A Shadow of Guilt - By Abby Green Page 0,55

and secured the strap before attending to himself.

Then he said over his shoulder, ‘Put your hands around my waist and hold on.’

Valentina leant into him and did that, her shoe straps dangling from one hand. Gio’s belly was hard and flat and she felt his muscles clench as he pushed forward and then back to get them moving. Her arms and hands tightened instinctively around him as the engine roared to life and suddenly they were moving out and into the darkness beyond the racetrack.

The ride was exhilarating through the inky night with the wind whipping past their heads. Valentina gave up worrying about her dress. Her thighs were completely bare by now, clenched tight around Gio’s hips.

Her hands were low against his belly and she could feel the tell-tale bulge of his arousal brushing her knuckles. Suddenly emboldened by the decision she’d made, Valentina’s fingers opened, exploring, finding Gio’s belt, opening it and sneaking her hand underneath to his hot skin.

His hand came over hers and Valentina held her breath thinking he would move it, but he held it there, over his erection, which grew under the palm of her hand, separated only by thin briefs.

It was unbearably sensual, this dark ride into the night, feeling Gio’s body respond to her. When at last they turned into his driveway lined with tall trees, Valentina could have wept with relief.

When the bike came to a stop with a throaty roar outside Gio’s house, he sat there for a moment, holding her hand on him, before gently taking it off. He turned the engine off and the night was suddenly very still around them. Valentina felt him take a breath and finally unwelded herself from his back, taking her other arm away too.

Gio removed his helmet and then turned around and removed hers. She could feel her hair tumble down around her shoulders. He threw the helmet to the ground and cupped her face in his hands. She could feel the faint calluses against her cheeks.

‘What do you do to me, Valentina?’

‘The same as you do to me, I think,’ she whispered, before Gio slanted his mouth down over hers and kissed her.

When Valentina’s hips were rolling impatiently against Gio’s buttocks he finally pulled back. They were both breathing hard.

‘I think we can do better than kissing on a bike….’ His voice was dry.

Gio got off the bike in one lithe move. He bent down and scooped Valentina up into his arms before she knew what was happening. Her sandals were still dangling from her fingers and they trailed down Gio’s back now when her arms went around his neck and she clung on.

Gio shouldered the front door open and Valentina asked dryly, ‘No key?’

Gio muttered, ‘The security guards knew I was on my way.’

‘Oh …’ Valentina was stunned again at the sheer evidence of Gio’s wealth and reminded herself that he had extremely valuable bloodstock here, some of the most valuable in the world.

He walked them through the dark house. Valentina couldn’t make out much in the gloom, just that they seemed to pass through some cavernous empty rooms with big windows before Gio climbed an ornate staircase to the first floor.

He walked them into a room with the door wide open and Valentina could see a huge bed revealed in a shaft of moonlight. Instinctively her arms tightened around Gio’s neck. The thought of Gio sleeping in this bed, possibly naked, made her inner muscles clench hard.

Gio stopped by the bed and let Valentina drop to the floor. Her sandals dropped too, from nerveless fingers. His hands were on her bare shoulders and gruffly he said, ‘I didn’t tell you how beautiful you look.’

Valentina blushed in the gloom and she looked down. Gio tipped her chin back up. ‘I’m glad you didn’t send them back.’

Her throat felt very constricted but Valentina finally admitted, ‘Me too.’

Gio seemed to study her for an infinitesimal moment before he instructed, ‘Turn around.’

Silently, tingling all over, Valentina turned around. His hands kept contact with her skin. And then she felt him brush her hair over one shoulder before his fingers trailed from the back of her neck down her spine until they reached the top of the zip.

He pulled the zip down all the way, until she felt his knuckles graze just above her bare buttocks and she shivered. The dress fell open under its own weight and when Gio tugged it gently from her hips it fell to the floor. Gio then undid