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She would be in a very similar situation with a man she’d liked, but hadn’t wanted. Maybe he would be kissing her now and she would be feeling nothing, resigning herself to the fact that this was as good as it would get. Because so much more was at stake. The future of her family. Her brother’s security.
She considered the vagaries of fate and timing and how she might not be here at all, how she wouldn’t be feeling this terrifying but exhilarating wildness coursing through her blood right now.
But she was. And it sank in that Gabriel Torres was deadly serious. He wasn’t being nice. Or pitying her. He wanted her. And she wanted him. For one night. One night out of time.
The wildness rushing through her body turned into something far more reckless. Tonight she really was free. Tomorrow she would return to reality and pick up the pieces of her life.
She wanted to seize this moment that fate had handed her. A chance to experience true desire with a man who wanted her for her. Not because of who she was or what her name represented.
Gabriel was watching her. Reading her.
Without saying a word, letting his actions speak for him, he let her hand go and reached for her wrap, tugging it out of her hands, pulling it off her shoulders slowly. The silk trailed across her skin and she shivered minutely at the sensation. She’d never thought of herself as sensual before, but she felt sensual now. Under his gaze.
His eyes not leaving hers, he draped the wrap over the back of a nearby chair and Leonora could see it out of the corner of her eyes, a vivid red splash of colour.
Danger. Passion.
He took her bag out of her hand and put it down. Anticipation built inside her, deep down. Coiling tight. She couldn’t take her eyes off his face.
He said, ‘I’ve told you I want you and I mean it. I haven’t wanted a woman like this in a long time. But you owe me nothing. I brought you here to give you refuge, and my guest suite is at your disposal for as long as you need it. It’s your choice what happens next.’
She let out the breath she’d been holding unconsciously. She hadn’t expected that kind of consideration. And at that moment Leonora almost resented him for not just kissing her and taking the decision out of her hands.
She knew it would be so easy to gather up her wrap and bag and say, No, sorry...not now. But something inside her had bloomed into life and she suspected he knew that very well. Better than she did.
She felt totally out of her depth. Another woman, more experienced, would no doubt be sliding her arms around his neck, pressing herself against every hard muscle of his body. But she felt paralysed with sudden shyness.
Gabriel’s gaze narrowed on her face. He frowned slightly. ‘Leonora, if you don’t want to—’
‘I do,’ she blurted out before she could lose her nerve. ‘I do...want you.’
She stepped closer. They were almost touching. His sheer physicality was overwhelming but it didn’t intimidate her. It excited her.
He put his hands on her arms and tugged her closer. She rested her palms on his chest. It was like steel. A spasm of sheer lust gripped her insides in a vice of tension. She pressed her thighs together to stem the heat flooding her core. But it was impossible. Every nerve quivered with anticipation and her heart was thumping so loudly she was sure it had to be audible.
Slowly, Gabriel took his hand off one of her arms and brought it up behind her head. She felt him undo her hair, so that it was loosened out of the ponytail. He massaged her scalp, his long fingers strong but surprisingly gentle. It made something else quiver inside her. Not just desire. Emotion.
But before that could really register he was lowering his head to hers, and as if in some desperate bid to cling on to a semblance of reality she kept her eyes on his, on those gold-flecked pools of brown. Intense and direct. Anchoring her to the moment.
But any hope of clinging to reality dissolved in a flash flood of heat when his mouth touched hers. Firm and unyielding. Soft but hard. Masterful. She was helpless against the giddy rush of desire that ripped through her body as his mouth moved over hers, enticing her to further intimacy, coaxing her to open up to him, pressing her closer so she could feel every inch of his long, lean body.
She opened her mouth, and even though she wasn’t a total novice—she had kissed boys a long time ago before her life had been reduced to staying in the shadows—she wasn’t prepared for Gabriel’s expertise.
His mouth and tongue demanded a response she wasn’t sure how to give. She could only react instinctively. Tasting, exploring. Mimicking his movements. She felt rather than heard a growl deep in his throat as he pulled her even closer, delved deeper.
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, but she knew she never wanted this moment to end. She’d never experienced anything so thrilling. Transporting.
When Gabriel took his mouth off hers she moved with him, loath to let the contact end. Her heart was pounding. It was a struggle to open her eyes. When she did, it took her a second to focus. Both her hands were clinging to his shirt. She was pressed so close against him that she could feel his desire, long and thick, against her belly.
It should have shocked her. But she pressed closer in an instinctive move, emboldened by a feminine rush of confidence she’d never known before. By the evidence of this man wanting her.
He smiled, but it wasn’t a gentle smile. It was hard. Knowing.
Not even that could dent Leonora’s desire. She wanted this man to be her first lover, so that whatever happened next she’d always have this experience locked inside her. That was why she’d said yes. Because she’d realised how close she’d come to never experiencing this.
‘Make love to me, Gabriel.’
He picked up one of her hands and interlocked his fingers with hers. A pulse throbbed between her legs.
