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‘Does anything matter when there’s this?’
She was on the edge of a cliff, her feet nudging farther and farther into open air, a fall imminent. She clung to him—her saviour and danger. He stared down at her, his eyes inscrutable, desire zipping through her, other feelings, more dangerous, more cloying, tightening around her. But in the back of her mind there was Annie and the past, her father, their lost opportunities and the reality she had to face: they hadn’t loved each other enough to make this work. If that had been the case back then, it would definitely condemn their relationship now.
‘This can’t happen,’ she mumbled, but even as she said it, she was lifting up, seeking his lips, knowing it was impossible but wanting him anyway. ‘I can’t—’
‘Don’t overthink it,’ he said into her mouth and she bit back a sob, knowing there was wisdom in that—or was it self-interest? She wanted him enough to almost mute all sense and logic. But not quite.
‘I need to talk to you.’
‘About the event? Later.’
‘No, not that. I need—’
He pulled back, pressing a finger to her lips. ‘Later.’ The word was laced with the same fierce need burning her alive. Defiance, though, had her staying where she was, separated from him by an inch.
‘Are you sure you’re not going to disappear into thin air again?’
His response was to kiss her, slowly at first, then with the need that was building inside of them so their bodies were moving deeper into the penthouse, away from the kitchen, to the plush leather sofas and back onto them, a tangle of limbs and clothes as they discarded them, shucking desperately, needing nakedness and to be together.
She held her breath as he paused to sheathe himself and then drove into her, the relief immediate and complete, so she barely heard the low rumbling of her phone. All she was conscious of was Graciano, his movements, his body, so powerful and strong, and she tilted her head back, sweat beading her forehead as she bit down on her lip and surrendered to this completely, knowing then that she could never have enough of him, knowing that she would go anywhere and do anything to be with him, for the chance to be like this.
It was a terrifying realisation and even more so because she could no longer deny what fuelled her—the love that ran though her. It was a love she’d felt the moment they’d met, a love that had grown as they’d spent time together, that had exploded the night they’d made love, and that she’d clung to all these years, an oasis in the midst of the desert of difficulties that had been her life for so long.
Tears filled her eyes as an orgasm built inside of her and then she was tilting over the edge, nails scoring marks down his back, and he was right there with her, his voice rising, his hands holding her hips steady, his face over hers clenched, his eyes squeezed shut. She stared at him as she tipped over the edge, fascinated, overwhelmed and so full of love that she almost couldn’t bear it.
She was conscious of their bodies all tangled together, their loud breathing, his breath warm against her forehead, the feeling that they’d burst an oversized balloon, the sense of relief even as his proximity was stirring new feelings to life—and then, finally, she was conscious of a buzzing noise, faraway seeming at first and then, not so far away. Just across the room.
‘Your phone?’ he asked, pushing up onto his palms and looking down at her.
She almost wanted to tell him it didn’t matter. It was hard to muster any interest in the outside world, but maternal instincts weren’t easy to switch off, and despite the fact Annie was with Diane, a premonition of disaster that was always easy to reach for had Alicia putting a hand on Graciano’s chest.
‘I’d better check it.’
He cocked a brow but moved to release her, pulling out of her body so she bit back a groan of complaint, and he stood, pacing across the room to retrieve her handbag. He carried it to Alicia, allowing her to marvel at his frame, his masculinity, his strength and power.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured, a smile whispering at the corners of her lips. She lifted her phone from her bag and saw Di’s name, and a hint of guilt coloured her cheeks pink. Somehow, she’d still managed to fail at telling Graciano about his daughter! ‘I have to take this.’
And then the truth,she promised herself, swiping the phone to answer.
‘Hi, Di.’
Graciano turned and strode to the kitchen, then pulled out a beer and popped the top off it.
‘Don’t panic.’
‘Oh, God.’ Her heart sunk and she was standing, looking around for her underwear. Graciano had frozen in response to the tone, beer midway to lips, and now he replaced it on the counter. ‘What’s happened?’
‘I said don’t panic.’
‘“Don’t panic” is what people say when there’s something to panic about. Is it Annie? Di? What’s happened?’
She stretched her knickers on, then her trousers, breath rushed.
‘She’s okay, but we’re on our way to hospital.’
‘Hospital? Oh, my God. Why? Where? Which hospital?’
She named one in Hammersmith, just across the Thames from her flat. She knew Diane consulted from there sometimes. ‘There was an accident at football training.’
