In the Brazilian's Debt

by Susan Stephens

  Chico laughed as buttons flew everywhere. ‘Wildcat!’

  He answered her assault by shredding her flimsy top, and casting it aside, then he freed the catch on her bra and let that drop too.

  ‘Neatly done,’ she conceded. The fire of battle was on her. ‘But I’m not finished with you yet—’ Grabbing the buckle on his belt, she fell back onto the bed laughing as Chico’s hands found the waistband of her jeans at exactly the same instant. ‘I’m never going to win, am I?’

  ‘Do you want to?’

  He had slowed the pace, opening the top button on the fastening of her jeans, and then lowering the zipper with an infuriating lack of speed.

  ‘Lift your hips for me, Lizzie.’

  She obeyed instantly, and he eased her jeans down. Beneath the thick layer of denim she was wearing flimsy white lace briefs. Tossing her jeans aside, Chico concentrated on the one place that interested him, and, thrusting a thigh between her legs, he opened her more for him.

  ‘Yes,’ she gasped out eagerly, locking eyes to drive him on.

  This only made Chico keep her waiting longer. Would nothing bounce him into action? With a fierce growl, she ground herself hard against the heel of his hand, and before he could stop her she lost control again in a violent release.

  ‘You are the greediest woman I ever met.’

  ‘Do you blame me?’ There could be no holding her back now. This time when their gazes clashed, Chico would see a fire in hers that matched his own.

  Lizzie’s eyes were almost completely black as they stared each other down, but there was no depravity in her gaze as there had been in her mother’s. There was just a woman, seizing what she wanted out of life, a woman who had waited long enough.

  ‘You’re still wearing far too many clothes,’ she complained, laughing as she moved like silk beneath his hands.

  ‘What about you?’

  While Lizzie panted out her frustration in needy little moans, he thought it only fair to help her. Brushing her hair from her brow as she sighed beneath him, he felt some long-lost flame light inside him. Lizzie had always been able to reach him. He had forgotten that. And he had always liked teasing her. That, he remembered. He held her pinned down beneath him with his mouth a breath away from her lips. He stared into her eyes for the sheer pleasure of seeing them darken until there was only the finest rim of jade green left. And then she closed her eyes, waiting for him as she had waited for twelve long years.

  She was quiet for the moment, but he knew she was all fire, hunger, and need. And so small compared to him; he was reminded to be careful. Taking his weight on his forearms so that he only brushed against her, he acknowledged that restraint in this instance was torment for him too. The sound of Lizzie’s quickened breathing had aroused him to an uncomfortable extent. And she was right that he was definitely wearing too many clothes. Sitting back on his haunches, he shrugged off the ruined shirt and tossed it aside.

  ‘Still too many clothes,’ she murmured, smiling up at him.

  Swinging off the bed, he tugged off his jeans, and turned around.

  Chico’s naked body was a breath-stealing sight. He blotted out everything else. She saw nothing else but him as he came slowly back to her. Resting over her without touching her, he was close enough for her to map every inch of his impressive chest with her fingertips. She raised her face and he kissed her...tenderly, deeply. Kissing him, feeling him, running the palms of her hands lightly down his arms, was self-indulgence on a grand scale. Throwing her head back, she closed her eyes so she could achieve an even deeper level of concentration as she stroked her hands across the wide spread of his shoulders, and down over the flexing muscles of his back.

  She knew Chico was watching for her reaction, and guessed that the expression in his dark eyes would be faintly amused. So be it. She didn’t care. Use me, take me, any way you want, sang in her mind as he dipped his head to kiss her again, and then deepened the kiss. Their tongues tangled as each of them battled for supremacy. Chico won. The sound of their mutual need fuelled her hunger, and as a fierce heat flared between them Chico pinned her hands above her head, making her cry out with excitement as he rested over her, staring down for what seemed like the longest time, before dipping his head to kiss her mouth, her neck, her breasts—

  Could she stand this level of sensation? She had been starved for so long. She had dreamed of this for so long—

  ‘Let go of all your inhibitions,’ Chico said softly against her mouth.

  ‘I wasn’t aware I had any left.’

  He laughed, and then teased her nipples in between his thumb and forefinger until the sensation made her thrash her head about and she found it difficult to breathe, let alone speak. Chico seemed to know her body’s responses better than she did. She had never been so free with a man—had never realised it could be this good. It never could be with anyone but Chico. Arcing her back in the hunt for more contact, she was glad her wilful body had taken over from her common sense. Chico didn’t help when he started whispering the most outrageous suggestions in both his own language, and in hers.

  ‘Must you have such a sexy voice?’ she demanded.

  He laughed softly, as his massive shoulders eased in a shrug. ‘It’s the only voice I’ve got.’

  ‘And these hands...’ Bringing his hand to her lips, she kissed his palm, and then each of his fingertips in turn. ‘Just don’t speak to me, and please don’t touch me, or I can’t be accountable for my actions.’

  ‘Good. That means I have to control you,’ Chico shifted position, so she was firmly held in his embrace. His soft laughter warmed her, while the sight of his brutally powerful body looming over hers made her fierce with desire for him. Once she took the next step, she would have given Chico her trust completely.

  ‘Why are you smiling?’ he asked.

  ‘Because I want this,’ she said honestly. ‘I want you.’

  She had always wanted him. Reaching down, she took him in her hand, and, shocked by the size of him, she closed her eyes so she could absorb his warmth, his length, his girth, and his silky, thrusting strength. He groaned at her first attempt to work him lightly, and it was a thrill to discover she had this power over him. And when she moved down the bed to lap him with her tongue he groaned again.

  Chico was so relaxed, and so responsive, he made it easy for her to judge what he liked. He excited her and this excited her, so she grew bolder, until finally she controlled him with her mouth and with her tongue, while she cupped him and nursed him in her hands. He trusted her to do this, and even if it was only for tonight this brought them close again, and she’d missed that closeness. Adding to his pleasure became her only goal. She flicked her tongue up and down his length, and was rewarded by the sight of his thigh muscles tightening. Another groan, another whispered instruction, but from her this time, until finally he took her mouth with one careful and lazy thrust of his hips. She didn’t have to wonder if he liked this. Lacing his fingers through her hair, he held her in place as he moved slowly and rhythmically to and fro.

  ‘Enough,’ he grated out between gritted teeth before she was ready to stop. ‘Or I’ll have nothing left for you.’

  She pulled her head back to stare up at him. ‘Do you seriously expect me to believe that? Maybe we should put that to the test.’

  Chico’s firm mouth curved wickedly. ‘You’re not ready for this.’

  ‘Trust me, I am.’

  Taking hold of her, he turned her beneath him. She sighed with pleasure as he palmed her breasts, massaging them with such sensitivity, she could only whimper out her need for more. Her nipples responded instantly, thrusting insistently against the warmth of his hands. Chico was the master of seduction and the master of delay, and he laughed when she writhed against him, which only made him torture her some more. He was teasing her as she had teased him. She’d brought him to
edge and held him there, and now he was doing the same to her. It didn’t matter how much she moved beneath him, writhing and sighing, Chico would only accommodate her needs in his own time, while she was prepared to risk everything for one perfect night.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  HE HAD NEVER felt such a drive to take a woman. Wanting Lizzie was a madness that almost wiped out the past. She felt like heaven beneath his hands, and when he kissed her all his doubts fell away. Those doubts would be back in the form of ‘why hadn’t she answered his letters?’, but for now nothing else mattered more than bringing Lizzie more pleasure than she’d ever known. When she raised her hips for him, and stared into his eyes with the same hunger he felt for her, no other thoughts were possible.

  ‘More?’ he suggested when she cried out with frustration when he made his touch too light, too fleeting.

  ‘Much more,’ she insisted, moving restlessly in the search for more contact and more pressure from his hands. ‘Don’t you dare tease me again,’ she warned him.

  ‘Or...?’ He angled his chin to stare down at her with amusement.

  ‘Or I’ll never forgive you.’

  Her words echoed ominously in his head, reminding him of all that unfinished business. ‘We don’t want to go back to that, do we?’ He forced a smile as he shook the memories off.

  ‘No, we don’t,’ Lizzie agreed, rattling the doubts in his mind with her innocence and good humour.

  Catching her up in his arms, he kissed her again. He had waited a long time for this. Nothing was going to spoil it.

  He would never tire of kissing Lizzie, or tangling his fingers in her copper hair. Bringing her close, he dragged deep on her warm, distinctive scent. She flooded his senses with arousal until nothing else mattered but bringing Lizzie into his dark and sensuous world. He deepened the kiss, mimicking another, more intimate act, and she gasped as he lifted her. Spreading her legs wide, she bound them around his waist, while he supported her with his hands cupping her buttocks. She whimpered and rested her head on his shoulder, but she didn’t remain still for long, and, thrusting towards him, she tried to draw him in.

  He pulled away, which made her wild with want. ‘Now, please now,’ she begged him in a voice hoarse with need. Burying her face in his shoulder, she cried out as he nudged against her and gave her a few tantalising strokes.

  ‘Are you torturing me on purpose?’ she demanded in a shaking voice.

  ‘Maybe,’ he admitted. ‘What if I am?’

  ‘Brute,’ she exclaimed as he lowered her onto the bed and kept her pinned there.

  ‘Hussy,’ he countered as she reached for him to take matters into her own hands.

  ‘You make that sound like the biggest compliment on earth,’ she commented, raising one brow with amusement.

  ‘Where you’re concerned, it is,’ he said. ‘And why shouldn’t you feel free?’

  ‘For once in my life?’ she suggested.

  ‘No more talk, Lizzie. Not tonight.’

  It was just as well Chico had put an embargo on conversation, as she resented the time she might waste forming words. She wanted him. It was that simple, and that complicated, Lizzie thought as Chico protected them both. The urge to feel close to him again was stronger than anything—to be held by him, and feel the reassurance of Chico’s arms around her; to feel his trust, and to trust in him. Trust was the worst thing of all to lose, she had concluded over the years that had separated them. Doubt and lack of trust were so corrosive.

  ‘Where are you now?’ he demanded, jolting her out of these thoughts.

  ‘I’m with you,’ she whispered, smiling into his eyes. And Chico was magnificent, a powerhouse of muscle and strength. She was enslaved by the magic he could work with his hands, and drew in a shuddering breath as his fingertips grazed her arm. He really was the master of the innocent touch that promised so much more.

  ‘Whatever I say you must do, you must do,’ he proposed.

  ‘You’ll be lucky,’ she said, smiling into his wicked black eyes.

  ‘Really?’ Chico challenged her. ‘Shall we put that to the test?’

  ‘Please,’ she encouraged.

  Her excited cries shivered on the sultry air as Chico drew the tip of his erection slowly down, while holding her firmly in place so she had nothing more to do than accept the pleasure. The sheer size and weight of him forced an exclamation of excited alarm from her lips, and that was all it took to make him stop. ‘Don’t—’

  ‘Don’t stop?’ he queried, frowning as he stared down at her. ‘You’re shivering.’

  ‘With anticipation,’ she said as she linked her hands behind his neck. ‘I want you,’ she whispered, moving to help him.

  ‘Then, I’ll take it easy.’

  ‘No need.’ She sucked in a breath as Chico found her, touched her, and did things with his hands that made the world and all its complications go away.

  Covering his hand with hers, she encouraged him. Heaven was a steady rhythm, and a man who knew just what to do. It was the most natural thing on earth when she thrust towards him and drew him in, though she inhaled sharply as Chico moved deeper, stretching her beyond what seemed to be possible, but he was so skilful and patient that pleasure soon eclipsed the shock of his invasion. Even so, he waited a moment so she could grab a breath.

  ‘OK?’

  ‘Too good,’ she managed.

  Turning her face into his chest so he couldn’t see the glimmer of tears in her eyes, she rejoiced at finally being where she belonged with Chico. She’d waited so long for this, and it felt so right, even better than she had imagined. ‘More,’ she whispered, digging her fingers into his shoulders.

  Chico buffeted her relentlessly to a steady and dependable rhythm, until she cried out wildly, ‘Faster—harder—’ The first pleasure waves were building.

  ‘As hard as you want, bonita,’ Chico promised as she clung to him. ‘I love to see you like this.’

  Helpless and greedy for more? ‘Just don’t stop,’ she begged, thrusting fiercely in time with him. ‘Please—don’t ever stop.’

  ‘That’s one request I can’t refuse,’ Chico admitted as he stared down at her.

  ‘Then don’t,’ she exclaimed, letting go in a noisy and violent release.

  She would never be able to get enough of Chico. Her whole body had sprung to ravenous life. The more he made love to her, the more she wanted him. It wasn’t until he was soothing her down yet again, and she glanced towards the doors onto the balcony, that she felt the first twinge of unease. The party was still in full swing. She should be down there—not compromising her position by sleeping with her boss.

  ‘I’m not finished yet,’ Chico murmured as he followed her glance to the window.

  His husky voice called her back to the seductive world only they inhabited, but even when he murmured, ‘Ride me,’ and the temptation to do just that was like a fire burning inside her, she hesitated as she wondered if their raw lust for sex would ever balance with her emotional needs.

  ‘Problem?’ Chico queried.

  ‘No...’ She smiled as she surrendered. Chico was doing things with his hands that made all thoughts of reality vanish, and he quickly brought her to release.

  ‘I can’t seem to get enough of you,’ she admitted when she could catch her breath again.

  ‘Excellent,’ Chico growled as he tumbled her beneath him.

  Resting her legs on his shoulders, he brought her to the edge of the bed, spread her wide and thrust deep, and for a while she forgot everything else, but when he soothed her down and brushed a distracted kiss against her brow, she sensed the fantasy was over. There was a change in his eyes. Chico was replete. He’d fed and now it was time to move on.

  He proved her right, withdrawing carefully and swinging off the bed.

  ‘Where
are you going?’

  She had tried so hard to keep her voice even and undemanding, but the raw doubt shone through, and in spite of trying so hard not to sound needy that was exactly how she sounded. She couldn’t help herself. She felt empty, and inexplicably apprehensive about the future. She’d grown up and learned to feel, but Chico’s feelings were still heavily guarded.

  He stopped at the bathroom door and turned to look at her with nothing but ordinary warmth on his face. ‘I’m going back to the party before they miss me.’ He laughed as if he recognised that it was far too late for that, and with a wry smile raked his hair into some semblance of order. ‘But I’m still going back.’

  ‘Of course,’ she said, flicking her hair back in an attempt to appear equally sophisticated, as if having the most extraordinary sex in the middle of a party was all completely normal and run of the mill for her, too. Chico couldn’t have made it clearer that this had just been a pleasant interlude for him, and that this extraordinary event for her was just part of the evening’s entertainment for him.

  ‘I’ll take a shower,’ he said pleasantly. ‘You can use the other bathroom. Or wait for me to finish, if you want.’

  This was all so cuttingly routine, when she had thought the past few hours life-changing. Chico didn’t say anything else. He didn’t even trouble to grab a robe. Why would he? This was his house, his bedroom—his rules. Naked and glorious, he headed for the bathroom, grabbing his clothes on the way. Quite suddenly she felt like an intruder in his bedroom.

  He was back while she was still giving herself a stiff talking-to, and all her stern resolve to get up and get at it, and just put this behind her, fell away at the sight of him. Dripping water and magnificent with just a towel around his waist, Chico was completely relaxed as he rubbed his hair dry, while she was still trying to work out how to behave in this new role of his temporary bedmate.

  ‘You don’t have to come down right away, Lizzie,’ he said, turning to her as if sensing her indecision. ‘Take your time. You can sleep for a while, if you want to.’