The Duke's Willful Wife (6 page)

He felt her shrug and rubbed a hand down her back.  “Maybe tomorrow night,” he replied and felt better when he heard her snort of laughter. 

“Don’t joke,” she said, but laughed slightly again.

“I thought I mentioned earlier that I don’t joke about anything,” he said smoothly and smiled when he heard her laughter once again. 

“My name is Dante Fuitello.”  He pulled back to look down at her.  “And you are Saha Willard, painter extraordinaire.”

She couldn’t look him in the eye, preferring the middle of his chest.  “You’ll forgive me if I don’t say I’m pleased to meet you.”

“I will not excuse you.
  You’re acting like what we did was wrong and it wasn’t.
”

Sasha put her hands on his hips, not sure what else to do with them but feeling awkward with his hands around her while her own hands were fisted at her sides.  “Well, it’s certainly a pleasure to know you’re name finally,” she said and her forehead dropped against his chest. 

Dante’s hands rested against her delicate back and he looked up at the ceiling, trying to get control of himself.  He’d never let go like that before and damn if he didn’t want the same thing to happen again.  Even now as her shoulders shook with the emotions she was trying to suppress came out, he felt his body harden and the need that had been assuaged just minutes ago was driving him hard.  What was it about this woman that did this to him?  He was always in control, always steady and logical.  It was the only way to live one’s life and here was this tiny woman tossing away years of discipline. 

“Let me get our dinner,”
he said softly.  “We’ll talk this out and you’ll feel better once you have some food in you.”

She sniffed and pulled away but stopped when she saw his
bare
chest.  “I’m not hungry,” she croaked.  And then her hand moved from his waist, her fingers running
through the light layer of chest hair
and she shuddered.  As if in a dream, she reached up and delicately touched the middle of his chest.  When she felt his body react, she flattened her palm against his skin, touching him experimentally.

Dante lowered his head and kissed her gently.  Just one kiss he promised himself, then he’d set out the food and they would talk. 

But her hand moved to the left, covering his nipple and he groaned.  The one kiss deepened, her mouth opened to taste him, to feel his tongue and to touch him with her own and Dante’s control was lost in the sweet scent of this woman who went up into flames right along with him. 

Much later, Dante was staring up at the ceiling again.  At least this time they’d made it to her bed, he thought, keeping her hand still against his stomach.

“How about if we have some dinner?” he suggested, trying to catch his breath and stop his mind from contemplating round three. 

She had her head buried against his neck and she shivered when he ran his hand up her back. 
“No, you have to leave,” Sasha said, pushing away from him and looking for her clothes
while keeping the sheet up over her nakedness
. 
Thankfully she was on birth control to help her with painful periods, so she
didn’t
have an unwanted pregnancy fear to plague her
, even though she suspected that he’d used protection as well
.  There were some small miracles in this world, weren’t there? 

“I’m not going anywhere until we talk,” he replied and stood up, grabbing his boxers and pulling them on. 

Sasha looked away after a quick glance and stru
ggled to get her own clothes on
while keeping her bed sheet over her
self
.  It was a ridiculous effort since he’d seen every part of her, up close and person
al
, but it made her feel a bit less vulnerable. 

She was already shaking her head and ignoring the fact that he was sliding his gorgeous slacks over those incredible legs. 
“No talking.  We tried that an hour ago.”
  He didn’t bother with a  shirt this time, finding the effort pointless since he wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Dinner then.  I’m starving.”  He walked
out of her bedroom and back into the main studio area.  In the kitchen he looked
over the
partially emptied
bags and
finished
unloading the food onto her counter.  “Do you have a cork screw?” he asked, placing two bottles of wine next to the stack of food containers.

Everything smelled extremely good so she relented about his departure, at least until he had some of the food he’d brought.  She could give him that much
, she conceded
, but not much more. 
And only because she was suddenly painfully hungry. 

“It’s in the drawer to your right,” she said, not coming close to him in the small kitchen area.  Touching this man ended
her
up in a bad situation.  Better to keep her distance.

The guard had brought seafood pasta with a rich, creamy sauce, bread that had probably been soft and warm
an hour ago
and two bottles of red wine.  They sat in silence for a few minutes, eating the delicious food and trying to get some strength back, and some sanity. 

“How old are you?” he asked after several minutes of silence. 

“Twenty-
four.”

“You have a great deal
of talent for someone so young.
”

Sasha glanced at the piece she was working on behind her and shrugged.  “
T
hanks.  I have a long way to go though.”
  His words might be just a way for him to get her to relax, but she suspected that he wasn’t the kind of man who gave out compliments easily or lightly.  That idea made his comment all the more meaningful. 

He swirled the wine in his glass as he contemplated the picture on the easel, looking at it as he tilted his head and considered the various nuances. 
“Your use of color is impressive.  And I like the fluid lines.”

He
’d
tapped into the one subject she wasn’t able to ignore.  Discussing art and the various techniques put her at ease and she relaxed slightl
y, talking about the different styles
she’d tried
and
her
preferences
, asking him about his own particular interests in both art and other areas of life
. 
The fact that
he appreciated art so
deeply
also gave her a stronger connection to the man sitting across the table from her.  A connection she really didn’t need
because the previous one was already a bit stronger than she was comfortable with
. 

She stuck with one glass of wine, not wanting to lose her head for a third time tonight.  But as the evening turned into night, she started to relax and enjoy his company.  He was well versed in so many topics and she loved arguing with him, laughing with him.

By two o’clock that morning, he stood up and Sasha was amazed that she didn’t want him to go.  She’d been so
adamant
that he leave earlier in the night but now, faced with the loss of his dynamic presence, she felt almost bereft.  Lonely and he was still standing in front of her. 

“Let me take you to dinner tomorrow night,” he said, his voice low and husky as he stood by her door, Sasha a foot away from him with her hands behind her back. 

She looked up at him and her mind told her to reject his offer.  This was not a man to play with and she didn’t think he would be a long term thing.  He had fling written all over him and she would be hurt in the end. 

But instead of the gentle ‘no’ she knew she should say, Sasha found herself smiling and nodding her head.  “I won’t forget tomorrow night.”

He chuckled and twisted the knob on her door.  “I didn’t mind you forgetting tonight,” he said, and laughed softly again when she blushed and looked down. 

He bent and kissed her cheek and Sasha held her breath as he pulled away. 

He ran a finger down her cheek, the tender caress making her shiver and want more. 
“Don’t look at me like that, mia bella.  Or I won’t leave you tonight.”

Sasha bit her lower lip and
glanced away, but it was hard.  A very strong part of her mind wanted to tell him to stay, to make love to her until they couldn’t see straight but in the end, she was strong and took a deep breath before saying,
“I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

With that, he left and Sasha could barely sleep as she went over in her mind the entire night, wishing she’d had the courage to tell him to stay. 

From that night forward, she couldn’t
stop thinking about him and wondering who he really was
.  His influence appeared in her painting
with stronger colors, lines that weren’t as fluid.  The paintings were much more confident and bold. 

S
he
also
worked harder to finish her goals so she could be with him in the evenings.  And inevitably, no matter how many times she promised herself that she wouldn’t fall into bed with him, the moment they touched, her resolutions flew away with the wind.  This man had a hold over her that she didn’t completely understand, but it made her feel good, and free and wonderful. 
Dante made her feel beautiful like no one else had ever done. 

One month after their first night together, they were married.  Sasha was deliriously happy and couldn’t believe how much in love she was.  She didn’t even want a large wedding, happy to have a civil ceremony where she wore a  mid-calf
length
dress and carried a bouquet of white rose buds.  It was
perfect
even though neither Dana nor Jenna had the chance to stand in attendance for her.  S
he thought
the whole world was a great big fairy tale
as they traveled back to Italy so she could meet his family. 

And that’s where the nightmare starte
d.  As soon as Dante entered the
family palazzo he became a different man.  He literally walked through the front door, introduced her to his mother, then kissed her on the cheek and left, telling her he had some business to attend to and he’d be back in time for dinner.

He didn’t make it back for dinner that night, nor several other nights.  That left Sasha to try and figure out how to deal with a mother in law who was cold and uncaring at best, and openly hostile during her more honest moments.  For the first month, Sasha worked hard to figure out why Riasa Fuitello hated her so much but couldn’t come up with any reason, other than the fact that Sasha was an outsider
and not Italian
. 
Sasha discovered early on that
Riasa had had big plans for her son, wanting him to marry the daughter of one of her close friends.  At least that’s what Nonna Rennata explained one afternoon while Sasha had escaped to the garden to avoid any more confrontations with
her mother in law
. 

“
D
on’t let her get to you, cara,”
Rennata
said
gently
as she sat down heavily on one of the lounge chairs b
eside
a
climbing rose bush.  “She can be
a nuisance
, but deep down, she cares for Dante and Cristalo like no other mother could.” 

The day she met Dante’s brother had been a particularly hard one with Riasa criticizing Sasha’s latest work, the jeans she’d been wearing to paint and her tardiness to dinner along with her dinner outfit, which Riasa said wasn’t appropriate for a family dinner.  It didn’t matter that Sasha’s dinner slacks and silk shirt were similar to Riasa’s, they were simply ‘wrong’ in Riasa’s
judgment
. 

Dante’s brother,
Cristalo
, Sasha found
was another friend
and confidant, someone she who understood how demoralizing Riasa’s comments could be.  Cristolo had grown up in the shadow of his older brother Dante, who could do no wrong
and Riasa made subtle digs whenever the younger man came around
.  In school, Dante’s grades had always been better and he’d taken harder classes.  At university, Dante’s achievements had been higher and his friends had been more important.  The women Dante dated were always more beautiful than Cristolo’s, and on and on. 

Cristolo knew instinctively what Sasha was going through and tried to help, intervening on Sasha’s behalf
when he heard a harsh criticism or not so subtle comment
,
suddenly
showing up for dinner when a friend was desperately ne
eded to counter the seemly constant disparagements
and a shoulder to cry on when Sasha didn’t have the emotional reserves to deal with a mother in law who had no kind words for anyone. 

Eventually, he was also
the downfall of her marriage. 

While
Dante was serious
, ambitious
and disciplined, hard working and slow to laugh.  Cristalo was the exact opposite.  He wasn’t a workaholic, loved being in the outdoors and was a horrible tease, loving to sneak up on people and tweak their noses or tell a corny joke just to make people laugh.  He worked with Dante at the Fuitello headquarters, but he left at a more reasonable time
each night
, spending
many dinners with Riasa and Rennata, searching out Sasha when she avoided the meal
, knowing she probably needed a break from his
mean-spirited mother
.