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  “I don’t know,” she said. “But there’s a bigger chance of him believing me than believing you.”

  “She has a point,” Marco said.

  Luca knew a losing battle when he was in one. And it’s not that Isabel didn’t make sense. It was just that he couldn’t stand the thought of giving Diego any more ammunition against her, and even more than that, he couldn’t stand the thought of what Diego might do to her if he caught her.

  “Okay, on one condition,” Luca said.

  Isabel smirked, clearly glad that she’d won. “What?”

  “I’m somewhere nearby. Somewhere that I can get to you if Diego finds you, if you run into trouble.”

  “Where will you hide without being obvious outside the study?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’ll figure something out.” He was glad his voice was as hard as his resolve, because there was no way he was letting Isabel search Diego’s study unless he could reach her in under ten seconds.

  She hit the bar for another shot, and looked away. “Fine.”

  There was no real victory in the win. Isabel would be in enemy territory, and if she couldn’t find the key to the drawer, or if the computer wasn’t there at all, they were back to square one.

  And Luca had the distinct feeling that time was running out.

  33

  Luca found Isabel in her room, sitting on the balcony and looking out over the sea in the distance. He sat in the chair next to her without speaking for a moment.

  She was still pissed that he’d pushed her at the bar earlier. He understood. She wanted to take charge of her situation. Wanted to be part of the solution. And probably, she even wanted to protect him.

  But he didn’t need her protection. He needed a lot of things from her, but that wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being alone all this time without her parents, fending off Diego, taking care of Sofia, trying to put the ugliness of what Diego had done to her out of her mind.

  Now he just wanted to shelter her, offer her the protection she deserved. Hell, if he had his way, he’d lock her in an ivory tower with the finest of everything and keep her safe from every hurt the world could throw her way.

  But that would be just another prison, and he didn’t want that for her either. Somehow he had to find a way to love her and protect her and give her the best of everything while letting her be in charge of her own life, her own destiny.

  He reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  She looked over at him. “I have to do something for myself sometime.”

  “I know.” He sighed. “I’m just trying to protect you.”

  “I don’t want to be protected anymore,” Isabel said, standing up and leaning on the balcony railing. “I want to be free.”

  He watched her from the chair for a minute, her curves accented underneath trim white shorts and a loose top that left her shoulders bare. Her dark hair blew in the breeze, and he had the sudden urge to take her from behind, feel her breasts in his hands as he slid between the expansive curves of her ass.

  He stood, came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You will be. I promise.”

  She turned in his arms. “I don’t want to be rescued, Luca. I don’t want to be rescued any more than I want to be imprisoned. Neither of those things put me in charge of my own life.” She reached up to touch his face. “I’m grateful for your help. Truly. But you have to let me take part in the saving of myself.”

  He nodded, leaned his forehead against hers. “I don’t want anything to hurt you ever again.”

  She smiled a little. “Pain is part of life, and I want to live it. I’ll take my chances with everyone else — hurt, love, risk. Then I’ll really be free.”

  He drew in a breath. “So you’ll search the study. And I’ll station myself outside the terrace doors and listen for Diego. If he comes into his office, it will be through the interior hallway, not the outside entrance. I’ll be able to hear him, but he won’t see me until I enter the room.”

  “What about the other guards?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “I’m going to send them on a scouting mission around the property to assess the security system’s weaknesses,” he said. “Marco will be with them. He’ll make sure they’re gone long enough for you to search.”

  She nodded. “I just hope the key is where I think it is.”

  “I do, too,” he said. “Diego is supposed to be gone for awhile tomorrow. I overheard him on the phone; there’s a shipment coming in at the harbor. It’s big, and Diego say he wants to be there to supervise.”

  “Tomorrow it is,” she said.

  “How’s Sofia?” he asked.

  “She’s okay, I think,” Isabel said. “Although it’s hard to tell sometimes. She told me the other day that Diego scares her. That she’s afraid he’ll hurt me. It’s not good for her to be scared at her age.”

  “I agree.” Luca’s voice was gruff. He couldn’t help it. Isabel was so caring, so good. He knew firsthand what it was to be scared at Sofia’s age, and he couldn’t help wondering what his life might have been like if he’d had even one person like Isabel in his life. “She’s lucky to have you.”

  Isabel reached up, touched his face. “Not ready to talk about it yet, querido?”

  “About what?”

  “The shadow in your eyes,” she said. “You don’t want me to see it, but I know it’s there.”

  He shook his head. “The past shadows us all.”

  “It doesn’t have to.” She stood on tiptoe, touched her lips to his. “I’ll be here when you’re ready. In the meantime, I’m sure we can think of other things to do.”

  She pressed her hips into his to make her point, and his cock responded like the obedient soldier it was.

  “You’re a naughty little girl,” he murmured against her lips, pulling her more tightly against him, burying his hard-on into her belly.

  “Only for you.”

  Their lips were inches apart, and Luca bridged the gap in under a second. Her mouth, extravagant and soft, was made for him. She opened her lips and allowed his tongue entrance, then met him as he swept her mouth, pushing his hand into the hair at the back of her neck and tipping her head so he could taste every bit of her beautiful mouth.

  She was backed up against the railing now, the sea breeze mixing with her smell — vanilla and oranges and something that might have been jasmine — to create a heady backdrop to the fire building inside him. He didn’t want her pressed up against the hard iron. He wanted her laid out on Egyptian cotton, her body bare for his eyes and his hands and his fingers and his mouth.

  As if reading his mind, she took his hand. “Come, my love.”

  He let her lead him into the bedroom, forcing himself not to sweep her in his arms and ravish her on the spot. She needed to feel in control a little, especially in the bedroom. It was new for him, but it was a small thing to make her feel better. To give her the safety she deserved.

  When they got to the big canopy bed she slipped her hands under his shirt, the touch of her fingers as light as a feather against his skin. He slid his hands into the hair at the back of her head and kissed her, slowly at first, letting the passion build between them like it always did.

  He undid the tiny buttons of her blouse while they kissed, letting the cotton fall to the floor, revealing her beautiful breasts rising above a delicate bra made of pale blue silk. He thumbed her nipples and she moaned in his mouth, making him so hard his cock pushed painfully against the restraint of his jeans.

  As if she’d heard his thoughts, she undid the button and slid her hand inside, taking hold of him. The feel of his hard cock in her silken hand almost sent him over the edge. He turned her around so her back was to the bed and undid her shorts, then slid them off her long, tan legs. He was surprised to find she wasn’t wearing panties, and the sight of her perfectly smooth mound sent another bolt of lightening through his body.

  “I c
an’t wait to taste you,” he murmured, cupping her sex with his hand.

  She sighed, and he pushed her gently back onto the bed. He shed his T-shirt and jeans, then knelt at the edge of the bed.

  “Lean back, baby,” he said. “Let me make you feel good.”

  She reached for him, ran her fingers through his hair. Her eyes glowed in the half-light of the room. “You always make me feel good, Luca.”

  He spread her legs, and she leaned back on the bed, propping herself up on her forearms. For a minute, he could only look at her: the smooth mound of flesh leading to the petal-like ruffles of her pussy, already glistening and wet for him.

  He ran his hands up her shapely calves, then hooked one over his shoulder so he could kiss the back of one soft knee. She sighed deeply, and he worked his way up her thighs, massaging with his hands while he nibbled tenderly at the soft flesh on the way to the cleft between her legs.

  When he got there, he spread her open wider, desire galloping through his bloodstream when he saw how wet she was. He ran a finger through the engorged folds, stopping briefly to circle her clit. She moaned low and deep in her throat, and he got harder still.

  “Tell me what you want,” he said, still slipping his fingers through her. “I’m not doing anything to you unless you want it.”

  “I want your mouth on me,” she gasped.

  He leaned in and flicked his tongue over her clit, sliding his hands under her ass and around her hips when she came off the bed to meet his mouth. He wedged himself in closer, inhaling the musky sweet scent of her: need and sex and clean sheets and the suntan lotion she used by the pool. He slid his tongue through her creases, dipping it into her well before continuing up to her clit. He kept his hands off her on purpose. He wanted her to ask for what she wanted. He wanted her to know there was no shame in it — whatever it may be. He’d seen the look of guilt in her eyes when the subject of her assault came up, and while he knew being with him wouldn’t take it all away, he wanted her to know that sex could be hot while it was beautiful, it could be dirty while it was meaningful, and most of all there was no shame in wanting what you wanted.

  He made a circle around her clit with the flat pad of his tongue. It was torture not touching her. He wanted to slide his fingers inside her wetness, fill her with them while he worked her clit with his mouth, feel her channel clench down as she drew close to orgasm. He focused on her clit instead, sucking and lapping until she had her hands in his hair to keep him from stopping. As if he ever wanted to.

  “Please,” she finally gasped.

  “Please, what?” he asked, lifting his head. “Tell me what you want, Isabel.”

  “I want your fingers inside me. I want you to fuck me with your fingers while you lick my clit.”

  He spread her open wider, his mouth going dry at the sight of her, wet and swollen and ready for him. His cock was throbbing with the need to be inside her. He could almost feel it, the softness against his head while he positioned himself at her opening, the exquisite give when he pushed into her moist heat.

  But no. Not yet. It wasn’t time.

  He slid two fingers inside her instead, holding her hips in place with his free hand when she instinctively shuddered, moving slightly away from him. Then she settled in again, and he lowered his mouth back to her clit, raking his teeth gently over it before soothing it with soft laps. When she got used to the motion, he took the whole thing in his mouth, rolling the soft bud against his tongue and sucking until she bit down on her wrists to keep from crying out.

  He pumped his fingers in and out of her, felt her grow wetter and hotter as she climbed toward her orgasm. He loved the way she felt just before she came. The way she tightened around him, grinding her hips against his mouth and fingers, all her guilt and shame lost to the desire flushing her body, the need to find her release on the other side of the mountain.

  “Oh, god… Luca,” she said. “I’m going to come.”

  He moved his fingers faster, opening his mouth wide to taste all of her, running his tongue from her folds to her clit until she held onto his head and cried out, shuddering against his mouth, her pussy clenching around his fingers like a vise. He didn’t stop until she went slack, even though his cock was painfully hard, ready for its own release. She was controlling the show this time, and he was going to let her see it through to its conclusion.

  He kissed her thighs and moved up over her body, forcing himself not to hiss with unreleased pressure when his cock brushed against her wetness. He kissed her full on the mouth, and she put her hands on his face and looked into his eyes.

  “Fuck me, Luca. I can’t wait to feel you inside me.”

  He gave her a long kiss, pillaging her mouth with his tongue, giving her a taste of what he was going to do to her with his cock.

  “Tell me how you want it,” he said.

  “I just… I want it,” she said softly. “I want you.”

  He kissed her again. “You already have me. But I want you to tell me how you want my cock, Isabel.”

  “I don’t want to,” she said softly.

  He touched her face. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Not ever. But there’s no shame in wanting what you want. Now tell me.”

  She looped her hands around his neck, pressed her naked body against his and kissed him. Then she pulled away and flipped onto her stomach so that his cock was nestled between the pillowy flesh of her ass.

  It took every ounce of restraint not to plunge into her then, but he rubbed his cock back and forth against her first, wanting to give her time to catch up to him again. And slowly, little by little, she started to move under him, her breath short and fast as her desire built all over again.

  Her head was turned sideways on the bed, hair fanned out around her face. Her beautiful back was exposed, the little waist, the lavish ass.

  “Please,” she gasped. “I want it.”

  He pulled her hips down a little so the lower half of her body was off the bed, her upper body resting on her forearms. She wiggled her ass, and he thought he might come right then, with nothing but the sight of her ass cheeks and the slick folds waiting for him between her legs.

  He reached for a condom, opened it in a hurry, and slid it on, then positioned himself at her opening, sliding back and forth through her wetness a few times for good measure. It had the desired effect, and she moaned, pressing back into him like she wanted to push onto him.

  He chuckled. “My Isabel is naughty and nice,” he said. “I like it. I like you when you’re nice. And I like you just as much when you’re naughty.”

  She spread her legs wider in answer, and then he couldn’t wait any longer. Her body was made for him, and he grabbed ahold of her hips and drove into her in one motion, then dragged his cock through her heat and plunged into her again. There was no softness to it this time. She didn’t want softness. He could sense it in the way she pushed back on him, meeting him thrust for thrust, slapping against his body until his cock was embedded all the way inside her. She was crying out with little moans, moving faster, setting the pace, her pussy getting wetter and tighter as he pounded her, made her his in a way she’d never been before as she showed him who she really was under all the shame she’d been swallowing for far too long.

  “Tell me,” he gasped, his own orgasm within reach. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I want you to fuck me, Luca. And I don’t want you to stop until I come.”

  The words made him drive harder, and he held tighter to her hips. “I’m not stopping until we both come, Isabel. But you first.”

  He reached around her body and found her clit with his finger, slowing down just a little as he circled it with his thumb. He pushed into her in rhythm with his finger, their bodies slick with sweat, and a moment later she came apart in his hands, crying out into the room, her pussy clenching around him, tipping him over the edge until he was pouring himself into her, thrusting until she’d milked him of every drop.

  When t
hey were done, she collapsed on the bed, and he fell next to her, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

  “What was that?” she finally asked, her voice muffled by the bed.

  “That was you wanting what you want,” he said. “And not being afraid to ask for it. And damned if I didn’t love every minute of it.”

  34

  Isabel paced her room while she watched Luca talk to the men on the lawn. She watched him point to the perimeter of the property, and then saw the men follow his line of sight. A few minutes later, they fanned out across the property, even Marco who would keep an eye on them and make sure they stayed out of the house long enough for Isabel to search Diego’s study. Only Eduardo seemed to hesitate, gazing back up at the house as if he could see Isabel standing in the shadow of her curtains. Marco said something to him a moment later, and he started off like the others.

  Isabel hurried down the stairs and met Luca in the foyer. “All set?”

  Luca nodded. “Eduardo makes me nervous, but Marco will keep him outside for at least twenty minutes.”

  “Good. And you’re sure Diego’s gone?”

  “I spoke to him on his way out about the security assessment,” Luca said. “He’s been edgy, too. Seemed to have something on his mind.”

  “As long as it’s not me or Sofia, I couldn’t care less,” Isabel said.

  Luca nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They headed down the main hall toward the study. Luca stopped at the door. “I’m going to circle back out to the balcony. I’ll keep an ear out in case Diego comes back.”

  “But he’s gone, right?” Isabel said, her stomach tightening. She couldn’t even begin to think about what Diego would do to her if he found her snooping in his study. She wasn't sure even Luca would be able to help her then.

  He reached out to smooth her hair. “He’s gone, sweetheart. But we have to cover all our bases.”

  She nodded, soothed by his presence like always. She drew in a deep breath and opened the door to Diego’s study, then closed it behind her. She took a minute to survey the room. It had been her father’s once. Then it had been a sanctuary. A place to hide away in the middle of the day, laying on his sofa and reading while he conducted business on the phone or worked on his computer. Sometimes he would take a break to sit with her, and they would listen to the opera or discuss a book she was reading. He would light the pipe he liked to smoke, filled not with the gross stuff Diego liked but with an earthy, cherry tobacco that made her feel like everything was right with the world.