by Olivia Gates
* * *
Awareness trickled between cottony layers of fulfillment. Then Ellie realized what had roused her. Rafael was rising off her, leaving her body.
Before she could whimper with his loss, she moaned her contentment. More bliss settled into her bones as he swept her around, draped her over his expansive body, stayed inside her, mingling their sweat and satisfaction.
Closing her eyes, she let the moment integrate into her cells. She’d need these precious memories to tide her over for the rest of her life.
When one day this ended.
But it wasn’t over yet. And she’d cherish every moment with him. Celebrate being alive and desired by him for any length of time.
“If I’d known how it would be between us...” his voice rumbled beneath her ear. “That it would far exceed even my perfectionist fantasies, I would have taken you weeks ago.”
She raised a wobbling head, marveled anew at his beauty, and at how incredible their bodies looked entwined.
“See? Next time just give in to my demands.”
His lips curved. “I certainly will. But then I think we needed this past month, of deepening our knowledge and appreciation of each other and suffering denial, to reach this unprecedented level of intimacy and ecstasy.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” He tugged her hair, turning her face to where he was pointing. “See this?”
“Your jacket?”
“Yes. The jacket full of protection I didn’t use.”
She rose on trembling arms, palms on his sculpted chest, dismay surging. She hadn’t even thought of protection. Again.
Or had she...?
In a heartbeat, she saw a whole realm of possibility, a life revolving around a baby with raven hair and silver eyes.
She sat up, feeling his seed inside her, transforming her from girl to woman, a woman who’d give anything for it to take root in her womb.
But that was her. He wouldn’t feel the same.
“You could be already pregnant.”
She looked away. “You don’t need to worry about it.”
His finger beneath her chin turned her face back to his, but she kept her eyes averted. She didn’t want to see anxiety in his eyes, and the beginning of the end.
“Look at me, meu coração.”
The way he said that—my heart—dragged her eyes back to his. And what she saw in them had now-familiar hot tears crowding behind hers.
“Though I hope you’re not, just because I would like us to have more time to ourselves before we become parents—there’s nothing I want more than for you to eventually carry my child.”
Her throat closed, emotions a burning coal. “Rafael...”
“Eu te amo, Eliana, my answer to my every prayer.”
She stared at him. Had he really said I love you?
“I believe I loved you at first sight, and even before that. I believe I’ve been waiting for you my whole life, recognized you even before I saw you. Now I know I can’t live without you. Literally.” He sighed deeply. “Today, when I thought I might lose you, I no longer wanted to live. I want you with me forever, meu amor. And I want our forever to start now.” A touch that was worship itself cupped her trembling face. “Tell me you want me forever, too. Tell me you love me.”
She tried to obey his command, blurt out all that was in her heart. But she couldn’t breathe. His words, his confessions... As usual, he was too much.
“You don’t love me?” He rose beneath her, scowling. Then a look of absolute arrogance gripped his face. “You might not love me yet, but you will. I will make you love me.”
That made her splutter, “Are you kidding? Wasn’t it the most blatant thing in existence that I loved you from the first moment, too?” She cupped his face, hands trembling in wonder. “I love you so much it’s been a constant pain and dread.”
His frown was back full scale. “Why pain and dread?”
“Because I thought you’d never feel the same. Because I thought you’d one day walk away and I’d never see you again.”
His scowl deepened. “How could you think such nonsense? Haven’t I been showing you in every minute and in every way how much I feel for you? And I’m never, ever, walking away.”
Knowing it would take her a while, maybe forever, to come to terms with the idea that he felt all that for her, she exhaled raggedly. “Now I have one regret.”
“I can’t have you feeling any such thing.”
“Oh, it’s a benign one. I now wish I didn’t tell you I love you totally. I would have loved to see what lengths you’d go to ‘to make me love you.’”
“No need to wonder or imagine. I will go to all those lengths anyway. To that end, I’ll need to make you my wife.”
She gaped at him.
He dragged her to him, possessed her lips in a kiss that almost extracted her soul before he withdrew, his voice a deep, ragged entreaty. “Marry me, Eliana.”
Nine
Ellie bent to taste the powerful pulse in Rafael’s neck.
Dragging her teeth down his shoulder and chest, she whispered hot, explicit words of desire into his flesh.
Then she came to the scar that was the one thing marring his perfection. It snaked from his back over his left kidney around to his abdomen below his ribs. He’d only told her it was an emergency surgery when he was much younger, and wouldn’t go into specifics. It hurt her, terribly, every time she saw it or touched it. But it didn’t seem to hurt him. And when she touched it, like now, especially with her lips and tongue, it sent him berserk. As she traced it now with both, his great body shuddered beneath her on a long groan of torment.
Feeling all-powerful eliciting such desire from him, she squeezed his steel buttocks as she slid her leg between his muscled, hair-roughened ones, her knee pressing an erection that felt harder and more daunting than ever before.
It never ceased to amaze her, the constantly renewable need they shared. They were both on fire again and it had been only an hour since they’d last made love.
Like always with him, time warped. It had been six weeks already since he’d asked her to marry him. Since she’d said an inordinate number of yeses. And those six weeks felt at once like six hours and six years. So much had happened since. So many experiences, so much delight. So much love.
Love. She still couldn’t believe it sometimes. Rafael loved her. As much as she loved him. Though being the supreme alpha male who had to be superior in everything, he insisted he loved her more. Way more, according to him. She’d only said she had a lifetime to prove him wrong on that front.
She’d moved in with him that same day. Or rather, she’d stayed where she was. He’d assigned her a PA who’d gone to her place to pack everything in meticulously sorted boxes and to get her out of her lease. He wasn’t about to let her keep a place a two-hour drive away, and if he had his way, she wouldn’t drive again. Or be in a car again. He actually assigned her a helicopter to take her to and from her father’s offices.
She let him shower her with extravagances. For now. He was too rattled by her accident and was overreacting. She would gradually pull him back from the extremes he now went to—to protect and pamper her—to a more rational level.
Though in one arena, she really hoped he’d never stop being excessive. In bed. Those unusual demands he’d said he’d make on her that first night? That had been an understatement.
If anyone had told her in her oblivious inexperience that she’d meet the insatiable demands of a sex god like Rafael, she would have scoffed. What they had together shouldn’t even be possible. But it was better than possible. It was real. And it was beyond description.
What made their intimacies even more incendiary was that they continued to be just as incredible together out of bed. Rafael was get
ting more and more embroiled in her work with her father, as well as her work at the orphanage. And he was letting her into his world, introducing her to his “brothers” and involving her in his work.
And that was where she’d discovered the level of his sheer, mind-boggling genius.
She now realized that his Numbers pseudonym was apt. He was a literal genius in that regard—and the ramifications of his ability were almost endless. Not that he appreciated it when she used that classification. He’d made it clear she shouldn’t repeat it to anyone, because he never wanted anyone to know the true extent of his capabilities. It was very helpful for him to be underestimated.
Realizing “anyone” included her father, she made it clear that anything about him, or between them, would never be divulged to anyone else.
It remained the only dim area in the glittering wonderland that was her life with Rafael. That the man she loved was taking longer than expected to warm up to his future father-in-law. And that was when her father, seeing how magnificent Rafael was to her, now thought him an answer to his prayers, too.
Not that Rafael did anything to indicate he disliked her father. It was just...a feeling. Overtly, he went to every length to be attentive and welcoming, and he was taking serious interest in her father’s business woes. He even had her providing him with all the details so he could come up with solutions. She had no doubt he would. After all, he could do anything.
Another thing she was gladly letting him orchestrate was their wedding.
She still could barely believe that in two weeks’ time, she’d be Senhora Moreno Salazar. Or, as she’d told him while laughing until she cried, she’d be Eliana Larsen Ferreira Moreno Salazar.
Rafael had put the world at her disposal in preparing their wedding. But she’d insisted he do it instead, on the caveat that he made it a very simple ceremony. Just them, her father and half brothers and his brothers, right here on the mansion grounds.
She wasn’t widening the circle to friends and colleagues because it would only detract from the real purpose of the ceremony. Their union. All she wanted was his ring on her finger, and to profess their vows in front of their nearest and dearest before rushing off to resume “plunging deeper into passion.”
Yeah, that had turned out to be the only accurate way to describe what they had.
She now couldn’t wait to tumble into that abyss once more.
Painting his body with her fingertips, trailing patterns over him with her hair, she chuckled when his whole body vibrated.
“I hope you know what you’re inviting with this act of extreme provocation.”
“Which act are you referring to?” She nipped his nipples, pouring fuel on his reignited passion, her own raging.
And it was his fault. In their last hour-long lovemaking session, he’d upgraded her experience from multiple to continuous orgasms. He’d sure created a monster. At least, a bigger monster than the one he had spawned from the start.
He grabbed her around the waist, lifting her as if her one hundred and forty pounds were minus the hundred, making her straddle him, scorching lust flaring in his eyes. “I have a list. Each with a consequence all its own.”
She rocked against him, sliding the lips of her core up and down his incredible length and girth and hardness, bathing him in her flowing arousal and their combined pleasure.
“Terrible consequences, I hope.”
“Unspeakable.” He dragged her down at the same moment he thrust upward, impaling her to her core.
Eyes rolling back, his name tore out of her, body and mind unraveling at the excruciating expansion and pleasure.
Then he was showing her the consequences of teasing him, his full force behind every ram, sparking orgasms from the trigger he hit over and over in her depths until all existence converged on him and what he was doing to her.
It soon became too much, and she shrieked for that final explosion that would finish her. As always, knowing just when to give it to her, he quickened his thrusts to a jackhammering rhythm until her body gushed molten agony. Just as ecstasy became a constant current, he roared and lodged into her womb, jetting his seed, filling her to overflowing.
She jerked with every hot wave of pleasure, her insides quivering, overloading—then blackness....
* * *
Reluctant to exit that realm of bliss but eager to rejoin Rafael, Ellie’s eyelids drifted open. Slowly adjusting to the light, she saw he was now at the end of his expansive bedroom, theirs now, putting the last touches on his immaculateness in front of the full-length gilded mirror.
He met her gaze in the mirror at once, his nostrils flaring with that all-out passion she’d become addicted to and that now formed the foundation of her world.
“I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful. All I wanted, of course, was to disrupt that peace and corrupt that apparent innocence, but regretfully, I have an appointment.”
She kicked off the duvet he’d covered her with, stretching luxuriously, jutting her delightfully sore breasts at him. “One that couldn’t be postponed for a mere half hour?”
“Temptress. I’ll take it all out on you when I come back.” He strode back to her in all black, looking every inch the ruthless, unstoppable god of finance. “But for now, I’ll have one for the road.” Sitting down beside her, he pulled her into his arms, lips soothing her nipples, hands caressing her all over until she twisted in his arms, her breath hitching.
“Shh, let me take care of you, meu alma.”
Her thighs fell apart for him, and his fingers sought her core knowingly, tenderly, as they plunged inside. Pumping into her while his thumb ground her bud in circles, in the exact pressure and speed to spill her into a hot, sharp climax almost at once.
Melting in his embrace, she sighed. “Even when pressed for time, my fiancé knows how to give me a sample of delights to come, to ensure he leaves me burning for more.”
“It is my evil plan.” Suddenly his lust-hooded gaze turned serious. “Speaking of plans...I wanted to talk to you about something.”
She struggled to sit up, feeling this was big. “What is it?”
“It’s about Diego, and the bond we share. I want to offer him more than visits and sponsoring. I want to discuss the possibility of fostering him or even adopting him. I know he’s a little old to be your son, but maybe a younger brother...”
She leaped into his arms, clinging around his neck frantically. “Yes. Oh, God, yes, Rafael. Whatever you wish, whatever works. Diego is an angel and he loves you so completely. Oh, God, I love you so completely it hurts.”
His eyes and lips filled with such tenderness. “As long as the hurt is a good one.”
Burying her lips in his neck, she trembled with emotion. “The absolute best.”
Pulling back, he caressed her flushed cheek. “I shouldn’t have broached this huge subject when I have to run. But mull it over. Think practicalities and logistics. I realize it’s a lot to take on, but I want us to do it. For Diego, and for us.”
She nodded, a galaxy full of stars in her eyes as he kissed her and stood to leave.
Cupping her cheek, he pledged, “Eu te amo, minha Eliana, my answered prayers. The prayers I never even prayed.”
* * *
She went back to sleep as soon as Rafael left, dreaming such wonderful dreams. All vague and unconnected to their reality or the new possibilities with Diego. But she woke up soaring. And almost certain about something.
An hour later, after calling one of those pharmacies that delivered, the “almost” part was gone.
She was pregnant.
Sitting down, heart pounding, she held the strip with the vivid pink lines in her hand.
This was...too much. Everything was too perfect. Too incredible. Rafael on his own was already all that. But his love, a future with him, wi
th Diego joining their family...and now a baby already?
She was certain she’d conceived that first time he’d taken her. He’d claimed her so completely, and she’d surrendered so totally that night, needing him to put his mark on her. And he had. His seed had taken root inside her and was growing into a precious, little miracle.
She couldn’t wait to tell him. Though he might be a bit disappointed he’d have to compete with his child so soon for her love and attention, it was up to her to show him he never had to worry. Her love for their baby would never interfere with hers for him. Never.
Jumping up, she dressed in a hurry, intending to surprise him. As he now no longer went to his offices on weekends, he was having his meeting in a hotel nearby. He never brought work and work-related people home. The only ones exempt from being considered work were his brothers.
Stopping, she groaned. She’d forgotten. He’d invited three of those intimidating Black Castle men for dinner.
After meeting the other two who were coming tonight, Raiden Kuroshiro and Numair Al Aswad, she considered Graves the lesser evil.
Rushing downstairs, she called Rafael’s driver, and Daniel told her Rafael had finished his meeting and was already back home.
Joy swept her as she rushed to find him. It was 6:00 p.m. and his brothers should arrive around eight. She had time to tell him the news. And maybe for one more lovemaking session.
Approaching his study—“their place”—she heard him talking. Slowing down, she debated whether to walk in or wait until he finished his call. Then she heard another voice. Then another. His brothers were already here.
Dammit. What were they doing here so early?
As she stood undecided about what to do, one of them said something. It was Numair. She’d recognize his arctic voice anywhere. And what he’d said hit her between the eyes like an icicle.
He’d said, “We put our bigger plans on hold so you could come to Brazil and get close to Ferreira. We did only because you wanted the satisfaction of looking him in the eye as you destroyed him.”
