“What does that mean?” he rapped, still scowling blackly.
“I’ll show you.” Taking hold of his hand, she guided him to the site of her piercing, which was still a little sore. “This is where I kept the micro-transmitter.”
“What?” He stared at her in amazement, and then he laughed. “I did wonder how you smuggled it past the slavers.”
“So now you know. The gadget’s new to the market, and it fooled them.”
“This time,” Diego cautioned, but his expression had softened from battle mode to amusement.
“It will soon heal if it’s left alone,” she added pointedly.
“No chance of that. How did you get rid of it?” he asked as she sank lower in the bed.
“Crushed it beneath my heel. They very kindly gave me spiky stilettoes to wear, so I made full use of them. I could always add to my collection of decorative accessories for private viewing only?”
“At some later stage, perhaps.”
“My thoughts exactly,” she agreed.
“It’s good to see you’ve got your sense of humor back.” Laughing, he brought her into his arms, and then he was kissing her, and in between kisses, they were laughing and smiling with relief against each other’s mouths.
Making gentle, sleepy love was definitely the best way to start a new day, Celina concluded. Diego had moved to lie behind her, so he was caressing her as he made love to her. She had never felt so warm and safe, and for the first time in a long time, she felt as if the horrors of the past couldn’t touch her. She barely had to move other than to clutch the pillow as Diego moved steadily back and forth. When he touched her at the same time, she couldn’t hold on.
“Just let go,” Diego whispered.
He took her on a wild ride that went on and on as he prolonged it with long, firm strokes, but it was his kisses when she came down that finally broke her. She was glad he couldn’t see her tears. He was being so careful, it was as if he was making love to her rather than just having sex.
I love you. She wanted to say the words out loud but thought she might spoil everything.
“Stop thinking,” Diego instructed in a low, amused growl. “Just feel. Be content in the moment.”
“You want me to be content?”
“I should have known that’s too much to ask,” he murmured as he turned her on her back.
His hands worked magic. His mouth promised more delicious pleasure than she could handle, and his eyes…his eyes promised too much. His kisses were gentle to begin with, but they soon grew in force. She matched him, grasping, holding, gripping him, as if kissing Diego was as vital as taking her next breath. He was fierce and tender at the same time. They were together. They were unharmed. They were safe. He was her mate, and she was his. This was primitive love at its most feral, and at its deepest too, she acknowledged as she threw away all restraint and every bit of doubt she’d ever had.
~~o0o~~
He watched her expression turn from furious passion to sleepy contentment, and knew this was something special. Celina’s appetite matched his, and though she still reached for him, he took it slowly this time. He wanted to drink in the little sounds she made, and kiss her between her hectic breaths. He brushed his stubble against the pulse beating frantically in her neck just for the pleasure of hearing her gasp with excitement. She was on the edge again in moments, staring at him wildly to communicate how vital it was that he didn’t stop. He had no intention of doing so until she came apart in his arms. She was a delight to him, and he would never tire of seeing the force of her release. Plundering her mouth, he mimicked the act that made them both hungry for more. He’d never known pleasure like it and thrust possessively deep. They reached a violent climax together, and as they clung to each other, lost in pleasure, lost in each other, he knew this was how it felt to come home.
“Again,” she whispered, clinging to him.
Withdrawing slowly, he left her completely before steadily entering her again. She was still so aroused, she came immediately, and the spasms were so powerful, she brought him off too. They hadn’t finished yet, and as he continued moving, he added some persuasive pressure to the end of each stroke. She fell immediately, and he was forced to hold her firmly in place as yet another climax gripped her. When she quieted, her eyes asked questions he was happy to answer. “Of course I want you again.”
He rolled her onto her side, and she curled up, bringing her knees to her chin. Lifting her buttocks, she made herself available for pleasure. She liked this, and so did he. He could take her from behind and touch her at the same time.
Eventually, she slept. They both did. Dozed, really. He woke and knew for certain it was time to take a shower. He picked up his watch on the nightstand and glanced at it. “We’ve got around half an hour to take that shower.”
“Do we have to?” she muttered sleepily. “Only, I’ve got a better idea…”
“I’m sure you do,” he agreed, smiling. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her into the bathroom. It was quite a crush. The shower on board had not been designed to accommodate two adults fucking like rabbits. But of course, he found a way. Bracing his arms against the side, he laughed as Celina tried to arrange herself around him without impeding his moves. Steaming water increased the sensitivity of nerve endings that had already been given a thorough wake-up call. The result was sensational. Celina groaned excitedly as she took him to the hilt, and from there, it was turbulence all the way.
~~o0o~~
Diego beneath the spray was everything good and clean, and bad and dirty. He was the most inventive lover even in the confines of the shower. He looked amazing. He was amazing. Thick black hair curled wildly around his face, catching on his stubble, while his magnificent body, muscles pumped from vigorous activity as well as the adrenaline of sex, gleamed invitingly beneath the spotlights. “I could eat you,” Celina admitted.
“What’s stopping you?”
Dropping to her knees wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It required a lot of adjustment, but the effort was more than worth it. He tasted so good, she could have stayed beneath the spray forever. Diego had other ideas. She felt him tense, and he groaned at the point of release. “Dios, Celina, has to be your turn now.”
“Is there time?”
“There’s always time,” he said as he lifted her to her feet. Pushing her up against the shower wall, he dipped at the knees and took her again. There was hardly room to move, but they made it work, and they both ended up laughing as they crashed into a phenomenal climax. “The more I give, the more you want,” he remarked as they rested, panting against each other.
“Are you surprised?”
Diego shrugged. His lips pressed down attractively. “If we don’t get out of here soon, the jet will have landed.”
“Do you care?”
He considered this for all of two seconds. “No. But as I’m supposed to be landing this thing…”
Laughing together after everything they’d been through was the best therapy. It brought them close enough to see the promise of tomorrow in each other’s eyes.
~~o0o~~
They dried themselves, dressed, and Diego was back in the cockpit in time to land the jet smoothly. She was keen to get back to the tech department to find out what the mission had achieved, and they agreed to meet up again at the stables. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to link fingers when they disembarked.
“You told me you know how to ride. Would you like to now?”
Shading her eyes against the sun, she stared up at Diego. “Yes, I would.”
“They told me you’re good with horses,” he explained, “but I haven’t seen you in the saddle yet.”
“Haven’t you?” She raised a brow.
He grinned and shook his head. “Not riding the way I mean. We could go out later. With you on a pony this time,” he suggested deadpan. “That’s if you’re not too tired?”
“You’ve restored me,” she teased, keeping the humor alive. �
��Just don’t give me a mule to ride,” she warned as Diego gave her a lingering kiss before they parted. “I’m confident on a horse. You don’t see me riding only because my tech skills are more use to the team.”
“I’ve got a bay gelding my stallion will tolerate.”
“How about the bay tolerating your stallion?” she countered.
Diego laughed. “I hope you’re not drawing comparisons between you and me and the horses?”
Angling her chin, she gave him a look. “And what if I am?”
He smiled slowly. “I’d have to teach you the error of your ways.”
“Please,” she said, and with a toss of her hair, she left him to climb into the back of the staff SUV.
“Move over, small fry—”
She turned around with surprise to see Diego. He’d ignored the chauffeur-driven limo that had arrived to take him back and had swung in beside her instead.
“We’ll drive back together,” he said with a shrug. “Okay with you?”
She stared into his eyes and saw warmth and heat and humor, and…love? “Okay with me,” she confirmed, feeling happier than she could ever remember.
~~o0o~~
His stallion was snorting and prancing, impatient for his exercise, when Celina arrived in the sun-bleached stable yard ready for her ride. “You should let Rose train him,” she commented, referring to the Irish horse whisperer and constant companion of his Argentinian Romani colleague, Dante. Everyone agreed that Rose could turn the devil’s mount into an obedient pony.
“Mount up. We’ll take our chances.” He was teasing her. He would take no chances with Celina’s safety. The horse he’d chosen for her was a stable companion for his, and though his stallion was notoriously temperamental, the bay was calm, and the two animals were lost without each other.
“Nice horse,” she approved, stroking her mount’s firm, silky neck.
Once again, she impressed him. Springing lightly into the saddle, she adjusted her stirrups without anyone’s help. “Shall I lead the way, or will you?” she asked.
He dipped his head. “Is that a serious question?”
Being confident on a horse proved to be a masterly understatement. Celina could ride like a demon. “Is there anything you can’t do?” he shouted to her as they galloped across the scrubland.
“Keep up with you?” she shouted back.
He reined in, allowing her to catch up. She was smiling and flushed when she rode alongside. She stared at him and held his gaze a beat too long. “Dismount,” he said tensely.
“And make it fast?” she suggested, understanding his needs absolutely.
He grinned as he sprang down from his stallion. Lashing their horses’ reins to a tree branch, he turned. “Get over here.”
Celina’s eyes darkened with arousal and challenge. “You get over here,” she commanded.
They met somewhere in the middle in a clash of arms and kisses.
“Fast,” Celina urged as she yanked at his clothes.
“I brought you here to admire the scenery,” he teased as buttons flew everywhere.
“Really?” she demanded as she ripped his shirt from his shoulders.
Grabbing the edges of her top, he yanked it apart.
“What am I going to wear when I ride back?”
As she was working on his jeans, he was surprised that she cared. He told her so.
“You might care,” she countered with a look.
“So tie the edges under your—” He broke off to hiss between his teeth as she freed him and cupped his balls. “You’re a witch. This will be over before it begins if you don’t—”
She stroked him persuasively. “You wouldn’t dare. If I believed you, I’d stop.”
“You will stop,” he promised as he lowered her to the ground, “because I want you now.”
There was no foreplay. No finesse. None needed. Celina lay on her back, and he sank to the hilt with a groan. The day was warm, the grass was soft, and their hunger was as fierce as ever. She threw her head back with pleasure. He thrust firm and fast, bringing them the release they still so desperately needed. The more he gave, the more she wanted. Her body seemed to grow more sensitive each time they made love. “More! Faster!” she insisted, and the harder he took her, the better she liked it.
~~o0o~~
Celina reckoned she must have passed out for a while. She came to in Diego’s arms to find him kissing and soothing her from the most spectacular bout of lovemaking. “Hey, look at that,” she whispered, staring around. “Snow-capped mountains and a beautiful riverbank. The scenery here is spectacular.”
“I did tell you,” he murmured, smiling into her eyes.
Could anything be better than this? “How long have I been asleep?” The angle of the sun suggested late afternoon. Shading her eyes, she looked at him, then shivered.
Smiling reassurance, he drew her close. “You’ve been asleep some time. Understandable, don’t you think?”
“Do I look worried?”
“You shivered when you woke up.”
“Then you can’t have been holding me tightly enough,” she teased. Why now, of all times, did she feel so anxious? “Hold me tighter still,” she begged as Diego’s arms closed around her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as she shivered again.
I love you, and I need to hear you say you love me too. “Nothing,” she protested with a smile.
Diego hummed, obviously not convinced. He shifted position so he could see her eyes, and his expression gentled, warmed. This was the moment, she thought, holding her breath. He was going to say something for sure.
He didn’t.
The moment passed, and nothing was said. She guessed the rumors about him were true. Diego wouldn’t commit himself to loving anyone, because he was totally devoted to his work for Blood and Thunder.
And that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Celina’s inner demons insisted. No risk, no pain. No love, no loss. But then, when she was least expecting it, he said, “I think I love you.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You think you love me?” Celina queried, tamping down the feelings inside her.
“I love you,” Diego stated firmly.
She couldn’t have been more shocked. Diego loved her? Surely she couldn’t have gotten that right. She wanted to hear him say the words, and so she’d imagined them. “There’s a big difference between thinking and knowing.”
Diego shrugged, his dark gaze impenetrable, and refused to commit himself one way or the other. That was when her lodestone, self-preservation, kicked in. She had to cut off her feelings or put up with what came next. “What exactly are you saying?” she pressed.
“That’s obvious, isn’t it? I don’t want this to end here.”
“On the river bank.” She tried to make light of it.
There was curve on Diego’s lips she couldn’t interpret. It wasn’t a smile or a smirk. It was a look that suggested she should know what he meant. But she didn’t, and it was easier to doubt than to believe. The gulf between hope and reality was too big even for her strong will to bridge. Biting back the stab of disappointment, she smiled and reached for her clothes.
He sprang up too. Maybe he was relieved. His actions were smooth and unconcerned as he dressed, though he pulled a face briefly at the extent of the button damage. There was no sign of him feeling the same turmoil she did.
But then he turned, and, cupping her chin, he made her look at him. “I know that face,” he said.
She recoiled, remembering that the last time she’d heard those words, they had come from the mouth of a slaver. She tried to speak and couldn’t move her lips. Remembered fear had returned. She wasn’t a hero, as Diego had suggested. She hadn’t felt brave when she was dragged into the doctor’s surgery by the thug. She’d been petrified and helpless. She’d been overconfident in the planning stages of her mission and had forgotten to add simple human emotion into the mix. She knew now how debilitating that could be, and how it could
stall a brain and reduce a young, fit body to a useless blob of Jell-O.
“Celina?” Diego asked with concern.
We’re wrong for each other, she thought with certainty as she stared into his eyes. Framed by blue sky and sunlight, Diego had never looked more impressive. He was the most handsome man imaginable. But he had a position to maintain. Hundreds of people worked for him across the world. He was in all the society magazines. They called him the world’s most eligible bachelor. What would he want with damaged goods like Celina? The Duke of Monte Caliente was the darling of society. How could she stand at his side? How could she ever explain to him what humiliation felt like, or that she never wanted to suffer it again? She should do what she’d always intended and make the break between them clean and fast.
“There’s something I have to confess,” she admitted.
“This is beginning to sound like your sign-off,” Diego commented. His tone was faintly amused as if he couldn’t imagine anything she had to say could shock him.
“Blood and Thunder changed my life,” she admitted.
He frowned. “And almost got you killed.”
“I almost got me killed,” she argued. “You saved me.”
“And you saved countless others,” he insisted. “But that’s not what this is about, is it, Celina?”
“I owe you so much.”
“Cut the bull,” he snapped. “I owe you so much, but I don’t want your gratitude, and neither does the team.”
He was waiting for her to say something, but she couldn’t find the words to counter his argument. It was always the same when happiness was within touching distance. She had to frighten it away. It was how she’d always avoided disappointment in the past. “This was all part of my plan,” she said.
“What was?”
Spaniard Untamed Page 10
