His Poor Little Rich Girl (18 page)

Rachel caught her lip in her teeth for a moment. ‘Alessandro. I’m not sure I can separate my feelings from sex like you do.’

‘What are you saying?’ he asked.

She looked into his eyes but they were shuttered. ‘I don’t want to fall in love with you.’ ‘Then don’t.’

She frowned at him. ‘It doesn’t work like that. I can’t just shut off my feelings.’

He dropped his hand from her face. ‘I told you from the outset how this is going to work,’ he said. ‘No emotional entanglements. When it’s over it’s over.’

‘But what if one of us doesn’t want it to be over?’ Rachel asked.

He walked over to the bank of windows that overlooked the Seine and the city below. ‘It has to be over,’ he said flatly.

Rachel felt her heart contract. ‘I want more, Alessandro,’ she said.

Alessandro swung around and shot her a dark look. ‘It’s not going to happen, Rachel.’

‘I don’t believe you’re incapable of love,’ she said. ‘I just don’t believe that.’

Alessandro wanted to believe it too, but he wasn’t going to risk revealing his doubts and fears. Five years ago he would have given anything to hear her say she was in love with him. But now he felt a river of fear run through him at the thought of committing himself if she were to state her feelings out loud.

He came back over to her and gripped her by the shoulders. ‘Why are you doing this now? I have the biggest meeting of my career within a couple of hours and you are talking about things that are of no consequence.’

‘They are of consequence to me,’ she shot back.

Alessandro muttered a swear word but his fingers softened on her shoulders. ‘I want you,’ he said. ‘I want you so badly I have found the last few days a torture. But that is all I can give of myself. You have to accept that.’

Rachel looked into those dark sapphire eyes and felt another part of her heart fall away. ‘I want you too,’ she whispered.

He brought his head down and covered her mouth with his, passionately, possessively, even a little angrily, Rachel thought. His tongue demanded entry and she gave it with a soft whimper of delight. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, so close she felt the hot, hard stirring of his arousal. It stoked her desire to feel him growing so hard so
quickly. Her body tingled with the flood of sensations that coursed through her. His tongue stroked and then stabbed at hers. His teeth captured her lower lip, tugging on it and then releasing it to salve it with the brushstroke of his tongue. It awakened a roaring furnace inside her with each exquisite caress. She nipped back at him playfully, delighting in the way he made a sound at the back of his throat in response. He backed her towards the bed, his hands already at her clothes, pulling at them, tossing them aside as she did the same to his in a frenzied mutual mission to become naked as quickly as possible.

His mouth engulfed her nipple as he pushed her down on the bed, her legs wrapping around his hips to lock him to her. His erection was rock-hard and she was so moist and so ready she arched up instinctively to receive him. He drove through with a guttural groan of pleasure that made her skin pepper all over with goose bumps. Her body gripped him tightly, ripples of pleasure rolling through her as he thrust deeply, as if he was unable to control the heat and fire of his need. He set a frantic pace but Rachel kept up. Her body moved with his, her hands caressing his back and shoulders, her mouth locked back on his. He coaxed her to climax with his fingers, just the right amount of pressure to have her soaring within seconds. She cried out with the magnitude of it, the cascading sensations so powerful, so earth-shattering she felt dizzy with it.

His orgasm was just as mind-blowing. She felt him brace himself for that final plunge, all of his muscles tensing before he finally let go. He shuddered against her, his groan of pleasure swallowed by the heat of her mouth.

Rachel lay within the circle of his arms, her chest still rising and falling in the aftermath. She wanted to stay connected
to him. She loved the feeling of him locked with her like this: so intimate, so earthy and raw, the scent of sex filling her senses. She didn’t want him to pull away and close off as he had before. She wanted this time together to be as precious to him as it was to her.

‘I probably took that a little fast,’ Alessandro said against the sensitive skin of her neck.

Rachel danced her fingertips up and down his spine. ‘It wasn’t too fast. It was perfect.’

He propped himself up on his elbows, looking down at her with an unreadable expression. ‘I should have also used a condom,’ he said. ‘I’m assuming you’re on the pill?’

Rachel wasn’t game to tell him she had missed a couple of days when her luggage had gone missing. ‘Of course,’ she said.

He brushed some hair away from her forehead. ‘I should let you get up and shower,’ he said.

‘I’m quite comfortable here,’ she said, tracing her fingertip over the contour of his lips.

He anchored her hand with one of his, holding her gaze like a laser beam as he sucked on her finger. Rachel felt a frisson of excitement run through her as his mouth drew on her, the slight rasp of his tongue and the scrape of his teeth stirring a primal urge inside her to do the same to him, but far more intimately.

She gave him a sultry look as she wriggled out from under him, pushing him down on his back with the flat of her palm against his chest. ‘Stay,’ she said in a commanding tone.

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said with a glinting smile.

Rachel had never felt so empowered before. She felt gloriously feminine and alive to her senses and to his. She held his smouldering look with one of her own as she trailed her
fingers down his chest, stopping briefly at his belly button before going lower. His body responded to her touch, his erection hardening with each movement of her hand. She shimmied down his body, giving him a look from beneath her lashes before she surrounded him with her mouth. She heard him suck in a breath, felt him tense his entire abdomen as she worked her magic on him. This was nothing like the times her ex had insisted she service him. This was not smutty or horrible or distasteful. This was not impersonal or exploitative.

This was sacred.

She breathed in the scent of him, drawing on him with increasing pressure until she felt him come apart. She pulled back just in time to see him spill, his expression contorted with bliss as he hit the summit. His essence anointed her hand, just as it had her body only minutes before.

His breathing gradually slowed and he looked at her, reaching out to touch her face in a stroke of his fingers that was so soft it was like the brush of a feather. He didn’t say anything. He just studied her features as if he were committing them to memory. She saw his eyes go to her mouth, and then back to her eyes, to her mouth again, her cheeks and her hair and then back to her eyes. His were dark and serious, shadowed.

Rachel touched the spot between his brows where the skin had puckered in a slight frown. ‘I’ve never enjoyed doing that before until now,’ she said softly. ‘Somehow it felt different with you. Everything feels different with you.’

He caught her hand and kissed her fingertips, holding her gaze with his. ‘You are a very sensual woman,’ he said. ‘But I have always thought that about you.’

‘That’s not how Craig would describe me,’ Rachel said. ‘He told me I was frigid. God, I hate that word.’

His frown deepened. ‘You need to move on from what happened with Hughson,’ he said. ‘You need to stop blaming yourself for his shortcomings.’

‘I know,’ Rachel said. ‘I’m trying to. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned his name. I know it upsets you.’

He paused for a moment before continuing in a gritty tone. ‘I hate thinking about you with him. It churns my gut to think of him touching you without respect or consideration.’

Rachel placed her hand on the side of his face in a soft caress. ‘You sound jealous,’ she said.

His mouth tightened and he pulled her hand away from his face and moved away, turning his back to her as he got off the bed. ‘We need to get ready for dinner,’ he said. ‘You have the first shower. I need to do another read-through of my proposal.’

Rachel watched as he tossed on a bathrobe, tying it around his waist before he reached for his stick. His expression was shut down all except for a tiny movement at the edge of his mouth, an on-off pulse that he couldn’t quite control.

She let out a sigh when he left the room to go to the study area of the suite. He had drawn a line between business and pleasure and she had better not forget it.

Rachel was still putting the final touches to her make-up and hair when Alessandro came out of the dressing room dressed in a black dinner suit. She met his eyes in the mirror, saw the way his pupils flared and she felt a frisson of delight rush down her spine. He might not love her but he desired her. She felt the electric energy of it, the power of it making her skin tingle with awareness.

‘You look stunning,’ he said.

Rachel was glad she had brought this particular black dress
out of her collection. It was ankle-length with a swirly hem, the cut and design highlighting her slim figure. It was strapless but it had a sheer gossamer-like silk stole that she placed around her shoulders. She had put her hair up, pinning it in place with a Swarovski-crystal-encrusted hair clip. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘So do you.’

Alessandro took her hand, his expression turning serious. ‘Rachel …’

She felt hope flare like a flame in her chest. ‘Yes?’ He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘What did you want to say?’ she asked.

He waited a beat before saying, ‘I want to thank you for being here with me this week.’

‘Did I have a choice?’ Rachel asked.

A brooding frown pulled at his brow. ‘You could have called my bluff. I’ve been expecting you to any day now. I know I haven’t been the easiest person to be around.’

‘Neither of us are perfect, Alessandro,’ she said.

‘No, perhaps not,’ he said, still holding her hand.

Rachel turned his wrist over to look at his watch. ‘Isn’t it time we went downstairs?’

Alessandro tucked her arm through his. ‘Let’s get down to business,’ he said and led her out of the suite.

After introductions were made the sheikh led them through to the table for dinner. Alessandro watched as Rachel talked to the sheikh about her work as a fashion designer and her life back in Australia. She asked polite questions about his life and work too, which clearly delighted the sheikh. The meal progressed with lively banter that was unlike any of the
other staid business dinners Alessandro had suffered through in the past.

Just before coffee was being served Rachel excused herself from the table to visit the powder room.

‘What an enchanting partner you have, Alessandro,’ the sheikh said. ‘She is an asset to you. She is clearly in love with you and not in the least interested in your money. It’s a rare find for men like us. I wish I could find someone so genuine.’

Alessandro gave him a forced smile. ‘Yes, she is rather gorgeous.’

‘Will you marry her?’ the sheikh asked.

‘I haven’t made any firm plans,’ Alessandro hedged.

‘You don’t have to take my advice but I would snap her up before someone else does,’ the sheikh said. ‘What better place than Paris to propose?’

‘I’ll give it some serious thought,’ Alessandro said trying to withstand the urge to shift in his seat. Was it true? Did Rachel truly love him or was she just a great actor? He thought of the intimacy they had shared, how much she had given of herself, how it had made him feel, how it still made him feel. His blood was still singing through his veins in elation. She had worshipped his body as if no one had ever done before. Was that love or lust or plain and simple gratefulness that her business had not gone under?

‘Now, about this business proposal,’ the sheikh said, interrupting his private reflections. ‘Can we meet tomorrow to go through my portfolio? There will be other meetings during the week but I’ll try and keep things to a minimum. I’ll have my secretary line up some times that suit us both. You’ll no doubt want to spend as much time as possible with Rachel while you are here.’

Rachel came back in and both men rose as she resumed
her seat. ‘Thank you,’ she said to Alessandro as he pushed in her chair.

‘I was just saying to Alessandro what a charming young lady you are, Rachel,’ the sheikh said. ‘I have enjoyed this evening very much. It was a great pleasure meeting you.’

‘That is very kind of you,’ Rachel said, blushing. ‘I have enjoyed meeting you too.’

‘Perhaps we can dine together once Alessandro and I finalise our deal,’ he said. ‘I hope you enjoy your time together in Paris.’

‘Thank you,’ Rachel said as he rose to take his leave.

Alessandro led her to the lift back to their suite. ‘You certainly made an impression on him,’ he said. ‘I think you just nailed the deal for me.’

‘He’s seems a very nice man,’ she said. ‘But I think he hides behind all that wealth.’

Alessandro glanced down at her sharply. ‘What makes you say that?’

She gave a little shrug. ‘He’s very pleasant but I got the feeling he doesn’t allow anyone to get too close.’

He looked away from her to stare at the numbers on the lift. ‘Having been on both sides I can see how he would do that,’ he said tonelessly. ‘You never know who your friends are when you have money.’

She looked up at him. ‘Doesn’t it get lonely way up there at the top?’ she asked.

Alessandro frowned heavily and stabbed at the number of their floor even though it was already illuminated. ‘No, it doesn’t. I am never without company.’

‘Company you pay for one way or the other,’ she remarked wryly.

He held the door of the lift back with the stiff bar of his arm. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

She sailed past him, leaving behind a waft of her perfume to tease his nostrils. ‘Go figure it out,’ she said airily as she released her bound hair from its clip.

Alessandro thrust the door of their suite open. ‘Damn it, Rachel, what are you playing at now?’

She turned and looked at him, her beautiful face defiant and proud surrounded by that cloud of fragrant hair. ‘I’m going to bed. I’m tired of playing the rich man’s mistress. I’m now officially off duty.’