As a warm breeze blew tendrils of hair across her face, she was so filled with joy she thought she might die. Life was wonderful, incredible, magical. How had she never fully realized it before?
It was Gabriel. He was the dark angel who’d changed her life forever. Her heart was his. Forever.
She loved him.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said in a low voice, glancing at her. “It’s a two-hour drive back to the city.”
She sucked in her breath. “Can’t you drive any faster?” she begged.
With a curse, he suddenly steered the car off the road with a wide spray of gravel, taking a sharp turn past a thicket of trees that ended on a dark bluff overlooking the wide ocean. He slammed on the brake and turned off the engine. The headlights went black, and with a low growl he was upon her.
But the front of the sedan hadn’t been made for this. The two luxurious leather seats were separated by a hard center console, and the steering wheel pressed against Gabriel’s hip. He’d barely kissed her before he was jumping out with a low curse. Opening her door, he yanked her out. She had one glimpse of the moon-drenched ocean beneath the cliff, and then he pushed her into the backseat.
He kissed her, his lips hot and hard against her, and covered her body with his own. She felt his weight against hers in the tight confines of the backseat. His scent of musk and soap mingled with expensive leather, the forest, wild orchids and the salty sea. The notched satin collar of his black tuxedo jacket moved against the bare skin of her shoulders. He gripped her gloved hands, pulling them back over her head, against the car window.
He kissed down her throat, his hands cupping her breasts through the corset bodice of her red dress. But their feet still hung off the end of the seat. His legs were dangling out of the car. And though the seat was comfortable and wide, he had scant space to brace his arms around her. With a low growl, he moved away, so fast he hit his head against the ceiling. He gave a loud, spectacular curse. She saw the flash of his eyes in the moonlit night.
“It’s still not enough,” he growled. “Not nearly enough.”
He kicked the door wide open behind them. Taking her hand, he roughly pulled her out of the car. Kissing her, he pushed her back against the hood.
Laura gasped as she felt the warmth of the hard metal beneath her. Gabriel moved over her, kissing her lips, kissing her bare neck. Overhead, she saw the twinkling stars of the night sky as he peeled off her long white opera gloves one at a time, tossing them to the soft earth. She felt the shock the warm air against her bare skin. Standing up straight, he looked down at her as he yanked off his tuxedo jacket and tie, and she realized that he did not intend to wait until they got back to Rio. Right here. Right now.
Below the cliff, she heard the roar and crash of the ocean waves pounding the shore. She heard the sounds of night birds and the chatter of monkeys from the stretch of dark forest behind them. She saw the flash of Gabriel’s dark eyes in the moonlight as he bent over her, reaching around her to unzip her dress. He slowly pulled it down the length of her body. She watched in shock as he dropped the expensive dress to the ground. She was now lying on the hood of his Rolls-Royce, naked except for a white strapless bra, silk panties, white garter belt and white thigh-high stockings.
He gasped as he softly stroked her naked belly. “So beautiful,” he breathed.
Swallowing, she looked up at him. The bright moon illuminated his black hair as his hands stroked her skin. Reverently, he undid the front clasp of her bra, pulling it off her body and dropping it, too, to the ground. She felt his shudder of barely controlled desire as he cupped her naked breasts in his hands. “I’ve wanted you so long,” he said hoarsely. “I thought I would die of it.”
Moving down her body, he licked the valley between her breasts, then took her nipple in his wet, warm mouth. As his tongue ran over her taut peak like a caress of silk, she felt his hands slide down to her hips.
Her own hands moved of their own volition, beneath his white tuxedo shirt to feel the smooth warmth of his skin, to feel the hard muscles of his chest beneath the scattering of dark hair. She unbuttoned his shirt with trembling hands as he breathed against her ear, tasting the sensitive flesh of her earlobe. He kissed a trail down her neck, to her breasts, as his hands moved between her legs, along the top edge of her garter belt and thigh-high stockings.
His fingers stroked over her silken panties, and her breath stopped in her throat. He reached beneath the edge of the silk, and she felt him stroke her lightly, so lightly, across her wet core. Her hips strained toward him but he took his time, holding back, stroking her. He slowly pushed two thick fingers an inch inside her.
She arched her spine against the hood.
Pulling back with a growl, he ripped off his white shirt, popping the cuff links. With a low curse in Portuguese, he bent over her once more. His bare chest was rough and laced with dark hair, his skin so warm as his muscles slid against the softness of her breasts. She felt him between her knees, his thickly muscled hips rough against her spread thighs. He leaned above her, standing beside the car. She gripped his shoulders as he kissed her neck, nipping the sensitive corner of her throat. With agonizing slowness, he kissed down between her breasts to her flat belly, past her white garter belt to the sharp edge of her hip bone. He kissed the edge of her white silk panties. Then he stopped.
She felt his warm breath against her skin above her thigh-high stockings. His lips slowly moved over the silk, kissing down her legs. Pushing them farther apart, he took an exploratory lick of her inner right thigh. As she sucked in her breath, he switched to her left thigh. She trembled beneath him, her breath coming in increasingly ragged gasps as his lips moved slowly higher on each side. He held her hips firmly, relentlessly, not allowing her to move away.
Pushing the silk of her panties aside, he paused, and she felt his warm breath against her slick, sensitive core. He lowered his head between her legs, and still did not touch her, except with the soft stroke of his breath.
“Please,” she gasped, hardly knowing what she was asking for. She grabbed his head, twining her fingers in his hair. “I—”
With ruthless control, he slowly pushed her wide with both hands. Lowering his head even more, he tasted her with the hot, wet tip of his tongue.
Pleasure ripped through her. With a cry, Laura flung her arms wide, desperate to hold on to something, anything, to keep herself from flying headlong into the sky. Her right hand found the car’s metal hood ornament.
Gabriel’s tongue moved against her, licking her in little darting swirls. Spreading her wide, he lapped at her with the full width of his rough tongue. As she cried out, he drew back, using just the tip of his tongue again to swirl against her in progressively tighter circles, until she twisted and writhed with the sweet agony of her desire. It was building—exploding….
“Stop,” she gasped. “No.” She gripped his shoulders, frantically pulling him up toward her, and he lifted his head. Undoing the fly of his tuxedo trousers, he yanked them down with his boxers. They fell to his black Italian leather shoes as he sheathed himself in a condom he’d pulled from his pocket. Leaving on her garter belt and stockings, he grabbed Laura by the hips and pulled her down to the very edge of the car hood, where he stood. Ripping the fabric of her panties in a single brutal movement, he pushed inside her in a single thrust.
She felt impaled by the way he filled her completely, so wide and big and deep. He gave a hoarse gasp and gripped her backside, lifting her legs to wrap around his hips.
Holding her against the hood, he thrust again, this time even deeper. He pushed inside her, faster and harder, squeezing her breasts as her hips rose to meet him. She felt tension coil low in her belly and held her breath as the sweet tension built, soared and started to explode.
Throwing her arms back on the hood, she closed her eyes and surrendered completely to his control. His hands moved to grip her hips again, speeding the rhythm as he rode her, so deep and raw that the pleasure was al
most pain. So deep. So deep. Her body was so tense and tight and breathless that she didn’t know how much she could take.
Her eyes flew open and she saw his face above her in the night, his features shrouded by shadow as he thrust so deep inside her that her heart twisted in her chest. He gasped her name and she exploded, clutching his shoulders as she heard a scream she didn’t even recognize as her own voice. A man’s voice joined hers as he plunged deeper into her one last time, thrust with a hard, ragged shout that echoed across the dark forest and crashing sea, causing startled birds to fly from the trees and disappear into the night.
Afterward, he collapsed over her, clutching her to him. Their sticky, sweaty skin pressed together as they lay on the hood.
When Laura came to herself, she realized she was wearing nothing but ripped silken panties and thigh-high stockings, beneath the dark Brazilian sky, on a remote stretch of coastline where any passerby could see them. She’d totally lost her mind. And it had been so, so good.
But Gabriel had won. He’d seduced her, just as he’d said. He’d possessed her.
And not just her body, but her heart.
She pulled away, intending to find her red gown in the darkness, to try to cover herself.
But he pulled her back into his arms on the long warm hood. “Where are you going?”
“You got what you wanted,” she said bitterly. “You won.” She shivered in the warmth of his arms. She’d surrendered and now she knew exactly the power he had over her—the power he would always have. She felt suddenly afraid of how vulnerable she was. He had her heart in his hands. “Now it’s done.”
“Done?” He gave a low, sensual laugh, then his hands tightened on her as he murmured, “Querida, it’s only beginning.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
BY the time they arrived back in Rio two hours later, one thought kept repeating in Gabriel’s mind. One thought over and over.
“Here,” he said to her, covering her shoulders with his tuxedo jacket as they entered the lobby of his building. She threw him a grateful glance. Her red designer gown now hung askew on her body, the zipper broken from when he’d ripped the dress off her earlier.
As they passed the security guards, Gabriel glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. His white shirt was rumpled, the cuffs hanging open, his tie crumpled in the pocket of his trousers. Laura was looking at him breathlessly, her eyes luminescent, her makeup hopelessly smudged and her lips full and bruised.
He saw the security guards nudge each other with a smirk, and he knew he and Laura had fooled no one. There could be no doubt what they had been doing.
Normally he wouldn’t care if people knew he’d taken a woman as his lover. But this was different. This was Laura. And one thought kept going through his mind, no matter how he tried to avoid it.
He never wanted to let her go.
Gabriel exhaled. When he’d taken her on the hood of the car, beneath the night sky and in full view of the dark moonlit sea, he’d thought he would die of pleasure. Touching her naked skin, thrusting inside her until she screamed, holding her tight, the two of them joined together as one…
He shuddered. After that, he should feel satisfied, at least for the night. He should be satiated.
But he wasn’t. Now that he’d had one taste of her, he only wanted more. And more. He never wanted to let her go.
Silently, they took the private elevator upstairs to the penthouse. The doors slid open, and he followed Laura inside. They found Maria quietly reading a book by the light of the lamp in the main room, beside the wall of windows two stories high.
The housekeeper rose to her feet, smiling. “The baby is sleeping, Mr. Gabriel, Mrs. Laura.” And then the older woman got a good look at both of them. She coughed, closing her book with a thump. “I will wish you both good-night.”
“Thank you, Maria,” Gabriel said gravely, and his former nanny scurried out, the elevator doors closing behind her.
After she was gone, Laura turned to him, a frown furrowing her brow. “You don’t think she guessed about us, do you? You don’t think she could tell?”
“Absolutely,” he said, then at her horrified expression, he added, “not. Absolutely not.”
She sighed in relief. “I’m going to go check on
Robby.”
Laura turned and went down the hall. He watched her go, watched the curves of her back and graceful sway of her body in his oversize tuxedo jacket as she moved like music. She stepped into the bedroom and disappeared. Gone.
His feet moved without thought, and he was down the hall and suddenly behind her in the darkened bedroom. He watched as she crept up to the crib and stood silently, listening to her baby’s snuffling breaths as he slept. Gabriel came closer.
In the dim light of the tiny blue night-light plugged into the far wall, he could just barely see the sleeping baby. Robby’s chubby little fist was tossed back over his head. His plump cheeks moved as his mouth pursed, sucking in his sleep. Gabriel heard the soft, even breathing of the child in the darkness, and something turned over in his chest. He felt the sudden need to protect this little boy, to make sure he never came to any harm.
Just as he’d once felt about his family.
The thought caused a raw, choking ache in his throat. Without a word, he turned and left.
He stood in the hallway for long moments, shaking. But by the time Laura came out into the hall a few moments later, he’d gathered his thoughts. Come to some decisions.
She closed her bedroom door softly behind her, then looked at Gabriel in the darkened hallway. “I’m so sorry about Robby,” she said in a low voice. “I never should have lied, Gabriel. I was just so…scared.”
Clawing back his hair, he gave a sudden laugh. “To tell you the truth, I was almost scared myself for a moment.” He looked at her. “But it was brilliant of you to say I was Robby’s father. It saved the deal. That was a stroke of genius, Laura.”
Her beautiful face suddenly looked pale. “What?”
“It was the perfect lie. But don’t worry. If Adriana spreads the rumor I’m his father—and she likely will—I will not deny it.” He set his jaw. “Since your baby’s real father can’t be bothered to give him a name, somebody has to do it.”
She bit her trembling lower lip. “Gabriel—you never thought…for one moment…that it might be true? That Robby might actually be your son?”
He snorted. “No, of course not. If Robby were really my child and you’d lied to me all this time…”
“Yes?”
He shrugged. “I’ve destroyed men for less.” Reaching forward, he smiled and stroked her cheek, then lowered his head to playfully kiss her bare shoulder. “But I knew Robby couldn’t really be mine. We used protection. And you wouldn’t lie, not to me. Other than Maria, you are the only person I trust in all this world. You are…”
But then he leaned forward, frowning at her. “You are crying again.” He tilted his head, trying to see her face. “Is it from happiness?”
She looked away sharply, wiping her eyes. “Yes. Happiness.”
“Good,” he said. “Now.” He stroked her cheek. “We must celebrate winning the Açoazul deal tonight.” He gave her a wicked smile. “I can think of one way—”
“No,” she blurted out. “I just need to—I need to…be alone.”
Turning abruptly, she ran down the hall. He heard the soft whir of the sliding doors as she fled out onto the terrace. When he followed her moments later, she’d dropped his tuxedo jacket from her body. Her strapless gown was barely hanging on her full breasts, askew with the broken zipper.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Just leave me alone,” she said. Her voice was low, almost grief-stricken. “Go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Her red dress suddenly fell to the ground, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. He licked his lips, unable to look away from her half-naked body in the white bra and torn panties and thigh-high stockings. �
�What are you doing?”
She looked away. “I’m going to take a swim.”
He smiled. “Wonderful idea. I’ll join you.”
“No!” she cried vehemently.
He blinked at her, frowning. “Why?”
For long moments, she didn’t answer. He could hear the noise and music of the street party below them. She finally said in a low, muffled voice, “I need some time alone.” When he didn’t move, she choked out, “Just go away, Gabriel. Please.”
Looking away from the illuminated turquoise water of the pool, she stared out at the vast dark ocean beyond Ipanema Beach. He’d seen a glimmer of tears in her eyes. And there was no way they were tears of happiness.
But she wanted him to leave. She’d made that clear. Setting his jaw, he turned and left her on the terrace, opening the sliding glass doors with a whir and closing them behind him.
Once inside, he stopped, clawing his hair back with one hand. He couldn’t let it end like this. Did she have so much regret that she’d allowed him to make love to her? He turned around, intending to go back and argue, to plead.
Instead, he froze.
He saw her on the moonlit terrace, sitting on a lounge chair, her face covered by her hands. Then she dropped her hands. Squaring her shoulders, she started to roll down her stockings.
He stared at her, transfixed. She pulled off her garter belt and tossed that, too, to the limestone floor.
Rising, she stood in the moonlight. Now wearing nothing but her bra and panties, she walked to the edge of the illuminated pool. Ripples of water reflected tiny shimmers of light that moved across her naked skin. Gabriel stared at her as he touched the window, unable to move or even breathe as she stood on the edge of the pool, looking down into the water.
Then in a graceful movement, she dived in. She stayed underwater for so long that he was suddenly afraid. Sliding open the doors, he ran out onto the terrace.
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