At least it was yes if she’d decided to make him want her. And, as she felt the sweet tremor of anticipation go through her, she knew she’d made that decision long ago.

Elise dried herself and slipped between the smooth sheets of the grandiose master bed. It was blissful to revel in such comfort, to relax and let sleep drift over her.

For hours she lay without moving, letting herself be submerged in her new life, not fighting it now. There were battles ahead and she must summon all her strength to make sure that she was the winner.

When she awoke Vincente was sitting on the bed, watching her.

CHAPTER FOUR

STRANGELY, it wasn’t entirely a surprise to find him there. Some part of her knew that he would never be far away. But she would have given anything to understand the expression in his eyes. There was wariness, and something that was almost calculation, but there was also frank desire. The combination intrigued her.

‘How long have you been there?’ Elise whispered.

‘Only a few moments. I knocked on the front door but there was no reply, so I used the key just once more. I’ll leave it here, at the side.’

‘What time is it?’ she asked.

‘Just past seven.’

‘I’ve slept that long?’ she demanded, startled.

‘I think you needed it. I didn’t want to awaken you.’

She pulled the sheet up higher, vibrantly conscious that she was wearing nothing beneath it. He had only to tug at the material and her nakedness would be revealed. The thought made her skin tingle, and although she clutched the sheet she was also tempted to release it.

‘Don’t hide from me,’ he whispered. ‘There’s nowhere to hide.’

‘Isn’t that for me to say?’ she asked with a touch of rebellion.

As she spoke she tightened her hand on the sheet, but he didn’t try to take it from her. He merely laid his hand on the outside and ran his fingers lightly across her breasts, then let them drift to her waist, where he paused.

He had the cunning of the devil, she realised. The sheet might as well not be there for all the protection it gave. She felt the soft caress of his fingertips back and forth across her stomach and waited for them to go down further, while her heart raced and the breath danced in her throat.

Why didn’t he pull the sheet down and touch her bare skin? But then she knew that he was waiting for her to do it, signifying that she had weakened first. It was a battle of wills and she was damned if she would let him win. But how long could she hold out while her blood raced with excitement? She knew he must be able to read her face.

But then, just when she could feel her will beginning to yield, rescue came in the form of a knock on the outer door. He snatched his hand away, muttering something she couldn’t catch, and walked out quickly, closing the door behind him.

For a moment Elise could do nothing but lie there, her whole body trembling, stunned by what had happened and what she had so nearly done. Suddenly she forced herself to move, scrambling out of bed and groping frantically for something to put on. Anything would do as long as she was dressed before he returned.

She found a pair of elegant black trousers and a white blouse. Then she brushed her hair vigorously and left it loose. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her dressed up elaborately. When she was satisfied that her appearance suggested casual indifference, she walked out.

And was taken completely by surprise.

Voices were coming from the kitchen. There she found Vincente and a young man laying out containers of food on the table. They were just finishing as Vincente signed a paper, sending the young man on his way.

‘I see you’re a really great cook,’ she said, amused. ‘All ready prepared.’

‘You do me an injustice. Only the side dishes were prepared by others. The meat I shall cook myself.’

She didn’t believe him, but he was as good as his word, preparing Abbacchio alla Romana-pieces of suckling lamb cooked until brown, then roasted in a sauce of garlic, rosemary, vinegar and anchovy. He did this himself, waving away her offer of help.

‘If you want to be useful, you can lay the table,’ he said.

The china was fine and hand-painted, set off by heavy cut glass and silver cutlery. When they were ready to eat he delayed a moment to say, ‘I’ve brought you a mobile phone. You’ll need it.’

‘But I have one.’

‘This is an Italian phone,’ he said, as though that explained everything.

It was exquisite-top of the range, with every latest gadget and several numbers already inserted for her use.

‘Those are my numbers at home and at work,’ he indicated. ‘That one is a lawyer whom I’ve asked to make some arrangements on your behalf. I dare say you’ll feel I assumed too much in doing so, but you may find them convenient.’

‘Thank you,’ she said non-committally. ‘And I promise not to disturb you at work. I wouldn’t dare.’

‘I hope you’ll call me if you should need help.’

Elise accepted because it would have been churlish not to. Besides, it really was a lovely object and she had a weakness for high-tech toys.

He served dinner with the skill of a waiter, laying every dish before her with a flourish. There was a series of wines, a different one for every dish, each one perfectly chosen.

They kept the talk light over dinner. He told her about his firm, the branches it had in many different countries. When she asked him about the Palazzo Marini he shrugged and made a wry face.

‘My grandfather bought it to show how far he’d travelled from his poor beginnings. My father wore himself out trying to keep up the pace and that’s why he died in early middle age. Then it was my turn. Luckily, I’m more like my grandfather.’

‘You admire him?’

‘He was a great man, perhaps a little too focused on work at the expense of people, but he did a lot of good for Italy.’

Vincente went to fetch more wine. When he returned she was standing by the window with the lights dimmed, looking out over Rome, which was bathed in floodlight. He filled two glasses and came to stand behind her.

‘Do you recognise anywhere?’ he asked, handing her a glass.

‘So many places, but they all look different now.’

He moved closer and she felt his breath on the back of her neck.

‘Everything is different, even in the last few months. I’ve often wondered if you’ve thought of me as I’ve thought of you.’

‘Are you expecting me to answer that?’ she asked lightly. ‘Or do you already know?’

‘What you really mean is, am I conceited enough to think I already know? No, I’m not that sure of myself. I won’t know the answer until I make love to you.’

She turned slightly, glancing at him sideways.

‘Don’t be so certain that you’ll ever make love to me.’

‘But I will. I must have you in my bed, to see if it compares with the times it’s happened in my dreams.’

Elise tried to answer but something had happened to her breath. She too had had dreams in which they achieved the union denied them months ago, after their first blazing few hours.

‘We came so close once,’ he murmured. ‘Do you remember the night we were one step away from making love?’

‘It wouldn’t have been love-making,’ she said quickly.

‘True, but if I’d said “having sex” you’d have thought me a vulgarian.’

‘“Sex” would have been the truth.’

‘Yes, by all means, let’s be truthful. Let’s say that when I held you against me I had to fight the temptation to strip every last stitch off you and see if your body was as beautiful as my senses were telling me it was.

‘And then, let’s be really truthful and say that this is what you wanted me to wonder, which is why you were naked under that dress.’

‘It was too tight for underwear, and you made me wear it.’

‘And do you always do what a man tells you to do? I don’t think so. You wore it knowing how it would affect me, and it did just that. It made me want you as much as you meant it to, and it lured me into being over-confident, which I think you may also have meant.’

She smiled. ‘Is that what I was thinking?’ she said softly.

‘Let’s say you were enjoying the joke at my expense. When I ran my hands over you through that silk you knew I was relishing every detail, picturing your nakedness, determined to see every beautiful inch of you before the evening was out.’

Softly he added, ‘You played games with me.’

Elise took a sip from her glass and set it down, turning to face him.

‘Not entirely,’ she said. ‘I didn’t lead you on for the pleasure of rejecting you, if that’s what you’re saying. I was sincere, but then-’ She broke off and made a helpless gesture. ‘Suddenly it felt a terrible thing to do.’

‘Terrible to satisfy yourself? Or was it me you didn’t want to satisfy?’

‘Perhaps I just didn’t want to put it to the test. After so long-’ She let the implication hang in the air.

‘That’s important,’ he agreed. ‘You need exactly the right man, enticing you to pleasure subtly. It would be a difficult choice.’

She was surprised into a choke of laughter. ‘Are you suggesting that I’m lining up candidates?’

‘You wouldn’t have to. They’re already in line. I saw them at Ben’s funeral, watching you, wondering if they had a chance. I doubt if Ivor was an isolated case. Even the delivery man who came here tonight gave you an appreciative look, and me an envious one.’

Vincente was telling her that they had come to the end of pretence. She would have known that anyway from the rapid beating of her heart, the warmth that pervaded her.

It was slightly shocking to discover that she could want a man for sex alone, but she couldn’t even deny it to herself, although she made one last desperate attempt.

‘It wasn’t the only reason I pushed you away,’ she said in a low voice. ‘You spoke once of freedom and said that only I could know what it meant to me. For eight years I was Ben’s prisoner, hedged in by his petty, spiteful demands that controlled my life. Now I’m free of him, but there’s more than one kind of prisoner-’

‘But I don’t want to be your gaoler,’ he said, understanding her at once, ‘only for us to find a new kind of freedom together. Trust me.’

The last words were full of perils, but he swept them away by simply laying his mouth over hers. For a moment they were both still, then his lips moved, not demanding but coaxing, teasing. That was her undoing. She could have resisted arrogance but gentleness lured her on, so that she moved her own lips in response, teasing in her turn, sensing his response, as helpless as her own.

She felt his arms go around her so that her head fell against his shoulder and he was kissing her in a way that was almost old-fashioned, as part of an enveloping embrace. It was natural to put her own arms about him and let her hand find its way to the back of his neck, caressing it with longing. Her lips fell apart and his tongue invaded her, moving with subtle skill, as though he’d been here before and knew all about her.

Once before, in the nightclub, she’d seen him as the devil, and now the thought was there again, for how else could he have known that the flickering of his tongue in just that spot could send scurries of pleasure through her? Or perhaps it was his unseen presence, living with her like a ghost ever since, and silently learning her secrets.

But after this there would be no more secrets. This was her last chance to run for cover, because once he’d taken possession of her she would be his, irrevocably. Every instinct she had warned her to escape now, while there was still time.

But there was no time. That moment had passed long ago, and now she was merely living out decisions taken deep inside her, in the still of the night.

He took her hand and led her into her bedroom. His fingers were at the buttons of her blouse, that plain garment with which she’d thought to assert her indifference. It vanished easily and his hand was cupping her breast while his lips made a light, burning trail down her neck.

When she reached out for his clothes he helped her, tossing them aside with relief, then quickly removing the rest of hers.

The sight of his nakedness made her realise how much she’d dwelt on the thought in the months since their first meeting. He was different from her expectations-leaner, more lithe, yet still with an air of power that had nothing to do with mere muscles. His arousal was clear now, a stark, unmistakable message, to which her own arousal was the answer.

Vincente drew her against him so that they stood, holding each other gently, as though waiting for something. His face was very close to hers.