Under the Brazilian Sun

by Catherine George

  ‘Not at all.’ She felt depressed. In the circumstances, she’d have to leave right away to save additional worry for Roberto by staying.

  He poured brandy into glasses and handed her one. ‘We both need this, I think.’

  Katherine took a fiery sip and put the glass down. ‘A good thing my flight is on Sunday, Roberto.’

  ‘I know this,’ he said grimly and drained his glass, shuddering as the fiery spirit hit its target. ‘But do not be frightened, Katherine. I will not allow harm to come to you.’

  ‘I’m not frightened for myself—at least, not much,’ she added honestly. ‘I’m more worried for you, Roberto.’

  He glared at her. ‘Because I am crippled and cannot defend myself?’

  ‘For heaven’s sake, cut the drama, Roberto, this is serious,’ said Katherine impatiently and then bit her lip, eyeing him warily as he gave her a wry smile.

  ‘Desculpe-me, Katherine. What are you trying to tell me?’

  ‘The truth, Roberto.’ She held his eyes. ‘You’re not physically capable of fighting off an attacker right now.’

  He shook his head in scowling amazement. ‘We have so little violent crime here I cannot believe this.’

  ‘I find it hard to believe myself, but it’s only sensible to take precautions.’

  ‘You are right, sem duvida.’ Roberto glanced out into the night. ‘And to start such precautions, it is best we go inside. I shall turn off the lights here and lock the doors then take you upstairs.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that—’

  He eyed her impatiently. ‘Of course I do, Katherine. No one else sleeps on the upper floor. I will not rest until I know you are safe inside your room.’

  Secretly very grateful for his escort, she waited while he locked up and then offered her arm for support.

  Roberto gladly abandoned his walking stick for the slow ascent, but in such close, tempting proximity to her body he felt himself harden in fierce response. He clenched his teeth against the force of it, telling himself he would take her only as far as her room. His mouth tightened. But then she would be totally alone up here should the unthinkable happen and some meliante break in.

  Katherine slid her arm from his and took his hand as they reached the landing. ‘What’s troubling you, Roberto?’

  Many things, he thought savagely, not least the desire to seize her in his arms and kiss her senseless. ‘I worry because you will be alone up here tonight.’

  ‘I’ve been alone up here every night since I arrived,’ she pointed out.

  ‘But until today you were in no danger—’

  ‘You surely don’t think someone would actually try to break in?’ Katherine stared at him in consternation.

  He thrust a hand through his hair, his eyes bitter. ‘Yesterday, I would have laughed at such an idea. Tonight, who knows? I cannot endure the thought of you alone and vulnerable, so far away from me.’

  Katherine wasn’t very happy about it, either. Even if by some miracle she managed to sleep, the mere possibility that someone might try to climb in through her window would give her nightmares. She opened her bedroom door and crossed to the bedside table to switch on a lamp. ‘Could you lock the windows, please? As one of those precautions, I’ll keep them closed tonight.’

  He shut the door behind him and crossed the room to secure the tall windows, his eyes raking the moonlit gardens. ‘Do not worry, Katherine. It is bright as day outside. Only a fool would try to get in on a night like this.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ she said doubtfully.

  ‘You are afraid?’

  ‘A bit.’ She hesitated. ‘Are you tired, or could you stay and talk for a while?’

  Roberto turned to face her. ‘I am not tired, but I will not stay.’

  Katherine gave up. ‘Goodnight, then.’

  Roberto closed his eyes in desperation, and then opened them again, abandoning all effort to hide the hunger in his eyes. ‘If I stay I will want more than just to talk. And I promised to keep you safe, nao e? That must mean safe from me, also.’

  She moved closer, meeting the look head on. ‘Stay, just the same. Please?’

  Roberto gave a despairing groan and seized her in his arms, his lips devouring hers in a kiss which went on so long they were both shaking when he raised his head at last to look into her dazed eyes.

  ‘You see?’ he said through his teeth. ‘One kiss and we set the world on fire.’ His eyes burned into hers. ‘I am entranced by your mind and your knowledge of art, e verdade, but also by your beautiful body, Katherine.’

  ‘I am by yours, too, Roberto,’ she said candidly, her colour rising.

  He swallowed convulsively. ‘You mean that?’

  ‘Every word.’

  He let out a deep, ragged sigh and drew her down beside him on the bed. ‘Deus, I thought no woman would ever look at me with pleasure again.’

  Katherine leaned against him, exulting in the rapid thud of his heartbeat against hers as she breathed in the scent of his heated skin. ‘In the past you were accustomed to a great many women looking at you with pleasure?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said simply. ‘Pretty playmates were part of the life I led after Mariana divorced me.’ He raised her hand and pressed a lingering kiss in her palm. ‘And you have no wish for marriage either, nao e?’

  She shook her head. ‘Not true. I just haven’t met a man I want for a husband.’ Nor even for a lover in the true meaning of the word. Until now.

  He caught her by the chin and looked deep into her eyes. ‘Agora, Katherine, tell me you want me.’

  ‘Of course I want you. I asked you to stay!’

  ‘Because you are frightened.’

  ‘And because I want you to make love to me, Roberto. Are you going to, or are you just going to talk about it?’ She scowled at him crossly. ‘I won’t ask again!’

  ‘You need not!’ He kissed her in passionate assurance as they fell back on the bed together, the seduction of his seeking, smoothing hands so ravishing they took Katherine’s breath away.

  ‘Eu te quero, amada,’ he whispered, his breath burning her skin.

  No translation was necessary. Roberto’s words sent such heat flaming through her Katherine pressed even closer to him, which only made the heat worse—or better. She would be gone soon and if she sent him away now she would regret it for the rest of her life. To make this clear, she kissed him in such explicit invitation he growled in delight against her parted lips, his hands caressing her to such a pitch of longing she helped feverishly when he undressed them both with urgent hands. She tensed as Roberto laid her on her back but, instead of immediately crushing her body with his, as she expected, he propped himself on an elbow and lay there just looking at her, his eyes moving over every inch of her as though he wanted to eat her up. She moved restively, unable to lie still under the glittering, hungry gaze.

  ‘No. Do not move. For a little while just let me look at you, Katherine,’ he said huskily. ‘I want a picture of you in my mind, so that I can look back on this moment and remember.’

  To her embarrassment, her nipples hardened in response to his words, and he drew in a sharp breath and bent his head to tease and torment them with wickedly skilful lips and grazing teeth, while his hands made love to every curve and hollow of her responsive body. When they moved lower at last, his skilled, seeking caresses brought her up off the bed; her hands urgent on his back and, with a deep, relishing sigh, he slid over her. Her mouth dried as their bodies came into full, naked contact, the rasp of hair-roughened muscular thighs between the smoothness of hers so erotic her heart hammered in her chest.

  ‘You told me,’ he reminded her in a tone that made her breath catch, ‘that you allowed such closeness only if you had feelings for the man. Do you have such feelings for me, Katherine?’

  As if she was going to say no in this situation! She nodded wordlessly.

  He gave her a glorious smile and kissed her mouth as he entered her body with a smooth, slow thrust which st
unned them both by the sheer tactile pleasure of it until Roberto surrendered to the urging of his body and began to move, his lovemaking enhanced by the words he whispered in her ear until he had no more breath for talking as their bodies surged together in urgent rhythm that blotted out everything other than the pleasure they were giving each other, a frenzied joy so intense it was almost pain as completion finally engulfed them in a throbbing wave of rapture so intense it brought tears to Katherine’s eyes.

  Roberto held her tightly, his face buried in her hair. When he raised his head at last he frowned as he saw her tears. ‘You are crying, amada?’

  She shook her head, blinking the moisture from her lashes. ‘Just tears of wonder. I’ve never experienced anything so…so overwhelming before.’

  His eyes gleamed with such blatant male satisfaction Katherine laughed as he kissed her tears away.

  ‘Why are you laughing at me?’ he demanded, raising his head.

  ‘You looked so smug!’

  ‘What is smug?’

  How was she supposed to search for vocabulary in these circumstances! ‘Pleased with yourself.’

  ‘What man would not be pleased when his woman finds joy in his arms?’

  His woman. Katherine thought that over with disquiet. ‘Roberto—’

  ‘Do not ask me to move, querida—unless I am crushing you?’

  Now the subject had come up, she had to admit that he was, a bit. The lean, graceful body was surprisingly heavy. ‘I was going to remind you about my flight.’

  Roberto groaned, his arms tightening like steel bands. When she protested he rolled over, taking her with him to lie on top of him. He smiled up into her eyes, smoothing the hair back from her face. ‘Better, nao e?’ He pulled the sheet up to cover her and brought her head down to fit into his shoulder. ‘Stay, Katherine,’ he said, and kissed her. ‘We have hours of tonight to enjoy together before we must part.’

  Dawn came too soon for Katherine next morning. But her first thought as Roberto kissed her into warm, throbbing life again was the threat he received yesterday.

  ‘What troubles you, querida?’ he demanded. ‘You do not want to make love again?’

  Incredibly, she found she did, which astounded her after the night they’d just spent together. He kissed and caressed her into such rapid response she postponed discussion of the problem until she could think and function again normally.

  At last Roberto slid reluctantly out of bed. ‘I wish we could shower together, but until my leg recovers this is not possible. It will be something to look forward to in future,’ he whispered, and leaned to kiss her. ‘While I take my lonely shower hurry through yours, Katherine,’ he ordered, and began pulling on his clothes. ‘Join me for breakfast on the varanda today. I am hungry.’

  ‘So am I,’ she admitted.

  Roberto gave her a grin which brought such quick colour to her face he bent to kiss her pink cheeks. ‘You are so beautiful when you blush. Be quick, por favor.’

  ‘How about your exercises?’

  He laughed. ‘After such joyous exercise last night I will take a holiday from the painful kind today. So hurry.’

  When Katherine joined Roberto the look on his face rang alarm bells. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘There was an intruder here last night. An attempt was made to force the door to my part of the house. It was unsuccessful because I recently installed a new security system. Jorge checked all the outer doors, but he found nothing else.’ He smiled into her worried eyes. ‘They could not attack me because I did not spend the night in my room, nao e?’

  ‘Thank God you didn’t!’ She bit her lip. ‘Did Jorge wonder where you were?’

  ‘I told him I slept in one of the rooms upstairs to ensure your safety.’ He grinned. ‘I did not say which one.’

  She grinned back, but quickly sobered. ‘I was right, Roberto. You’re in danger from someone, Elena or not.’

  ‘E possiviel,’ he agreed reluctantly. ‘I have informed the Guarda.’

  ‘Good,’ she said fervently, and smiled as Jorge appeared with a tray. ‘Good morning.’

  ‘Bom dia. Senhor Roberto says you also leave tomorrow, Doutora.’

  ‘If possible, yes.’

  He looked relieved and cast a look at his employer. ‘Senhor Roberto should leave, also—’

  ‘I am hungry, Jorge,’ said Roberto gently. ‘Perhaps you will leave us to enjoy our breakfast? We will leave discussion until later.’

  ‘Pois e,’ said the man, and hastily withdrew.

  Katherine raised a disapproving eyebrow. ‘You were a bit short with him, Roberto. The poor man is obviously worried about you.’

  ‘I know he is. But I am eager to enjoy every moment of our first breakfast together, carinha.’ He raised her hand to his lips.

  But knowing it would also be their last, Katherine found it hard to enjoy the food, famished though she was. A direct result, apparently, of spending most of the night making love. A first in every possible way.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ asked Roberto.

  She coloured slightly. ‘I never realised how hungry one gets after a night of…of…’

  ‘Love?’ He grinned. ‘It is plain you have not had the right lover until now.’

  Wasn’t that the truth! ‘While we’re on the subject, Roberto,’ she said, pouring coffee for him, ‘what happened last night was not…not usual for me.’

  ‘Or for me,’ he assured her, a look in his eyes that curled her toes. ‘I have never experienced such rapture before.’

  She gave him a wry smile as she filled her teacup. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls, Roberto Rocha.’

  His eyes flashed coldly. ‘You are wrong, Katherine. I do not.’

  ‘Then I apologise. I just want you to know that one-night stands are not a habit of mine.’

  With intense concentration, he slit open a roll and filled it with ham. ‘You think,’ he said slowly, ‘that I will think less of you because you made love with me last night?’

  ‘It crossed my mind,’ she admitted. ‘Could you do one of those for me, please?’

  He smiled. ‘You may have this one. I will do another.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She munched on the roll for a while, thinking hard. ‘What I’m trying to make clear is that last night was wonderful, unique, and totally outside my experience. But will never happen again.’

  ‘Por que? I was not a good enough lover?’ he demanded.

  Katherine glared at him. ‘Typical male reaction!’

  ‘What else? I am a man, also Brasileiro—and Gaucho. I demand to know why we cannot repeat such pleasure, Katherine.’ Roberto fixed her with a look which turned her heart over, then looked up impatiently as Jorge hurried onto the veranda.

  ‘Telefone, Senhor Roberto. Dona Teresa.’

  ‘My mother at this hour?’ Roberto grabbed his stick and got up. ‘Com licenca, Katherine. Please eat more.’

  She watched him hurry away, stick tapping. ‘How is Lidia this morning?’ she asked Jorge.

  ‘She feels bad that we were out when the letter was delivered.’

  ‘Far better you were both out than either of you got hurt, Jorge.’

  He smiled gratefully. ‘It is wise that you leave tomorrow, but it has been a pleasure to meet you, Doutora. Perhaps you will return soon.’

  Katherine smiled non-committally, and with a bow Jorge took away the tea and coffee pots to replenish them. She wandered over to one of the pillars to gaze out over the garden, so lost in thought she was startled when Roberto’s arms slid round her.

  ‘You look sad, carinha,’ he whispered in her ear.

  She turned, smiling valiantly. ‘Only because I’m leaving soon. But I’m glad you’re leaving too.’

  He smiled exultantly. ‘We shall leave together. But not on a flight to England.’

  Katherine tipped her head back to look up into his face. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I was a long time on the telephone, not only because my mother wished to tal
k. She had a sudden desire to know all was well with me.’ He smiled. ‘When I told her about our adventures she called my father to the phone. He said that I must leave at once. He is a very practical man, and suggested a most simple solution to this threat. I close the house, hire a security firm to guard it for a week or two, and give Lidia and Jorge a holiday.’ He kissed her hard. ‘And here is the best part. My parents invite you to accompany me to the Estancia, Katherine. So we are leaving from Lisbon tomorrow. After much telephoning, I have found two cancellations for a flight to Porto Alegre.’

  Katherine stared at him aghast. ‘But I’ve got to get back to work—I can’t just take off for Brazil, Roberto!’

  His arms tightened. ‘Why not? I will pay for more of your time, and Senhor Massey will give you leave.’

  She pulled away, shaking her head vehemently. ‘You can’t just pay for me, Roberto. Money doesn’t solve everything.’

  ‘In this case it can buy me more time with you,’ he said flatly. ‘Come with me. Just for two weeks if that is all you wish, Katherine, to make up for the stress these threats are causing you.’

  ‘It’s not your fault, Roberto!’

  ‘Of course it is my fault! When my friend returned from honeymoon he told me that Elena had been what you call a gatecrasher at his wedding. She got in with the photographer.’ He shrugged. ‘She saw me there and thought I would be an easy…mark is right?’

  Katherine nodded.

  ‘And I was,’ he said bitterly. ‘No one forced me to get in the car with her, so I know well I am responsible for what happened to me, but not for the loss of her TV job. Yet now she is beginning her bobagem over money again.’

  Katherine shivered. ‘It’s such a good thing you’re off to Brazil. You’re out of her reach there.’

  Roberto’s eyes glittered hotly. ‘But now things are changed between us, Katherine, I do not want to let you go. So come with me to the Estancia, querida.’

  She shook her head sadly. ‘I really can’t do that, Roberto.’

  His dark eyes locked with hers, willing her to say yes. ‘Two weeks is all I ask, Katherine—for now.’