he looked in pain. No wonder his big capable hands shook so badly he’d dropped the soap more than once.
The knowledge set every nerve ablaze.
‘I’m getting out.’ Luisa struggled to rise.
‘Wait!’ Heedless of the water, Raul hauled her out with an ease that reminded her of the power hidden under his clothes. She sank into him, spreading her hands over his saturated shirt and muscled chest.
‘You need rest.’ His jaw set hard as if with strain.
‘That’s not what I need.’ She tilted her chin and met his gaze. ‘I need you.’
There, she’d said it and the world hadn’t collapsed around her! In fact it felt good.
‘Now.’ Her fingers curled tight in his sodden shirt. She raised herself on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.
In a flurry of urgent movement he lifted her, strode out and laid her on the bed. Seconds later he’d ripped his shirt open and shrugged it off. Luisa’s pulse rocketed as she took in his sculpted torso with its smattering of dark hair. His hands went to his trousers as he heeled off his shoes. A moment later he stood naked and imposing.
She forgot to breathe as she surveyed his perfect form, felt the power radiating from him. Then thought ended as he joined her. He was like a furnace, burning hot.
He touched her all over, palms smooth, fingers teasing. He skimmed and stroked and even tickled till she squirmed and tried to reciprocate. But he held her, his thigh clamped her still, his hands capturing her wrists.
The torture began as he used his lips, tongue and teeth on her body. Minutes turned into an aeon of pleasure.
It was as if he tried to compensate for the speed of their earlier coupling. Delight piled upon delight till Luisa was strung out, quivering with need and pleasure. It was too much, too intense.
‘Please, Raul,’ she gasped. ‘Don’t tease.’
He looked up under hooded lids and her breath snagged as he tugged with his mouth at her breast. He held her gaze as his tongue circled her nipple then lapped hard, drawing hot wires of desire through her taut body. She groaned and instantly his hand slid down, stroking at her most sensitive point.
That was all it took.
She cried out as waves of ecstasy crested and crashed within her. Still he held her gaze, even as the world swirled around her and she bucked helplessly beneath his touch. It was wonderful; it left her speechless.
But it wasn’t Raul.
Luisa clutched at his shoulders and finally, as she sagged spent against the mattress, he settled between her thighs. The feel of his hot flesh there sent a spark of energy through her lax bones and a searing sense of familiarity. Of rightness.
This time he slid home easily. She rejoiced in each magnificent centimetre, excitement stirring anew as he propped his weight above her. His solid chest brushed her sensitive nipples. Friction built to combustible levels with each measured thrust.
But it was his eyes that transfixed her. The connection between them was different this time. She read arousal and restraint in his gaze. And more. Something unguarded and raw. Something honest.
Raul moved faster and Luisa tilted her hips to meet him. Pleasure coiled tighter, lashing them together. It reached breaking point and still their eyes locked.
The climax came. Earth-shattering, mind-blowing ecstasy that went on and on. Through it all their gazes held in silent communication.
It felt like they shared as equals.
REALITY hit when Luisa woke.
Last night she’d almost believed they shared more than their bodies. But waking alone in Raul’s bed reminded her where his priorities lay. Their marriage was about his desire for power. Sex was a bonus they shared.
Her chest tightened as she forced herself to think of it as sex. It had felt like making love.
Yet he’d left it to a maid to wake his bride, discreetly pretending not to notice the rumpled bed or that Luisa was naked beneath the fine linen.
Fire scorched Luisa’s skin as the girl swept up the rumpled wedding gown, folding the metres of fine hand-worked veil with the reverence it deserved.
Memories seared, of Raul flinging the veil away. Of her standing with the dress at her feet as he held her arms wide and feasted on the sight of her. Of their blazing passion, utterly heedless of her exquisite finery.
Thrumming arousal beat low in her body, just remembering. Appalled, Luisa realised the need Raul had awoken was far from sated. How much she’d changed in one night!
She nodded vaguely as the maid, eyes carefully averted, pointed out the door in the panelling connecting to Luisa’s room, for when she wanted to dress.
Luisa hadn’t known the apartments were connected. She hadn’t even recognised the corridor when Raul had brought her here! She’d been so caught up in her response to him.
Alone at last, Luisa stared at the empty pillow beside her.
She had no right to feel disappointed. She’d known what she was doing. She’d initiated it! But through a night of intimacy, curled close in his arms, she’d forgotten.
What they’d shared had been purely physical. Her skin prickled as she recalled how eager she’d been. It had been almost a relief to let anger push her into reckless desire.
She’d given herself, knowing where she fitted in his world. Raul viewed her in terms of her usefulness to him. Despite his tenderness, in that he was like her grandfather.
Pain cramped her belly. Her dream of one day finding love like her parents was dead. This—the ecstasy and the loneliness—would be her lot.
Maybe that was why she’d imagined the fragile connection between them: because it was easier than facing reality.
But she couldn’t hide from the world for ever.
Ignoring the breakfast tray, Luisa wrapped a sheet around herself and hurried to the connecting door, determined not to yield to weak regrets. She’d made her bed and now …
She grabbed the door frame and braced herself as sudden realisation smote her. Her knees shook so hard she feared she’d slide to the floor.
They hadn’t used contraception! How could she only just have realised?
It scared her—how much Raul scrambled her thoughts. How she changed when she was with him. He raised passions she’d never known. Her every emotion, from anger to joy, seemed so much more intense because of him.
Giving herself to him surely made her more vulnerable to his potent influence. But it was too late to turn back.
All she could do
