Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Chapter 20
Luca
The lamp cast a warm glow on her skin and hair that was somewhat dried now and lay in tangled waves around her face like a golden halo. For the hundredth time, I asked myself what I was still doing here, staring down at her while she slept.
But I simply couldn't pull away.
There was a ceaseless stream of liquid fire coursing through my veins from wanting to be still inside her. I hadn’t shared a bed with anyone since my wife Alessa. And I was planning on keeping it that way for the foreseeable future. The lure of her body throbbed and called as I forced myself to turn away. I warned myself that she was a siren, one of those dangerous creatures that made men crash their boats into rocks with sheer madness.
Suddenly she moaned, and like an addict being offered another shot, I turned helplessly, eagerly, but she was only stretching in her sleep. One breast poked out, the nipple pink and innocent, I was transfixed to the spot at the beautiful and vulnerable scene.
The tenderness of my thoughts clearly showed I was beginning to develop a kind of affection for her and it stopped me cold in my tracks. I didn’t even wait to slip my feet back into my shoes, barefoot, I fled from her.
Back in my own room, sleep didn’t come as easily. My mind was abuzz with the evening I’d just had. It was the first time I’d been rewarded so handsomely for coming to dinner here. I’d have to come more often. Perhaps every night. There was no need to change my plans. They were still good.
As planned, I would fuck the living daylights out of her until I lost interest. Yes, she was something special, I’d give her that much, but there was absolutely no way I wouldn’t be bored in twenty-nine days. No woman had kept my attention beyond two weeks. In fact, by the first week I would already begin the process of tiring of them.
My flight to Sicily was at six am, and feeling confident the infatuation wouldn’t last I shut my eyes. This time sleep came.
Chapter 21
Skye
“Sorry, apparently, the head gardener doesn’t have approval to let you into the greenhouse today,” Mary Jane announced regretfully, as she came back into the sunroom bearing a jar of cranberry juice.
I stopped munching through the slice of smoked salmon on sourdough toast. Placing my half eaten toast down on my plate, I took a deep breath and addressed the situation head-on. “The head gardener doesn’t have approval? Whose approval does he need?”
“The boss, I guess,” she replied. “But he left before dawn this morning so John won’t be able to see him now until he returns and nobody knows when that will be. Mind you even if he does return, as I explained to you yesterday, it is almost impossible to see him, let alone meet with him.”
My mind went to the man who had ravished me to the point of exhaustion, then pulled the duvet over my drained body last night. I shook my head to shake off the steamy flashbacks that immediately came flooding back.
“Can I meet John? I want to speak to him.”
“Ooo… I don’t know about that,” she said, and began to needlessly rearrange some of the dishes on the buffet table.
“What’s the problem?”
She made a face and spoke in a hushed voice. “Um… Madam Mitterand is not very… open to guests wandering across the grounds. It’s a very security tight compound so it’s usually preferred that everyone stayed within the confines of… um… their own areas.”
I stared at her, unable to come up with a response beyond astonishment. Did that mean I couldn’t even walk on the grounds? Was I meant to be a prisoner indoors for the duration of my stay here? No, that was not part of my contract. I was to make myself available to Luca for… sex, but otherwise I was free to do as I pleased.
I’ll find him myself, I decided. And Madam Mitterand could stick it.
After breakfast, I returned to my room. I secured my hair in a ponytail at the back of my head and stood before my expansive new wardrobe.
I was going to bury my hands in the soil, but appeared I only had designer gear in my wardrobe. As much as it hurt to think I would be ruining thousands of dollars worth of luxury items, I had no other choices. I opted for a pair of black Armani skinny jeans, a neon green sweatshirt from Dolce and Gabbana and Gucci boots. I found myself taking care not to glance at the tags as I broke them off. I pulled on a thick jacket with faux fur on the collar, jammed a beautiful black and white baseball hat with a Chanel logo on my head and I was done.