Читать книгу Hot Nights with a Spaniard: Bedded for the Spaniard's Pleasure / Spanish Aristocrat, Forced Bride / Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge - Кэрол Мортимер, India Grey - Страница 12

‘WHAT the hell do you think you’re doing?’

Cairo was sitting up in bed reading a book—or, at least, appearing to!—when Rafe burst unannounced into her bedroom. A quick glance at the face of the slender gold watch on her wrist showed her that it was now half an hour since he had told her he would be waiting outside for her on the terrace.

She had considered actually lying down in bed with the light off and pretending she was asleep when he came in search of her—as she had known that he would—but had decided that would be too undignified; Rafe wasn’t the type of man to just turn and leave again and was more than capable of switching on the light before dragging her from the bed kicking and screaming!

So instead she had removed her make-up and taken a leisurely shower before donning a pale cream nightgown of the sheerest silk, only a band of matching cream lace across her breasts preventing it from being completely transparent. She’d then stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair until it shone straight and sleek over her shoulders and down her spine.

Her tools of war, she decided angrily as she arranged her pillows before getting into bed to sit and wait, her tension increasing with each tick of her wristwatch.

However, none of that tension showed as she looked over her book at Rafe where he stood in the doorway glowering across the room at her. He was no longer wearing the jacket to his suit or the red bowtie, and the top two buttons of his shirt were open to reveal the silky black hair on his chest.

Cairo suppressed an inward shiver as she acknowledged how dark and dangerous he looked. Instead, she gave him a bright, enquiring smile. ‘I’m reading a book, of course.’

Rafe’s scowl deepened as he advanced into the room, his movements predatory before he came to an abrupt halt beside the bed. ‘I’ve been waiting outside for you for the last half-hour,’ he growled.

Cairo could almost feel his anger, knew by the nerve that pulsed in his clenched jaw just how near to the surface that anger was.

She gave a shrug as she lay the book face down beside her on the bed. ‘I decided I was just too tired for any more conversation tonight, Rafe.’

‘You—!’ Rafe bit off what he was going to say and instead drew in a deep, controlling breath. Like his father before him, Rafe had a volatile Spanish temper. A temper that Rafe rarely, if ever, lost. Only Cairo, it seemed, had the power to stretch his control to its very limits.

He very carefully reached down and plucked the book from beside her and placed it on the bedside table before sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘We both know conversation was the last thing I had in mind when I asked you to join me outside once Daisy was in bed,’ he said softly.

‘Really?’ She continued to meet his gaze unblinkingly.

‘Yes,’ he acknowledged pleasantly. ‘Good book?’ He nodded towards the bedside table.

‘Very good,’ she confirmed slowly, no longer quite as composed as Rafe saw a slight frown appear between the clear brown of her eyes.

‘What’s it about?’ Rafe reached out and picked the book up so that he could read the back cover. ‘Strange,’ he said as he put it back down. ‘I would never have tagged you as a reader of murder mysteries.’

She smiled. ‘This one’s about a woman who kills her lover after she finds out he’s been cheating on her.’

‘Really,’ Rafe commented, easily holding her gaze with his. ‘But I bet she gets caught in the end. They all do.’

‘Not all of them,’ Cairo said dryly. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, Rafe …? I really am very tired.’ She raised one auburn brow.

Rafe wanted to reach out, grasp her shoulders, and shake her. Anything to put some spark of emotion back into her!

He had become more irritated by the minute as he’d stood outside waiting for her to join him, knowing that earlier Cairo had wanted him as much as he wanted her.

But as he looked at her now he saw none of that softly desirable woman he had kissed such a short time ago. Instead he saw a woman whose barriers were so firmly back in place it was impossible to tell what thoughts were going through her head.

He gave her a narrow-eyed look. ‘Did seeing Bond again tonight reawaken a spark of emotion for him? Is that it?’

She blinked in surprise. ‘You’re being utterly ridiculous, Rafe.’ She gave him a pointed look. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind leaving? I really am very tired—’

‘Cairo.’ Rafe spoke her name quietly, but it was enough to silence her.

Cairo’s gaze became less certain on his as she became aware of how dangerous it was for them to be alone together in her bedroom.

Very dangerous.

Not that she thought for one minute that Rafe would use force to get what he wanted. Why should he when he knew he only had to touch her to ignite a passionate response from her?

Perhaps she should have turned the light off and pretended she was asleep, after all!

‘Lionel and I are divorced, Rafe,’ she reminded him.

‘That doesn’t mean you can’t still be in love with him!’

She sighed. ‘You obviously know nothing about me if you believe that. But, then, you never did know anything about me, did you?’

‘I thought I did,’ he muttered.

Her eyes flashed. ‘And you thought wrong, didn’t you?’

Yes, he had been wrong about Cairo eight years ago, Rafe acknowledged grimly. So very wrong.

Then.

And now …

He stood up abruptly. ‘You’re right, Cairo, this was a bad idea. I’ll leave you to get back to your book.’

‘Thank you,’ she snapped.

Rafe paused to look back at her as he stood in the bedroom doorway, his smile self-derisive. ‘I should probably be thanking you for preventing me from making yet another mistake where you’re concerned.’ And yet the ache of his body told him that gratitude was the last thing he really felt….

Cairo’s eyes glittered darkly. ‘I’ll take it as said!’

‘Goodnight, Cairo.’

‘Goodnight, Rafe.’

Rafe gave her one last lingering glance before leaving the bedroom and the villa, stepping outside to take deep breaths of the perfumed night air, his gaze drawn to the swimming pool as the moonlight shimmered invitingly on the water.

He didn’t even hesitate, throwing off his clothes as he reached the lower terrace before diving smoothly into the coolly refreshing water.

She was crying, Cairo realized numbly. Tears that burnt her skin as they tracked down the paleness of her cheeks.

She wiped those tears away impatiently as she got out of bed, too restless to even think about sleep now as she began to pace the confines of her bedroom.

She had to get out of here!

She needed air.

Space in which to breathe.

The villa was in darkness, not a sound to be heard as she trailed through the comfortable sitting-room and out onto the terrace, the silence there broken by a sound she had come to associate with this area of France: hundreds of frogs croaking in the moonlight.

Somehow that familiar sound comforted her, calmed her, a smile curving her lips as she walked down the steps to the lower terrace to where the sound of the frogs became even louder.

Rafe floated in the shallow end of the pool, watching Cairo as she approached. She looked almost ghostly in the moonlight, her feet bare, her cream nightgown transparent against the nakedness of her body, her face a pale oval. The eerie light gave her long hair the appearance of cinnamon touched with silver.

That she was unaware of his presence in the water was in no doubt, a smile curving her lips as she held out her arms and turned her face up to the moonlight, long lashes shadowing her cheeks as she closed her lids.

She was Aphrodite.

Goddess of love.

Rafe’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at her, her breasts full and pert against the sheer material of her nightgown, her waist narrow, hips gently curving, a shadowed triangle visible between her thighs.

His body hardened in response to that beauty, his earlier resolve crumbling into dust as he knew that, despite everything, he still wanted to make love with her.

Cairo raised her lids as she heard another sound besides the croaking of the frogs, turning slowly to the source of that sound, her eyes widening as she watched Rafe stepping slowly up from the pool.

A completely naked Rafe, water dripping down his body, his thrusting arousal obvious as he walked slowly towards her. His gaze held hers as he took her in his arms, his body wet and cold from the water. Then his head lowered and his mouth claimed hers.

They kissed hungrily, deeply, lips and tongues seeking, drinking, devouring, as Cairo’s fingers became entwined in the silky darkness of Rafe’s hair, their legs entwined, bodies pressed closely together.

Cairo groaned as she felt Rafe slip the thin straps of her nightgown down her arms. She felt his cool hand against her heated flesh, her back arching in invitation when, as he had described this afternoon, he cupped one of her breasts to run the soft pad of his thumb caressingly across that sensitized tip, engulfing her in a warmth that reached from her toes to her fingertips.

Rafe kissed her lingeringly on the lips, tasting her, his hand still caressing her as he raised his head to look down at her. Her eyes were half closed, her breathing soft and shallow, a slight flush to the hollows of her cheeks.

His gaze darkened as he lowered it to where his hand cupped and held her, the small, perfect roundness of her bared breasts tipped with nipples of deep coral, full and tight as they pouted towards him in tempting invitation.

Rafe lowered his head to run his tongue moistly around that roused nipple, closing his lips about its coral-pink tip and suckling deeply as he heard her moan. His tongue lapped and rasped over it as his long, slim fingers continued to caress the arousal of that other deep rose tip.

Then Rafe’s hands spanned the slenderness of her waist and he lifted her up into him so that he could feast on those breasts, licking, sucking, feeling the spasms that rocked her body as he gently nibbled her roused flesh before once again suckling her deeply inside the warmth of his mouth.

He moved one of his hands from her waist to slide the silk nightgown up the smoothness of her legs and thighs as he sought and found the centre of her arousal.

She was already moist, her thighs parting as she allowed him to touch her there, to stroke and caress her before his questing hand moved lower and he gently probed that moistness with one finger, and then two, entering her, claiming her as he felt her rush of dampness against the rapidly increasing thrusts.

He gave the hard pebble of her nipple one last lingering kiss before moving lower, kneeling at her feet as his lips and tongue moved over the creamy silk of her waist and stomach, lightly probing her navel before he moved lower still. Cairo’s hips arched in a silent plea as his tongue moved unerringly against the hard nub nestled amongst the silky dampness of her red-golden curls and he felt her response, tasting her, sucking that nub into his mouth until she gasped.

Cairo was lost.

She had been lost from the moment Rafe’s mouth had touched hers and his hands had caressed her, his clever tongue and lips now driving her heatedly, relentlessly, towards a climax that claimed her so quickly, so fiercely, she could only cling mindlessly to his shoulders as the pleasure began deep inside her, her breath now coming in weak, gasping sobs. That pleasure swelled and grew, consuming her, flinging her into a maelstrom of feelings, sensations that seemed never ending as Rafe continued to suckle her and his tongue lapped against her in greedy hunger.

Her fingers clenched in the thickness of his hair, holding him to her as he drained every last vestige of pleasure from her totally acquiescent body.

And still she wanted more, ached for more, wanted to know that pleasure again as much as she needed Rafe buried deep inside her, groaning her disappointment as he stood up and she felt him moving away from her.

He couldn’t leave her now!

She reached out and touched him, watching Rafe’s eyes close as her fingers curled around him. He was steel encased in velvet and she ran her fingers down the long length of him, her other hand cupping and holding him as she caressed rhythmically, hearing Rafe’s groan as her lips trailed moistly across his chest on a downward path to the centre of his arousal.

Rafe’s knees almost buckled as Cairo knelt before him and he felt her lips close about him before she oh-so-slowly drew him deep into the heated moisture of her mouth, his hands tightly gripping her shoulders before he held her away from him as he felt himself losing control.

‘Not yet, Cairo,’ he murmured throatily even as he lifted her up and away from him.

Not because he didn’t like her mouth on him, or that velvety caressing tongue lapping and tasting the hard length of him. Truth be told, he liked it too much, was in danger of just letting go and spilling himself like some inexperienced boy. And he hadn’t drunk his fill of Cairo yet. Hadn’t touched her, kissed her, caressed her nearly enough to assuage eight years of hungry need.

She stood perfectly still as he lowered the nightgown completely to let it fall down about her feet, her breasts small and firm as he lowered his head and kissed each of them slowly in turn before holding her away from him to feast his eyes on her nakedness. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known. So tiny and yet so totally, femininely perfect, her skin soft and silky, and the colour of magnolia, with those rosy tipped breasts so pert and thrusting it made him feel hungry for her just looking at them.

Rafe swung her up into his arms and sat down on the lounger, her legs straddling him, the warmth between her thighs reaching out to tempt him as his hard arousal moved restlessly against that heat.

‘Take me into you, Cairo …’ Rafe groaned. ‘Deep, deep inside you!’

‘Soon,’ Cairo promised as she rubbed herself against him, wetting him, giving herself pleasure, as well as him, as her own arousal mated with his, her aching nipples a caress against the soft hair on Rafe’s chest as she raced towards another climax.

Rafe’s hand moved between them and she cried out as he found her hardened nub, thumb caressing even as his fingers slid smoothly inside her, those thrusts becoming harder, faster, Cairo almost sobbing as her climax peaked again and again.

‘Now, Rafe,’ she moaned. ‘I want you inside me now!’ she begged as she raised herself slightly to curl her hand about him and rub the tip of his hard shaft against her wetness, hearing Rafe’s groans as she teased them both until they could wait no longer. She opened herself to him and took him inside her slowly, her gaze holding his as he entered her inch by pleasurable inch.

Rafe felt as if he were almost going insane as Cairo slowly wrapped herself about his engorged arousal. He felt the quivers of her recent pleasure, longed to thrust deep inside her, hard and fast, needing to assuage his own burning need for release, but at the same time wanting this moment to last for ever.

He groaned again, his eyes closing, as Cairo slowly began to ride him, her knees placed on the lounger beside him to give her purchase as she raised almost to his tip before plunging down again. Again. And again. Riding him steadily faster. Harder. Her hips thrusting, drowning him in sensation, until he felt the first surge of his own release, his hands moving instinctively to her hips as he began to pump deep inside her, grasping her, holding her as he thrust into her in ever-increasing wildness, falling weakly backwards as she continued to milk every last drop from his body.

The fog of desire faded as the cool night air stroked the aroused heat of Cairo’s body, and she groaned low in her throat as she realized exactly what she and Rafe had just done.

This wasn’t real, she recognized achingly as she stared down at him in the moonlight. This madness with Rafe, the two of them being intimate like this, it wasn’t real. It never had been.

Not eight years ago.

And not now, either.

‘Cairo …?’ Rafe questioned huskily as he obviously felt her withdrawal.

This wasn’t real, she told herself again as she began to tremble in reaction.

She shook her head. ‘We can’t ever do this again, Rafe.’ Her voice broke emotionally.

‘Why the hell not?’ he rasped his disappointment.

‘I— We just can’t!’ Cairo cried, not even knowing how she was going to escape from this with dignity.

Minutes ago, she had been in ecstasy, totally lost to reason, but now she could see this for exactly what it was. A purely physical attraction—at least, on Rafe’s part. Cairo was very much afraid that for her—as it had been eight years ago—it was something totally different.

She stared at Rafe, at his dark beauty, her eyes widening with horror as she realized that, despite everything, she was still in love with him.

Had she ever really stopped loving him?

No, she hadn’t, Cairo acknowledged heavily. Rafe had been her first love and he was also her last love. But he hadn’t been able to love her in return when they were together before, and it wasn’t love he felt for her now, either. She had made a lot of mistakes in her life, but she wasn’t about to make the biggest one of them all by deceiving herself into believing it could ever be otherwise!

She moved up and away from him to turn and pick up her discarded nightgown. ‘I think it’s time I went back inside. Alone,’ she added abruptly so that Rafe should be left in no doubt about her intentions.

‘Cairo?’ Rafe stood up to reach out and grasp her arm, turning her to face him as he looked down at her searchingly.

What the hell had just happened?

Minutes ago, he knew Cairo had been as wild for their lovemaking as he had, and now she was just going to walk away? He gave a puzzled shake of his head. ‘What’s going on, Cairo? Why are you so hot, so wild, one minute and then back to being the ice-maiden the next? Was I just a quick lay? Is that it?’

She gave a pained frown. ‘It wasn’t like that—’

‘It sure as hell seems like it to me!’ he grated.

She shrugged. ‘I—I was curious, that’s all.’

‘You were curious?’ he repeated in a dangerous tone.

She nodded. ‘To see if that physical attraction really was still there.’

Rafe’s eyes narrowed ominously. ‘And?’

‘Obviously it still is,’ she acknowledged dryly. ‘But that doesn’t mean we have to do anything more about it.’

His mouth twisted derisively. ‘Your curiosity has been satisfied. Is that it?’

‘I— It was a mistake. A mistake that’s better not repeated, don’t you think?’ Her face was very pale in the moonlight.

No, Rafe certainly did not think that!

Nor did he believe that Cairo was as coolly dismissive of what had just happened between them as she wanted him to believe. He just had no idea why she was behaving like this. With any other woman he would have said she was running scared from the depth of their response to each other, but he knew it couldn’t be that because it had always been this way between them. From their very first night together their passion had been just this out of control.

‘No, I don’t think it was a mistake, and it’s not what you really believe, either, Cairo,’ he bit out.

She looked momentarily taken aback and then she gave an incredulous laugh. ‘Strangely, Rafe, I find I don’t actually give a damn what you think!’

‘No?’

‘No,’ she insisted as she calmly slipped her nightgown back over her nakedness. ‘It’s only your own arrogance that makes you say differently.’

‘You—’ Rafe swallowed an angry expletive. ‘You’re playing with fire, Cairo,’ he warned harshly.

‘But that’s my point, Rafe; I have played, and I don’t want to play any more.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe Lionel was right, after all, and my tastes have become more—sophisticated, over the years. I certainly hope I’ve learnt never to make the same mistake twice,’ she added.

Rafe drew in an angry breath. ‘Let’s hope you’ve learnt the same sense where Bond is concerned, then,’ he snarled.

‘What’s this got to do with Lionel?’

Rafe’s mouth twisted humourlessly. ‘Unless it escaped your notice earlier, the man obviously wants you back.’

‘It isn’t me Lionel wants, Rafe,’ she contradicted.

‘What do you mean?’ he prompted sharply.

‘Never mind.’ Cairo gave a weary sigh. ‘It really is very late, Rafe, and despite her late night I’m sure Daisy will still be awake bright and early in the morning.’

Rafe looked at her searchingly for several long seconds, a gaze that Cairo returned unblinkingly. Unemotionally. The passionate woman he had held in his arms such a short time ago had completely disappeared behind that façade of cool indifference.

But to Rafe it was obvious now that it was just a façade and he was more determined than ever to penetrate it. For now, though, he knew Cairo had had enough. Of Lionel Bond. And of him. If he tried to push her any more tonight, she would just retreat even further behind that barrier she had erected around her emotions.

He forced the tension from his shoulders and smiled slightly. ‘Okay, Cairo.’ He nodded. ‘Sleep well, hmm?’ he added ruefully—knowing he wasn’t going to be as lucky!

She looked a little less certain as she eyed him guardedly. ‘I— Yes. And you.’

He grimaced. ‘I think I’ll go for another swim and cool off.’

‘Goodnight, then.’

‘’Night, Cairo,’ he echoed huskily.

Rafe stood and watched her as she glided up the steps before disappearing inside the villa.

He stood there for several more minutes and mulled over this last conversation with Cairo, wondering exactly what she had meant by that last remark about Lionel Bond….