CHAPTER SEVEN

YES...

No...

Time seemed to stop for a long, long moment as Emilia stared at Dom’s outstretched hand.

She’d noticed him off to one side of the ballroom in the last few minutes, standing alone as he drank a glass of champagne. She’d been instantly aware of him as soon as he’d started moving back towards their table, too, and it had taken quite some effort not to watch every step he took.

Almost any man could look good in a formal, black tie outfit but Dom looked as though he’d been born to wear a superbly cut tuxedo and matching trousers, the snowy white shirt with pin tucks, hidden buttons and the flash of gold cufflinks and, of course, the black silk bow tie.

But he had been born to wear it, hadn’t he? Born to shine at events just like this charity gala, as part of a royal family which was pretty much as A-list as anyone could ever be. Emilia had no doubts at all that Dom would know how to dance very well. Infinitely better than she could hope to, despite the secret practice in the privacy of her apartment, with the help of online tutorials that she’d made time for ever since she’d accepted his invitation to be his partner tonight.

Which was why her brain had suddenly become a battleground, with the two sides slugging it out so fast, nobody would guess what was going on behind her smile as Dom put out his hand.

Yes...one side wanted nothing more than to be close enough to touch this man. To be touched by him... To feel his hands on the silk of her dress the way her own hands had been when she’d first tried it on. She had to find out if that sensation was anything like as breathtaking as it had been in her imagination, not only when she’d put this astonishing dress on that first time, but every time she’d seen it hanging in the corner of her bedroom since then.

But no... The other side was putting up a valiant opposition. Emilia had known there would be dancing involved but she’d imagined that she’d be amongst enough people on a crowded dance floor that it wouldn’t matter that she didn’t really know how to dance. This invitation had come too early in the evening and there were only a few couples who were already on the polished wooden floor in front of the band which meant that Emilia would be being watched by a large number of people. Many of her colleagues had already been unable to hide their surprise that she was here with Dom in the first place so she could be sure that more than a few jaws would be dropping to see them dancing together.

This was a challenge, for sure.

But this was also Dom and when had she ever backed down from any kind of challenge he’d presented?

This might be a good time to make an exception and back down, that voice in her head warned. She might be in danger of making a complete fool of herself. Or worse, taking herself back to the time in her life when being in a spotlight had been far worse than simply embarrassing. When it had meant that she was being taken to a new family because her current foster parents no longer wanted such a difficult child. Or that she was being sent to the principal’s office because she was in trouble. Again. Even recently, the spotlight of her professional success had come with the pain of a failed relationship.

With that kind of background, mustering a defensive barrier was something that could be done in the blink of an eye but Emilia had never had to put that barrier up in the face of something so strong on the other side—a desire that was powerful enough to be sweeping anything else aside. Not only that, she was wearing the red dress. Her Cinderella dress. The one that told her that she could be anyone she wanted to be.

And, right now, Emilia wanted to be the person who was taking hold of Dom’s hand. The woman that was about to be held in his arms. A princess for just a blink of time. She wanted it so much that her hand was reaching out to touch his even before she could consciously choose to shut down the protest in her head. It was quite possible that no one had noticed the tiny hesitation she’d had in taking Dom’s hand but he’d obviously seen something in her eyes.

Thankfully, he couldn’t possibly know why that internal battle had been so convincingly won but he must have guessed that her inner turmoil was due to a fear of some kind of failure, because, as he took her in his arms moments later, he put his mouth close to Emilia’s ear and said a few words that changed everything.

‘Trust me, Emmy... I’ve got this...’

His voice tickled her ear. One of his hands was covering hers and the other was against the small of her back and she could feel the heat of it, as though the silk of her dress had evaporated. And his touch was everything she’d imagined it might be. And more... Emilia could feel it in every cell of her body and she was melting. Muscles that had been poised for a physical challenge were relaxing and she even closed her eyes as she felt the power in Dom’s hands. Guiding her. Holding her. Making a promise that he was not going to let her fall.

Except she was. As the sweet notes of Celine Dion’s ‘Think Twice’ created the ocean of sound they were floating on, Emilia could feel herself falling. She’d been halfway in love with Dom before this and had been afraid that going any further could be dangerous but there was no stopping what was happening here.

This feeling of complete trust was something she’d never experienced before and there was more there as well. She was feeling protected. Cared for. Respected.

As she responded to the push and pull of his arms, Dom turned her away from him and then twirled her under his arm before drawing her close again. She caught a glimpse of his face, of the gleam in those dark eyes that told her she was doing much better than he might have expected.

That he was proud of her...?

That did it. Emilia hit the bottom of wherever that fall had been taking her and...it didn’t hurt a bit. Quite the opposite. She’d never felt this happy in her life. And maybe this would be the only time in her life that she would ever feel this happy so she was going to hang onto every single second of it for as long as it lasted.

Oh, mio Dio...

The feel of this woman in his arms...

Emilia was perfectly capable of fighting as hard as it took to try and prove that she was the best at anything she attempted but she must have instinctively known that that would have been the worst approach to dancing. That what she had to do was trust enough to let someone lead her. She had to listen to what his body and hands were telling her and not to argue back—to simply follow where he led. And that was exactly what she was doing.

She was trusting him...

It was enough to make Dom’s heart feel full to bursting because he knew that this wasn’t a small thing for Emilia. After seeing that flash of something that could have even been fear in her eyes when he’d invited her onto the dance floor, he wouldn’t have been at all surprised if she’d found an excuse to stay seated at their table, but here she was, melting in his arms when he held her close but with exactly the tension that was needed when he wanted to turn and spin her to show her off.

A spin that he could keep complete control of, unlike the way his life was beginning to turn in on itself. At least almost nobody here knew anything about how his life was about to change. They knew him only as a doctor who was striving—and succeeding—in being at the top of his challenging field of emergency medicine. The way Emilia had known him only as a fellow medical student and now her colleague until he’d dropped that bombshell and revealed his true identity.

This wasn’t the first time that Dom realised that his relationship with Emilia was the only one he would ever be able to trust as being completely genuine. She was also inextricably woven into the world he’d fought so hard to join.

She was one of the most memorable parts of all those years at medical school.

She was a part of his work that he loved the most, when he was faced with the huge challenges of dealing with major trauma.

Even for just those two reasons, she was—and always would be—a part of him.

It was just as well that his instincts had warned him to stay away from personal involvement with her all those years ago because it was blatantly obvious to him at this moment that, in another world, he would have fallen in love with Emilia.

He still could...

And he certainly wasn’t helping anything by discovering the delicious curves of her body with his hand shaping her waist and hip beneath the slippery fabric of that amazing dress. By being close enough to catch the scent of her skin and to feel the touch of her hand inside his. Most of all, to be aware of just how much she was trusting him.

If only he was the kind of prince who belonged in a fairy tale and had a fairy godmother who could wave a magic wand to make any obstacles melt away. He would not only be more than happy to give up his career to become King, but Emilia would also walk away from the job that was the most important thing in her life so that she could be by his side for ever.

It was never going to work, of course, but...just for a little while, Dom could pretend, couldn’t he?

That he wasn’t a prince. That his life wasn’t going to change so completely he was sure he would never be truly happy again. He could cling to the things he loved for a little longer. It was only one night. A few magical hours where he could hold the most beautiful woman in the world in his arms and they could lose themselves in this romantic music and a dream or two of what might have been.

The rest of Seattle General’s fundraising charity gala went past in a blur for Emilia. There were snatches of conversation she was never going to remember, a glass or two of champagne that fizzed and evaporated on her tongue almost instantly and a swirl of colours and music that was the dance floor she found herself on again and again and almost always with Dom. The one thing that Emilia was sure of, as she finally went outside to find a taxi, was that the only word that could ever sum up what this evening had been like was: magic.

And it seemed that the fairy tale hadn’t quite ended.

The tall man in the tuxedo who had flagged down a taxi and was now holding the back door open for her was none other than her Prince. Domenico di Rossi.

‘Jump in,’ he told her. ‘But do you mind if I share?’

Of course she didn’t. What could be a better ending to such a magical evening than being in the back seat of a taxi beside Dom, with the cloud of red silk spilling onto his dark suit and the strobe effect of the street lights overhead making his eyes sparkle as she caught his gaze.

The taxi stopped for a red light, somewhere very close to the Space Needle and Emilia had to tilt her head to gaze up and admire the elegant structure that held what looked like a spaceship with all its lights on. Dom had done exactly the same thing and then, as if they couldn’t resist the magnetic pull, they both turned their heads enough to look at each other.

For the second time in the space of one evening, time stopped for Emilia. But this was way bigger than looking at Dom’s outstretched hand and the internal battle that it had generated.

There was no battle here. Nothing could break a connection that felt powerful enough to tilt the world’s axis. Nothing was going to interfere with the inevitability that this was going to happen.

This...kiss...

A physical touch that Emilia hadn’t realised she’d been waiting for forever. A touch that made her understand exactly what had always been missing from her life—this connection with another human. This feeling that she was wanted. Needed. Loved...?

The jerk of the taxi moving away on the green light wasn’t enough for that kiss to be broken. It took the taxi driver’s loud clearing of his throat when the taxi had stopped again a short time later for Emilia and Dom to finally break apart.

‘This is the first stop,’ the driver said. ‘Who’s getting out here?’

‘I am.’ Dom handed some bills to the driver and opened the door. He stepped out, then leaned down so that he could catch Emilia’s gaze again. He wasn’t smiling but there was a warmth in his eyes that made it impossible to look away and Emilia’s senses were suddenly so heightened that it didn’t matter that his words were no more than a murmur against the background of traffic noise. She could hear what he said, as he held out his hand to her for the second time that evening, as clearly as if his lips had been brushing her ear.

‘Come with me?’

Oh...

Everything was spinning. A kaleidoscope of the entire evening. The gorgeous ballroom, the swish of a dress that Emilia was going to keep for ever, the wonderful food, the delicious champagne, the beautiful dresses of all the women and the music that had kept her dancing all night. The whole—incredible—fairy tale and the man who had been at the centre of everything was inviting her to make it last a little longer.

He’d just kissed her senseless and now he wanted more.

And, dear Lord, so did Emilia.

She wanted everything. She wanted it so much that she didn’t hesitate for more than a heartbeat and she knew, by the way Dom’s hand closed around her own, that she’d made the only choice she could have made.

Like that kiss, it felt like Emilia had been waiting her whole life for this...

He’d always known it was there, hadn’t he?

And he’d been right to be afraid of it.

This...connection...

This feeling that this person, and only this person, could touch your soul, as much as your body, and make it feel like you’d...come home. That you’d finally found the place you truly belonged.

Dom had to kiss Emilia again, the moment the elevator doors closed behind them, because he couldn’t wait until they reached the privacy of his apartment to find out if that kiss in the taxi had actually been what it had seemed to be, or if it had simply been his imagination, the combination of an evening full of pleasure or perhaps the frustration of having waited for so many years to kiss Emilia Featherstone that had created nothing short of a magic spell. Would kissing her now be like kissing any other attractive woman? He’d certainly had enough practice to be able to make that judgement.

Unbelievably, this second kiss was even more astonishing. Reaching the penthouse level of this apartment block, the elevator doors slid open, stayed open and then closed again without either of them noticing. The touch and taste of her lips, the seductive dance of her tongue was driving any conscious thought from Dom’s mind. It was only the need for a little more oxygen that made him finally pull back, to find Emilia looking just as stunned as he was feeling.

Her lips were still parted a little and her eyes glazed by desire and the only thing Dom wanted to do was to kiss her again. To kiss every inch of her body, in fact, and he certainly couldn’t do that in this elevator which seemed to have stopped. Was it stuck? He pushed the button to open the doors to find that they had already arrived at his floor and that he had absolutely no concept of how much time had passed during that kiss.

Oh, sì... He hadn’t been wrong that first time he’d laid eyes on Emilia back at medical school. When he’d known instantly that it would be dangerous to get close to her in any personal way. As he held his apartment door open for her and she went past him with a swish of silk and a lingering upward glance, Dom could remember vividly that first sight of this woman. Those blue, blue eyes that made him think of the sea that surrounded Isola Verde. The glorious glint of so many different shades of red in that magnificent hair, including the copper that was reflected in the freckles that dusted her pale skin.

Distraction...

Destruction...

He’d put up the fences right there and then. Had mentally painted the word ‘Danger’ across the palings in the same shade of red as Emilia’s dress was tonight. Moments after shoving his door shut behind him with his foot, Dom’s hands were on the smooth silk of that dress again. Emilia was standing on tiptoe, her arms around his neck as he kissed her yet again. Dom had found the zip that was falling open beneath his fingers. A zip that went far enough for his fingertips to brush her buttocks and get lost in all the folds of her skirt. Not too lost, though, because he could cup his hand around a firm curve and pull her just close enough to leave her in no doubt about how much he wanted her.

Her tiny gasp beneath his lips and the way she pressed herself even closer was Dom’s undoing.

It wasn’t that those warnings weren’t still there. If anything, in the last few minutes, the danger level had gone off the Richter scale because being with Emilia was everything he’d been afraid it would be and there would be no going back after this. Things were going to come crashing down around them and people might well be going to get hurt.

But that was going to happen anyway, wasn’t it?

And he could handle the fallout. The hurt. But what about Emilia? The last thing Dom wanted to do was to hurt her. It might be the hardest thing he’d ever done but he could stop now, if that was what it took to protect her.

He held her face between his hands and waited for her eyes to focus.

‘Do you want this, Emmy?’ His voice was rough. Raw, even. ‘Because if we should stop, it needs to be now...’

‘No...’ Her voice was no more than a whisper. Almost a whimper. ‘Please...don’t stop... I do want this...’ He heard the way her breath hitched. ‘Even if it is just for tonight...’

Just for tonight. He’d thought that tonight was his last chance, too. The last opportunity to cling to all the things he loved about the life he’d created away from his home and his royal heritage. Maybe it was the same for Emilia? That she wanted to cling to what they’d had between them that they’d never been brave—or perhaps foolish—enough to confirm?

He’d told himself that he had to make the most of this magic night and this...being able to be as physically close as it was possible to be to another human would make this night one that he was going to remember for the rest of his life. Emilia wanted it as much as he did so this was going to be his gift to the most amazing woman he was ever going to know.

A night that she would also remember for the rest of her life.

Sliding his hands up her back again, it took only a nudge from his thumbs on her shoulders to dislodge the lace straps that were still holding her dress up. The fabric rippled free and tumbled into a huge puddle on the marble tiles of this entranceway. The only underwear Emilia was wearing were a pair of lace panties the same colour as that dress and, as Dom dragged his gaze back to her eyes, he could see the hint of fear in them. Dio mio...did she think that he might not find her beautiful enough? Or change his mind about how much he wanted her?

He scooped her into his arms to carry her into his bedroom.

‘You have no idea, do you, mi amore?’ he murmured.

Her head was tucked in beneath his collar bone. Right against his heart. ‘Of what?’

Dom kicked the bedroom door shut behind them. ‘Of just how perfect you are...’

Oh... Dear Lord...

Emilia had never been so...what on earth was the word she needed? She was physically, emotionally, sexually exhausted and yet she’d never felt so alive. Or so happy.

So...so whole...

The way that Dom’s breathing had slowed suggested that he had already fallen asleep and Emilia should follow his example because, while she had no idea of the time, dawn couldn’t be that far away. She’d lost count of how many times they’d made love since Dom had carried her to his bed and the need for each other had been equally fierce on both sides. They both knew that their lives were going to go in such different directions very soon and it seemed that they’d made a tacit agreement to make the most of this one night because it could be the only one they ever got.

And it was a night that Emilia would never, ever forget.

With her eyes closed, tucked under Dom’s arm, she rested her cheek against his chest where she could both feel and hear the steady beat of his heart. It was a big thing for her to be this close to someone else. When she’d told Dom about her past relationship with Chandler and said that she was happier on her own, anyway, she’d been quite sincere.

One of Emilia’s earliest memories was a place where she’d discovered she could be completely alone and nobody could find her—a hole in the bottom of a hedge, just big enough for a little girl to crawl into and hide away from angry voices or frightening things. Being lonely was worth it to feel safe. At school, libraries became a haven away from bullies and her preferred exercise of running had always been a solitary activity. When she’d escaped that disastrous relationship with Chandler, there was such enormous relief to be found in being alone that Emilia had been able to ignore the loneliness that went with it. To close her eyes to the emptiness that her future threatened to include.

Yes...it had been well ingrained, that belief that she was happier on her own.

Until now...

Now, she knew what it was like to feel like this... As if she was hiding away in the safest place possible but she could never feel lonely again. She had someone with her who understood exactly who she was and why she was like that and he still wanted to be with her. Someone who thought she was...perfect?

Emilia lifted her head just enough to see Dom’s face in the soft light of this room. He was the perfect one and she was missing him already. How crazy was that? He was right here but he had retreated into sleep. The black lashes that matched his, oh, so rumpled hair right now were resting on his cheeks. Deep, even breaths were coming through that gorgeously defined, Italian nose of his and his lips were ever so slightly parted and curled up at the corners, as if he was already dreaming of something very pleasant.

The temptation to touch those lips—kiss them again, perhaps—was strong but Emilia knew she wasn’t going to risk waking him. She didn’t want him to look at her and see what she was thinking. To know just how much she was going to miss him. Because, if he saw that, he would feel sorry for her because they both knew how unlikely it was that they would ever see each other again in the future. And Emilia didn’t want to see that sympathy because that would be the end of this magical night and she wanted to feel like this for a little longer.

To feel safe. And loved. And whole...

Very gently, she let her head settle again in that spot where she could hear every beat of Dom’s heart. A soft drum that was already pulling her into sleep but Emilia was fighting the pull. Because she didn’t need to sleep—she was already dreaming...

It was the vibration from his ringing phone that woke Dom and he was startled to find his bedroom bathed in the first fingers of daylight through windows whose curtains had not been pulled. Sunrise at this time of year in Seattle didn’t happen before about eight a.m. and he never normally slept this late. But then again, last night had been anything but normal, hadn’t it? He could feel the weight of Emilia’s head on his arm and it was obvious that she was still soundly asleep which was hardly surprising after he’d kept her awake for most of the night.

But...oddio...it had been a night he was definitely never, ever going to forget.

Carefully, Dom eased his arm from beneath her head and rolled away, picking up his phone as he got out of bed and moving swiftly towards the door of his en suite bathroom so as not to disturb Emilia just yet.

He had to take this call because he’d seen the name of caller on the screen.

‘What is it, Max?’

‘We’ve just completed the scan on your father,’ Max Granger told him. ‘I’m sorry, Dom, but it’s not good news...’