Not Juliet Read Online Free PDF

neck, making her scream when the squashy cold paste
touched her skin. She laughed and wriggled on his lap.
    “Stay still,
woman, so I can lick it off.”
    She stilled,
the onslaught of sensations from the cold ice-cream and his hot
tongue and lips licking and nibbling at her neck making her lose
all conscious thought. The half-empty ice-cream tub fell from her
hand, bouncing against her scraped knee before hitting the floor,
and her fingers, ice-cream and all, laced themselves through Luca’s
dark hair, holding his head in place.
    A gentle breeze
played through the shimmering greenery above, ruffling her hair.
Caught in the moment, Riella brought her lips to his ear and
whispered, “I love you, Luca.”
     

Chapter 6
     
    “I love you, Luca,” she
said, and the words took their time percolating through his addled
brain, then stuck and echoed there, repeating themselves until he
felt he had no more air to breathe.
    He forced his
lips to break contact with her skin and pulled her face to his
chest, holding her there.
    What had he
done? What the hell was going on in his mind?
    Out of sight,
chin resting on her sweet-smelling caramel soft curls, Luca allowed
his eyes free rein to do what they will. Right now, they felt wild
and huge with stress. This wasn’t supposed to happen!
    It all started
simply enough. The English king’s daughter had travelled to Rome,
demanding to see his father. Luca had an idea why – rumors of a
possible coup to overthrow Goliath Petulengro’s rule had reached
him weeks before. What he couldn’t understand was why she’d come
here, of all places. The challenger was a Lithuanian gang master
well known in his circles. What was she doing, asking around the
campsite in Rome? Did she believe the contender had anything to do
with his people? Or was she perhaps looking for an ally?
    She must have
been sorely misinformed. Strange, for the daughter of a king. The
girl didn’t even seem to know Cosimo Anziano had stepped down the
year before, leaving his son, Luca, in charge of the Romanies in
Italy. And Luca had done nothing to keep that a secret. In fact,
he’d done all he could to strengthen his control, and a huge part
of being in control was letting people know who their leader
was.
    For a week he’d
watched her from afar, trying to work her and her purpose out,
worried she may have an ulterior motive for seeking out his elderly
father. Not that she’d ever get to him. Cosimo was safe, spending
the last few years of his existence fishing and tending his
grapevines, away from the day-to-day hassles of running a kingdom,
but still close enough to provide a piece of advice or information,
should Luca feel the need to ask.
    He’d watched
the rogue arrive the day after her own arrival, and lost track of
him for a day or two. Then today, when he least expected it, the
man had pointed his gun at Riella. Why? The challenger was after
the king. Why kill his daughter, too?
    His hand moved
to stroke her hair, a gesture he hadn’t been aware of consciously
initiating. Still, now that his fingers were laced through her
tresses, Luca felt he needed more. His lips dropped to her hair and
placed soft kisses all over it, then met her ear and kissed around
the helix to the lobe, paused there for a second, nibbling on it
gently, then traveled lower, to her jaw line, skirted her chin, and
captured her lips again.
    Whoever she was
and whatever her purpose, Riella Smith was intoxicating. Like an
instantly addicting drug, she’d made it into his bloodstream and
the scent of her, the taste of her, the feel of her were jumbling
his thoughts and turning his world order upside-down.
    With his arms
wrapped around her, it was hard to believe such soft creature would
ever be capable of harming anyone, of inflicting pain. If she was
capable of showing her father half the love she’d showed him since
the incident in the Signoria, then Riella was nothing but good. A
loving daughter, a perfect lover, no doubt, a doting