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  ‘I will tell you every day how much I adore you,’ he promised. ‘When you left, I was scared that I had lost you for ever.’

  Orla put her hands on either side of his face and drew his mouth down to hers. ‘You couldn’t lose me because I am yours, and you are mine,’ she said softly. And Torre realised that it was as simple and as earth-shattering as that.

  He told her that he loved her as he moved over her and joined their bodies as one. Their passion was as fierce as ever but there was tenderness too, and a deep, abiding love that would last a lifetime.

  Two hearts bound together. For ever.

  * * *

  They were married a month later in the exquisitely beautiful Duomo in Ravello, in front of family and friends, and after the ceremony they walked down the steps of the church into the piazza and it seemed as though all the people of the town had gathered to wish them well.

  Torre had felt as though his heart would explode when he’d turned his head and watched Orla walk down the aisle towards him. Wearing a simple white silk and lace wedding gown and with her pale red hair loose, she had carried a bouquet of white roses and her only jewellery, apart from the teardrop diamond ring that he had given her for an engagement ring, was the gold-plated chain and four-leaf clover pendant from her father.

  Fourteen months later, Torre once again felt his heart swell with love and pride as he watched his wife walk onto the stage at the university’s graduation ceremony to receive her degree in civil engineering.

  ‘Can you see your mamma?’ he murmured to his son, pointing to the stage where Orla, dressed in her academic robes, stood with the other graduates. Six-month-old Luca grinned, showing his first tooth, and Torre swallowed hard and kissed the baby’s silky black curls. The baby was adored by his parents, and Torre gave thanks every day for the two miracles in his life.

  Life could not be more perfect, he said to Orla a week after she had graduated and they returned to Casa Elisabetta—the house that Torre had built for the woman who had captured his heart, and was named after the only other woman he had loved. ‘Have you decided if you want to take on a civil engineering role at ARC, or do you want to wait until Luca is a bit older before you focus on your career?’

  ‘My career will have to wait a little longer.’ She looped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close, burying his face in her silky hair. ‘When you built the house and you imagined us living here with our children, how many children did you picture?’ she asked him.

  He drew back a little and gave her a puzzled look. ‘I don’t know. Five or six.’ He laughed at her startled expression. ‘I didn’t see an exact number, I only had eyes for you, amore mio.’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure about six children, but baby number two is going to arrive earlier than we’d planned. It seems that we are a very potent combination,’ she said ruefully.

  Torre contained his fierce sense of joy and searched her face. ‘How do you feel about having another baby? I know we said we would like to give Luca a brother or sister, but you studied hard for your degree, and we were going to wait for a year or so to give you time to enjoy your career before adding to our family.’

  Her smile stole his breath, as it always did. ‘I’m overjoyed to be pregnant again,’ she said simply. ‘I will love the new baby with all my heart, as I love Luca, and one day I’ll love working in an engineering role. But more than anything else, I love you, Torre.’

  He swallowed hard and wasn’t ashamed of the sudden brightness in his eyes. ‘And I love you,’ he said softly. ‘Always.’

  * * * * *

  Coming next month

  IMPRISONED BY THE GREEK’S RING

  Caitlin Crews

  Atlas was a primitive man, when all was said and done. And whatever else happened in this dirty game, Lexi was his.

  Entirely his, to do with as he wished.

  He kissed her and he kissed her. He indulged himself. He toyed with her. He tasted her. He was unapologetic and thorough at once.

  And with every taste, every indulgence, Atlas felt.

  He felt.

  He, who hadn’t felt a damned thing in years. He, who had walled himself off to survive. He had become stone. Fury in human form.

  But Lexi tasted like hope.

  “This doesn’t feel like revenge,” she whispered in his ear, and she sounded drugged.

  “I’m delighted you think so,” he replied.

  And then he set his mouth to hers again, because it was easier. Or better. Or simply because he had to, or die wanting her.

  Lexi thrashed beneath him, and he wasn’t sure why until he tilted back his head to get a better look at her face. And the answer slammed through him like some kind of cannonball, shot straight into him.

  Need. She was wild with need.

  And he couldn’t seem to get enough of it. Of her.

  The part of him that trusted no one, and her least of all, didn’t trust this reaction either.

  But the rest of him—especially the hardest part of him—didn’t care.

  Because she tasted like magic and he had given up on magic long, long time ago.

  Because her hands tangled in his hair and tugged his face to hers, and he didn’t have it in him to question that.

  All Atlas knew was that he wanted more. Needed more.

  As if, after surviving things that no man should be forced to bear, it would be little Lexi Haring who took him out. It would be this one shockingly pretty woman who would be the end of him. And not because she’d plotted against him, as he believed some if not all of her family had done, but because of this. Her surrender.

  The endless, wondrous glory of her surrender.

  Copyright ©2018 by Caitlin Crews

  Continue reading

  IMPRISONED BY THE GREEK’S RING

  Caitlin Crews

  Available next month

  www.millsandboon.co.uk