That she was unaware of his presence in the water was in no doubt, a smile curving her lips as she held out her arms and turned her face up to the moonlight, long lashes shadowing her cheeks as she closed her lids.
She was Aphrodite.
Goddess of love.
Rafe’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at her, her breasts full and pert against the sheer material of her nightgown, her waist narrow, hips gently curving, a shadowed triangle visible between her thighs.
His body hardened in response to that beauty, his earlier resolve crumbling into dust as he knew that, despite everything, he still wanted to make love with her.
Cairo raised her lids as she heard another sound besides the croaking of the frogs, turning slowly to the source of that sound, her eyes widening as she watched Rafe stepping slowly up from the pool.
A completely naked Rafe, water dripping down his body, his thrusting arousal obvious as he walked slowly towards her. His gaze held hers as he took her in his arms, his body wet and cold from the water. Then his head lowered and his mouth claimed hers.
They kissed hungrily, deeply, lips and tongues seeking, drinking, devouring, as Cairo’s fingers became entwined in the silky darkness of Rafe’s hair, their legs entwined, bodies pressed closely together.
Cairo groaned as she felt Rafe slip the thin straps of her nightgown down her arms. She felt his cool hand against her heated flesh, her back arching in invitation when, as he had described this afternoon, he cupped one of her breasts to run the soft pad of his thumb caressingly across that sensitized tip, engulfing her in a warmth that reached from her toes to her fingertips.
Rafe kissed her lingeringly on the lips, tasting her, his hand still caressing her as he raised his head to look down at her. Her eyes were half closed, her breathing soft and shallow, a slight flush to the hollows of her cheeks.
His gaze darkened as he lowered it to where his hand cupped and held her, the small, perfect roundness of her bared breasts tipped with nipples of deep coral, full and tight as they pouted towards him in tempting invitation.
Rafe lowered his head to run his tongue moistly around that roused nipple, closing his lips about its coral-pink tip and suckling deeply as he heard her moan. His tongue lapped and rasped over it as his long, slim fingers continued to caress the arousal of that other deep rose tip.
Then Rafe’s hands spanned the slenderness of her waist and he lifted her up into him so that he could feast on those breasts, licking, sucking, feeling the spasms that rocked her body as he gently nibbled her roused flesh before once again suckling her deeply inside the warmth of his mouth.
He moved one of his hands from her waist to slide the silk nightgown up the smoothness of her legs and thighs as he sought and found the centre of her arousal.
She was already moist, her thighs parting as she allowed him to touch her there, to stroke and caress her before his questing hand moved lower and he gently probed that moistness with one finger, and then two, entering her, claiming her as he felt her rush of dampness against the rapidly increasing thrusts.
He gave the hard pebble of her nipple one last lingering kiss before moving lower, kneeling at her feet as his lips and tongue moved over the creamy silk of her waist and stomach, lightly probing her navel before he moved lower still. Cairo’s hips arched in a silent plea as his tongue moved unerringly against the hard nub nestled amongst the silky dampness of her red-golden curls and he felt her response, tasting her, sucking that nub into his mouth until she gasped.
Cairo was lost.
She had been lost from the moment Rafe’s mouth had touched hers and his hands had caressed her, his clever tongue and lips now driving her heatedly, relentlessly, towards a climax that claimed her so quickly, so fiercely, she could only cling mindlessly to his shoulders as the pleasure began deep inside her, her breath now coming in weak, gasping sobs. That pleasure swelled and grew, consuming her, flinging her into a maelstrom of feelings, sensations that seemed never ending as Rafe continued to suckle her and his tongue lapped against her in greedy hunger.
Her fingers clenched in the thickness of his hair, holding him to her as he drained every last vestige of pleasure from her totally acquiescent body.
And still she wanted more, ached for more, wanted to know that pleasure again as much as she needed Rafe buried deep inside her, groaning her disappointment as he stood up and she felt him moving away from her.
He couldn’t leave her now!
She reached out and touched him, watching Rafe’s eyes close as her fingers curled around him. He was steel encased in velvet and she ran her fingers down the long length of him, her other hand cupping and holding him as she caressed rhythmically, hearing Rafe’s groan as her lips trailed moistly across his chest on a downward path to the centre of his arousal.
Rafe’s knees almost buckled as Cairo knelt before him and he felt her lips close about him before she oh-so-slowly drew him deep into the heated moisture of her mouth, his hands tightly gripping her shoulders before he held her away from him as he felt himself losing control.
‘Not yet, Cairo,’ he murmured throatily even as he lifted her up and away from him.
Not because he didn’t like her mouth on him, or that velvety caressing tongue lapping and tasting the hard length of him. Truth be told, he liked it too much, was in danger of just letting go and spilling himself like some inexperienced boy. And he hadn’t drunk his fill of Cairo yet. Hadn’t touched her, kissed her, caressed her nearly enough to assuage eight years of hungry need.
She stood perfectly still as he lowered the nightgown completely to let it fall down about her feet, her breasts small and firm as he lowered his head and kissed each of them slowly in turn before holding her away from him to feast his eyes on her nakedness. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known. So tiny and yet so totally, femininely perfect, her skin soft and silky, and the colour of magnolia, with those rosy tipped breasts so pert and thrusting it made him feel hungry for her just looking at them.
Rafe swung her up into his arms and sat down on the lounger, her legs straddling him, the warmth between her thighs reaching out to tempt him as his hard arousal moved restlessly against that heat.
‘Take me into you, Cairo …’ Rafe groaned. ‘Deep, deep inside you!’
‘Soon,’ Cairo promised as she rubbed herself against him, wetting him, giving herself pleasure, as well as him, as her own arousal mated with his, her aching nipples a caress against the soft hair on Rafe’s chest as she raced towards another climax.
Rafe’s hand moved between them and she cried out as he found her hardened nub, thumb caressing even as his fingers slid smoothly inside her, those thrusts becoming harder, faster, Cairo almost sobbing as her climax peaked again and again.
‘Now, Rafe,’ she moaned. ‘I want you inside me now!’ she begged as she raised herself slightly to curl her hand about him and rub the tip of his hard shaft against her wetness, hearing Rafe’s groans as she teased them both until they could wait no longer. She opened herself to him and took him inside her slowly, her gaze holding his as he entered her inch by pleasurable inch.
Rafe felt as if he were almost going insane as Cairo slowly wrapped herself about his engorged arousal. He felt the quivers of her recent pleasure, longed to thrust deep inside her, hard and fast, needing to assuage his own burning need for release, but at the same time wanting this moment to last for ever.
He groaned again, his eyes closing, as Cairo slowly began to ride him, her knees placed on the lounger beside him to give her purchase as she raised almost to his tip before plunging down again. Again. And again. Riding him steadily faster. Harder. Her hips thrusting, drowning him in sensation, until he felt the first surge of his own release, his hands moving instinctively to her hips as he began to pump deep inside her, grasping her, holding her as he thrust into her in ever-increasing wildness, falling weakly backwards as she continued to milk every last drop from his body.
The fog of desire faded as the cool nigh
t air stroked the aroused heat of Cairo’s body, and she groaned low in her throat as she realized exactly what she and Rafe had just done.
This wasn’t real, she recognized achingly as she stared down at him in the moonlight. This madness with Rafe, the two of them being intimate like this, it wasn’t real. It never had been.
Not eight years ago.
And not now, either.
‘Cairo …?’ Rafe questioned huskily as he obviously felt her withdrawal.
This wasn’t real, she told herself again as she began to tremble in reaction.
She shook her head. ‘We can’t ever do this again, Rafe.’ Her voice broke emotionally.
‘Why the hell not?’ he rasped his disappointment.
‘I— We just can’t!’ Cairo cried, not even knowing how she was going to escape from this with dignity.
Minutes ago, she had been in ecstasy, totally lost to reason, but now she could see this for exactly what it was. A purely physical attraction—at least, on Rafe’s part. Cairo was very much afraid that for her—as it had been eight years ago—it was something totally different.
She stared at Rafe, at his dark beauty, her eyes widening with horror as she realized that, despite everything, she was still in love with him.
Had she ever really stopped loving him?
No, she hadn’t, Cairo acknowledged heavily. Rafe had been her first love and he was also her last love. But he hadn’t been able to love her in return when they were together before, and it wasn’t love he felt for her now, either. She had made a lot of mistakes in her life, but she wasn’t about to make the biggest one of them all by deceiving herself into believing it could ever be otherwise!
She moved up and away from him to turn and pick up her discarded nightgown. ‘I think it’s time I went back inside. Alone,’ she added abruptly so that Rafe should be left in no doubt about her intentions.
‘Cairo?’ Rafe stood up to reach out and grasp her arm, turning her to face him as he looked down at her searchingly.
What the hell had just happened?
Minutes ago, he knew Cairo had been as wild for their lovemaking as he had, and now she was just going to walk away? He gave a puzzled shake of his head. ‘What’s going on, Cairo? Why are you so hot, so wild, one minute and then back to being the ice-maiden the next? Was I just a quick lay? Is that it?’
She gave a pained frown. ‘It wasn’t like that—’
‘It sure as hell seems like it to me!’ he grated.
She shrugged. ‘I—I was curious, that’s all.’
‘You were curious?’ he repeated in a dangerous tone.
She nodded. ‘To see if that physical attraction really was still there.’
Rafe’s eyes narrowed ominously. ‘And?’
‘Obviously it still is,’ she acknowledged dryly. ‘But that doesn’t mean we have to do anything more about it.’
His mouth twisted derisively. ‘Your curiosity has been satisfied. Is that it?’
‘I— It was a mistake. A mistake that’s better not repeated, don’t you think?’ Her face was very pale in the moonlight.
No, Rafe certainly did not think that!
Nor did he believe that Cairo was as coolly dismissive of what had just happened between them as she wanted him to believe. He just had no idea why she was behaving like this. With any other woman he would have said she was running scared from the depth of their response to each other, but he knew it couldn’t be that because it had always been this way between them. From their very first night together their passion had been just this out of control.
‘No, I don’t think it was a mistake, and it’s not what you really believe, either, Cairo,’ he bit out.
She looked momentarily taken aback and then she gave an incredulous laugh. ‘Strangely, Rafe, I find I don’t actually give a damn what you think!’
‘No?’
‘No,’ she insisted as she calmly slipped her nightgown back over her nakedness. ‘It’s only your own arrogance that makes you say differently.’
‘You—’ Rafe swallowed an angry expletive. ‘You’re playing with fire, Cairo,’ he warned harshly.
‘But that’s my point, Rafe; I have played, and I don’t want to play any more.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe Lionel was right, after all, and my tastes have become more—sophisticated, over the years. I certainly hope I’ve learnt never to make the same mistake twice,’ she added.
Rafe drew in an angry breath. ‘Let’s hope you’ve learnt the same sense where Bond is concerned, then,’ he snarled.
‘What’s this got to do with Lionel?’
Rafe’s mouth twisted humourlessly. ‘Unless it escaped your notice earlier, the man obviously wants you back.’
‘It isn’t me Lionel wants, Rafe,’ she contradicted.
‘What do you mean?’ he prompted sharply.
‘Never mind.’ Cairo gave a weary sigh. ‘It really is very late, Rafe, and despite her late night I’m sure Daisy will still be awake bright and early in the morning.’
Rafe looked at her searchingly for several long seconds, a gaze that Cairo returned unblinkingly. Unemotionally. The passionate woman he had held in his arms such a short time ago had completely disappeared behind that façade of cool indifference.
But to Rafe it was obvious now that it was just a façade and he was more determined than ever to penetrate it. For now, though, he knew Cairo had had enough. Of Lionel Bond. And of him. If he tried to push her any more tonight, she would just retreat even further behind that barrier she had erected around her emotions.
He forced the tension from his shoulders and smiled slightly. ‘Okay, Cairo.’ He nodded. ‘Sleep well, hmm?’ he added ruefully—knowing he wasn’t going to be as lucky!
She looked a little less certain as she eyed him guardedly. ‘I— Yes. And you.’
He grimaced. ‘I think I’ll go for another swim and cool off.’
‘Goodnight, then.’
‘’Night, Cairo,’ he echoed huskily.
Rafe stood and watched her as she glided up the steps before disappearing inside the villa.
He stood there for several more minutes and mulled over this last conversation with Cairo, wondering exactly what she had meant by that last remark about Lionel Bond….
CHAPTER NINE
‘NICE of you to join us,’ Rafe drawled dryly as Cairo stepped onto the terrace where he and Daisy were eating breakfast.
‘Good morning, Daisy.’ Cairo completely ignored Rafe’s jibe as she sat down next to her niece and poured herself a cup of coffee. ‘I knew you were up,’ she told him as she sat back in her chair cradling her mug of black coffee. ‘I heard you and Daisy talking hours ago.’
‘Was that before or after we went out and got breakfast?’ Rafe taunted as he helped himself to another of the freshly baked croissants.
‘Does it matter?’ Cairo asked airily.
She had been woken by Daisy’s overloud whispers at least two hours ago, Rafe’s equally audible replies telling Cairo that her niece wasn’t alone, and so she had simply pulled the duvet back over her head and gone back to sleep!
She gave a contented sigh as she gazed out at the tranquillity of the valley. ‘It’s another lovely day.’
‘We’re going home today, Aunty Cairo!’ Daisy could obviously contain her excitement no longer.
Cairo raised questioning brows at Rafe before giving her niece a quizzical smile. ‘We are …?’
Daisy nodded, her eyes glowing and her cheeks flushed. ‘I wanted to come and wake you hours ago so I could tell you, but Uncle Rafe wouldn’t let me disturb you.’
‘What I actually said, Daisy, was that women of your aunt’s advanced age need all the beauty sleep they can get!’ Rafe corrected mockingly.
Cairo had wondered just how she and Rafe were going to face each other again after the incident down by the pool last night—now she knew! Sarcasm was obviously the order of the day….
She gave him a saccharin-sweet smile. ‘And I thought we had agreed last ni
ght that, at the advanced age of thirty-seven, it’s you who needs your beauty sleep?’ That Rafe looked very lean and dangerously attractive in a white T-shirt and faded jeans gave lie to that statement!
Daisy turned to look at Rafe, her eyes wide. ‘Are you really thirty-seven, Uncle Rafe?’
Rafe gave a rueful nod of his head in Cairo’s direction as he heard the note of awe in Daisy’s voice. ‘Daisy, honey, when you’re older, you’ll realize that men are like a fine wine—they just get better as they mature.’
‘Or they become as sour as vinegar,’ Cairo put in lightly.
And not exactly honestly, where Rafe was concerned, she acknowledged inwardly. He did have at least one thing in common with a fine wine, as last night testified only too well—the last eight years had just made him more headily potent!
He looked across at her with teasing blue eyes. ‘I think your Aunty Cairo is—confusing her wines,’ he drawled.
That was quite enough of that conversation, Cairo decided firmly. ‘So, we’re leaving later today …?’ she prompted in a pointed attempt to change the subject.
Rafe continued to hold her gaze challengingly for several more seconds before nodding. ‘Jeff telephoned earlier; Margo and baby Simon are going to be discharged tomorrow morning.’
Cairo’s face lit up and she put her coffee mug down on the table so that she could give Daisy a hug. ‘That’s wonderful news!’
Rafe took advantage of Cairo’s momentary distraction to take in her appearance. She looked sleek and tanned this morning in a knee-length cream sundress, her legs bare and silky. She had cream flip-flops on her feet, and her face was bare of make-up, too, apart from a peachy gloss she had applied to her lips.
The lips that still looked slightly bruised from the force of their lovemaking the previous evening….
His stomach muscles clenched. Dammit, he had promised himself he wouldn’t think about last night! At least, not until after he had safely delivered Daisy back to Margo and Jeff, anyway….
Cairo was still smiling as she looked across the table at him. ‘What travel arrangements have you made for Daisy and me?’
Hot Nights with a Spaniard (Mills & Boon M&B) (Mills & Boon Special Releases) Page 9