The Sicilian's Wife Read Online Free Page B

?’
    â€˜Mmm.’
    Megan nodded slightly, feeling the brush of the soft cotton of his shirt against her cheek, the warmth of his skin burning through it.
    â€˜I know. And do you know something?’
    Her mouth quirked up at the corners into a mischievous pixie-like smile.
    â€˜I’m going to have to let you—’
    The words were smothered, crushed back down her throat, as his mouth covered hers. With a rough, jerky movement, he swung her round in front of him, his hands coming up to the back of her head, shaping themselves round the fine bones of her skull, holding her close, crushing her face up against his. It was the wildest, most passionate kiss of her life, one that drove her breath away, made her head spin, set her heart pounding.
    Her own arms went up around his neck, fingers twisting and tangling in the black silk of his hair, keeping him still when he would have moved away. Her whole body was suffused with a heat that was more primitive, more basic, more pagan, than the simple effect of feeling the hard, hot length of him against her. She was on fire with delight, with hunger, with need, her hands moving lower, clutching, clinging, stroking. She was unable to get enough of him, unable to touch enough of him all at once.
    â€˜ Madre di Dio !’ Cesare muttered against her lips, snatching in a quick, raw breath as best he could without actually moving away. ‘Oh, Megan, Megan…’
    â€˜Did you know, I love the way you say my name?’
    Megan’s response was breathless too, shaking on an edge of near-laughter.
    â€˜ Maygan…Maygan ,’ she echoed his pronunciation deliberately. ‘It sounds something special, something much moreexotic and sensual than plain, ordinary Megan Ellis could ever be.’
    â€˜No! Never say that.’
    Cesare shook his dark head in reproof, laying one long finger across her lips to silence her.
    â€˜Never say the words plain and ordinary in the same sentence as your name. The two things should never be linked together. You are not plain—and you are most definitely not ordinary!’
    â€˜No?’
    Megan looked up at him in stunned bewilderment, hunting for the teasing, the amusement she felt sure must be gleaming in his eyes. She didn’t find it. Instead she saw a very different sort of light burning in the brown depths. The sort of glow that made her think of fires and heat and the scorching, searing heat of the sun. Her heart gave a sudden, jolting shudder of excitement inside her chest, so that she gasped aloud in shock.
    â€˜You’re beautiful— squisita —a stunning, wonderful woman.’
    â€˜ Squi—squisita —exquisite!’
    Megan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She felt like a child who had been caught with her nose pressed up against the window of a sweetshop, only to have the owner come to the door and invite her in to help herself to anything and everything she wanted.
    â€˜You’re—you have to be joking! No?’ she questioned, silenced once more by the rough, shake of his head.
    â€˜No joke,’ he insisted in a tone that made it plain she shouldn’t allow herself even to begin to doubt that he was deadly serious. ‘Would I joke about something like this?’
    One hand trailed softly down her hair, smoothing and caressing the bright auburn strands, lifting them and letting them coil softly around his fingers.
    â€˜About hair that burns like the glow of lava from a volcano in the dead of night…’
    To her astonishment he bent his head and pressed his lips to the strand of hair in his hand, kissing it softly.
    â€˜Eyes that have the cool, shadowy appeal of the olive groves…’
    He repeated the caress, this time on her eyes, pressing her lids shut with the soft pressure of his mouth and lingering there for a moment that held her entranced, her heart seeming to stop, her breathing become so shallow it was almost