Captive in His Castle(30)
Emerging from the church as man and wife, they boarded a gondola decorated with roses, and as Drago kissed her and the wedding guests cheered Jess decided that fairy tales could come true after all.
The reception at the Palazzo d’Inverno was an informal affair, and she was able to spend time chatting with the guys from T&J Decorators. Mike, who had acted as foreman in her absence, had now taken over running the business.
‘I’m glad things have worked out for you, Jess,’ he told her. ‘But me and the lads miss you. If you ever get bored of swanning around in a palace I’ll always find you some work. You’re one of the best chippies in the trade.’
‘Thanks, but being a mother is the only job I’m going to want for a long time,’ Jess replied, her eyes softening as she imagined holding her baby in her arms.
‘I enjoyed meeting your friends,’ Drago said later, as they drove across the bridge linking Venice to the mainland. They were on their way to his house in the Italian Alps, where they were to spend their honeymoon. ‘Remind me of the name of the guy covered in tattoos?’
‘You mean Stan the Van? He does most of the driving to job sites.’
‘And the guy with spiky pink hair and a missing front tooth?’
Jess grinned. ‘He’s called Sharky because he’s Australian and has a scar that he says is from where he was bitten by a shark, but no one believes him.’ She hesitated. ‘I know they’re a bit rough round the edges, but they’re great guys and they have been like a family to me.’
Drago glanced at her and felt again that curious tug on his insides as he thought how beautiful she looked in her wedding dress. ‘Now you are a member of the Cassari family,’ he said gently. ‘But we’ll go to London often, so that you can visit your friends. I own a penthouse in Park Lane.’
The address of his London apartment was a reminder that they came from different worlds, Jess thought ruefully. She couldn’t help feeling worried again that she would not fit into his sophisticated lifestyle with his glamorous friends.
‘By the way, Sebastian Loxley is in prison.’
She shot him a startled look. ‘How do you know?’
‘I hired someone to track him down.’ Drago gave a grim smile. ‘I wanted to have a…let’s call it a discussion,’ he said in a dangerous voice, ‘about the way he treated you. But for now he’s out of my reach—serving eight years for credit card fraud.’
‘I’m glad,’ Jess said shakily. ‘At least while he’s in prison he can’t hurt anyone else.’
Tired after the hectic day, she slept for much of the three-hour drive to the north of Italy, and woke to find the car was winding up a steep road surrounded by mountains.
‘Welcome to Casa Rosa,’ Drago said as he pulled up on the driveway of a picturesque alpine lodge.
The lower slopes of the mountains were grassy meadows, but the highest peaks of the Alps were still covered in snow that reflected the fiery brilliance of the setting sun.
‘I’ve never been this close to mountains before,’ Jess murmured in an awed voice as she looked around at the breathtaking scenery.
‘In the winter even the lower slopes are covered in snow.’ Drago smiled at her. ‘After the baby is born I’ll teach you to ski, if you like.’
Jess gave him a puzzled look. ‘But who would look after the baby while we were skiing?’
‘We will employ a nanny. You’ll need help with the baby. Although I intend to cut down my work commitments, I’ll still need to spend time running the company.’
While he was speaking Drago led the way into the house—a charming lodge with low ceilings, wood-panelled walls and stripped-pine floorboards scattered with colourful rugs.
But Jess did not notice the quaint charm of the house as she said fiercely, ‘I don’t want a nanny. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my baby.’
Seeing the light of battle in her eyes, Drago held back from telling her that he planned to hire a nanny so that he and Jess could enjoy some time together. Much as he was looking forward to being a father, he intended to be a very attentive husband. ‘We’ll discuss it another time,’ he murmured. ‘For now, I think you should go to bed. You must be tired after a busy day.’
‘I slept in the car,’ Jess reminded him, ‘and I’m not at all tired.’ Her heart missed a beat when he cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face to his.
‘Good. I’m not tired either.’ His deep voice seemed to wrap around her like a cloak of crushed velvet. ‘So, what do you think that two people who are on their honeymoon and who are not tired should do, cara?’
His mouth was tantalisingly close to hers. Jess licked her suddenly dry lips and watched his eyes blaze with feral hunger. ‘I think they should go to bed,’ she answered huskily.
‘How can our marriage be anything but a success when we are clearly on the same wavelength?’
His sexy smile stole her breath. And then he kissed her and the world went away.
The master bedroom had a wall of glass that gave stunning views of the mountains. In the purple softness of dusk Drago removed her wedding dress and the tiny wisps of lacy underwear, and Jess helped him out of his grey wedding suit, her fingers clumsy with impatience as she undid his shirt buttons.
‘My wife,’ he said softly, testing the words.
They sounded good. Better than good. They sounded like the most beautiful words Drago had ever heard. But he wasn’t ready to share his deepest thoughts with her when they were so new to him, and so he told her instead how beautiful she was as he kissed her mouth and her breasts, and the sweetly sensitive place between her thighs. And when she cried his name he lifted himself above her and sank his powerful erection into her slick heat so that they became one.
He made love to her with passion and an underlying tenderness that touched Jess’s soul. And in the aftermath of their mutual pleasure, when he gathered her close to his chest and they watched the stars pinprick the night sky, she knew that he had captured her heart and would hold it prisoner for all time.
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘DO YOU REALLY use the hot tub in winter?’ Jess asked the next day, as she and Drago relaxed in the frothing water of the tub, which was positioned on the terrace and afforded a stunning view of the surrounding mountains. ‘It must be freezing, running back to the house through the snow in a towel.’
His eyes glinted wickedly. ‘There are ways to quickly restore body heat,’ he assured her. ‘I’ll give you a demonstration later.’ He climbed out of the hot tub and pulled on a bathrobe. ‘But first I have a surprise for you.’
‘I feel bad that I haven’t given you a wedding present,’ Jess murmured as she wrapped a towel around her and followed him back to the house.
‘In a few months you will give me a child, and that’s the only gift I want.’
His words were a timely reminder that she was only here at this beautiful mountain retreat as his wife because she had conceived his baby. Jess pushed the thought away when she saw a large wooden chest on the floor of the sitting room.
‘My wood-carvings!’ she said in delight.
‘I had all your tools and the carvings that you kept in your workshop sent over from London,’ Drago explained. ‘I’m having a room prepared at the palazzo for you to use as a studio.’
Jess had opened the storage trunk and was on her knees searching through it.
Drago took out an exquisite carving of an eagle and inspected it with a growing sense of incredulity. ‘Your work is amazing. The detail on this eagle’s wings is astounding.’ As he studied a carving of a lion, which was perfect in every detail, he recognised that Jess had a very special talent. ‘Each piece must take hours to complete. Have you had any formal training in art?’
‘No. I would have loved to study art at college,’ she revealed wistfully, ‘but when I left school I needed to work to support myself.’
Drago picked up another sculpture of a young child. The detail on the face was so perfect that the small wooden figure was uncannily lifelike. He was puzzled as he watched Jess take other figurines from the chest. There were seven in all, clearly of the same little girl at different stages of her life—from a tiny baby lying in a carved crib to a child standing on skis, smiling joyfully.
‘These figurines are so beautiful, cara. Who is the child?’ Drago stared intently at the wooden figure he was holding and then at Jess. ‘She looks a little like you.’
‘Do you think so?’
A tremor shook her voice, and the expression in her eyes was so bleak and full of pain that Drago drew a sharp breath.
‘Jess, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?’
He stretched out a hand to her, but she turned away and began to place the carvings back in the box. ‘I’m not crying, and nothing is wrong.’ She stood up and gave him a fiercely bright smile. ‘Everything is wonderful,’ Jess insisted.