interlude and into his future. For now, that could all wait. He still wanted Lydia with a burning need that made him want to drag her straight back to bed and it was the perfect defence against acknowledging the truth.
Was it her obvious innocence last night, before she’d become a bold and flirtatious lover, or a way of punishing her for being the one who’d changed his life? He didn’t know. Either way, he wanted her. He wasn’t about to turn his back on such an alluring companion. Not yet. She would be his for the weekend. On Monday he would return to reality and fly to London to meet his brother. Once he’d done that, Lydia would be free—he would be free. Their lives could return to normal.
Except that his never would. His would change beyond recognition. He had a brother. One he wanted to know, and it had nothing to do with money as Lydia had accused him of.
He and his brother shared the misfortune of having the same father. Didn’t that count for something? He frowned as he thought of Carlos’s insistence that he marry instead of looking for Max. Was that really to ensure Lydia’s father didn’t get away without repaying his debt or was Carlos reluctant to have two Valdez sons at the helm of the company? Was it possible there was something else going on?
‘Would you rather I walked out so soon after last night?’ He dragged his mind back to the present and glared at Lydia, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice that she could so easily move on from all they’d shared last night.
‘But last night, you said you would be going today.’
‘That was before our lovers’ tryst.’ He watched the glow of a blush rush over her cheeks and, even though anger was the best emotion to deal with what was to come, he smiled. ‘I am not in the habit of making love to a woman and then running off into the night. We will spend the weekend together. Like lovers. Then we will go to London on Monday.’
‘You want me to come with you?’ She sat opposite him, her silk dressing gown doing little to hide the fact that beneath it she was naked, and he gritted his teeth against the sudden stab of lust that shot through him.
Slowly he put down his cup, then stood up and put out his hand to her. With a guarded expression in her eyes she took his hand and he pulled her to her feet, then with his free hand tugged at the belt tied loosely at her waist. The cream silk slipped apart, exposing her to his hungry gaze.
‘I want nothing more than to make love to you again and again. This weekend is for us. The future can damn well wait.’
He shoved aside the agony of having that cruel confirmation that his father had never really wanted him, never really cared for him in any way. Now he knew why he’d had to put up with such a harsh upbringing, why anything he’d done had never pleased his father.
His father had never wanted him. He hadn’t been the much-sought-after son and heir. That honour had fallen to Max, the son who’d taken his name, the name he should have had, just months before he’d been born. How could he ever have competed with that? Did he want to? The question lingered in his mind.
And this woman had known that cruel fact since they’d visited his mother and had kept it from him. He bit down on the anger and allowed desire to flow through him. He needed it to forget the pain. Passion and desire made very good salves for such wounds.
‘We should go out, take a walk in the park or something.’ There was hesitancy in her voice, which only increased his suspicion that she was far from the experienced lover she wanted him to believe her to be. Even her teasing this morning hadn’t completely disguised the fact. He’d seen something in her eyes, something deep and meaningful.
Very well. He would play the part of lover and forget the real world that awaited him.
‘We can.’ He pulled her closer, feeling the heat of her body scorch his. ‘After I’ve explored your sexy body, kissed every part of it and made you cry out my name as you did early this morning.’
She blushed prettily and he kissed her, tempting her, feeling her resistance subsiding. Whatever else happened, she was his for now. But it couldn’t last. He’d never wanted sentiments and emotions in his life and, despite the new and powerful draw to her, Lydia wasn’t going to change that.
* * *
Lydia lay languidly in bed as darkness fell over Madrid, the apartment becoming the romantic place it had been last night, lit with only a few lamps. They had left the apartment to stroll around the cafés and bars in Madrid’s plaza. But the undercurrent of sexual attraction meant that neither of them had had much appetite for food. As the winter sun had given way to the night, they’d returned to the warmth of the apartment and Lydia was hardly able to believe they were still in a lovers’ limbo. She should be happy, should just enjoy it for what it was, but foolishly she wanted more—and knew it was impossible.
She’d never known such pleasure existed. Raul had shown her that lovemaking was something wonderful but she knew it wasn’t lovemaking to him. It was merely lust—overwhelming desire and passion.
The sound of Raul in the shower dragged her from dwelling too much on what could never be. For Raul she knew this whole weekend was based on desire and lust. It was more than lust for her. Could it be possible that she’d fallen for him—really fallen for him? Or was it that she still felt sorry for him, still felt the pain and vulnerability she’d seen in his eyes when she’d told him about Max? As he’d looked at her, the party going on around them, all she’d wanted was to ease that pain, to be the one to make things right for him.
This morning his lovemaking had been wild and hard, the gentle dominance of last night had turned to something more determined and Lydia had found it as exciting as their first passionate encounter. Finally, that anger had dissipated and the man who’d driven her mad with desire, making her throw caution aside and be his for the night, had returned.
She’d been bold, flirtatiously asking for more than sex, asking for something that resembled a real relationship, even though it would be only for two days. To her astonishment he had agreed and she had enjoyed his company over lunch. Had he enjoyed the day as much as her? Had he liked being a couple? And what happened now?
‘Should we go out this evening?’ She slipped from the bed and pulled on the silk dressing gown as he returned from the shower, a white towel around his hips, his hair dark with wetness. She couldn’t take her eyes from him, he looked so sexy, so handsome.
‘I think our absence from this evening’s party will say so much more than our attendance.’ The deep sultry tone of her voice made smiling coyly at him the only option, but deep down the worry still lingered that he was using her to prove something, to further his dealings with his board.
‘What did you have planned, then?’ She couldn’t believe she, of all people, was being so teasing and behaving like a seductress.
‘Other than to make love to the most beautiful English rose?’ He moved towards her and she shivered in anticipation.
‘Yes, other than that.’ With a flaunting smile she stepped past him. ‘I’d like to talk a little, get to know you better.’
He tensed, the muscles of his chest flexing, proving if nothing else that this weekend was only about sex. She turned her attention to knotting the belt in her dressing gown, desperate to hide her disappointment from him and, even more importantly, not question it herself.
‘Very well. We shall eat here and talk over a glass of wine.’
She frowned at him,
