licked her lips. She’d thought that a good night’s sleep and the addition of daylight might take some of the emotional sting out of her disclosure. But now she could see that any idea of sleep was a non-starter, especially with the thought of Salvio in bed nearby and the heavy realisation that he’d only ever wanted her that one time. But more than that, the news was bubbling inside her, wanting to get out. She needed to tell someone—and who else was she going to confide in?
‘I’m pregnant,’ she said bluntly.
There was a moment of silence—a weird and intense kind of silence. It was as if every sound in the room had been amplified to an almost deafening level. The crackle and spit of the fire. The loud thunder of her heart. The sudden intake of her own shuddered breath. And now there was shadow too, as Salvio rose from his chair—tall and intimidating—his powerful frame blocking out the firelight and seeming to fill the room with darkness.
‘You can’t be,’ he said flatly. ‘That is, if you’re trying to tell me it’s mine?’
She met the unyielding expression which had hardened his face and Molly’s heart contracted with pain. Did he really think she’d lost her virginity to him and then rushed out to find herself another lover—as if trying to make up for lost time? Or was he just trying to run from his own responsibility? She stared at him reproachfully. ‘You know it is.’
‘I used contraception,’ he bit out. ‘You know I did.’
She felt blood rush into her cheeks. ‘Maybe you weren’t—’
‘Careful?’ He cut across her words with a bitter laugh. ‘I think that’s a given, don’t you? Reckless might be closer to the mark. On all counts.’
‘Don’t,’ she said quickly.
His eyebrows shot up imperiously, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was telling him what to do. ‘What?’
‘Please don’t,’ she whispered. ‘Don’t make it any worse than it already is by saying things which will be difficult to forget afterwards.’
His eyes narrowed but he nodded, as if acknowledging the sense of her words. ‘Are you sure?’ he demanded. ‘Or is it just a fear?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m certain. I did a test.’
Another silence. ‘I see.’
Molly’s lips were dry and her heart was racing. ‘I just want to make it clear that I’m only telling you because I feel duty-bound to tell you.’
‘And not because you’re after a slice of my fortune?’
Hurt now, she stared at him. ‘You think that’s what this is all about?’
His lips curved. ‘Is it such a bizarre conclusion? Think about it, mia bedda. I’m rich and you’re poor. What is it they say in the States?’ He flicked the fingers of both hands, miming the sudden spill of money from a cash register. ‘Ker-ching!’
Molly made to move away but his reflexes were lightning-fast and quicker than hers. He reached out to curl his fingers around her arm before pulling her towards him, like an expert angler reeling in their catch of the day. The movement made her breathless but it also made her hungry for him in a way she didn’t want to be. Just one touch and her senses had started jangling, as she felt that now familiar desire washing over her. Meeting the gleam of his black eyes, she prayed she would find the strength to pull away from him and resist him. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded.
‘I’m doing about the only thing which could possibly make me feel good right now,’ he grated and brought his mouth down hard on hers.
Molly willed herself not to respond. She didn’t have to do this—especially not after those insults he’d just hurled her way, making out she was some kind of gold-digger. But the trouble was that she wanted to kiss him. She wanted that more than anything else in the world right then. It was as if the beauty of his touch was making her realise how she’d got herself into this predicament in the first place. His kiss had been the first step to seduction and even now she found it irresistible. Closing her eyes, she let him plunder her lips until there was no oxygen left in her lungs and she had to draw back to suck in a breath of air. She shook her head distractedly. ‘Salvio,’ she whispered, but he shook his head.
‘Don’t say anything,’ he warned, before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her out of the room.
Molly blinked in confusion because his hands were underneath her bottom and they were caressing it in a way which was making her want to squirm. As if in some kind of unbelievable dream he was carrying her up that sweeping staircase as if she were Scarlett O’Hara and he were Rhett Butler. And she was letting him.
So stop him. Make him put you down.
But she couldn’t. Because this was powerlessness, she realised—this feeling of breathy expectation bubbling up inside her as he kicked open the door of the master bedroom. The heavy oak door swung open as if it had been made of matchsticks as he carried her effortlessly across silken Persian rugs before depositing her on the huge bed.
And even though Molly could see no real affection on his proud Neapolitan features—nothing but sexual hunger glittering from his dark eyes—that didn’t stop her from reciprocating. Was it the delicious memory of his lovemaking which made her open her arms to him and close them around him tightly? Or was it more basic than that? As he peeled her dress, shoes and underclothes from her body before impatiently removing his own clothes she began to wonder if there was some deep-rooted need to connect physically with the man whose seed was multiplying inside her.
Or at least, that was her excuse for what was about to happen.
‘Salvio,’ she gasped as his finger stroked a slow circle around the exquisitely aroused peak of her now bare nipple. ‘Oh!’
His naked body was warm against hers. ‘Shh...’
It was more of a command than an entreaty but Molly heeded it all the same, terrified that words might break the spell and let reality flood in and destroy what she was feeling. His eyes were hooded as they surveyed her body, seeming to drink in every centimetre. Was she imagining his gaze lingering longest on her belly? With her notorious curves, she probably looked pregnant already. But now he was kissing her neck and her eyelids were fluttering to a close so that it became all about sensation rather than thought and that was so much better.