Desert Jewels & Rising Stars

by Sharon Kendrick

  Following his gaze, Laura saw all the gorgeous party guests whispering to each other around the pool, staring back at them.

  Of course they would stare at Gabriel, Laura thought. He was the sexiest, most sought after bachelor on earth. But they weren’t looking just at him. Even Laura, inexperienced as she was, could see that.

  And she suddenly knew, down to her bones, that they weren’t staring at her because she was ugly.

  She suddenly blinked back tears. Her makeover had created the illusion that Laura was worthy to be Gabriel’s mistress. For the first time in her life, she felt beautiful. It was dizzying. Electrifying.

  But the feeling hadn’t been caused by magic fairy dust. She looked up at him.

  It was the magic of his dark, hungry gaze. The magic echo of his words.

  All this time, you were right in front of me. The woman of my dreams.

  She was dimly aware of Adriana’s angry scowl. But Laura didn’t care about her anymore. Everyone else around them faded into a blur.

  She and Gabriel were the only two people on earth. His dark eyes met hers, and his gaze fell to her lips. With agonizing slowness, he started to move his head toward hers. She realized he was going to kiss her, and her heart pounded frantically in her throat.

  “Am I to understand,” Felipe Oliveira said in a gruff voice behind them, “that this girl, your supposed lover, used to be your employee?”

  Straightening, Gabriel turned to him, and Laura was able to breathe again. She leaned her cheek against his chest, still dizzy from how close she’d come to being kissed.

  “His employee?” Adriana sneered. “She was his secretary.”

  Gabriel gave her a cool smile before turning his focus back on his rival. “Laura was once my secretary, sim, for five years. But now she’s so much more.” Looking down as she nestled in his arms, he stroked her cheek and said softly, “Now…she’s the woman who tamed me.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT’S only an act. Only an act!

  But in spite of the constant repetition of those words, Laura’s heart still didn’t believe it as she looked up into Gabriel’s dark eyes.

  “Really,” the other man drawled in accented English. His eyes traced over Laura. “She’s certainly beautiful. But this is all too convenient.” He folded his arms over his belly. “You’ve fabricated this affair, so I’ll still sell you Açoazul.”

  Laura’s pulse hammered in her chest. Convinced that their plan had failed before it had half started, she pulled away from Gabriel. But he held her tight in his powerful arms, even as he never looked away from the other man.

  “Why would I do that?” Gabriel said coolly.

  The man looked at Adriana’s tall beauty, then back at Gabriel with a scowl. “You know why.”

  “You’d be a fool not to sell me Açoazul,” Gabriel said sharply. “No other competitor has offered you a fraction of the price. Théo St. Raphaël certainly won’t. Don’t lose a fortune based on some unfounded fear!”

  The older man stiffened. “I’m not afraid. And it’s not unfounded.”

  Gabriel nuzzled her neck. “I’m not interested in any woman except Laura.”

  She leaned back against him, closing her eyes. The feel of his lips and the nibble of his sharp teeth against the sensitive flesh caused sparks to thrill down her body. She heard the other man hiss through his teeth, and opened her eyes. Felipe Oliveira and Adriana were staring at them with shock. Looking up at Gabriel, Laura shivered as a single bead of sweat trickled down her bare skin between her breasts. The air between them suddenly crackled with sexual energy.

  “Come, querida,” Gabriel said in a low voice. “It’s getting hot. I need to cool off.”

  Wrapping her hand in his own, he pulled her away from the cabana and across the terrace through the open gate, past the security guards to the private beach. Turquoise waves pounded the white sand with a rhythmic roar. Laura glanced back at the party behind them. She and Gabriel were still in full view of the mansion and terraces as he led her across the sand.

  “You did it,” Gabriel said when they were out of earshot.

  “Did I?” Looking up, she furrowed her brow. “He didn’t seem to believe us.”

  “Of course he’s suspicious. The man’s not stupid. But we’ll soon convince him we’re in love.”

  “How?” she whispered.

  He reached down and stroked a tendril of hair from her face.

  “To think all this time I had such a beauty working for me,” he breathed, then shook his head with a laugh. “I’m glad you didn’t look like this when you were my secretary. I wouldn’t have gotten any work done.”

  “You wouldn’t?”

  “It was hard enough as it was. You were always too pretty. I wanted you from the first day I met you, when you came up to my office wearing that old brown suit and big glasses.”

  He remembered the clothes she’d worn the day they met? “You don’t have to talk like this.” Her heart was hammering in her throat. “No one can hear us.”

  “That’s why I’m saying it,” he said. “Come on.”

  He yanked off his flip-flops and shirt, leaving them on the sand as he pulled her into the sea. Kicking off her high-heeled shoes, she followed him, almost willing to follow him into the very depths of the ocean as long as he kept hold of her hand.

  He led her into the water, deeper and deeper still. She looked at him in front of her, and her eyes hungrily traced the hard curves of his muscular back, his strong legs. She felt the shock of cool water against her skin as they walked through the ocean waves, moving slower and slower until the water reached their thighs.

  He glanced behind her. “They’re still watching.” He smiled. “You make this too easy. Any man would want you. Half the men here are in love with you already.”

  Laura swallowed, yearning to tell him she didn’t care, that he was the only man she wanted, the only one she’d ever wanted. She’d once loved him with all her heart, this man with the warm dark eyes that made her melt, who whispered words of adoration, who made her body sizzle even when they weren’t out in the hot sun.

  Gabriel’s sensual mouth curved. “And you’ve proved yourself every bit the skilled actress I hoped you’d be. The way you shivered and leaned back against me when I kissed your neck, as if you were head over heels in love with me…they bought it all.”

  Except it hadn’t been an act. Beneath the blazing sun, they stared at each other, thigh-deep in the cool turquoise water, swaying in the currents. She felt the splash of the cool waves against her hot, bare thighs.

  He came closer to her. “The way you look at me sometimes.” His gaze searched hers. “It reminds me of something that Adriana said. As if you really…”

  “Really what?” Laura whispered.

  He pulled back, his self-mocking mask back in place on his darkly handsome face. “I think I really do need to cool off,” he said with a laugh, and he fell back with a splash into the water.

  When he resurfaced, Gabriel sprang from the waves like a god of the sea, scattering sparkling droplets as he tossed his black hair back. Rivulets streamed down his tanned, hard-muscled chest. She couldn’t look away. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to make love to her, hard and fast, slow and soft, and never stop. Most of all, she wanted him to love her.

  He came toward her, his eyes dark. He took her in his arms, and she felt the hard muscles of his chest press against her bare skin. He looked down at her.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said huskily. “I know what you need.”

  Her mouth went dry. “You—you do?”

  Without warning, he lifted her up in his arms, against his wet, muscled chest. Her head fell back in surprise, and she had a brief image of the blue sea and distant green jungle before she realized what he meant to do. Holding her tightly in his arms, he fell back into the waves.

  She had one instant to gasp in a breath before she felt the cool water splash against her skin and she was baptized by
the waves.

  When he lifted her back out of the sea, she sputtered in outrage, kicking her legs against his chest. “I can’t believe you did that!”

  “Why?” he said lazily. “Didn’t it cool you off?”

  “That’s not the point!”

  “It felt good. Admit it.”

  “It felt great,” she muttered. “But you spent a fortune to get me to look pretty, and now you’ve ruined it. They spent ages getting my hair just right—”

  “I haven’t ruined anything.” His arms tightened over her bikini-clad body. She saw they’d gone farther from the shore. The water now reached his waist, and she could feel the slide of the waves moving sinuously and languorously against her backside and thighs. Her cheeks grew hot as she realized the crocheted yarn bikini, with all its tiny holes, was transparent when wet. “I’m done with this party,” Gabriel growled, looking down at her. His hands tightened. “I’m taking you home.”

  At the rough sound of his voice, a shiver went through her. Tension coiled low in her belly as his dark gaze devoured her with ruthless hunger.

  As he started wading back through the waves, clutching her against his chest, she felt their overheated skin pressed together beneath the hot sun.

  Against her will, Laura’s gaze fell to his mouth, to the cruel, sensual lips that had kissed her with such passion. He looked down at her, then stopped. For several seconds, he just stood in the water, staring down at her.

  Releasing her from his hold, he let her go, let her slide slowly down his body against him. She felt how much he desired her, felt his hard body beneath the water. His eyes were like fire.

  Cupping her chin in his hands, he lowered his head to hers.

  As he kissed her, she felt the hard press of his satin-smooth lips, the sweet, tantalizing taste of his tongue, the salty taste of his rough skin. She surrendered in his arms in the swaying ocean, floating on waves. Drowning in him.

  As Gabriel kissed her, standing in the ocean, he felt the warmth of her naked skin in the swaying, cool water. He tasted the wet heat of her mouth. Suddenly, he knew he had to have her. Now.

  He heard catcalls behind them in Portuguese and realized he’d forgotten about the party. He’d forgotten about Oliveira and Adriana. At this moment, he didn’t give a damn about them.

  He kept kissing Laura, even when she tried to pull away. She resisted. Relented. Surrendered. Then, with a gasp, she did pull away.

  The waves rolled against their skin, pushing their bodies together as they stared at each other. Her eyes seemed to glimmer. With tears? Gabriel frowned. “Are you crying?”

  “Of course not!” she said, rubbing her eyes.

  He reached out to tilt her chin upward, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You’re a terrible liar.”

  She looked away. “Don’t women usually weep when you kiss them?”

  Her tone was light, even sardonic. He felt as if he was in some strange dream as he looked down at her. This beautiful woman was Laura, and yet not Laura. “They usually weep when I leave.”

  She flashed him a glance. “If they’re your employees, they’re probably weeping with joy.”

  His lips tugged up into a grin against his will. Meu Deus. Even now, she could make him laugh, when all he could think of was dragging her back home, ripping off her tiny bikini and pulling her naked body into his bed. All he wanted was to be alone with her, to feel her soft limbs caress him, to pull her back into a red-hot kiss so explosive it burned him from within.

  He would have her. Tonight.

  I always knew the little mouse was in love with you.

  He angrily shook away the memory of Adriana’s words. Laura didn’t love him. She couldn’t. She was too smart for that. It wasn’t love that existed between them. It was sex. Just sex. He shuddered. It would be, as soon as humanly possible.

  “I’m taking you home,” he said. “To bed.”

  The bravado fell from her beautiful face. She looked up, and her expression suddenly looked vulnerable. Young. The reflective waves of the water lit up her pale body, exposing her full curves, illuminating her beautiful face, which now seemed to hold new secrets.

  “No,” she whispered. “Please. I’m not like you. Making love…it means something to me.”

  Looking down at her beauty, Gabriel felt no mercy in his heart. She wanted him, as he wanted her. Why hold back? Why hesitate from taking their pleasure? Laura should belong to him, as she always had. She should be his. His unselfish act of letting her go last year had been a mistake.

  And she’d had another man’s baby. Sudden possessiveness raced through his body like a storm. Thinking of another man touching Laura left him in a rage. He wanted to get the memory of the other man off her skin. To make her forget anyone else had ever touched her.

  With iron self-control, he took her hand. He heard her soft intake of breath as she stared up at him, her lips deliciously parted. His gaze fell to her mouth, but kissing her wouldn’t be nearly enough. He led her out of the water and back to the sand. Stepping into his shoes, he grabbed his shirt, wadding it up in one hand.

  “Where are we going?”

  He glanced back at her. She looked as dazed as he felt. Her cheeks were flushed with passion, her lips bruised. “Home. Let Adriana believe we had to rush back to my penthouse.”

  “For an emergency?”

  “I told you.” He gave her a sensual, heavy-lidded look. “To bed.”

  He saw her shiver under the hot sun. Blinking, she knelt to pick up her high-heeled shoes. “But it’s just a game,” she whispered, sounding as if she were talking to herself as much as him. “It’s not real.”

  Yet Gabriel was no longer sure. She’d come to Rio as his pretend mistress. Now he wanted to make it true. Where did the fantasy end and reality begin?

  As he led her past security and across the lower terrace, he heard the whispers of the crowd racing ahead of them, a murmur rising like a wave of music. Gabriel didn’t bother to glance at Felipe Oliveira or Adriana as he passed them. He was too infuriated by all the men staring at Laura. She did look beautiful with her long wet hair slicked back and beads of seawater sparkling on her skin like diamonds. And—Gabriel flinched—the yarn of her bikini was translucent when wet. Something he’d appreciated when they were alone, but now.

  He bared his teeth at the other men as he led her across the terrace, a male predator protecting his chosen female. He climbed the stairs two at a time and entered the mansion, dripping water across the marble floors. As he led her toward the front door, he held her hand tightly. It felt so right in his. Too right.

  He grabbed two towels from a uniformed attendant. “Tell my driver we are ready to depart.”

  The man hurried away. Gabriel took Laura outside to wait in the warm sun, away from prying eyes. Kneeling before her, he skimmed one plush towel over her bare skin, over her legs, her arms, the plump fullness of her breasts. Rising to his feet, he licked his lips and realized he was breathing hard.

  He saw her swallow. Felt her tremble.

  “Gabriel,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, “Please…”

  The Rolls-Royce pulled in front of the mansion, and Carlos leaped out to open the door, looking dismayed at his boss’s early departure. He’d probably been playing dice with the other servants, Gabriel thought, but at this moment, he didn’t give a damn about any man’s pleasure but his own.

  “Get in the car,” Gabriel ordered Laura, his voice sounding admirably civilized compared to the roaring animal he felt like inside. When she didn’t move, he grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly into the backseat.

  As the driver closed the door behind them, Laura ripped her arm from Gabriel’s grasp. “You don’t need to be so rude!”

  “Rude?” he growled. “Yes, rude!”

  Gabriel could tell she was hurt and angry. She thought he was being cruel. She didn’t know it was all he could do not to push her back against the leather seat, to lay her flat on her back and rip off the little triangles of bikini. T
hat all he wanted to do was taste those luscious breasts, throw himself over her, fill her completely. He clenched his hands into fists, shuddering at the sensual images that overwhelmed him. He wanted her—now. And he almost didn’t care who saw them.

  As Carlos started the engine, Gabriel forced himself to release her. He could wait until they got home. He could wait…

  He repeated the mantra again and again as the car drove through the city. His body ached from the effort it took not to seize her in his arms. The slow drive though crowded streets, with police diverting traffic around sections closed for early evening parades, seemed to take forever.

  Gabriel glanced at Laura sideways. The towel had slipped from her hands and the air-conditioning in the limo was no match for the way his temperature climbed every time he looked at her. Especially when he saw what the cold air was doing to her nipples beneath the bikini.

  Water was still trickling from her wet hair, running slowly down her bare skin, down the valley between her large breasts. He wanted to run the edge of his fingertip down that trickle of water. He wanted to lap it up with his tongue. He wanted her spread naked across his bed, his body over hers, as he lowered his head to taste her, thrusting inside her, so deep, so deep.

  As if she felt his gaze, she turned. Judging by the expression on her face, she hadn’t been having such sensual images of him—oh no. She wanted to skewer him with a knife.

  But as their eyes locked, her expression slowly changed. The glare slid away and her face turned bewildered, almost scared. With a visible tremble, she pulled the thick white towel tightly over her naked skin and looked out the window.

  With a dark smile, Gabriel turned away.

  She knew.

  She knew what waited for them at home.

  Memories of their one night together had caused months of hot, unsatisfied dreams for him. Now that he finally had her in Rio, he wasn’t going to let her go. Not until he was completely satiated. He was done being unselfish when it came to Laura.

  The car pulled up behind their building, but she didn’t wait for Carlos to open her door. She flung it open herself and dashed out, heading for the private entrance.