“Angelo-”

His hand trailed across her breast, across the curve, brushing the delicate tip. Gemma sighed as frissons of delight followed beneath his fingertips. She lost track of what she had to say.

Then his tongue came out, probing, tasting the dark nipple and heat splintered in her belly. Gemma fought a groan as that maddening mouth feasted on her.

He paid homage to the other breast, and when he’d finished Gemma stared at her taut quivering nipples with a sense of shock.

What was it about Angelo that stripped her of all her inhibitions? She wanted him…but there was more. There was a sense of belonging together, a deep-rooted understanding between them that she’d never experienced with anyone else.

It overwhelmed her. It scared her. Because it couldn’t possibly survive what she had to confess.

“What are you thinking?” Angelo pulled her against him.

“Nothing.” Her voice cracked on the lie. “Nothing,” she said again, trying to make it sound convincing to her own ears.

“Then I’ll have to give you something to think about.” He stretched out a hand to stroke her naked flesh. “You’re trembling.”

“Yes.”

Her breathy reply made Angelo grow harder in anticipation. His every nerve seemed to be on edge, suspended on the razor-edge of pleasure. By contrast, her body was soft, her skin silky under his hand and a wave of tremors shook her.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded, her eyes wide. He paused, determined to take it slow. Then her lips parted, her tongue tip slicked across that luscious lower lip and his control shredded.

A rush of heat seared him. He moved over her, chest to her breast, his legs sliding along the length of hers, and bent to take that tantalising mouth.

Lower down he was aware of his body pressing into her. Her thighs parted and he tilted his hips forward until no space remained between them.

This close, her eyes were velvety with desire and he was supremely conscious of his strength, the power of his arms braced on each side of her upper arms, the weight of his torso brushing her breasts and the muscles shifting in his thighs. In contrast, she was so feminine, her long legs flexing subtly against him.

Breathing harshly, Angelo lifted his mouth and shifted his weight. Supporting himself on one elbow, he rapidly readied himself with the other hand, hoping he wouldn’t erupt before he’d even entered her. The sheath of rubber rolled onto him. She shifted underneath him, tempting, impatient.

As he penetrated her, stretching her, she lay motionless. Finally sheathed deep within her, he lay against her-head bowed, eyes clenched shut-inhaling the sweet fragrance of her skin.

She moved and her inner muscles tightened on him, demanding a response. Pleasure streaked through him and his relentless control frayed. He began the slow sweeps that would take them towards a place he’d never known.

As the pace quickened so did the intensity. His hands cupped her hips, pulling her closer as he drove harder and harder into her. She echoed his ferocity.

When he thought he could take no more, when the pleasure was so great he felt that he would explode if it didn’t end, he felt her contract against him, once, twice, and it was enough to tip him over the edge, into the fire that threatened to consume him. And then he pulled her into the curve of his arm, his body warm and relaxed against hers. “Look at me.”

Gemma avoided his gaze, simply dropping her head against his chest, nuzzling his skin, breathing in his hot male scent.

She was here now. In his bed. In his life. Did it matter who he thought she was?

She stroked his stomach, let a finger trace the indent between the muscle definition. A wicked temptation called to her. Kiss him. He need never know she wasn’t Mandy.

After all, if she never told him would he ever learn the truth? Probably not. He’d had many mistresses and none lasted. Their relationship would run its course, too. This sweet madness between them would not last.

But what if it did? What then? Could she keep this secret forever?

No. She didn’t want to live with a past that Mandy had already stained with betrayal. She had to tell him. Now. While they were immersed in this special, loving glow. Acid ate the back of her throat. She swallowed. He would understand why she’d done what she had. He had to.

She pulled away a little, to give herself some breathing space, to gather her courage-and so that she could look into his face, the face she’d come to love so much.

“Hey, come back here, I want to hold you.”

Gemma propped a cushion behind her back. “Angelo-” It came out a croak. She tried again. “I need to tell you something.” She stroked his cheek with trembling fingers.

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

She bit her lip. How…where…to start? She drew a deep breath. “I told you my sister died…”

He nodded.

“She was my twin.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ve heard that twins are very close. It must have been hard. You said her name was Mandy?”

It was Gemma’s turn to nod. “She died on Christmas Eve nearly three years ago.”

“Three years ago?” Then he snapped his mouth shut.

Gemma could see his resolve not to interrupt, to support her, let her explain. Her love for him swelled.

For the first time she started to hope that he might be able to accept what she was about to tell him.

“Mandy was…well, Mandy. She made me laugh, she loved practical jokes when we were kids. She knew no fear and would try anything.” Except Mandy had been terrified of being unpopular. She’d always wanted to be the ahead of the peer group, the first to swear, the first to smoke.

Gemma moved away from him and crossed her legs. “When we were kids we both loved to create shows. I’d sing and she’d dance.” She recognized that she was rambling, trying to delay that moment of terrible truth.

“A talented duo. What did Mandy grow up into?”

Gemma hauled in a deep breath, met his gaze squarely. “She became a dancer, an exotic dancer.”

Angelo stilled. “So both of you worked as exotic dancers? Did you ever work together? Identical twins…that would’ve been a card to play.” He paused. “Or were you very different from each other?”

“We were nothing alike-even though we looked very similar.”

“How similar?”

“Practically identical.” The confession was dragged from Gemma. “At school our teachers struggled to tell us apart.” Mandy had traded classes with Gemma to avoid those she hated. “And I’m not an exotic dancer, I’ve only ever sung.”

There. She held her breath.

“What do you mean you-” He broke off. A horrible, tense silence followed. He shook his head, his eyes dazed like a fighter reeling from a blow. “What are you saying?”

“You knew Mandy, Angelo,” Gemma confirmed. “Three years ago-”

“I knew Gemma.” His voice was hard, definite. “Who the hell are you?”

“I am Gemma.”

“Gemma worked for me, I have a copy of her work permit, her passport, to prove it.”

Gemma uncrossed her legs and slung them over the edge of the bed, her back to Angelo. “Mandy didn’t have a work permit. She was convicted for shoplifting with a group of friends a teenager. So her application for a work permit was declined.”

“Look at me.” She heard him move, then he was standing, looming over her. “I want to see your face. We would not give anyone a job without their paperwork being in order.”

Gemma took a deep breath. “She had a work permit. She applied for it in my name, without my knowledge. She took my passport and my credit card when she left.” And Gemma had never told a soul. When her father surmised that Mandy had been lucky to get a work permit, Gemma had remained silent. She’d been stranded in New Zealand, her career options curtailed-with no chance of working in Australian or Pacific island resorts, furious with her twin, waiting for Mandy to return. She bowed her head, covering her face.

“Didn’t you tell the authorities?”

“You have to understand, all our lives we covered for each other. It was a hard habit to break. But I never thought that Mandy would come to any harm, not on a Greek island.” Although she had experienced some qualms when Mandy had e-mailed to tell her about the fabulous man she’d hooked up with. Handsome. A billionaire. She’d been even more worried when Mandy had sent her press cuttings and photos of Angelo, whom Gemma had dismissed as a dashing sophisticated playboy. She’d begged Mandy to come home. But Mandy had been in heaven living out her fantasy lifestyle.

Gemma let her hands drop and glanced up at him. “I was more worried that you’d break her heart. You had a reputation as a playboy who went through beautiful woman like a hot knife through butter.”

“A lot of that is PR. For show, to attract the jet set.” His face darkened. “I’m very generous to my girlfriends. All the women I’ve been involved with know the score.”

Except for her. She’d fallen in love with him. And, at the start, she’d believed Mandy had been in love with him, too. It had never crossed her mind that there’d been someone else in her sister’s life.

“So why did you come here?” He flung his arms out wide. “Why the whole elaborate charade of pretending to be your sister?”

“I wanted to get close to you.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “You certainly managed that. Did you plan to sleep with me?” There was a cynicism in the lines around his mouth and his bright eyes were dull.

She blinked.

“You did plan this!” He looked at her like she was something nasty.

Gemma swallowed. “In the beginning, I had some stupid half-baked idea that I might seduce you. But I abandoned it.” She had to make him believe her. “I thought that you were responsible for Mandy’s death.”

“What about the amnesia? You told me about a hit-and-run in London. Was that true? Or another lie?”