She should have known that Diego would not allow the tension to ease. He brushed kisses against her lips, her eyelids, and then over the pulse throbbing hectically at the side of her neck. She squirmed with pleasure as his stubble scraped her, and groaned shakily when he began to kiss his way across her collarbone toward her breasts. Anticipation of pleasure made her nipples stand painfully erect. “Please,” she whispered.
His amused gaze settled on her face. “You won’t thank me for rushing this.”
“Try me,” she challenged.
Her body was quite literally shaking with lust. Whatever the original motive behind her plan—to draw this out, to lure him on until she was sure she had him hooked, Diego had made delay impossible. She had to have him now.
“Fuck me,” she said quietly.
He smiled, and, arranging her to his liking, he sat her up and ran the palm of his hand very slowly down her spine.
“Now,” she insisted.
When he reached the swell of her buttocks, he captured them in one big hand. Arching her back, she searched for more contact, but he refused to touch her in the way she needed him to, however much she made her hunger obvious. “How long are you going to torture me?” she demanded.
“Until I give you permission to let go. You’re far too greedy, and I’ve been far too liberal with you.”
She made a sound of furious frustration. That was easy for him to say, but her body was sending frantic messages to her brain, demanding to be satisfied now. An equally powerful part of her mind urged her to listen to Diego. It said he knew what he was doing, and that she must pay attention to every word.
“The wait will be worth it,” he soothed as she moved restlessly in his embrace. Reaching for his clothes he set about protecting them both.
“There’s no need for that,” she said. “I’m clean.”
He looked at her. “How do you know I am?”
“If I trust you enough to be alone with you in the forest, I must trust you enough to tell me if there’s something I should know. And before you ask, precautions are second nature in a country where violence is commonplace.”
The shocked expression in his eyes was a sad indictment of where she’d come from, and they stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Diego brought her back into his arms.
He was the master of seduction, detached and cool, while she was running wild with need. There was no sign of the tenderness that had briefly warmed her. He was in charge now, and though she found his manner a turn-on, she wanted his warmth too. He promised sex beyond compare, but a little part of her, in complete defiance of her original plan, wanted more. But that was not the object of this exercise.
Diego needed sex. He enjoyed it. He’d honed his technique to the peak of eroticism. If she read anything more into what was happening between them, that was her problem. By this time tomorrow, she’d be far away. All that mattered was that he didn’t forget her. She had to make sure there was no chance of that.
“Don’t move,” he warned. “Remain quite still.”
She fixed her gaze on his. She couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. She was a willing captive in Diego’s erotic net. Moonlight surrounded his dark hair like a halo. She had never been so vulnerable before, nor had she felt so safe.
“I’m going to pleasure you. Open your legs wide,” he commanded softly. “Even more…”
She swallowed deep and did as he said.
“Hold your thighs apart for me.”
She did that too. “You like to watch,” she guessed.
“Yes, I do,” he confirmed. “I can anticipate your pleasure better that way, and I can watch it unfold.”
If this was a master class in sexual awakening, he couldn’t have had a more willing student.
Moving over her, Diego positioned himself between her thighs. His erection was formidable. She couldn’t stop looking at it. And anticipating the pleasure it could bring. Spread wide, she felt deliciously exposed and unbearably aroused. Her world was composed entirely of sensation. She gasped when he used his sharp black stubble to lightly abrade her inner thighs, but though his hot breath teased her, he intentionally missed the place she needed him most. When she couldn’t bear it any longer, she cried out with words she’d never used before, begging him to touch her, to fuck her, to bring her off as many times as he could, and, most importantly, to stop torturing her right now.
His answer was to torment the tender skin below her ear until she was shaking uncontrollably and rabid sexual heat was pounding through her veins.
Holding her still, he allowed the smooth, domed head of his cock to thrust impatiently against her belly, and then he brought it lower, but not low enough. She kept her thighs widely parted as instructed, and yet he ignored the fact. She gasped and moaned as his thick hair brushed her breasts. Her breasts felt heavy, but he wouldn’t touch them. Her nipples seemed to have a direct line to her core, but he neglected them too. When eventually he gave in and suckled on first one and then the other, her inner muscles clenched greedily. “Please, now,” she begged.
Raising his head to stare at her, he demanded, “What?” with infuriating calm. “What do you need me to do to you, Celina?”
“I need you to fuck me,” she practically yelled.
“I love to hear you talking dirty.”
“And I hate it when you tease me,” she replied. “What do I have to do?”
“You have to obey me.”
“I am. I will,” she insisted. “But I need this now.”
“You need me?” Diego asked steadily. “Or you need sex?”
“This— You— Both— I don’t know.” With each passing second, her plan fell apart a little more. She was supposed to be in control, not him. Sex was supposed to be a means to an end, a way to bind them together. Feelings were not supposed to enter into it. She had imagined this would be as straightforward as any other time in her life when she had been able to switch off all emotion, but Diego had played her and raised a fire inside her. It was as if he were the maestro and she an instrument bending to his will.
Thrusting her pelvis toward him, she held her breath, waiting. “Please,” she begged again.
That single word said in a soft, entreating tone seemed to unlock something in him. Hooking an arm beneath her thigh, he lifted her leg and rested it over his shoulder. “Beautiful,” he murmured, but then his expression hardened, proving once again that it would be a mistake to underestimate him. “Now tell me what you want.”
“I have to say it?”
“If you want me to touch you again, then yes, you do.”
“Anything,” she gasped, out of her mind with frustration.
“Are you sure? I ask because obedience seems to be beyond you.”
“I can be obedient for one night,” she promised hectically.
“That’s quite an admission,” he observed obviously trying hard not to smile.
One night would have to be enough. That was all they had. There could be no more nights like this, Celina determined. She could not afford to lose control.
Really? Haven’t I already? Not once, but many times? Hasn’t Diego made control impossible, at least where he’s concerned?
Chapter Six
Selecting the forefinger of Celina’s right hand, he positioned it precisely and began to move it back and forth. He loved the little sounds she made, the way she squeezed her eyes tightly shut to concentrate on sensation, and her softly smiling mouth. “Is that good?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Perfect,” she managed on a shaking breath.
Her cheeks were flushed as she responded beneath his guiding hand. Physically, she was perfection, toned and yet plump in all the right places, and she couldn’t possibly be more responsive. His cock flexed in anticipation of sinking into her. One night would never be enough. Resting her legs over the wide spread of his shoulders, he delicately parted her lips. She was bathed in a sea of arousal and gasped out her need as he touched her
in a way she couldn’t resist. He made sure she didn’t have to, and her response was both violent and immediate. She plunged over the edge with repeated, rhythmical cries, forcing him to take her in his arms so she didn’t rake her body on the uneven ground. Seeing her through to the finish, he waited until she was quiet again and then scolded her in a tone he knew she loved. “Did I give you permission for that?”
“You didn’t tell me not to,” she gasped on a relieved breath.
“You are a very bad girl,” he remarked with approval.
“I do my best.”
He laughed. He couldn’t remember sex being fun before. In the past, it had been executed at maximum efficiency with a partner who knew the score. Celina was very different.
“Watch me,” she whispered, shooting him a seductive look. “You know you want to.”
“Watch you do what?”
“Really?”
He groaned as his cock snapped to attention. “You learn fast,” he admitted as he watched her hand move to a lazy rhythm between her legs.
“I’ve always been an able student,” she agreed wryly.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you’re getting to know me?”
And the more he learned, the more she ensnared him. His cock approved too. Fisting it, he squeezed it tight, as if that could contain its burgeoning size. It was as if he’d been celibate for months. Far from abating after several releases, his hunger had grown. Celina had turned the tables on him completely. He was consumed by lust. He could forget about closing down feelings. He had to have her. No more delay. He had to have her now. Seduction was redundant where Celina was concerned. She was seduction enough. He’d never thought to find a woman who could match him, but now it seemed he had.
~~o0o~~
The heat in Diego’s eyes scorched through her veins like molten honey. He made it worse, kissing her until she was shaking with arousal. The anticipation of pleasure was almost more powerful than the real thing, she had discovered. She encouraged him when he brushed the underside of her arms with his stubble and groaned with satisfaction when his big hands stroked her back. Her buttocks felt so comfortable in his grip. His slightly roughened palms against the smoothness of her skin felt amazing. When she writhed with impatience, he held her still, but when he coated the tip of his cock in her arousal, she was done with waiting. Thrusting forward, she took him by surprise. He was so big, she gasped, unsure now she’d started that she could accommodate him. She could never have been ready for this. He paused when she grimaced with shock and discomfort, but then another type of sensation kicked in, and her grip on his buttocks turned to steel. When he moved, the feeling was indescribable. It was so intense, it blanked her mind to anything else. He pulled out slowly, and then sank deep again before setting up a dependable rhythm that encouraged her to work her hips furiously with his. Being joined to him touched her. This was like no other experience on earth. This was the memory she hoped would bind him close when she left. It was also the memory to sustain her if things went wrong.
Waves of sensation, like knockout blows, landed one after the other. She maybe cried out his name, or sobbed and groaned when she came. It was hard to be sure what was happening when she was in the grip of such powerful and transformative pleasure.
Surely the bond between them must have strengthened, she reflected later as they lay side by side in contented silence. Sex had joined them in some deep, primal way. Diego had been incredibly sensitive to her feelings, proving that he wasn’t always distant or detached. She felt certain he cared enough to follow. She had to believe it.
“Daydreaming again?” he murmured as she stared blindly into the canopy of spreading branches above their heads.
You really don’t want to know, she thought as Diego turned his head to look at her. “I just want to make the most of tonight,” she said lightly.
“I think I can accommodate that.”
His wicked smile assured her that he could, and it was a relief to blank her mind to anything but pleasure.
Diego knew the responses of her body better than she did herself. He made her come again and again, until finally, with a groan of satisfaction, she collapsed exhausted against his chest. But even then she couldn’t let him go. Not yet. She had to squeeze every last drop of happiness out of this time together. Even if she hadn’t been planning to go back, she knew their relationship couldn’t last. Diego was notorious for pulling away as soon as anyone tried to get close to him. This was all they had, and all they would ever have. They would both move on, and in her case, sooner rather than later.
~~o0o~~
Celina was a drug to his senses. Beautiful women packed the stands when he played polo, howling for another Blood and Thunder victory. Plucking one out of the crowd was so easy, he found it boring. Anything more than a night of fierce pleasure was off the table. Sharing his life was too complicated. He didn’t want the ties, the interference, or the inevitable breakup. The fact that he was considering a girlfriend and the woman in question was Celina was a measure of his growing affection for her. Plus the sex was so hot, he doubted he could ever get enough of her.
Was this what Alexei and Dante had meant when they talked about love? he wondered as he ran strands of Celina’s silky hair through his fingers. Was this ache in his chest something close?
After one night?
No!
It was appreciation of a lover with a similar level of energy to himself. He’d finally met a woman who could match him.
He would continue to deny love, to deny sentiment, to deny anything other than the detachment and clear thinking that had always served him so well. He would never be that child again, sitting on his suitcase outside school, a slave to emotion, waiting for parents that never came. He would never love again. Love was both a weakness and a complete waste of time.
And Celina?
The strength of his feelings for her didn’t make sense. He couldn’t even be sure of her, and she certainly didn’t hang on his every word. She was her own woman with her own thoughts, and those thoughts had been busy tonight. What was this really about? This was the first time in his adult life that he found himself uncertain where a woman was concerned.
“What are you thinking about?” she whispered.
He was trying to imagine Celina as his compliant, ever-available girlfriend. And failed miserably. She would never fall in with his plans. She would expect compromise and discussion, something he’d sensibly avoided up to now. He would have to adopt an entirely new mindset. No prizes for guessing how well that would go. “I was thinking how much I’ve enjoyed you,” he said dryly.
“Liar,” she said. “You were wondering how to handle me if things developed between us. But we would have to be two very different people for that to happen, wouldn’t we, Diego?”
“Fortunately, we are who we are,” he said dryly.
“Yes. Thank goodness,” she said, matching him barb for barb.
Rolling her onto her back, he took her again, fiercely and possessively, needing to hear her scream out her pleasure. Closing his eyes on a woman he could have stared at forever, he concentrated on Celina and cut out the rest.
“How do you do that?” he asked when they were quiet again.
“How do I cast a spell on you?” she teased softly, glancing at his erection, which refused to subside.
“Yes, that,” he said. Turning, he groaned with pleasure as he plunged deep again, and she gripped his cock with her inner muscles. One thing led to another, and it turned out they weren’t nearly done.
Much later, they turned to face each other. As she ran her fingertips down his arms, the look on her face said she wanted to remember every inch of him. Swinging her on top of him, he laughed against her mouth and then he kissed her again, stroking her tongue with his. Sex could not only be fun, but this much fun? “This is perfect,” he said as he stoked her plump butt cheeks with appreciation.
“Too soft, too big,” she argued.
<
br /> “Perfect,” he insisted as he mapped her curves. “And anyone who says anything different has to answer to me.”
“No one else will ever get to see—”
She stopped talking so suddenly, he was instantly suspicious. “What’s wrong, Celina? Can’t you tell me?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she protested, but with far too much force, he thought. He felt certain now that something was wrong. How else could she turn from contentment to this in a matter of moments? Was she frightened to think how close they’d been? He was as guilty as she was where that was concerned. He’d gone as far as thinking about moving her in, when changing his domestic arrangements had never occurred to him before. It was about time he got his head straight. They had enjoyed each other and had been close for a few hours, but that would soon be over.
“I’m going for a swim.” Keen to break the suddenly serious mood, he sprang to his feet.
“I’ll wash down in the stream,” she replied.
She was right. Accepting the gulf between them was the most logical thing to do. As he prepared to enter the water, she made him a mock bow. “It’s been a pleasure knowing you.” She said this as if they might never meet again. When he questioned her with a frown, she added, “We both have other places to be, don’t we, Diego?”
“Yes,” he was forced to agree. “We do.”
~~o0o~~
She would never forget tonight, Celina reflected as she strolled back from the forest with Diego. Neither of them spoke, and a tension had grown between them. She felt it because the start of her plan meant the end of their short-lived relationship. Diego would never forgive her when he found out what she’d done. And rightly so. She could understand that he’d feel deceived. He already knew something was in the air. He just didn’t know what that was.
“You don’t have to take me back to the staff quarters,” she insisted when they drew close to the house. “I can find my way from here.” What had started out a seemingly a feasible plan had ripped a chunk out of her carefully closed heart. She needed space before the pain grew stronger and she changed her mind about leaving.
Spaniard Untamed Page 4