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He raised his head from where he’d been kissing her damp shoulder and stared deep into her eyes. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘You haven’t used your cane all day, and your...um...stamina seems to be endless.’
His frown was immediate, edged with tension that seeped into the atmosphere. ‘You’re signed on for another three months. Don’t make any plans to break the contract just yet.’ He moved away and grabbed two towels. He handed her one and wrapped the other around her waist, his movements jerky.
‘I wasn’t making plans. I was just commenting that your movements are a little more fluid. And you haven’t used the cane all day today. I think it’s a great sign. You should be pleased.’
‘Should I?’
His icy tone made alarm skitter over her. ‘What’s the matter?’
He smoothed a hand over the steamed up mirror and met her gaze over his shoulder. ‘Why should anything be wrong?’
‘I’ve just given you the equivalent of an almost clean bill of health. You’re reacting as if I’ve just told you your puppy has died.’
He whirled to face her. ‘This clean bill of health, will it pass the X1 training board and see me reinstated as a race driver?’
Her breath caught. ‘You’re thinking of going back to racing?’
‘You sound surprised.’
She licked her lips. ‘Well, I am. I thought since Marco had sold the team, and Sasha had quit—’
‘What are you saying, that I should follow the family tradition and quit while I’m ahead?’
‘No...but—’
‘You don’t think I can hack it?’
‘Stop putting words in my mouth, Rafael. You’re almost done with phase three of the physio regime. I’m just trying to find out what your plans are so I can work with you to achieve them.’
He stalked to where she stood and gripped her nape in a firm hold. His kiss was hot, ravaging and rage-tinged. ‘Right now, my only plan is to be inside you again.’
She barely stopped herself from dissolving into a puddle of need. ‘And afterwards? We can’t stay here indefinitely, indulging in wall-to-wall shagging.’
His eyes narrowed, his grip tightening. ‘Are you trying to set a time limit on what’s happening between us? Is that what all this is about?’
The shard of steel that lodged in her chest made her breath catch. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Don’t you? From the start you’ve tried to manage what was happening between us, tried to define it into something you can deal with. Now you want to set a time limit on it so you can walk away once the time comes, sí?’
‘Are you saying you’re not? Am I not just one more challenge to you? Can we please not delude ourselves into thinking this is anything more than sex?’
He sucked in a breath as if he’d been punched. Stepping back, he dropped his hand and left the bathroom.
Raven trailed after him into the large, exquisite gold and cream cabin. He was pulling on a pair of boxers, which he followed with cargo shorts and a white T-shirt.
Feeling exposed, she slipped on her underwear and the lilac flowered slip dress she’d worn to go sailing. ‘I’m not sure what’s going on here, Rafael. Or why you’re annoyed with me. I may not know the rules of this sleeping together thing but even I know there is a time limit when it comes to your affairs—’
‘Affairs? Is that what we’re doing, having an affair?’ he asked with a cocked eyebrow. ‘How quaint.’
‘Will you please stop mocking me and tell me what’s really bothering you?’
He slammed the drawer he’d just opened none too gently. ‘I don’t like time limits. I don’t being head-shrunk. And I don’t like the woman I’m sleeping with hinting that she’ll be leaving me the day after we start sleeping together. There, does that sum things up for you?’
‘So you want to be the one to call the shots? To dictate when this aff...liaison starts and ends?’
He dragged a hand through his damp hair and glared at her. ‘Santo cielo, why are we even having this argument?’ he shouted.
‘I have no idea but you started it!’ she yelled back.
His eyes widened at her tone, then he sighed. ‘Forgive me, I’m used to having things my way, pequeña. You have every right to shout at me when I step out of line.’
‘Thanks, I will.’
He laughed, and just like that the tension broke. Striding to her, he tugged her into his arms and proceeded to kiss the fight out of both of them. They sailed back to the villa shortly after and, once again, she let him coax her into spending part of the night on the beach bed.
