the distance, I noticed the space was bathed in soft, muffled light. It was quiet, so I assumed one of the maids had forgotten to turn it off. A huge misjudgment on my part.
Following my usual routine, I went straight into the steamy swimming pool area. Breath caught in my throat when I saw Alessandro stepping out of the pool in all of his magnificent naked glory. I was beyond shocked because I couldn't understand what he was doing there. He never went swimming. I could have sworn there was a time I had heard him say he hated it. His back was turned to me and he reached for a towel to wipe himself off. I needed to get out of there, but couldn't make myself move. For a couple of moments, I was frozen and kept staring. The sight of this virile gorgeous man who just happened to be my cruel, distant husband left me breathless. He wrapped the towel around his waist and I woke up from a trance, quickly turning to leave.
“Olivia!”
Alessandro's commanding voice made me stop dead in my tracks, but I didn't turn around. Instead, I stood there, blushing in embarrassment because he had caught me staring. His soft footfalls echoed in the steamy room and—in a few nervous heartbeats—he stood right behind me. He rested his hands on my shoulders and leaned above me, inhaling the scent of my hair. It had been months since he was this close to me. The raw strength and warmth emanating from his body had an effect of a dangerous opium on my senses.
“Tell me, tesoro,” he murmured seductively, laying a kiss on my neck. “Did you like what you saw?”
Blood boiled in my cheeks. “Alessandro, I didn't mean...”
“Come...you can be honest with me,” he breathed against my skin. “Do I still have what it takes to turn you on?”
A shiver of electricity rushed through my body and exploded in my lower belly. I let out a hot bothered breath, trying to cope with his consuming presence.
“Allora,” he demanded softly. “Have you got nothing to say to me, piccola?”
I shook my head as he slowly moved my hair to the side, baring my neck.
“You know...silence is also an answer,” he taunted in a heated whisper. “I for one am done pretending and I’m not ashamed to admit you still excite the hell out me, Olivia. As a matter of fact, I can barely keep my hands to myself whenever you're around.”
His hands closed around my shoulders, and he laid a soft kiss behind my ear.
“If it wasn't for that damn bodyguard, I would have ripped that tight dress off your body and took you right then and there on my desk this afternoon,” he murmured in a raspy voice, pressing his lips against my skin. “It has been so long...and this is the last drop. I give up...you win. I have no more self-control left...I need to have a taste or I'll go fucking insane.”
My body quivered under the touch I hadn’t felt in so long, and I knew he was capable of bewitching a response from my body. I also knew how it would make me feel. But that wasn't the worst of it. Tugging the soft fabric from my shoulder, Alessandro brushed his fingers against my naked skin. Worried he might peel off my entire bathrobe and expose my scars for his gaze, I pressed it tighter around me. He snickered at my attempt to shield myself.
“It's okay, bella mia. You can keep it on,” he whispered hotly. “For now...”
“Alessandro, please let me be,” I stammered, feeling overwhelmed by his closeness.
“You’re my wife,” he said softly, and his hand slid down to the swell of my breasts.
“You said…” I caught his wrist, but he was persistent, and I couldn't match his strength. “You said I wasn't.” I gasped as his hand closed around my breast, and a current of immense heat shot through my body.
“In the eyes of the law and the people we’re still married, Olivia. That will never change,” he pointed out, gently taking my nipple between his fingers.
It took all of my self-restraint to remain silent. The sensations his touch awakened with such ease scared me senseless. “But we don't love each other,” I mumbled with near desperation.
I could have sworn he tensed at the remark, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.
“So? Feelings don't need to come into it,” he mused in my ear. “Love may not be there,