his chest within inches of hers. His hand still on her breast, testing, teasing, he inhaled the scent of her in the hot afternoon air.
He could already taste her desire on his tongue, smell it on the wind. Also her fear.
He slid his hands around her back, pulling her close. She stood like a statue, the air between them thick with tension.
He laid his palms over the dip of her waist, enjoyed the curve of her backside. He could hear her breathing, feel her arousal swelling like a bud thickening and preparing to open.
Against her will.
If he lifted her dress he’d bet her panties were already damp with longing. His erection strained against his zipper.
Maybe he’d take her here, on the hard stone of the patio, under the unforgiving sun. With the mountains watching in stern silence.
Her lips parted and a shaky breath escaped. Her eyes slid closed for a second as her insides quivered under his fingers. He felt her muscles contract under her neat dress.
Waiting for him.
Hoping.
Their tongues clashed as he kissed her, hot and hard. The taste of her was intoxicating, a drug he’d craved.
Her body crushed against his, lithe with passion as she kissed him back, clutching his face to hers with eager hands.
A low, guttural moan escaped her as he lifted her dress and tested her slick heat with his fingers.
He slid a finger into her silky depths and she rocked against him. He held her steady with one hand behind her back as he brought her swiftly to climax with his finger and thumb.
His power over her was absolute at this moment. Eyes closed, she gave herself over to the fierce magic of the moment.
The tremor raged through her and he caught her as she almost lost her footing. Panting, she rested against him for a second.
Then she realized he’d stopped and was just standing there.
Staring at her.
Prim and proper Susannah Clarke’s eyes were black with passion. A dark flush heightened her proud cheekbones and her long dark hair hung about her shoulders, wild from his caresses.
He let her dress fall back to her calves.
Didn’t say a word.
Her glaze of passion lessened and confusion flickered in her eyes.
Good.
She smoothed the front of her dress, suddenly self-conscious. He could see her nipples, still peaked under the soft fabric.
“You don’t find it easy to say no to me, do you?”
His cruel question made her blink.
Why should he be the one lying awake, tormented by memories of that night? Let her suffer. So cool and calm and collected, as she delivered her life-shattering news.
She checked the buttons on the front of her dress.
“Don’t worry, you still look virginal.”
His mocking tone made her blink again.
“Though, of course, we both know better.” He tilted his head. Contemplated the possibility of touching her firm breasts again. “What would your big boss say, if he knew?”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t?”
“How do you know? I’m a virtual stranger. We spent one day together.” He licked his lips. “And one night.”
She backed away. This time he let her.
“You know me as Amado Alvarez, of Tierra de Oro.” He snorted. “Or at least that’s who I used to be until you showed up.” He hesitated. Watching her squirm. “He would have kept your sexy secrets. Amado Alvarez was a man of honor.”
He inhaled, then let out a long, slow exhale. “But apparently, I’m not the man I thought I was. I’m the son of this…Tarrant Hardcastle.” He spat the name like a bad taste. “Who knows what I’m truly capable of?”
The patio doors flung open and Ignacio crashed out onto the terrace. “What the hell is she doing back here?” he raged, eyes bulging.
Amado froze. He’d never seen his father like this. Ignacio could express strong feelings in an argument, or when his favorite football team was losing, but Amado’d never seen him yell at a woman.
Since Susannah showed up, bringing the ugly truth about his parentage, everything had changed. He didn’t know who he or anyone else was anymore.
Susannah shrank away, tugging her jacket over her dress as if covering her nakedness.
Ignacio moved toward her. “Get out, now! I’ve never laid a hand on a woman, but by God, I’ll throw you out myself if you don’t—”
“Calm yourself.” Amado stepped forward and grabbed his father’s arm. “Susannah is here on business.” He shot her a dark look.
She made a vain attempt to tuck her gorgeous wild hair behind her shoulders.
“She has no business here but to disrupt our lives.”
Susannah stepped back. Amado couldn’t resist a powerful urge to defend her. “She brought the truth, didn’t she?”
His father frowned.
“The truth that you planned to keep from me. Don’t I have a right to know the circumstances of my own birth? To know who brought me into this world?”
The force in his own voice surprised him. But suddenly he did feel strongly about it.
“It was for the best.” His father rubbed his temples. “I thought it was for the best.”
Anger heated Amado’s blood as long-buried resentments rose to the surface. Nagging doubts he’d silenced for years now crept out of the darkness. He was beginning to suspect he had every reason to despise Ignacio for his lies. “Is that why you drove away Valentina?”
He still remembered the heated shouting matches he’d had with his father when he was nineteen and desperately in love. Ignacio had point-blank forbidden the marriage, saying she was unsuitable as an Alvarez bride.
He’d wondered at the time if Ignacio was secretly behind her sudden change of heart. Now Amado saw the ugly truth unfold in front of his eyes. “You wouldn’t accept her as my wife, not because she was illegitimate, but because you didn’t want anyone to find out that I am, too?”
Ignacio hesitated. Rubbed a hand over his face. “If you’d married as a minor, they would have seen your birth certificate.”
The confession chilled his blood. He’d suspected the truth all along, but never been sure. Her change of heart had been too sudden, too final.
Now,
