He knew, she thought dreamily as their bodies swayed together in time with the music, one tune spilling into another so that she lost all sense of time and place and was conscious only of Diego—the hardness of his body and the subtle perfume of his aftershave, mingled with male pheromones that tantalised her senses. She didn’t want to ever stop dancing, and felt a lurch of disappointment when the band announced they would be taking a break while the firework display took place. But, instead of releasing her, Diego kept his arm firmly around her waist as he led her outside and drew her to the edge of the crowd.
Starbursts of gold and silver shot across the sky and were reflected in the inky blackness of the lake. Rachel tilted her head to watch, supremely aware of Diego standing behind her, and she gave a little shiver when she felt him brush his lips down her neck in a feather-light caress.
The pyrotechnic display ended with a cascade of sparkling colours falling down to earth. There was a round of applause and, as the guests returned to the marquee, silence fell around them, a prickling, shimmering silence so intense that Rachel was aware of the faint, uneven whisper of her breath.
‘It’s not working, is it?’ Diego murmured in her ear, his accent very pronounced and heart-stoppingly sexy.
Rachel turned to face him and shook her head, bemused by the question. ‘What isn’t?’
‘Trying to ignore the hunger that is eating away at both of us,’ he said softly.
She understood immediately, but understanding did not lessen her confusion. ‘But you never gave any indication during the past two weeks that you wanted …’ She broke off, her face flaming, and his smile widened into a predatory grin.
‘You?’ He finished her sentence for her. ‘I promised myself that I would behave in a professional manner in the workplace. But that doesn’t mean I have not secretly fantasised about barricading us in the hay barn and making love to you until we were both utterly sated.’
‘Oh.’ Rachel made a muffled sound, shocked not so much by his bluntness as the image in her head of him fulfilling his fantasy.
‘Yes. Oh, Rachel.’ Amusement lilted in his voice, but the expression in his eyes made her blood pound in her veins. ‘The question is, querida—if we cannot ignore it, what are we going to do about it?’
His words hovered in the air between them, shredding her fragile composure. ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. But she did know, she acknowledged as every nerve-ending in her body tingled. He had aroused her sexual curiosity, and she wanted to explore the feelings he evoked in her, just as she wanted to explore the hard contours of his body and run her hands over his golden skin. There was no reason why she shouldn’t go to bed with him. She was a single, independent woman who could live her life as she chose—but was he free?
‘Are you involved with anyone at the moment?’ she demanded baldly. She knew from what she’d read about him that Diego was seldom without female companionship!
‘Definitely not.’ Diego’s eyes narrowed. ‘Nor do I have any desire to be,’ he told her firmly, needing to establish right away that he was not in the market for a relationship that demanded permanency or commitment. The past weeks had been purgatory as his desire for her had become a hungry monster that clamoured to be fed, and tonight, watching her dancing at the party in her floaty skirt which revealed her slender figure, he’d no longer been able to deny his fierce need. But, as with all his previous lovers—and there had been many, he owned unashamedly—a relationship with Rachel could only be on his terms.
‘The party is almost over,’ he said, flicking back the cuff of his dinner jacket and glancing at his Rolex. ‘Do you want to come back with me—for coffee? Proper Argentinian coffee beans—’ he tempted her with a smile ‘—not cheap powdered stuff.’
Rachel recalled his expression of disgust when he had sipped the coffee she had made him at her caravan. Diego was a millionaire and clearly never had to shop in discount supermarkets. It was a little thing, yet it emphasised the huge social divide between them. But, despite their different backgrounds, they were still just a man and a woman, and when passion had blazed between them two weeks ago the fact that she was a stable-girl and he was a wealthy world renowned polo player hadn’t seemed to matter.
She could barely believe that he was asking her back—they both knew that the invitation was for more than coffee. With his stunning looks and blatant sex appeal he was spoilt for choice. He could have any woman he wanted. But the undisguised hunger in his eyes filled her with a fierce excitement that refused to listen to caution. Right now, Diego wanted her, and the knowledge made her tremble.
‘All right,’ she said shakily, but then paused as she remembered that he was staying at Hardwick Hall. ‘I can’t turn up at the Hall without an invitation from the Earl,’ she murmured, wondering if Diego intended to smuggle her up to his room via the staff staircase.
‘I am no longer the Hardwicks’ house guest.’ Diego ran his hands up her arms, savouring the feel of her satiny skin beneath his fingertips as he moved up to her shoulders and traced the fragile line of her collarbone. Every night since he had arrived in Gloucestershire, he had lain awake thinking about kissing her again, but now the waiting was over and he bent his head and brushed his mouth over hers, felt her tremble and wrapped his arms around her, aware that he couldn’t kiss her as he wanted to yet.
‘I like my own space, and I’m renting a cottage on the estate. It’s situated in a very secluded part of the woods,’ he added softly, grazing his lips over hers in a tantalising caress that promised so much more. ‘I can guarantee we won’t be disturbed all night.’
And if she left early in the morning, no one would know she had been there, Rachel realised, her excitement escalating once more now that her last nagging doubt had been dismissed. She would prefer not to be the subject of gossip and speculation among the estate staff.
‘Well, then …’ she murmured, her breath snagging in her throat when she glimpsed the predatory gleam in his eyes. Diego’s mouth curved into a smile that made her pulse-rate accelerate. But, instead of kissing her again as she’d hoped, he caught hold of her hand and led her away from the marquee.
CHAPTER FOUR
DIEGO was staying in the old gamekeeper’s cottage. The house was small and simply furnished, but Rachel barely noticed the décor when he ushered her inside and immediately pulled her into his arms. She couldn’t quite believe she was here with Diego Ortega—internationally famous polo player and the man who had featured in the shockingly erotic fantasies she’d been having lately.
But her doubts were outweighed by a compelling certainty that this was somehow fated. She felt as though she had been waiting all her life for him, which was a dangerous thought, she acknowledged, because she was well aware that he would not be a part of her life for very long. She was under no illusions that Diego wanted anything more than sex with her—and perhaps he only wanted her for one night. But, far from being disappointed, she felt a sense of relief. She wasn’t ready for a love affair; she valued her independence too much. Still, that didn’t mean she had to live the life of a nun.
She found it difficult to think straight when he was sliding his fingertips lightly up and down her spine, and she could not restrain a little shiver when he brushed his lips along her collarbone and hovered over the pulse beating frenetically at the base of her throat.
‘Would you like coffee, or a drink?’ He eased away from her and took the two steps necessary to cross the tiny kitchen. ‘There’s champagne … or champagne,’ he said, his sultry smile making her heart flip. He wasn’t joking, Rachel realised when she glanced inside the fridge and saw that it was devoid of any basic necessities and instead contained two magnums of champagne and a jar of caviar.
He popped the cork with the same familiarity as most people would open a carton of milk, filled two glasses and handed her one of them. Rachel already felt dizzy—as if the bubbles fizzing in the glass had somehow entered her bloodstream, and when she sipped the pale gold liquid it se
emed to be an elixir that swept away her doubts. She wished he would kiss her, and he must have read her mind because he put down his glass with a deliberation that set her heart thudding.
‘Come here.’
His eyes gleamed gold beneath his heavy lids. Tiger’s eyes, Rachel thought as she moved towards him. He was powerful and dominant and a part of her was appalled at how easily he could control her, but when he snaked his arm around her waist and jerked her up against him she could think of nothing but the hardness of his thighs pressed against hers, and the tantalising warmth of his body beneath his black silk shirt.
He took the clip from her hair and threaded his hands through the mass of gold silk that rippled down her back before claiming her mouth in a searing kiss that was shockingly demanding. ‘You are so tiny,’ he murmured when he finally lifted his lips from hers and straightened up so that he was once more towering over her. ‘And so very lovely.’ His gut clenched as he stared down at her delicate heart-shaped face. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this overpowering need for a woman, this heavy drumbeat of desire that seemed to throb through his entire body. He had watched her and waited for her for two long weeks, and anticipation had added a certain piquancy to his desire, but now he could not wait a moment longer to possess her. ‘We will definitely be more comfortable horizontal, querida,’ he muttered hoarsely.
Horizontal meant bed, Rachel thought shakily, feeling a frisson of nervous excitement as the enormity of what she was about to do sank in. But he gave her no time for second thoughts. She gasped when he lifted her up, and she had no option but to wind her legs around his hips and curl her arms around his neck as he strode through the living room and up the narrow staircase to his bedroom. His hands cupped her bottom and, as he mounted the stairs, the feel of his hard arousal nudging between her thighs was so intensely erotic that heat flooded through her and she felt a heavy sensation deep in her pelvis.
‘You see, much more comfortable,’ he said thickly as he deposited her on the big bed and immediately stretched out next to her. Rachel had a vague impression of an airy white-walled room with dark wood ceiling beams and the bed with its carved headboard and crisp white cotton sheets. But then Diego leaned over her and the stark hunger she glimpsed in his eyes before he brought his mouth down on hers drove every thought from her mind except that she was lying on a bed with the man she had secretly idolised even before she had met him in the flesh.
His tongue probed between her lips until, with a gasp, she parted them and he thrust deep into her mouth in a sensual exploration. It was mind-blowing and she responded to him helplessly, sliding her fingers into his thick, silky hair as he trailed his lips down her throat and then lower to the faint swell of her breasts. Rachel held her breath, waiting for him to slide the straps of her top down her arms, but instead he slanted his mouth over one taut nipple straining against the silky material and sucked her wetly until she twisted her hips restlessly and felt a flooding warmth between her thighs.
He transferred his mouth to her other breast, and the feel of his tongue laving her through the now wet silk heightened her senses and her need to a level that was almost unbearable. But when he drew the straps of her top over her shoulders she could not prevent herself from tensing. No man had ever seen her naked before and she suddenly felt shy and unsure. Diego had dated some of the world’s most beautiful women, supermodels with stunning figures. But she was thin and her breasts were unexcitingly small, and she squeezed her eyes shut to block out the disappointment she was sure she would see in his as she felt him tug her top down to her waist.
‘Perfecto …’ he said raggedly. ‘You are exquisite, querida.’
Startled by his husky tone, her eyes flew open and she swallowed at the expression in his dark gaze. ‘You don’t have to lie,’ she mumbled, colour stealing into her cheeks when he cupped one pale mound in his hand. ‘I hate being skinny and shapeless.’
‘Not shapeless,’ he insisted as he stroked her soft flesh and watched in fascination as her nipple hardened into a provocative peak that seemed to beg for him to take it into his mouth. ‘You are as delicate and fragile as a porcelain figurine, and so fine boned that I’m afraid I will crush you beneath me.’
She trembled at the image in her head of him covering her body with his and bearing his weight down on her. Would he take it slowly? A bubble of hysteria rose in her throat as she imagined his response if she asked him to be gentle with her. She knew instinctively that if she revealed she was a virgin he would refuse to make love to her, and she could not bear for him to reject her. Before she had met Diego, she had believed she must have a low sex drive as none of the men she’d dated stirred her. Now she knew she had been waiting for the right man, but she needed to prove that she was not like her mother, and she would not confuse lust with love. She wanted to have sex with Diego, but that was all she wanted, and she was in complete control of her emotions, she assured herself.
‘You won’t crush me, I’m stronger than I look,’ she told him softly, running her hands over his chest and fumbling with his shirt buttons, trying to disguise the fact that her fingers were shaking. She pushed the black silk aside and stroked his bare chest, loving the feel of his satiny skin overlaid with a covering of dark hairs. She had never touched a man before, and she studied his rippling abdominal muscles in fascination before sliding her hands up to explore his tight male nipples.
‘I knew you would be a witch,’ Diego said unsteadily. ‘You have cast your spell over me. But now it is my turn to torment you, mi belleza.’
Rachel caught her breath when he lowered his head to her naked breast and painted moist circles around her nipple before taking the swollen peak fully into his mouth. Lost in the world of sensory pleasure he was creating, she lifted her hips so that he could remove her skirt, and she shivered when he slid his hand between her legs and stroked the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. She could feel the sticky wetness between her legs and she was embarrassed by the unmistakable evidence that she was desperately aroused, especially when he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her tiny lace knickers and drew them slowly down.
‘So lovely,’ he said thickly as he ran his fingers over the triangle of gold curls he had exposed, before he gently parted her and eased between her slick velvet folds. ‘And so very ready for me.’ His voice was laced with rampant male satisfaction, but Rachel could not deny it and she arched her hips when he slid his finger deeper into her while his thumb pad found the ultra-sensitive nub of her clitoris and he caressed it until she sobbed his name.
‘Please …’ Everything was new and incredible and she wanted more, needed him to soothe the burning sensation in her pelvis.
‘Soon, querida,’ he promised as he suddenly sprang from the bed and tore off his shirt. ‘I’m afraid this won’t be a leisurely seduction. I want you now, and I can’t wait—but you share my impatience, don’t you, my Rachel?’
Her brain was barely capable of conscious thought, but as she dwelled on the phrase ‘my Rachel’ something tugged at her heart. It made her feel special, as if she was truly his, but no doubt he used the same endearment with all his lovers, she reminded herself, aware that it was important she took this for what it was—sex with no emotions involved on either side.
Diego dropped his shirt carelessly on the floor and as his hands moved to his belt Rachel stopped thinking and watched, wide-eyed, as he stripped off his trousers. His underwear could not disguise his fierce arousal, and her mouth ran dry when the boxers joined his trousers and she was faced with a naked and proudly erect male for the first time in her life.
Her immediate thought was that he wasn’t going to fit—that sex between them was surely a physical impossibility. Up to this moment she had been driven by curiosity, and each new caress from his hands and mouth had increased her excitement. But now, as she stared at his rigid length, her doubts came storming back and she shrank back against the mattress when he came down beside her. Diego seemed unaware of her sudden tension, a
nd when he brought his mouth down on hers and his long silky hair fell forwards to form a curtain around them both she forced herself to ignore her apprehension and kissed him back, running her hands over his muscular torso and feeling the hard ridges of his muscles.
‘It has to be now, querida,’ Diego muttered hoarsely. He hadn’t been this turned on in years. He was so desperate for her he felt as though he was about to explode, and he swiftly positioned himself over her—and then stilled abruptly and cursed savagely in his native tongue.
Rachel could not understand the words, but the anger in his tone was unmistakable. She stared at him in bemusement. Had she done something wrong? she wondered fearfully. Could he have guessed that this was her first time?
‘I’m sorry, Rachel. I did not expect to invite anyone back tonight and I don’t have any protection,’ he growled harshly, his frustration palpable.
Did she come under the label of ‘anyone’? The unsettling thought came into Rachel’s head and brought home to her that Diego might just as easily have brought another woman from the party back to his cottage for casual sex. She pushed the thought away and concentrated on her relief that he was not rejecting her because he had somehow discovered that she was in unchartered territory.
‘It’s all right. I’m on the pill,’ she murmured. After years of monthly misery her doctor had advised her to take it to regulate her periods, but she was aware that it was also the most reliable method of contraception.
The agonising frustration that had gripped Diego’s body dissipated and excitement thundered through his veins. He was on fire for her and relieved that there was no reason why he could not make love to her. He refused to admit to the fleeting feeling of disappointment that her air of innocence which so intrigued him was not real, and that she was obviously sexually experienced.
Instead, he slid his hands beneath her bottom and angled her for his possession. His penis strained urgently against her moist opening and he slowly eased forwards, a shudder running through him as her tight muscles closed around him and clasped him in a velvet embrace. As he entered her, his eyes locked with hers and he was puzzled by her expression—the look of wonderment and surprise, as if this was all new to her. She was so incredibly tight … He frowned as he withdrew a little and then thrust deeper into her, heard her faint gasp. ‘Rachel…?’
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