Page 27 of His Royal Bride Replacement
‘I wouldn’t take that risk with you.’ Alessio nibbled at that spot below her ear in that place that drove her temperature high while he employed his palms and his fingertips to stoke her desire until she was wriggling off her rocky perch in her need to get closer. Only then did he hoist her up into his arms and then slowly bring her down, jostling her into place until he stretched her slick sheath with his urgent fullness. The sensation was overwhelming.
Indeed, she was only starting to adjust to his effortlessly arousing movements when he stepped beneath the waterfall and she let out a startled shriek. ‘You—!’
His mouth clamped over hers for a split second, silencing her objections. Water streamed down over them but the sensations at her hot core drove them out of mind. Arms linked round his neck, she transformed into less the seduced and more of a partner, pushing down on him, moaning with raw excitement as the increasing pressure in her pelvis pushed her onward and upward. And then she was flying high and soaring in ecstasy and Alessio was stifling her cries with his lips on hers.
She sagged against him as they stepped out from below the water. ‘I’m never going to move again,’ she swore shakily.
‘You will. Jorge has a splendid lunch awaiting us at our next stop.’
In the act of gathering her clothes, Rosy fixed accusing blue eyes on him. ‘Did youplanthis?’
Alessio laughed. ‘If I’d planned it, I would’ve had towels stashed in the grotto!’
And she acknowledged the truth of that admission as she clambered, damp, into her clothing again while also appreciating how much her own world view had changed within the space of twenty-four hours. As they walked on, she remarked on the fact that, on this occasion, Alessio had not employed extra contraception on their behalf.
‘We can afford to take that very slight risk now that I know you’re staying.’
‘I haven’t actually said that yet in a long-term sense,’ Rosy adjusted with care. ‘You take a lot for granted sometimes.’
His big hand tightened its hold on hers. ‘Losers rarely take all. I have confidence in us as a couple. I believe we’ll go the distance.’
‘I hope we do as well,’ she murmured quietly. ‘But I won’t be ready to have a child for a while. I’m only twenty-two.’
‘In comparison, I can’t wait,’ Alessio admitted candidly. ‘I want my own family. I love children. It’s important to me but I can accept that you’re not at that stage yet.’
She wondered if she was being selfish and scolded herself for the thought. They strolled through the peaceful canopied green lanes that criss-crossed the woods. By the time they arrived at a glade containing a very imposing but mossy statue of the Portuguese duke with one hand on a sword and the other on the head of a giant lion, Rosy was ready for a drink and something to eat. Food awaited them there in a cool box.
They settled down and ate at the circular stone table and benches in the shadow of the statue and her hair dried in the sunshine while they talked.
‘Have you ever been in love?’ she asked him.
Alessio looked both amused and thoughtful at that blunt question. ‘One and a half times.’
‘How can you be half in love?’
‘Because I was fifteen and it was a crush. It came to nothing when I realised that she preferred girls to boys,’ he told her lightly.
Rosy set down her wine glass. ‘And the other time?’ she prompted with greater curiosity.
His bright gaze hooded, the memory clearly not a good one. ‘I was twenty, still a student. She was the daughter of one of our leading Sedovian families. I brought her back to the palace to a party she was desperate to attend and…’ He hesitated, frowning.
‘And?’ she pressed uncomfortably, somehow feeling as though she was prying.
‘She slept with my father,’ Alessio told her very quietly. ‘And tried to deny it but he boasted about it. He was a vain man, used to choosing whichever woman he wanted, and bedding her reassured him that he was still irresistible.’
Rosy had paled, disgust now clouding her troubled gaze. ‘That’s horrible. How could she?’
‘Oh, that was easy. He was akingand, even though he was a married, much older man, that was all it took. Maybe she had a vision of him divorcing my mother and marrying her…who knows? Stop looking so tragic on my behalf,piccola volpe. It feels now like it happened a lifetime ago.’
‘But how could your father betray you like that?’ she muttered.
‘He had to share the public stage with his heir and he disliked anyone who took attention away from him. As I grew up, he began to see me as a rival.’
Rosy sighed. ‘And I thought I had it rough because my father barely noticed I was alive and had no interest in me.’
‘But don’t you see that your experience, like mine, will probably make us better parents when the time comes?’ Alessio countered calmly.
‘Perhaps, but this is the very first week of our marriage and we’re not talking about that as yet,’ she reminded him lightly. ‘I do understand though that you probably feel the pressure of having to try and provide an heir for the throne.’
