Romero didn’t say anything. His eyes roamed my body. “You look breathtaking.”

I couldn’t hold back a jibe. “You didn’t seem to notice at breakfast.”

Romero met my gaze. “I did notice, believe me. It’s impossible not to,” he said quietly. We were alone in the corridor and standing close enough that I could smell his aftershave. “I didn’t want to ignore you, but we don’t have a choice. This has to stay a secret.”

“This?” I asked. “What exactly is this?” We had hardly done anything yet. We’d kissed three times but that was it.

“I don’t know. Maybe nothing. But I want you Lily. I can’t get you out of my head. No matter what I do there’s always you.”

I exhaled. It felt as if a huge rock had dropped off my shoulders. So it wasn’t just me. “I want you too. So what are we going to do now?” I took a step closer. Romero’s eyes travelled the length of my body again and it made me tingle all over. How would it feel if he touched every spot his eyes had wandered?

Romero moved closer and I dipped my head back to stare up into his face. He didn’t touch me, even though I wanted him to. “What I want to do is take you into your bedroom and rip off your bikini, then taste every inch of your skin. I know you’ll taste absolutely perfect.”

“Why don’t you find out?” I whispered.

“Damn,” Romero muttered. He cupped the back of my head and tilted it to the side, then he bent down and pressed an open-mouthed kiss over my pulse-point before he traced my jugular with his tongue. I let out an embarrassing moan as my core tightened with arousal. I tipped my head further to the side, giving him better access, but he had moved on from my throat and kissed my lips. I pressed myself against him. His shirt felt cool against my naked skin. A noise from somewhere in the house made us jump apart. There was no one in the corridor but it was a good reminder that we needed to be careful. After another glance down the corridor, Romero cupped my cheek again. “You do taste as perfect as I thought.”

I smiled. “You haven’t even tasted all of me.” My cheeks flamed when I realized what I’d said and how Romero would understand it.

Romero’s eyes darkened with what I suspected was desire. “I intend to, trust me.”

I shivered. “You do?”

“God yes.” He sighed, then took a step back. “But we need to be careful. This is a dangerous path we’re on.”

“I know but I don’t care. I want this.”

Romero kissed me again. He shook his head. “I don’t know how you did it but I can’t get you out of my fucking mind. And now this.” He gestured at my bikini. “You’re lucky you can’t read my mind, you’d be shocked.”

“Not as shocked as you, if you could read my mind,” I said with what I hoped was a seductive smile. I turned around and walked away, making sure I swung my hips.

Romero

As I watched Lily prance away, I almost groaned. Her tiny bikini barely covered her perfect butt cheeks and her long legs drove me just as wild. I wanted to read her mind, wanted to find out what she desired and give to her.

Her earlier comment about tasting her had filled my head with images of my mouth on her pussy. I couldn’t wait to find out if it was as pink and perfect as I imagined it. I wanted to lick her until she begged for mercy.

My pants became uncomfortable and I had to shift to give my cock a bit more room. How would I be able to restrain myself if I kept thinking about tasting her? It had already been difficult enough to lie in her bed at night without those images in my head, torturing me. I knew Lily would visit me again at night. Now that she knew how much I wanted her, she would use her chance.

But I also knew that I needed to establish certain boundaries. Flirting and kissing was still tolerable, though I was fairly sure that Luca and Aria, and most definitely Scuderi, would disagree. Taking things further was something I couldn’t risk. I’d given Luca a promise and I should at least try to keep it to some extent.

CHAPTER NINE

Liliana

That night I crept into Romero’s bedroom again. The lights were out but he was sitting with his back against his headboard. He didn’t say anything as I approached the bed and suddenly I was nervous.

“Hey,” I whispered, then yawned because it had been a long day and as usual sleep evaded me. “Can I come into your bed?”

Romero lifted his blankets. I quickly slipped under them but didn’t snuggle against him, suddenly shy. Romero peered down at me, then he reached out and brushed a few strands from my forehead. I braced myself on my elbows to kiss him, but he shook his head. I froze.

“I don’t think we should be kissing when we’re in bed together.”

“You don’t want to kiss me anymore?” Was I that horrible?

“No, I still want to kiss you and I’m going to kiss you but not when we’re in bed. There are certain boundaries we shouldn’t cross, Lily.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. Maybe he was right. Kissing in bed was only a small step away from doing much more, and some things simply couldn’t be undone. “But can we snuggle?”

Romero chuckled. “I should probably say no,” he murmured. “But I’m screwed anyway.”

He lay down and opened his arms. I inched toward him and put my head down on his upper arm. I wasn’t sure why I felt so comfortable in his presence. I wasn’t someone who liked physical contact with people I didn’t know, but with Romero I’d always wanted closeness.