She shakes her head, her breath vibrating through her body. ‘It’s not your fault.’
‘Still...’ I hold her eye. The silence beats with growing awareness, our bodies edging closer. I cup her cheek and her lips part ever so softly. ‘You were both lucky to have what you so clearly did, cara mia.’
Her lashes flutter. ‘What does that mean?’
I stroke her cheek with my thumb. ‘What?’
‘Cara mia. You called me cara mia. Doesn’t it mean...?’
My thumb stills as her voice trails off. She’s trying to deduce the meaning while I reel with it.
I did call her cara mia. And I meant it. It has many connotations and can mean many different things, but all of them are deeper than what we have here.
And who are you trying to convince?
Dio. I barely know the woman. And yet, I know how much Dani loves her and how much she loves Dani in return. I could blame it on that. A mutual love for my sister.
But that has nothing to do with the heat pounding my veins or the pain I felt in the face of
hers.
‘It can mean many things—“my dear”, “my beloved”. It’s a term of affection.’
‘I thought so.’ Her smile is small. ‘A little early for that, though, don’t you think?’
‘I can’t pretend to know what you went through losing your mother, but I do know just by looking at you how much it hurt, and I am sorry for that pain.’
She shakes her head, her eyes wide, as if she’s heard something monumental, unbelievable even, so the last thing I expect is to have her hands suddenly clawing through my hair. Then her lips are on mine and they are just as hungry, just as forceful. I lose it all in a groan and press my body up against hers, my fingers deep in her hair as I do what I’ve hungered for all night and all morning.
Only, this is so much better than fantasy.
‘Rafael.’ She tears her mouth away and her eyes blaze up into mine. ‘Promise me, this will go no further.’
‘I won’t speak a word of it.’
She searches my gaze. ‘Dani, Tyler...they can’t know.’
‘Lo prometto. I promise.’
‘Perfecto,’ she rhymes, pulling my mouth back to hers, her clear blue eyes sparking into mine and drawing me in mind, body and soul...
I only hope I can move on as easily as my promise suggests, because right now I feel as if I’m drowning in her with no hope of rescue.
CHAPTER FIVE
HE TASTES DELICIOUS. Seriously delicious.
He’s not taken a bite out of the glazed goodness on the arrangement beside us and I’d warrant he tastes better. And no matter how deeply we kiss, how much my tongue twists with his, I can’t get enough. I can’t.
But an annoying little voice full of apprehension reminds me that there’s been no one since Bobby, and no one other than Bobby, for too many years to count.
What if I’ve forgotten how this works? What if I’m being too desperate, too eager? Am I really ready for him to see me naked?
What? He saw you naked last night and it didn’t bother you then.
But then I had the confidence of alcohol and he was just a sexy stranger.
I break away. Words flutter past my lips, rambling, disorientated, as he traces kisses along my jaw, his fingers buried in my hair. ‘It’s been a long time, Rafael.’ Breathe. ‘I’m not... I don’t know...’