Her hands flew up to press flat against his chest. Brushing them away, he dipped his head and lightly kissed her.
‘Stop it,’ she warned.
‘You’d rather go back to my sister?’
‘I’d rather kiss you.’ Her eyes widened as if the words her left her lips without making contact with her brain. ‘I should go back,’ she said quickly. ‘Karina will be missing me.’
He smiled faintly. ‘Karina will have forgotten both of us by now.’
Emma’s stare flashed to the marquee where they could both see Karina surrounded by a circle of friends.
Emma turned back to look at him. ‘Perhaps you’re right.’
‘I know I’m right.’
He led her away into the shadows. He knew this beach like the back of his hand. He’d come here as a boy and had explored every inch of it. He knew where to stop, to sit, to lie, and even where to make love. He’d lost his virginity here to an older woman, back in the days when he had still believed that love was real. The relentless thrust and pound of the waves on the shoreline was the soundtrack to his life.
‘I won’t break my own rules,’ Emma told him, hanging back.
‘What rules are we talking about?’ Dipping down, he rolled his jeans up to his knees so he could thrash his way through the surf.
‘My rules,’ she yelled back at him above the crash of the surf. ‘No parties. No Luc. No sex.’
‘Rules are made to be broken.’ Emma had kicked off her sandals, and was bundling her dress up so she could do the same, he noticed as he laughed.
‘Not mine,’ she said, swishing through the shallows until she arrived at his side. ‘And why should I break them?’ Her eyes turned serious as she looked at him. ‘You never make yourself vulnerable or talk about your past. You keep the real Luc hidden away. You never show anything of yourself—what you’re feeling, your thoughts about the future, or the past. Or if you do, you don’t share those thoughts with me. So tell me, why should I break my rule, Lucas?’
‘Because you can?’
She laughed and shook her head as she stared out to sea. ‘No means no.’
Turning to do the same, he inhaled deeply. The refreshing scent of ozone mingling with the aroma of a woman he was beginning to find irreplaceable was a heady combination. He enjoyed it for quite a while before turning to her. ‘No dancing?’
‘No dancing wildly,’ she said, reminding them both of London, when dancing with abandon had attracted the attention of her boss and had led to places neither of them had expected.
‘A sedate waltz should be safe,’ he suggested.
‘In Brazil?’ She flashed him a look that was pure wild Emma.
It hit his senses like a wrecking ball. What chance did he have when the music gliding towards them from the marquee was so sexy and sinuous? ‘A rumba,’ he murmured: sex in dance form. The rumba was the dance of love, the dance of seduction. It was a dance that gave him the perfect excuse to draw Emma close. In the first light-hearted moment they had ever shared they danced barefoot in the sand.
One dance couldn’t hurt, Emma told herself as she closed her eyes and melted into Luc’s arms. She didn’t want anyone to see them, especially not Karina, before she had told Luc’s sister about the baby. She wanted everything above board with Karina. She’d grown fond of Luc’s sister and wanted to break the news to her gently. She hated the deception that fate seemed be to thrusting on her time after time.
And she was deceiving herself now if she thought this dance could end in a gentle stroll back to the marquee, but she couldn’t snap herself out of the trance that dancing with Luc had brought on. They moved together so easily and he was so achingly familiar...
And dangerously unknown.
Emma frowned. What did she know about Lucas Marcelos? Barely anything. What did anyone know? The public only knew what Luc allowed them to know. He edited every bit of information about himself stringently. Which suggested to her that there was a lot he kept hidden.
She shivered involuntarily with pleasure as he feathered touches down her arm. It was so easy for Luc to make her forget everything...everything except him and the moment.
Winding a lock of her hair around his hand, he drew her head back and kissed her neck. It was such an intimate thing to do. It was a reminder of all the intimacy they had shared. Resting her hands on Luc’s shoulders, she stared into his eyes. The one thing they hadn’t shared before was peace like this. They had only known fire and passion, chaos and noise, surprises and shock, but this sinuous dance was a time for just feeling close. Drawing closer was as inevitable as the sea breeze caressing her overheated skin. It tempted her to believe that Luc had learned to feel, and she wondered if the baby had brought that change about.
She didn’t resist when he led her away towards the palm-fringed rear of the beach, where the undergrowth rustled in the ocean breeze. A comfortable hollow offered privacy and a bed with a moonlit, star-strewn canopy. Stretching his length alongside her, Luc brought her into his arms and kissed her in the way she had dreamed about since they’d first met. Her body and her heart yearned for him and she was already whimpering with need long before his touch on her body became firmer and more demanding.
Pressing against him, she writhed to increase the contact between them. A shaking cry escaped her when Luc smoothed his hand over the swell of her buttocks. His touch transferred to everywhere that had missed him, like a promise she ached for him to fulfil. Her long, filmy skirt proved no barrier at all. She may as well have been naked—a thought that had almost certainly crossed Luc’s mind. He smoothed the skirt back and she adjusted her position. Her lace thong was soon discarded. She was already throbbing with pleasure when he moved between her thighs. Reaching beneath her, he cupped her buttocks to bring her up to him, while with the other hand he brought her wrists above her head. She smiled against his mouth. This was exactly what she wanted.
Breath hitched in her throat as Luc teased her with the tip of his arousal. It was a promise of pleasure that made her pulse race. Over and over he went, back and forth, never quite giving her what she wanted, but Luc had never been in a rush.
Tonight she was in a rush, and arced up to claim him. ‘Now,’ she instructed, holding him captive with her inner muscles.
The pace of Luc’s breathing shot up and his eyes turned black with passion. Holding her stare so she couldn’t look away, he thrust slowly into her, and then just as slowly withdrew. Another firm thrust to the hilt...one more roll of his hips, and she was screaming his name as he murmured, ‘Now...’
She moved convulsively, lost in pleasure, for the longest time, with Luc holding her in place. It was too much—too good—and she couldn’t come down. She didn’t want to come down. She wanted to remain suspended in Luc’s erotic net for ever, moaning rhythmically as each successive pleasure wave rolled over her and carried her to a new, higher level of sensation.
‘Open your legs as wide as you can,’ he instructed. ‘Think of that one place and what I’m doing to you.’
It seemed impossible that mere words could make her pleasure grow, but Luc knew everything about her body and her responses to his instructions. She lost control again before he had finished speaking.
‘Greedy,’ he chastised her, smiling against her mouth.
‘Very greedy,’ she confirmed happily when it was finally possible to speak.
They kissed, they touched, and they shared whispered confidences. They made love for what seemed like hours. And they did make love. It wasn’t just sex, Emma reassured herself as Luc kissed her again. Even his kisses had changed. Everything he did now was tender and gentle, deeper and more meaningful, as if he really did care for her. The thought that they might have a future together dazzled her like a golden chalice just out of reach. To think of a future together with their child—
No, No! She c
ouldn’t—she mustn’t allow herself to think like that. She had to remain strong. She had to go forward into the future self-reliant and independent, not looking to Luc and hoping he would care for her, or look at her a certain way, though right now she had never felt closer to another human being in her life.
‘Okay?’ he murmured, carefully withdrawing.
‘Okay,’ she confirmed, as he rolled onto his side so they were face to face.
Everything about tonight was okay—more than okay, it was magical. Making love to Luc beneath a canopy of stars was like every one of her dreams coming true. She could have lain here kissing him for the rest of the night. She could have lain here with her legs wrapped about his powerful thighs for ever.
‘What?’ he demanded softly, when she stirred.
‘You,’ she said, looking at him. She held his stare, wondering if at last she’d found the key to unlocking Luc’s inner self. She was so sure he was starting to trust her that she dared to hope they could go forward together now. No sooner had the thought lodged in her mind than Luc moved away and sprang up. She felt instantly bereft, robbed of more than just his warmth. His focus had left her too, she saw.
Making quick work of fastening his jeans, he stared down at her. ‘Well, I’m glad I make you smile.’
‘I’m glad you’ve changed,’ she said, clinging to those precious times they’d just shared, even though, deep down, she suspected they were already consigned to the past as far as Luc was concerned.
‘Changed?’ He frowned as he secured his belt. ‘Changed into what?’
‘From arrogant and distant, to loving and...’
When was she going to stop this? When was she going to wake up and realise that Luc didn’t share the hopeless romanticism in her psyche?
Also, she was hormonal. And right now she was riding a wave of euphoria that came after making love, while Luc had had sex with her and his head was perfectly clear.
‘Oh, I don’t know...’
‘You said loving?’ he prompted with a frown.
He’d pick up that one careless word. ‘Loving as in...not so controlling?’ she suggested, trying to make light of what had been a dangerously careless remark.
As Luc helped her to her feet, she had to remind herself that he didn’t do love. But she did. More fool her.
She brushed herself down while Luc stared back at the lights of the party. It was time to go.
‘What’s wrong?’ he said when she hesitated.
‘Nothing.’ And this was the man she had briefly thought so tender and caring? Not even a kiss or a touch to reassure her now. She had a lot to learn about the complex man that was Lucas Marcelos, but doubted she would ever get that chance—‘Ready?’ she said brightly, starting back to the marquee.
CHAPTER TWELVE
LUC’S SMILE MADE her wary. Step one had been achieved as far as he was concerned. Emma was in Brazil. Step two had also been a success. He’d had her. Why would he have any reason to suppose she’d want to go anywhere until he’d done with her? Sex was sensational between them. Luc was a tireless lover who enjoyed bringing her pleasure. What woman wouldn’t want to be with a man like that?
Just don’t go looking for Luc’s heart, because you’ll be looking for a long time.
She knew that. Sex was essentially a sport for Luc. He used it to exert control over her, or so he thought. Setting her sights on her goal, which was the marquee and uncomplicated fun with Luc’s sister, she barred herself from looking back at him.
He caught up with her, and standing in front of her he stopped her going anywhere. ‘Excuse me, please. I’m already late for the party.’
‘Late?’ He frowned.
‘Okay. Very late. Will you please let me pass?’
‘You’re not just very late,’ he said, humour lighting up his eyes, ‘Your hair’s a mess, your legs are covered in sand.’ He shrugged as he plucked some foliage from her hair. ‘And, if I’m not mistaken,’ he said, leaning close, ‘you’re also mad at me. Now, why can that be?’
Could it be because you’re so cold-hearted?
Reaching out, Luc took his fingertips on a feathery trail down her face to her lips where his fingertip lingered. ‘Don’t be angry, Emma. We’ll go in to the party together. I don’t think there are many secrets at the hotel,’ he added, confirming her own thoughts on that subject. ‘You’re in the apartment next to mine, waiting to give birth to my child. No one knows you’re pregnant yet, but you won’t be able to hide it for very much longer.’
‘Even so, my independence is vital to me.’
‘Independence was vital to you before the baby came along.’ Luc’s voice had gained an edge. ‘But now you have other concerns, I would have thought.’
‘I do have other concerns.’ His implication that she was being selfish made her mad. ‘You really will stop at nothing. And I’ll say it one more time. I will not become your mistress.’
Luc responded with a dismissive gesture. ‘That’s fine by me. Pay your own way. Work all you want to. In fact, I insist you work—just not the hours you worked in Scotland. You’re too valuable an asset, as far as my company is concerned, for me to allow your talents to go to waste. But the child will be supported by both of us.’
Luc’s eyes had turned stony. His expression scared her. ‘How will that work?’
‘I’ll plug any gaps you leave.’ His eyes drilled into hers as if hunting for signs of weakness.
He’d find none, she determined, though the gaps Luc referred to would be huge compared to his thick bankroll. She couldn’t hope to compete with the type of life he seemed determined to give his child.
‘For once in your life agree, and be thankful, Emma.’
He hadn’t really changed at all. ‘Thankful?’ she said quietly, feeling that all their closeness had been destroyed. ‘You make me feel as if I come to you like a beggar—and that what I can provide will never be enough for our child.’
‘I’m just stating facts.’ Luc’s shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. ‘I’m saying I can give more.’
‘I can support my child,’ she said firmly. ‘And I’ll do that with or without your help—’
‘You will do what is right,’ Luc said over her. ‘This isn’t about you, Emma, this is about my child.’
His child. His control. His world.
She had never felt more vulnerable or alone.
Which was all the reason to gather her forces and fight. She wasn’t alone. She had a baby to protect. ‘If you’re suggesting that by doing as you say, I’ll somehow earn more treats for my child, I think that’s despicable, and we’re going to have some real problems down the line. I’m going into the party now. I think we need space—’
‘Don’t play games with me, Emma.’ She gasped as Luc yanked her close. ‘This is too important. You can’t walk away from me.’
‘And you can’t walk away from this problem, which will remain until you learn to let go,’ she shot back. ‘We’re in this together—equal partners, whether you like it or not. Now, get off me,’ she warned, angrily shaking herself free.
‘We’re well matched,’ Luc commented, not in the least bit fazed.
‘You wish,’ she said quietly, stalking off.
Her breath shattered into pieces as Luc brought her back into his arms and silenced her with a kiss. He held her so she couldn’t escape his heat and force, and for a moment she wanted to yield. Thankfully, this time common sense kicked in before she did. ‘No, Luc. We have to talk. And before we do that, I need space from you.’
‘But I don’t need space from you,’ he murmured, smiling his way into her heart. She groaned as he rolled his hips and then made things worse, bending again at the knees and straightening up slowly, rubbing her where she was still so sensitive. He kept up the pressure until her body screame
d for him, and wanting Luc was like a madness driving her closer to the brink.
‘You don’t want to go anywhere,’ he said quietly.
She swallowed convulsively, knowing he was right. But she was equally certain she should say, No! I can do without you. She should pull away from him and go back to the party, but she couldn’t...she didn’t want to. She wanted Luc.
‘You want me to have you here where anyone might see or hear,’ he said, seducing her with his wickedness. ‘You want to take that risk that someone could leave the party and head towards the beach, instead of the road—walk right past us while I’m pleasuring you. In fact, the prospect excites you.’
‘Luc, stop this,’ she begged. ‘We can’t—’
‘But we are,’ he said. ‘You don’t want me to stop.’
‘But we could be discovered.’
He smiled as he freed himself. ‘That doesn’t bother you. You’ve got other things on your mind right now, such as me attending very thoroughly to your needs.’
She whimpered in helpless agreement as he cupped her. And then his hand began to work, rhythmically and persuasively, until she couldn’t have stopped him had she tried. Her body had taken over her mind and her actions, and a cry of need flew from her throat. Nothing else mattered but this.
‘I was right, wasn’t I?’ Luc said, smiling against her mouth. ‘I’m going to do everything,’ he said, ‘and you don’t even have to move.’
That was one instruction she couldn’t follow. She was already scrambling up him when Luc lifted her. She couldn’t wait. She couldn’t stand for his teasing or tormenting her, or for foreplay of any kind. She had to have him now...and cried out with satisfaction when Luc’s first stroke drove deep. He filled her completely. He stretched her beyond imagining. The shock was sensational—the pleasure even better. She lost control immediately and bucked against him, out of her mind with triumph and relief, and very soon after that a craven hunger for more.
‘Wait,’ he commanded, his voice a soft, husky drawl. ‘You’re too greedy by far. You’re going too fast.’
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