Page 65 of His Housekeeper's Twin Baby Confession
Massimo took her hand and another one of Carrie’s defences wobbled precariously.
They reached the first floor and Massimo opened the door to a massive bedroom. ‘You can have this room.’
Carrie knew immediately it must be his. ‘I don’t mind a smaller one...really.’
He ignored her. ‘I’ll take the adjoining one. I’ll just light the fires.’
Carrie could see he must have set them earlier, and within minutes they were both burning brightly, instantly reducing her sense of fear and bringing warmth to the rooms.
Massimo pulled something out of a set of drawers and handed it to her. ‘They’ll drown you, but they’re all I have.’
It was a pair of pyjamas. His.
He said, ‘There’s some clean unused underwear in the drawers too. Again, far too big, but they’ll do just until we get back to town.’
The thought of wearing Massimo’s briefs, even if unused, sent an erotic thrill through Carrie. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Here’s another torch.’
Carrie misjudged the distance and the torch fell to the ground between them. She bent down to get it, and when she stood up again found Massimo was much closer. Suddenly it was hard to breathe.
The lines of his face looked much harsher in the flickering light of the fire. His eyes were totally dark and unreadable. He looked huge, too—a massive broad shape. With every cell in her body Carrie wanted nothing more than to step close and wind her arms around him, let him silence all the voices in her head with his mouth and his tongue and his body.
Carrie could almost feel him compelling her to do it. She just needed to take a step forward and he would catch her. It would be so easy...but it would make her forget why it was so important to resist his pull.
She took a step back. Massimo’s jaw clenched.
She said, ‘Goodnight, Massimo.’
‘If you need anything during the night, I’m just through that door.’
‘I won’t...but thank you.’
Why did her voice sound so thready and unsure?
Disgusted with herself, Carrie watched Massimo disappear and shut the door behind him. She felt wide awake, keyed up. She found the en-suite bathroom and ran herself a bath. As promised by Sheila, the water was hot.
Carrie sank down into the water, relishing the feeling of weightlessness. She put a hand on her bump, but quickly diverted her thoughts when images of Massimo intruded. She wasnotgoing to humiliate herself again when he was mere feet away.
She quickly washed and stepped out, drying herself and pulling on Massimo’s pyjamas. She didn’t bother with the trousers as the top came halfway down her thighs.
She turned off the torch, climbed into the bed and fell into a fitful sleep that was dominated by dreams. Dreams of running through this house looking for something...or someone. In the dream she eventually she stopped outside a door and pushed it open. Massimo was in bed with his back to her. A woman’s manicured hand was on his shoulder. He turned to look at Carrie and his expression was remote, cold.
‘You are not welcome here. Get out.’
It was like a knife sliding through her ribs. White-hot pain and then red-hot jealousy. Carrie ran around the bed and pulled at the other woman, crying and saying, ‘But I’m different...you told me I was!’
Carrie woke up and sat bolt upright, heart pounding.
Massimo’s rejection of her was so vivid, the pain real.
She knew where she was, even though it was dark and the fire was low. She was breathing heavily. Her skin was hot and she was perspiring. She could still feel the strength of emotions running through her. The pain and the jealousy. The aching for Massimo to be in bed withher. No one else.
She didn’t think.
She acted on an instinct too strong to deny.
She turned on the torch and got out of bed, went to the door. Hesitating for only the briefest of moments, she opened it and went into the next room.
