You really don’t want to know, she thought as Diego turned his head to look at her. “I just want to make the most of tonight,” she said lightly.
“I think I can accommodate that.”
His wicked smile assured her that he could, and it was a relief to blank her mind to anything but pleasure.
Diego knew the responses of her body better than she did herself. He made her come again and again, until finally, with a groan of satisfaction, she collapsed exhausted against his chest. But even then she couldn’t let him go. Not yet. She had to squeeze every last drop of happiness out of this time together. Even if she hadn’t been planning to go back, she knew their relationship couldn’t last. Diego was notorious for pulling away as soon as anyone tried to get close to him. This was all they had, and all they would ever have. They would both move on, and in her case, sooner rather than later.
~~o0o~~
Celina was a drug to his senses. Beautiful women packed the stands when he played polo, howling for another Blood and Thunder victory. Plucking one out of the crowd was so easy, he found it boring. Anything more than a night of fierce pleasure was off the table. Sharing his life was too complicated. He didn’t want the ties, the interference, or the inevitable breakup. The fact that he was considering a girlfriend and the woman in question was Celina was a measure of his growing affection for her. Plus the sex was so hot, he doubted he could ever get enough of her.
Was this what Alexei and Dante had meant when they talked about love? he wondered as he ran strands of Celina’s silky hair through his fingers. Was this ache in his chest something close?
After one night?
No!
It was appreciation of a lover with a similar level of energy to himself. He’d finally met a woman who could match him.
He would continue to deny love, to deny sentiment, to deny anything other than the detachment and clear thinking that had always served him so well. He would never be that child again, sitting on his suitcase outside school, a slave to emotion, waiting for parents that never came. He would never love again. Love was both a weakness and a complete waste of time.
And Celina?
The strength of his feelings for her didn’t make sense. He couldn’t even be sure of her, and she certainly didn’t hang on his every word. She was her own woman with her own thoughts, and those thoughts had been busy tonight. What was this really about? This was the first time in his adult life that he found himself uncertain where a woman was concerned.
“What are you thinking about?” she whispered.
He was trying to imagine Celina as his compliant, ever-available girlfriend. And failed miserably. She would never fall in with his plans. She would expect compromise and discussion, something he’d sensibly avoided up to now. He would have to adopt an entirely new mindset. No prizes for guessing how well that would go. “I was thinking how much I’ve enjoyed you,” he said dryly.
“Liar,” she said. “You were wondering how to handle me if things developed between us. But we would have to be two very different people for that to happen, wouldn’t we, Diego?”
“Fortunately, we are who we are,” he said dryly.
“Yes. Thank goodness,” she said, matching him barb for barb.
Rolling her onto her back, he took her again, fiercely and possessively, needing to hear her scream out her pleasure. Closing his eyes on a woman he could have stared at forever, he concentrated on Celina and cut out the rest.
“How do you do that?” he asked when they were quiet again.
“How do I cast a spell on you?” she teased softly, glancing at his erection, which refused to subside.
“Yes, that,” he said. Turning, he groaned with pleasure as he plunged deep again, and she gripped his cock with her inner muscles. One thing led to another, and it turned out they weren’t nearly done.
Much later, they turned to face each other. As she ran her fingertips down his arms, the look on her face said she wanted to remember every inch of him. Swinging her on top of him, he laughed against her mouth and then he kissed her again, stroking her tongue with his. Sex could not only be fun, but this much fun? “This is perfect,” he said as he stoked her plump butt cheeks with appreciation.
“Too soft, too big,” she argued.
“Perfect,” he insisted as he mapped her curves. “And anyone who says anything different has to answer to me.”
“No one else will ever get to see—”
She stopped talking so suddenly, he was instantly suspicious. “What’s wrong, Celina? Can’t you tell me?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she protested, but with far too much force, he thought. He felt certain now that something was wrong. How else could she turn from contentment to this in a matter of moments? Was she frightened to think how close they’d been? He was as guilty as she was where that was concerned. He’d gone as far as thinking about moving her in, when changing his domestic arrangements had never occurred to him before. It was about time he got his head straight. They had enjoyed each other and had been close for a few hours, but that would soon be over.
“I’m going for a swim.” Keen to break the suddenly serious mood, he sprang to his feet.