The Latin Lover

by Lucy Monroe

  He spun her bodily against the wall, his hands either side of her head, his face a study in light and shadow and his eyes glinting with need. ‘Important business.’

  He cupped her jaw with one hand, and then his mouth was on hers, punishing and yet sweet, firm and yet so utterly gentle, a marauder and yet simultaneously a seducer.

  Her heart sang as she gave herself up to his pleasure, as she gave herself up to him. Her Alejandro. And even though she knew he could never really be hers she had him now, she had him for tonight. And, with the deal she’d brokered with him, she’d have him for as long as he wanted her.

  She would live to regret it, she had no doubt. She would wake up and be disgusted with herself that she had practically thrown herself at him when she had done so well escaping from him the first time.

  But that was later. Right now one thing motivated her and one thing only. And it wasn’t her brother and the knowledge that he would now be saved from the retribution of the money-lenders. Right now it was more important that Alejandro was going to make love to her. And she might hate herself afterwards, she might wish she’d been stronger and figured out a way to save Jordan all by herself, but it would be worth it!

  His hand scooped down her throat, lingered over one tight breast and down over the flare of her hip. Fire scorched a trail in its wake. ‘Dios, I want you,’ he muttered, his voice grating as his fingers bunched in her skirt, the tension obvious in his clawed fingers. ‘I cannot wait for the car to get us back to the hotel.’

  And neither could she. Not when she could feel his hard length pressing into her belly. Not when she wanted to take him inside, to wrap herself around him and never, ever, ever let go.

  ‘We don’t need to wait,’ she whispered, and his growl told her it was the response he most wanted.

  Almost by instinct they melted silently away from the lights and into the shadowed recesses of the garden. A trellised rose arbour framed with trimmed hedges shielded them from view from the restaurant on one side, while the harbour glistened under the moonlight and the reflections of the city lights on the other. Ferries and other watercraft cut their way through the water, jostling with people heading home, going places—busy people.

  But here in the scented garden there were only two.

  A gentle breeze stirred the leaves above, winding the sweet fragrance of roses around them. He spun her back into his arms, holding her so close she could barely breathe, and even when she did it was only to capture the scent of him, one more part of him inveigling itself into her senses.

  His hands were everywhere, sliding down the length of her arms, firing up the naked skin of her back and capturing her breasts, caressing them, kneading them with an urgency that fed into her wants and needs. His hands were everywhere, and yet never anywhere enough. She angled herself closer to him and he groaned, his hands going to her hips and pulling her close against him, grinding her against his own need.

  ‘I want you,’ she told him, because there was no need to lie, no need to hide the truth any more. It was the truth and, besides, he’d know damn well she was lying if she told him anything else. ‘Make love to me, Alejandro. Make me come.’

  He gave her no time to change her mind, even if she’d had half a mind to. He hustled her hard against the back of a timber park bench, cupping her behind with his hands, his heat like a brand on her skin, before lifting her, sitting her atop the bench. She felt the cool kiss of air as he smoothed the silk skirt of her dress up her legs. She trembled, her back arching, as his fingers neared their goal, brushing against her curls, teasing her.

  ‘Are you cold?’ he murmured as he nuzzled against her neck.

  Far from it. She was burning up with desire, aflame with need. Then he touched her—there—and her world almost came apart. ‘Alejandro!’ she pleaded, as his fingers tested her control, her arms anchored tight around his neck, her fingers splayed desperately in his hair. ‘Now!’

  His hands left her as he prepared himself for a space of time she knew to be only seconds and yet which seemed an eternity. And then he was back and butting against her, seeking entry to her very core, holding himself there as if all the waiting, all the anticipation, had distilled into this one crystal-clear moment. And it occurred to her right then and there, as he hesitated on that knife-edge, that this coupling had been as inevitable as night following day, that her fate had been sealed the moment he’d walked into her shop. It had been inevitable that she should end up back in the Spaniard’s bed.

  And then with a cry, half-groan, half-victory, he was inside her.

  Bliss!

  That sheer bliss of the moment of joining, the feel of him inside her, filling her, stretching her. There was nothing like it in the world. It was everything she ever wanted. And then he moved, slowly withdrawing, only to fill her again, and her bliss was magnified tenfold.

  She wrapped her legs around him, holding him tight to her even when he pulled back, keeping him locked in her embrace and welcoming him back inside when he returned to her, always wanting him deeper, wanting more.

  And he answered her demands. He gave her deeper and he gave her more, until there was no more to give, nowhere left to go for either of them. She felt herself come apart as he pumped into her, shattering into a myriad twinkling particles that scattered on the wind and merged with the stars and the harbour lights around, before drifting slowly earthwards again.

  Limp in his arms, drained of energy and her breathing ragged, she rested her head against his chest, his heartbeat thumping loud in her ears. I love you, she mouthed against his chest, as tears squeezed silently from her eyes.

  She was his again, and she had never felt better, had never driven him to such heights merely by welcoming him into her body. He rested his head on hers, kissing her hair, feeling her breathing steady and calm.

  Beyond their private enclave the world slowly came into focus again—the sounds of music and laughter wafting from the restaurant, the hum of harbour and city traffic. He eased himself away, supporting her while he slid her down, holding her tighter when she swayed on landing.

  She was his again, and vulnerable, the walls she’d built up around herself laid to waste. It was worth the price, getting her back, even if it was only to ultimately cast her off. He would certainly get his money’s worth in the interim.

  He’d lifted her chin with one hand to kiss her when he saw the glistening on her cheeks. He touched a finger to her skin, felt moisture, and felt something inside himself stretch tight. ‘I hurt you?’

  She shook her head and brushed her cheek with the back of one hand. ‘It’s nothing. We should go, the car will be here by now.’

  She turned away and he let her slip out of his arms, perplexed. Given his plans for her, why had it even occurred to him, let alone mattered? He shrugged. Short answer—it didn’t.

  He caught up with her, his mind already turning to more pressing matters. He’d enjoyed their unexpected entrée immensely. Now it was time to get her back to the penthouse and rediscover what other delights were on the menu.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘How long will it take you to pack?’

  They were naked on his endless bed, amid a tangle of Egyptian cotton sheets, Leah half asleep and lying face down amongst the plush pillows, her head turned to one side, while Alejandro lay propped up on one elbow, tracing lazy patterns on her back with his fingers.

  It was long past midnight. The curtains were drawn back and letting in the city night lights, bathing an abandoned room service trolley, its platters and domed covers in disarray, in an unearthly glow. To one side sat a crystal ice bucket where leant a forgotten bottle of champagne in a cold water bath, the ice long melted.

  She’d lost count of how many times during the night they’d made love, then dozed and woken to eat, only to make love all over again. It had been a night of pure hedonism, a feast for the senses, and yet still her Spanish lover kept coming back for more, still she responded as if it was the first time. It was almost as i
f their desire and passion for each other had been banked for the months they’d been apart, and now they were making up for lost time.

  But to ask a question about how fast she could pack without even a hint as to where they were going or for how long? It was a stark reminder of her place in this relationship, a reminder that eventually this night and their bedroom equality would end, and that once again he would be the one calling the shots. Once again she was reminded that she was just his temporary lover, no more than a mere accessory to his busy life.

  ‘Where are we going? Back to Madrid?’

  ‘No,’ he declared without a pause, only for his fingers to suddenly still. ‘Or at least not just yet.’ Just as abruptly his fingers resumed their travels, trailing lower, this time pushing the bunched sheet down over her rump so that he could extend his range.

  She squirmed a little, shoving aside any deliberations over why he had been so adamant at first that they would not be returning to Spain as his massage moved from the soothing to the erotic in a heartbeat. It shouldn’t be possible for a body to become aroused and find completion so many times in one night, and yet somehow Alejandro knew the magic, knew the key to her body that would set her aflame.

  She squirmed into the pillows, not ready to give in to the demands of her body just yet. ‘Then if not Spain…?’

  ‘There is a half-built casino development in Queensland with plans for an entire resort. The developer has gone bankrupt. It sounds promising.’

  Her silken arousal turned to sawdust.

  ‘So that’s why you’re here in Australia? To check out this casino?’

  She detected rather than saw the shrug of his well honed shoulders, through the hand placed on her back and the slight movement of the mattress. ‘Why else?’ he rattled off easily.

  It shouldn’t hurt. She should know better than to let it hurt. But it still did. She buried her face deeper in the pillow and arched her back, pretending a response to his ministrations rather than his words. Why else, indeed? And, seeing he’d had to come to Australia, he’d figured he’d catch up with a convenient bed partner—someone he could blackmail into the job one more time for old times’ sake.

  She sniffed, and brought her arms up under her chin as his hands kneaded her buttocks. What was the point of torturing herself about it? He hadn’t come to find her because he’d suddenly decided he loved her; she’d known that would never happen. And he certainly wouldn’t have bothered to come all this way merely so he could blackmail her into his bed. Which was exactly where she was, come to think of it, totally naked under his expert hands. It was hardly time to get precious about her pride.

  ‘Whereabouts in Queensland?’

  ‘Caloundra,’ he said, his fingers softer now, more sensual, as they circled her hips, tracing the hollow between her legs, teasing. ‘If it suits our purposes it could become a launching pad for the Casino de Diamante group in the Asia-Pacific region.’

  Leah squirmed, involuntarily pushing herself towards his delicious touch. She knew Caloundra. Or she’d known it years ago, when she’d spent some time there on a holiday trip with some girlfriends. Once a sleepy town on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, the area was booming and fast becoming the new Gold Coast. No wonder it was attracting the likes of casino and resort developers.

  ‘So when do we leave?’

  ‘Eight a.m.’

  She lifted her head to glance at the bedside clock and panicked. It was almost three now. ‘I’d better go,’ she said, pushing herself up on her arms. ‘I have to organise things for the shop, and I’ll want to call Jordan before we leave.’

  ‘You can’t go yet.’

  ‘Why not?’ She rolled over, and the question became redundant. He was magnificent, kneeling there alongside her, his olive skin shadowed, his black hair swept back and falling free to his shoulders, his dark eyes intent. But it was the erection he proudly bore that took her breath away. Long and thick, as hard as steel and yet with a velvet kiss, it bucked and twitched even as she watched. She reached out a hand, touching a fingertip to its tip, and slowly circled, skating on satin. This time it bucked harder.

  He grabbed her wrist, pulling it away. ‘See what you do to me?’ he said, his words coming through gritted teeth. ‘You cannot leave me like this.’

  There was no way she intended to. Not when her prize would be to have that—him—inside her. She let him push her hand down onto the sheets alongside her, watching him climb over her, spreading her legs with his knees.

  Between them his erection swayed like a promise. He was beautiful, her Spanish lover. For all his faults she could not deny him that. He was magnificent. Superb. Insatiable.

  And for the next however long he was once again hers, if only in bed.

  She’d take it.

  He kissed her then—her eyes, her lips, her throat. He suckled her nipples, rolling them with his tongue, grazing them with his teeth, devouring them before moving lower, blazing a trail of silken kisses south.

  ‘Alejandro,’ she protested, but he offered her no respite from the exquisite torture, no relief. His chin brushed her curls and she cried out again, her fingers tangled in his hair. But still he didn’t listen. He spread her wider, his tongue delving into her most secret places, circling that tight but tender bud, dipping into her honeyed depths, before returning his attentions to that swollen flesh.

  There was nothing she could do, no place she could go but up, and he took her there—all the way. Launched her into orbit and sent her spinning, spiralling out of control. And then he was inside her, pumping into her, arresting her slide and sending her higher still. She closed tight around him, wanting to take him with her, wanting to never let go, wishing it could be for ever.

  And then with a cry he came, a shuddering thunderclap of a climax that sent her plummeting into the abyss once again.

  He watched her while she slept, her head nestled against his shoulder, her body tucked tight against his own, one leg nestled between his own. It was nearly five. He’d have to wake her soon, if they were going to get away on time, but right now he was content to watch her in the moonlight, to watch the steady rise and fall of her chest, to feel the fan of her breathing against his shoulder.

  She was falling in with his plans perfectly—performing her duties in the bedroom beyond expectations, and dropping all hint of wariness or suspicion around him. It was just as it had been before she had left him. It was as it should be. She was his for the taking.

  He hauled in a breath, letting it out on a long exhale. But would the time he had to spend in Australia be enough? Yes, she was his again. More his than ever after that last mind-blowing encounter. Was there any need to terminate things so soon? The sex was good. Better than good. And the longer he kept her around, the more he could enjoy what she had to offer—and, meanwhile, the more she’d think she was on her way to becoming permanent. Then, when the end eventually came, it would pack more of a punch than ever.

  He rolled the idea around his mouth, tasting it, testing it for weakness. It was appealing, no question, but that would mean taking her back to Madrid with him, and that came with complications.

  No, it was swift and sudden retribution he was after. He would just have to make the most of her here. A few days, surely, would be more than enough to take the edge off his needs, and then he would cast her away as easily as she’d walked away from him.

  A few days would be more than enough.

  Caloundra had grown up since Leah’s last stay. As the private jet circled the sky before landing, it was clear the beachside town had turned into a thriving city. Apartment blocks lined the magnificent Pacific coastline, luxurious canal housing developments signalled the birth of a new generation of millionaires—millionaires ripe for the picking. No wonder Casino de Diamante saw this as a perfect opportunity to break into the Australasian market.

  The plane banked, and the view through her window changed, sprawling suburbs giving way to a verdant subtropical hinterland from whic
h rose the spectacular Glasshouse Mountains, a cluster of eroded volcanic plugs rising hundreds of metres out of the plain.

  ‘You’ve chosen well,’ she said, leaning across to Alejandro, who was also taking in the view. ‘A growing region and a busy tourist destination. Your casino should do well here.’

  He turned his eyes from the window and regarded her solemnly, almost as if she had crossed some kind of threshold by talking business with him.

  ‘Sí,’ he said at last, breaking the silence and eye contact at the same time, as he returned his gaze to the window. ‘That is what we are hoping. The next few days will be busy ones for our team.’

  ‘Your team?’

  He turned back to her, a wry smile lighting his features. ‘Expansion into Australasia is not a decision I can make alone. There are legalities, endless applications and regulations. And that is if the development is indeed deemed suitable for our purposes.’

  ‘I assumed you were quite sure.’

  He shrugged, pushing himself back in his seat as the plane touched down on the runway. ‘What looks good on paper can look quite different in real life. The structure is half built, and has been left to the elements a long time while parties argued over who was to blame. It may already be too late either to save it or to alter it to our purposes. There are a dozen of our people on their way here now, to evaluate all the angles. We will meet with them, and the vendors and the government officials, this evening at a reception.’

  ‘So we could be here some time, then?’ she said, trying to get a handle on her immediate future as they taxied towards the small airport. ‘A few days to a week or more?’

  He turned to her again, and something unfathomable moved across his eyes. ‘I’d say a week will be more than sufficient.’

  His words and his cold delivery made her shiver, even long after she’d stepped from the air-conditioned comfort of the private jet into the warm subtropical air outside.