AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was his again, and vulnerable, the walls she’d built up around herself laid to waste. It was worth the price, getting her back, even if it was only to ultimately cast her off. He would certainly get his money’s worth in the interim.
He’d lifted her chin with one hand to kiss her when he saw the glistening on her cheeks. He touched a finger to her skin, felt moisture, and felt something inside himself stretch tight. ‘I hurt you?’
She shook her head and brushed her cheek with the back of one hand. ‘It’s nothing. We should go, the car will be here by now.’
She turned away and he let her slip out of his arms, perplexed. Given his plans for her, why had it even occurred to him, let alone mattered? He shrugged. Short answer—it didn’t.
He caught up with her, his mind already turning to more pressing matters. He’d enjoyed their unexpected entrée immensely. Now it was time to get her back to the penthouse and rediscover what other delights were on the menu.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘How long will it take you to pack?’
They were naked on his endless bed, amid a tangle of Egyptian cotton sheets, Leah half asleep and lying face down amongst the plush pillows, her head turned to one side, while Alejandro lay propped up on one elbow, tracing lazy patterns on her back with his fingers.
It was long past midnight. The curtains were drawn back and letting in the city night lights, bathing an abandoned room service trolley, its platters and domed covers in disarray, in an unearthly glow. To one side sat a crystal ice bucket where leant a forgotten bottle of champagne in a cold water bath, the ice long melted.
She’d lost count of how many times during the night they’d made love, then dozed and woken to eat, only to make love all over again. It had been a night of pure hedonism, a feast for the senses, and yet still her Spanish lover kept coming back for more, still she responded as if it was the first time. It was almost as i
f their desire and passion for each other had been banked for the months they’d been apart, and now they were making up for lost time.
But to ask a question about how fast she could pack without even a hint as to where they were going or for how long? It was a stark reminder of her place in this relationship, a reminder that eventually this night and their bedroom equality would end, and that once again he would be the one calling the shots. Once again she was reminded that she was just his temporary lover, no more than a mere accessory to his busy life.
‘Where are we going? Back to Madrid?’
‘No,’ he declared without a pause, only for his fingers to suddenly still. ‘Or at least not just yet.’ Just as abruptly his fingers resumed their travels, trailing lower, this time pushing the bunched sheet down over her rump so that he could extend his range.
She squirmed a little, shoving aside any deliberations over why he had been so adamant at first that they would not be returning to Spain as his massage moved from the soothing to the erotic in a heartbeat. It shouldn’t be possible for a body to become aroused and find completion so many times in one night, and yet somehow Alejandro knew the magic, knew the key to her body that would set her aflame.
She squirmed into the pillows, not ready to give in to the demands of her body just yet. ‘Then if not Spain…?’
‘There is a half-built casino development in Queensland with plans for an entire resort. The developer has gone bankrupt. It sounds promising.’
Her silken arousal turned to sawdust.
‘So that’s why you’re here in Australia? To check out this casino?’
She detected rather than saw the shrug of his well honed shoulders, through the hand placed on her back and the slight movement of the mattress. ‘Why else?’ he rattled off easily.
It shouldn’t hurt. She should know better than to let it hurt. But it still did. She buried her face deeper in the pillow and arched her back, pretending a response to his ministrations rather than his words. Why else, indeed? And, seeing he’d had to come to Australia, he’d figured he’d catch up with a convenient bed partner—someone he could blackmail into the job one more time for old times’ sake.
She sniffed, and brought her arms up under her chin as his hands kneaded her buttocks. What was the point of torturing herself about it? He hadn’t come to find her because he’d suddenly decided he loved her; she’d known that would never happen. And he certainly wouldn’t have bothered to come all this way merely so he could blackmail her into his bed. Which was exactly where she was, come to think of it, totally naked under his expert hands. It was hardly time to get precious about her pride.
‘Whereabouts in Queensland?’
‘Caloundra,’ he said, his fingers softer now, more sensual, as they circled her hips, tracing the hollow between her legs, teasing. ‘If it suits our purposes it could become a launching pad for the Casino de Diamante group in the Asia-Pacific region.’
Leah squirmed, involuntarily pushing herself towards his delicious touch. She knew Caloundra. Or she’d known it years ago, when she’d spent some time there on a holiday trip with some girlfriends. Once a sleepy town on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, the area was booming and fast becoming the new Gold Coast. No wonder it was attracting the likes of casino and resort developers.
‘So when do we leave?’
‘Eight a.m.’
She lifted her head to glance at the bedside clock and panicked. It was almost three now. ‘I’d better go,’ she said, pushing herself up on her arms. ‘I have to organise things for the shop, and I’ll want to call Jordan before we leave.’
‘You can’t go yet.’
‘Why not?’ She rolled over, and the question became redundant. He was magnificent, kneeling there alongside her, his olive skin shadowed, his black hair swept back and falling free to his shoulders, his dark eyes intent. But it was the erection he proudly bore that took her breath away. Long and thick, as hard as steel and yet with a velvet kiss, it bucked and twitched even as she watched. She reached out a hand, touching a fingertip to its tip, and slowly circled, skating on satin. This time it bucked harder.
