All of which meant he was off the hook. He slung the duvet back onto the bed, but as he settled under it to wait for her return the tight feeling in his chest refused to go away.
Maybe he didn’t need to feel responsible. But unfortunately he did, because while he’d had one of the most mind-blowing orgasms of his life, he’d hurt her.
His eyes narrowed, trained on the bathroom door. Which brought them to another burning question. Why hadn’t she said anything? Before letting him barrel into her like that? He’d seen the shocked look on her face when he’d been putting on the condom. He was a fairly big guy, and for all her lush curves she was a small woman, but even so if she’d said something, anything, he would at least have attempted to get a stranglehold on his desire and use some degree of finesse.
A sick feeling settled in his stomach. Had she wanted him to hurt her?
The horrible suspicion that she might have been intending to use her virginity to give her some leverage tomorrow, when she showed him her script, sprang into his head. And was thankfully almost as quickly quashed. If she were that devious, wouldn’t she have mentioned her virginity straight afterwards? Made a bigger deal of it? And her seduction techniques were hardly practised. Just the opposite in fact. Plus, how could she have known he would find her refreshingly untutored reaction to him such a major turn-on? Hell. He wouldn’t have suspected he’d find it a turn-on himself until tonight.
He forced himself to relax back against the headboard and folded his arms over his chest, the insistent beat of his heart punctuating the seconds ticking by as he waited for her to reappear.
One thing he did know: when Miss Eva the sexy anthropologist finally ventured out of his bathroom, she was going to have a whole lot of explaining to do.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCENTRATING on the two deep grooves bisecting her brow in the bathroom mirror, Eva forced her fingers to release their death grip on the sink.
Hiding out in Nick Delisantro’s bathroom for the rest of the night is not an option.
The metallic tinkle of rain hit the fire escape outside and she shifted her attention to the partially open window. Then sighed, stifling the urge to leap onto the vanity unit, wedge herself through the small gap and run off into the night.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she whispered to her pale reflection.
Apart from the fact that she was stark naked under Nick’s oversized robe, her bag was still on the kitchen counter and it was the middle of the night, she was in a strange city in a strange country and it was pouring with rain. If she didn’t die of hypothermia, she’d probably get arrested. So running away was not an option either. The frown on her forehead deepened.
Plus she had an important appointment with Nick tomorrow, which she couldn’t duck out of. As difficult as it was going to be to assume any kind of professional etiquette after sleeping with him, he’d probably throw her out on her ear if she showed up after doing a vanishing act in the middle of the night.
Which left option number three: be mature and dignified, something that had eluded her so far this evening, face up to her responsibilities, and give the man some kind of explanation—before she ran out on him.
She straightened away from the sink and glanced at the door. Assuming, of course, she ever got up the guts to stop cowering in his bathroom.
Not that she intended to tell him the truth—that her secret fantasy life had taken one wild leap into reality during the space of one motorbike ride. Not only would that be way too much information for a one-night stand, but he’d probably think she was a lunatic.
She twisted on the tap, and splashed one last dose of cold water on her cheeks. The scarlet hue making her freckles look like bullet points faded to a dusky pink.
At least she’d had one lucky break. She hadn’t bled very much, so he need never know what a pathetic cliché she actually was. A twenty-four-year-old virgin, whose experience of men and sex up until fifteen minutes ago had been gleaned from the pages of romance novels.
Unfortunately she now knew the truth. That the novels had lied. Or at least been guilty of omission. They really ought to have mentioned how mortifying it was to face a complete stranger who had given you two stunning orgasms after the haze of afterglow had cleared.
Time to stop prevaricating—and face the fire. She could save the self-flagellation for tomorrow, when she was safely on the plane back to the UK, with his signed agreement to a DNA test tucked in her bag.
She yanked the lapels of the robe up to her chin and retied the belt. The sooner she faced Nick, the sooner she could start putting her night of insanity behind her. The next ten minutes were going to be awkward in the extreme. No question. And it was a pity she hadn’t considered that a bit sooner. But the good news was he’d probably be just as keen to get this whole episode over with now as she was.
Her courage rallied as she gripped the door handle in a determined fist. You never knew, he might even have fallen asleep, then she could simply leave a polite note.
Eva took two paces into the room, then stopped dead, her heartbeat and her pheromones both leaping into frantic action as her gaze landed on the bed.
With his back propped against the headboard, Nick Delisantro sat watching her.
‘You’re still awake.’ She winced at the inane remark and the rush of blood to her nether regions. With his arms crossed over his chest, his pectoral muscles looked even more well defined than she remembered them.
Oh my. She took a steadying breath, riveted to the spot. How could she have forgotten how beautiful he was?
‘Hello, Eva. Long time, no see,’ he said dryly.
She felt the dusky pink rise back to scarlet. ‘I’m sorry I took so long. I didn’t mean to keep you awake.’ She gestured down the corridor with her thumb. ‘I should probably get—’
‘Come here,’ he said, releasin