When all the presentations had been made, he lifted the trophy in the air to rapturous cheers from the crowd, but for once in his life all he could think about was being somewhere else—preferably in a nice firm bed with Karina.
* * *
Karina was very relieved that Thunderbolt had won, but she was even more relieved that Dante was safe. She felt alert and alive, excited and light-headed as Dante looked at her over the heads of his teammates. They were separated by convention and not much more. They had to see the presentation ceremony through to the end, but the tension between them was like a high wire stretched taut.
She told herself to be patient. It would be some time before they could be alone.
At last the podium cleared and Dante left with the other players to check on the horses. She found him in the stables, where he was rewarding each animal in turn with affection and treats. The ponies’ ears were pricked, and they seemed as proud as Dante was of their victory. Somewhere in the distance she could hear a band starting up. They were alone. Everyone else had left to go to the party, which would be an all-nighter.
‘Hey...congratulations,’ she said, leaning over the half-door of the stall.
‘To you too,’ Dante said, without looking up as he checked this pony’s legs. ‘You made one hell of an event here today, Karina.’
‘I didn’t do it on my own.’
Dante hummed.
For a moment she couldn’t think straight. Just looking at him was enough, though his strength went a lot further than power and muscle. He was a good man. He was an exciting man. He was a gaucho. He was a working man, who was entirely the opposite from the glamorous playboy the press liked to portray.
‘You wore my earrings,’ he said, viewing her through narrowed eyes as he straightened up.
‘For you... For good luck.’
Leaving the stall, he bolted the door and turned to face her.
‘And I brought you this.’ She tossed the stone he’d given her and with whip-fast reflexes Dante caught it in his fist as it spun through the air.
‘Now what?’ he murmured, staring at her darkly as he tightened his big hand around it.
‘Now you kiss me.’
They came together like a force of nature. This was where she wanted to be. She belonged in Dante’s arms. He laughed deep down in his chest, as if the same feeling had hit him in the same moment, and then he backed her steadily towards a bed of hay.
‘At last,’ he ground out. ‘Though this wasn’t quite the setting I had in mind.’
‘Where better than here?’ she argued, breathlessly stripping off his clothes.
It was like a race to remove the last barrier between them, and Dante devoured her mouth as he lowered her onto the hay. There was no need to say anything. A look conveyed all they needed to know. This was the man she knew and remembered. This was her friend, the man she had always trusted, always loved. This was redemption. This was the end of a very long journey. This was coming home. Stroking her hair, Dante brought her close to drop a kiss on her collarbone and then her neck. He laughed softly when she whimpered with pleasure.
Karina was the only woman who could tame him. She was his equal in every way. She was the only woman he could think of spending his life with. There was only one question remaining now. ‘I love you,’ he whispered.
She stared into his eyes as if she needed to be absolutely sure, but then she smiled. ‘I love you too.’
He brought her into his arms to promise her that he would give her babies, and instead of flinching from him in doubt and fear she looked into his eyes with trust and laughter. ‘Right now?’ she asked him, smiling into his eyes.
‘Why not now? Whatever fate and Dante Baracca dictates,’ he teased her gently, and then, kissing her, he soothed her as he led her at his pace into an erotic world.
He was determined that everything would be perfect for Karina. She deserved nothing less. She’d known violence and grief, and had no reason to trust a man. It was up to him to prove that he was different. There was still a glimmer of fear in her eyes. Until she tried it, she didn’t know how it would work out. He understood her concerns, and was going to prove that she was normal in every way. Even now, when passion had never run higher between them, he was going to give her all the time she needed to discover that he was right. She tensed a little when he moved over her, and again when his hand found her. She was ready in every sense, and that was all he needed to know.
She flinched when Dante eased her legs over his shoulders. She felt so exposed, so vulnerable, and was worried that she might still disappoint him, but he was endlessly patient, and so sexy that she couldn’t overlook the fact that her body was entirely on his side. Positioning her, he cupped her buttocks and when he dipped his head it was to give her pleasure on a scale that didn’t allow for rational thought. She could only feel—wave after wave of incredible sensation.
Lifting his head, he said wryly, ‘Why are you waiting?’
‘I’ve got no idea,’ she admitted, realising she was clutching handfuls of hay in her fists, as if that could stop her falling off the edge.
‘Then don’t,’ he advised.
Dante didn’t give her a chance to argue, and she cried out with shock at the intensity of feeling. He had to hold her firmly. She was wild with pleasure. She was exultant. She was free. She was also breathless and moaning out her approval of everything he did, as Dante made sure she enjoyed every last second of release. But it was more than that, she reasoned as he brushed kisses over her face and neck to soothe her down. They were well on the way to rebuilding everything they’d lost.
She made no pretence of holding back a second time. Dante had taught her something else about her body today. The deeper he led her into his sensual world, the more she wanted him, and the more sensitive she became. Lowering her legs from his shoulders, he drew her into his arms and lay with her in silence for a while, but the instant his hand found her, she closed her thighs around it to increase the pressure and the pleasure, as she worked with him, moving rhythmically and steadily towards her goal.
She’d almost reached it when Dante slid one lean finger deep inside her. Her body was so slick and welcoming there was no tension, no pain, only pleasure. She trusted him completely. He knew how far to go, and he didn’t try to rush her or move too fast. Far from shrinking from him, she rolled her hips to catch more pleasure, working her tender bud against the heel of his hand. Soon the pressure began building again, and almost immediately she found herself teetering on the edge.
He’d said don’t wait...
Dante held her as she fell and shrieked his name. The pleasure was indescribable and now she realised that it had increased with his penetration. She worked her body hard against his hand as the violent pleasure waves went on and on, and when he suggested more, she warned him not to stop.
‘You’re smiling?’ he growled, bringing her beneath him.
‘Because I can do this.’
‘Of course you can do this.’ Shaking his head with amused exasperation, he dropped kisses on her swollen mouth and brought a second finger into play, and soon even that wasn’t enough for her, and reaching down she found him.
‘Don’t,’ he warned.
‘Are you saying you’d lose control?’
‘I’m saying that holding back is torture enough already.’
He groaned as she caressed him. She loved the feel of him beneath her hands, the heightened sense of anticipation that a promise of commitment was waiting to be sealed between them.
‘You have the perfect body,’ Dante murmured, working some magic of his own. ‘If I had my way you’d never get dressed.’
‘If you had your way, nothing would ever get done.’
‘You’d get done,’ he whispered.
Brushing back her hair, he stared into her
face. ‘I love you more than life itself, Karina. I’ve always loved you. You were mine from the first moment I saw you.’
‘Do you mean the day you sauntered into my father’s stables while I was sitting on a hay bale, eating my lunch?’
‘Why?’
‘The lunch you stole from me and fed to the dogs?’
Dante eased his powerful shoulders in a lazy shrug. ‘What clearer sign can a boy give a girl that he’s interested?’
She moved over him to lean on his chest. ‘You owe me lunch.’
He laughed. ‘I’ll have to do something about that. Lunch in kind?’
‘I am now officially insatiable,’ she agreed.
‘And perfect.’
‘And I love you.’
‘I know you do,’ Dante agreed with a wicked smile.
‘You’re such an arrogant...’
‘Barbarian?’ he suggested. Smiling seductively, she moved down the hay. She tasted him and then drew him deep into her mouth.
‘What did I warn you about torturing me?’ he demanded in a strangled tone.
‘I just like to hear you gasp,’ she admitted huskily as Dante drew her up to him. Turning her beneath him, he repeated the stroking motion until it was her turn to beg. ‘Please...’
‘Your wish is my command,’ he murmured, and slowly sinking deep he filled her completely. Pausing until she had totally relaxed and temporarily stopped gasping with pleasure, he stared into her eyes and began to move. He only managed a few firm thrusts before she fell helpless and screaming into a deep black pit of ecstasy. And when he started moving once more, rhythmically and firmly, she fell a second time, even harder than the first.
‘More?’ he suggested wryly when she quieted.
‘If you ever stop...’
‘I’ve no intention of stopping, but I do think we should take this to the ranch house so there are no interruptions in the morning.’
With that kind of promise she made no complaint.
Withdrawing slowly and carefully, Dante helped her to her feet, and wordlessly they grabbed their clothes and pulled them on, then he grabbed her hand and walked with her out of the stable block. By the time they exited they were running. They ran across the yard, barged into the house, slammed the door behind them and raced up the stairs. They crashed into his bedroom and fell on the bed, where they ripped off each other’s clothes in a frenzy of hunger and need. There was no foreplay this time, none necessary. Dante spun her beneath him and entered her in one deep, firm stroke.
They were wild with excitement, and breathless with the energy required to make love furiously and hard. All her fears had left her and had been replaced with a desire to be one with Dante. And once definitely wasn’t enough—not for either of them. They had to endorse the mating of their souls, their trust in each other, and their love, over and over again. And still he left her whimpering with urgent need.
‘More,’ she whispered, stroking his powerful chest.
‘Oh, must I?’ Dante teased her, sinking deep with an exquisite lack of haste.
Rotating his hips to a lazy rhythm, he kept on until she couldn’t control herself, and moving convulsively, she fell into yet another delicious climax. Her cries rang out as her body bucked uncontrollably. She was glad of his big hands on her buttocks, holding her firmly, guiding her movements, ensuring that she benefited from every single pleasure pulse until they faded.
‘Good?’ he murmured, when she quietened.
‘But not good for you—not fair,’ she protested.
She was greedy for her next release and, reading her, Dante smiled. Bracing himself on his forearms, he stared down into her face. ‘I’d say you were being more than good to me.’ And to prove it, he thrust deep.
Holding him with her inner muscles, she moved with him, and this time when she fell he fell too, finally claiming his own savage release, and when they finally fell back exhausted, she knew the ghosts of the past had been banished for good, and she drifted off into a contented slumber. And when she woke they were still entwined in each other’s arms.
‘Do you think there’s the smallest chance we’ll ever get enough of each other?’ she asked, her lips touching his as she murmured this.
‘Hopefully not,’ Dante said, smiling, ‘though I think I should put that to the test on a regular basis, don’t you?’
‘Why not now?’ she agreed, as he moved behind her.
Thrusting his hand into the small of her back he lifted her buttocks, exposing her even more to him. Seconds later he was sheathed to the hilt. Arching her back, she pressed back hard against him. ‘You’re right,’ she managed breathlessly before giving herself over completely to pleasure. ‘Who could ever get enough of this?’
It was dark and the night was full of stars and romance by the time they left the ranch house. Parties for all age groups were in full swing and music rose around them on every side. Samba rhythms added to the heat of the night as they walked together arm in arm. It was only when they smelled the scent of food grilling on countless barbeques that they realised they couldn’t remember the last time they’d had something to eat. They stopped to grab some sticky ribs, and that was where Luc found them.
‘There you are!’ he exclaimed. ‘Where on earth have you been?’
Karina was careful to keep her innocent face on. She adored her brother, but once again Luc had proved that when it came to his sister he was incapable of registering the possibility of romance.
‘We’ve been checking the horses,’ Dante said, carefully not looking at Karina. ‘I didn’t realise you needed us.’
‘Of course you’re needed,’ Luc said, as he swung an arm around Dante’s shoulder. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, you scored the winning goal, and my sister organised the event. There’s a huge crowd waiting to thank you.’
Karina glanced at Dante and laughed. As she finger-combed her hair, she realised there was still some hay sticking in it, and her hands were covered with sticky sauce. Luc still didn’t have a clue.
‘Here,’ he said, whipping off his bandana. ‘Wipe your hands. And for goodness’ sake, do something about your hair—’ He stopped suddenly, and stared at her intently. ‘Oh,’ he said, and then he spun on his heel.
Fireworks lit up the sky as they mounted the stage. The applause was deafening, and in spite of his recent epiphany Luc had recovered sufficiently to give them both a more than generous introduction. ‘For my teammate and friend, Dante Baracca...’ Covering the mike with his hand, Luc murmured to Dante, ‘You’d better do the honourable thing or I’ll rip your head off.’ Turning, he smiled for the benefit of the crowd.
‘Trust me. I intend to,’ Dante growled, as he brought Karina close.
‘And for my sister, who arranged this whole event,’ Luc continued, once the cheers had died down, ‘I couldn’t be happier for you both,’ he admitted gruffly, as glittering confetti cascaded down from the nets suspended about their heads and the crowd went wild.
‘Nothing—not even this trophy—means as much to me as you do,’ Dante told Karina, as they stood together to take the applause. And then he provided them all with the surprise of the day. Handing the trophy to Luc, he got down on one knee. To the delight of the crowd, he asked, ‘Could you marry a barbarian?’
‘Now I’ve tamed him?’ She pretended to think about it as the crowd waited in a breathless hush. ‘Yes,’ she said softly, ‘I can definitely marry the man I love.’ And then she covered the mike with her hand. ‘I always knew barbarians could be romantic, but aren’t you afraid of spoiling your image?’
She laughed as Dante sprang up.
‘I don’t care about my image,’ he said, as he swung her into his arms and carried her away into the night.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HOW THINGS HAD CHANGED, Karina mused as she hosted the t
wo men she loved best in the world in her new and much larger office. The Gaucho Cup held on Dante’s fazenda had been such a success that the team had voted for it to be held each year at Fazenda Baracca, with Karina arranging the event.
‘You can’t get out of it now that you and Dante are to be married,’ her brother remarked as he stared with pride at the gleaming replica trophy that had barely left his hands since Karina had awarded it to him. The team had decided the original cup should stay with one man, and that man was Dante.
‘Are you threatening my fiancée?’ Dante growled, as the two men locked stares.
‘Yeah,’ Luc agreed happily. ‘I can’t think of two people who deserve each other more.’
‘So this was all your idea?’ Karina smiled at her brother, who refused to meet her eyes, making her instantly suspicious that he’d set her up—though, on this one occasion, she was prepared to forgive him as she stared at Dante and then at the beautiful emerald ring he’d given her—the same rough stone, her keepsake, now polished to its full eye-catching glory.
‘I always knew you’d make a good team,’ Luc murmured distractedly, as he paced the room to admire the trophy, which he had placed temporarily on her desk, from several different angles.
‘Is that why you volunteered me for the job?’
‘Could be,’ Luc admitted, ‘though I got some persuasion from a certain direction.’ He glanced at Dante.
‘That’s enough, Luc,’ Dante warned, as he gathered Karina into his arms. ‘And now you’ll have to excuse us as Karina and I have another appointment...’ Walking to the door, he held it open. ‘See you at the engagement party tonight.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Luc promised, fielding Karina’s accusatory look with an unapologetic grin. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ he assured them, flashing Dante an amused glance as he snatched up his precious trophy.
‘We’ve got another appointment?’ Karina queried once the door had closed behind her brother.
‘You’re a very busy woman,’ Dante murmured, as he turned the key in the lock.
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