Chapter Ten #2
‘Of course.’
She picked up one of the figures. It wasn’t true to life—more an impression of a female form.
As if he’d captured the essence of the subject and rendered it.
The wood was cool to her touch, smooth and beautifully finished with a slight polish.
A satiny feel, almost like silk under her palms. She stroked her fingers over it.
Rocco’s nostrils flared as he …regarded her.
‘Do you exhibit them?’ Perhaps he did so under a pseudonym. That wasn’t unheard of. He snorted, came towards her. Gently took the figurine from her hand and ran his thumb over it almost reverently.
She couldn’t help imagining his fingers, that reverent touch, on her skin.
‘You could sell these,’ she said. He clearly had talent, and it would be a shame if he didn’t do something with it. ‘My employer owns a gallery. We exhibit plenty of artists’ work in it. People would love yours.’
‘They’re studies, for my larger pieces. I sell furniture. People can have these for free.’
‘What do your parents think about your sculpting?’ Another frown crossed his face, however he didn’t attempt to hide this one.
‘In my father’s words, “Woodwork is what kept us poor, our business makes us rich”.’
‘Don’t they think you’re allowed to have something for yourself as well as the business?’
She understood parental disapproval all too well.
The struggle to gain approbation from the people who were supposed to love you unconditionally.
Lily looked up at him. They stood close and the moment paused as if time held its breath.
The scent of him teased at her. Rich spice, the clean salt of sweat.
All mingled with the earthy, raw undertones of fresh wood.
It was intoxicating, drew her to him. Then there was how he looked at her.
Like the wolf she’d thought of earlier. Ready to eat her alive.
She could bask in that look like the heat of a summer’s day.
Except this might burn her to ashes. Had anyone ever considered her with such appreciation?
He’d been right. They had an attraction so intense it was almost a living thing.
What would it be like to live with it every day?
To allow it to consume you? An ache started deep inside her body, at her core.
A relentless sensation that called to her.
Whispering permission to take what she craved.
Rocco had promised her honesty and truth. Today, he’d shared something deep and precious about himself. A secret that the world at large didn’t know. She liked to think that it showed a deepening of trust between them.
Perhaps he was right, that all of this, and passion, could be the building blocks of a relationship.
Mutual respect. A shared child. Working together.
She put her hand over the tiny curve of her stomach.
He looked down to where her hand lay, then back into her eyes. There was a world of emotion there.
But this wasn’t an emotional decision. It was a rational one. What would a physical relationship do to her? Could she deal with the fallout if he became bored? Found her dull?
‘You can always find excitement elsewhere.’
Never. She’d rather go without passion at all than cheat. Did he feel the same?
She opened her mouth. Closed it.
‘You have something to say, cara?’
‘You talked about honesty and trust. About passion. You’ve never talked about fidelity. What if the passion wanes? That one of us finds the other …boring.’
His hand clenched around the figurine he held. He placed it back on the shelf. ‘Stop listening to the words of an idiota who didn’t know how to treasure the gem he had.’
‘Anything’s possible, Rocco. We hardly know each other.’ Though she’d been engaged to Richard for two years, and she hadn’t known him at all. Whereas Rocco had given her something precious and secret about himself, and that meant more.
‘I think you need to speak plainly,’ he said, yet his tone was quiet, carrying a weight, almost like a warning.
‘What if the passion died and one of us wanted to look outside the home to find it.’ Her stomach roiled at the thought. Mouth, flooding with saliva like her morning sickness had returned with a vengeance. Nausea threatening to consume her.
He stepped right up to her, arm snaking round her waist, tugging her to him.
‘Never. No wife of mine will ever take another man even if our marriage is for convenience only. I can promise you, there’s no marriage or relationship without fidelity.
If I ever wanted another, I’d walk away.
I’d expect my partner in life to do the same. ’
Lily splayed her hands against his powerful chest, relishing the play of his muscles against her fingers. Heart pumping hard. Not out of fear, but at the thrill of his vehemence.
‘Tell me you don’t believe I would ever cheat on you?’ It was framed as a question, but his voice was all command.
The air between them was charged, electric.
All consuming. She’d told him in Venice she trusted him.
The answer was the same here. Yet could she survive the intensity?
It had a way of changing you, and she’d need to deal with whatever emotional fallout might come.
But there was something bigger here, far more important than her and her feelings.
Their baby, and as a mother she had to do everything in her power to protect the child she carried and give them the best life possible.
The questions were hard ones. In the end, the answers were easy.
‘I don’t think you’d cheat, and I won’t either. I left a relationship because that’s what my partner planned.’
Rocco seemed to relax at that. The tense set of his muscles softened.
‘I’m pleased that’s clear,’ he murmured, his embrace of her changing. Rocco’s hand at her back stroking up and down. Whether he meant to soothe or inflame, she wasn’t sure.
‘So am I because …’ She took a deep breath to steady herself. The most momentous change in her life had happened when she discovered she was pregnant. This next change was just another step along the way towards motherhood. ‘ …yes, I’ll marry you.’
Rocco’s heart rate spiked. An explosive white-hot surge that shattered the grip he was trying to keep on himself.
‘Yes, I’ll marry you.’
Volcanic heat rushed through him. He hadn’t been expecting a decision so soon.
Not even last night after the way they’d ignited at the door of her room.
Then, a voice in his head had been urging him to see where it went.
Allow it to spiral to its natural conclusion.
It had taken everything in his power to give her time.
What they had was rare. He’d go so far as to say unique.
He wasn’t a stranger to passion and desire, but nothing had ever consumed him like this.
There was something about her that lit the fire of his creativity.
A desire that drove him not only to pleasure her, but to take what she gave to him, hoard it inside and convert it to the wood.
Lily’s entrance into his life was like a new day.
As if he’d woken up. But there was more.
Softer, but no less consuming. A sense of calm.
As if everything in his life was finally falling into place.
He could care for her, for their child. No baby of his would grow up bitter and lost. Rocco would always be there.
Whilst he wanted to rush her to the altar so Lily didn’t change her mind, she deserved a proper wedding befitting a Zanetti bride.
Their intimacy was what would seal her to him.
It was an area where their communication was seamless, the language they spoke in the darkness, one each other understood. No translation required.
‘There are legal steps we need to take prior, but I want to arrange the wedding as soon as possible.’
‘So do I,’ she said, slipping her hand between them and placing it on her little belly. ‘I won’t fit into a wedding dress the way this one is growing.’
‘I know that ours is a practical arrangement, but you’ve honoured me. And now I wish to honour you.’
‘What do you have in mind?’
He looked over her shoulder. Though this was his studio, the room was built for comfort.
A large, worn sectional sprawled across the space, where he’d occasionally snatched moments of sleep when insomnia struck after thoughts of the company.
Leo and his parents’ betrayal had plagued him.
Now, with Lily in his arms, all he felt was peace. A rightness, deep in his soul.
‘Last night was an entree.’
The pupils flared in the azure blue of her eyes. ‘I do feel a little hungry.’
‘You deserve a banquet, farfallina.’
She raked her teeth over her lower lip, leaving it rosy and red. Soon, he’d kiss that spot. Consume every part of her. He craved to go fast. For her, he’d take it slowly.
They had a whole day. A whole night.
They now had a lifetime together.
‘Why don’t you take a seat on the couch,’ Rocco said.
Lily pouted. She didn’t want a seat on the couch. All she wanted was to be held in his arms. Kissed. Consumed.
‘What happened to my banquet?’
‘Greedy. Did you ever learn that patience was a virtue?’
‘I must have missed that lesson.’
‘Then let me teach you.’
He walked to the sink in the kitchenette, washed his hands with deliberation and dried them before stripping his T-shirt and tossing it into the corner.
Then he turned, stood for a moment on glorious display and now she could admire his strong chest, the tempting muscles of his abdomen, with no guilt.
Her mouth watered as he strolled towards her with an easy roll of his hips, the look on his face intent. He slid his arm round her, moving her backwards like in a slow dance to the couch. It hit the back of her legs and she sat.