Chapter eight

Andrea's POV

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache and my entire throat was swollen and sore, I just could not bring myself to leave the bed.

This was completely my fault, I had spent the better part of yesterday crying and wishing my life was a little different than it was now.

And then I had found it difficult to fall asleep after Emil Ferrari had hugged me, not many men had hugged me in my life, my father hugged me a few times and my brothers every once in a while and then there was Lorenzo, he was really the first man to hug me and I had felt a feeling of safety in his arms and that was it.

But last night, I found that I could not breathe and my entire body had immediately began to react in a way that I had never felt before, I had no words to explain what I felt precisely and what I thought of the feeling.

I had known that the body of a man was supposed to be hard and well defined but Emil Ferrari had felt like a rock against my much softer body, he held me hard but somehow it made me feel better.

The sound of the door opening had my thoughts fleeing away.

"Good morning Donna, it's almost 8am, breakfast will be served soon" I heard a maid say.

I did not wish to speak or even leave my bed this morning and the thought of food nauseated me.

"I will like to stay in bed for a little while, I will let you know when I need something" I said.

My voice sounded tired even to my own ears and just that simple sentence left me feeling tired.

"Are you feeling okay Donna?" I heard the maid say.

I could hear the urgency and concern in her voice and for some reason, it irked me.

"I am fine, I just need to rest please" I said.

There was silence for a while then I heard her say "As you wish Donna" then retreating footsteps followed and I was again grateful for the silence.

My mind immediately floated back to Emil Ferrari, if I was being honest with myself, he had not mistreated me, he had tried to be kind to me and when he had said those words to me yesterday, he was angry and frustrated.

I was not exactly making things easy for him and I saw no reason why I should, I did not want to be here and I definitely did not want to be around him, whether he was kind or not was no business of mine, perhaps I just had to keep making him angry and he will get tired and send me back home, back home to my family and most especially, Lorenzo.

The thought of him brought a smile to my face and lifted my downcast spirit a little.

I had felt like a princess when he kissed in the garden, it had been late and no one was watching, the kiss had been gentle and soft and I had found myself smiling even that night and Lorenzo had declared his love for me.

I had thought my life was going to be perfect and all but I realized I could not have more wrong.

The sound of the door opening once again tore me from my thoughts.

I heard many footsteps and then suddenly I felt a presence hovering above me, a musky and spicy scent immediately assaulted my senses and I knew at once who it was that was in the room with me.

I felt a warm hand on my forehead and I quickly sucked in a breath.

"Call the doctor immediately, she has a fever" I heard him say.

"I am fine, I just need to get some rest" I said quietly as I tried to move away from his touch.

"Can you not do this right now? I am really not in the mood for it right now" he said.

I did not like being spoken to in that manner and it got me angry immediately.

"I never asked for your help, you can just leave me alone" I snapped at him.

"My dear, he is just worried about you" I heard Wilma say to me in her soft maternal voice.

I knew I should simply let it go but I was feeling rebellious this morning and I was still angry about what happened yesterday and most importantly, it was because I did not like the way my body was suddenly heating up because Emil Ferrari was close to me.

"I never asked you to worry about me, leave me alone" I said, my voice was rising along with my body temperature apparently.

"Andrea you are being unreasonable, stop this" Emil said.

I did not like the fact that his voice was still so calm while I was getting mad for no reason in particular.

"Leave me alone, just go away, all of you" I shouted as I sat up in the bed

I heard surprised gasps fill the room at once.

"Everybody out" I heard Emil say.

"Emilio...per favore, she is not well" I heard Wilma say.

"I said, everybody out, now" he said, his voice had gone dangerously low and I could feel his heated gaze directly on me.

I knew I was being a brat but I did not care, he had no right to be close to me and he had no right making me feel this confused about him.

The sound of a door being closed filled the room and it suddenly dawned on me that I was alone in the room with him.

I could feel his brooding presence, it was almost choking me, I was suddenly feeling very small.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, my voice had suddenly gone low and I could hear my heart pounding in my chest.

I suddenly felt a hand on a cheek, I froze immediately, I found that I was even too scared to take a breath.

There was nothing sinister about the touch, it was more like a gentle caress on my face.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"You are driving me insane Andrea, you are making me lose my mind" I heard him say, his voice was ice cold now and it sent shivers all through my spine.

I felt his thumb gently brush my lower lip and I took in a sharp breath.

"Stay away from me" I managed to say over the loud beating of my heart, I was very certain he could hear it.

I felt the mattress dip to the side, signifying that he had sat on the bed.

"I wish I could, it will be best to stay away from you and forget about you all together but I keep finding my way to you and it is maddening" I heard him say.

I felt his breath fan cheek softly and his hand had found its way to my nape and was massaging softly.

My entire body was on fire, I had never felt this way before, not even when Lorenzo had held me, with Lorenzo, it had been soft and gentle, there was nothing soft or gentle about the feeling I was having right now.

"Why are you doing this?" I said or perhaps, I thought I said those words because it wasn't possible that the breathless voice I heard was mine.

I found myself relaxing into his touch and slowly leaning back towards the bed.

All of a sudden, I felt warm lips on the skin of my exposed shoulder, my breath disappeared at once as he kissed my skin softly, his hand still caressing my nape while his other hand was slowly wrapping around waist and pulling my body against his, I felt my eyes slowly flutter close.

"I need you to behave Andrea, for both my sake and yours" he said, his voice against my skin sent vibrations all through my body and I shivered in his arms.

My entire body was on alert, every single cell had come alive and demanded full attention at once, a certain pleasure started to pool between my legs and I was not certain as to what I was supposed to with such a feeling.

"You need to stop fighting me at every turn, I am not your enemy and you know this" he said and his lips suddenly travelled from my shoulder to my neck, just below my ear, the kiss was soft and gentle but the feeling it sent through my body was definitely not.

I jerked in his arms as a wave of pleasure shut through my entire body, my hands flew up on their own volition and wrapped around his neck.

As she continued his gentle assault, my body became more and more restless.

"If you decide to stop fighting me so much, this marriage could turn out to be beneficial to both of us" he whispered as he pulled away from my neck to rest his forehead against mine.

His warm breath fanning my face gently, I wasn't sure what he was saying anymore, I was suddenly not thinking about fighting him anymore, I had other thoughts in mind suddenly.

I raised my hand to trace his face, I was trying to study his features with my fingertips, I traced his eyebrows, they were narrow and soft under my fingertips, I moved down to his eyes which I felt him close as I finger approached, his lashes were thick and long, I traced down the ridge of his nose to the tip of his nose, he had a long, well proportioned nose and then my finger dropped down to his lips, he had a full lip and it felt warm beneath my fingertip, he was not a bad looking man.

He moved his lips and kissed my finger lightly, I sucked in a breath as he pulled my finger into his mouth, his swirled his tongue on my finger and gently sucked on it, a knot formed in my stomach at once.

He sucked on it once more and his tongue swirled around it again.

All the whole I had forgotten how to breathe even when he removed my finger from his mouth, I could not say a word, he pulled me closer to him by my waist so close that my upper body was brushing against his chest.

I felt his breath close to my face "Andrea, I really want to kiss you right now" he said, his voice had become raspy and it sent tingles all over my body, I shivered once again in his arms.

He placed a soft kiss on my cheek then whispered against it "Do you want me to kiss you Andrea?"

I had no idea what I wanted right now, I did not know the answer to give him, my mind was in a turmoil, my heart was beating so loud I was sure he could hear it.

The sound of a knock on the door broke me from my trance and I quickly pulled away from him.

"The doctor has arrived Don Ferrari" Wilma called from outside the room.

Emil swore colourfully in our native dialect, I felt his hold on my waist loosen and I was sure whatever moment that had existed between us was dead.

He stood up and said to me "You should get treated, you have a fever" and then I heard his retreating footsteps.

I was glad I could breathe easy when he left but as much I tried to ignore it, there was a little disappointment nagging at the back of my mind.