Chapter Nine #2
‘You make me desperate,’ he complained, skating skilled fingers over the tender folds at her core, discovering the damp welcome there, delicately penetrating her silken sheath, listening to her gasp and feeling her arch before retreating to a more sensitive spot that was even more responsive to his attentions.
Suzy reached a climax shatteringly fast and it left her limp, gasping against the heat and urgency of his marauding mouth, her whole body quivering with the aftershocks of pleasure.
He held her close in the aftermath and breathed in slow and deep.
‘I wrecked your lipstick.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.’
Ruy settled her down beside him again, reached for her seat belt and did it up before lifting her clutch bag from the floor and helpfully placing it on her lap. Disconcerted, Suzy glanced back at him. ‘But you...er...’
‘Not in the car. I draw the line at that. I’ll have to wait until later,’ Ruy breathed, laughing as she leant forward with a tissue to wipe his face free of her peach lipstick. ‘I deserve to suffer a little.’
That quick charismatic and entirely uninhibited smile made her want to kiss him again.
Inside herself, she rebelled from that thought.
Tomorrow evening, after the engagement party, she was flying home: it was arranged.
It was time she forged a little distance between them and stopped throwing caution to the four winds with every kiss and every smile he gave her.
Their little fling as such was almost over and he had only just finished reminding her that they did have boundaries, closing her out when he could have let her in.
..had he wanted to. Only he didn’t want to and that told her all she needed to know.
She was on the outside with Ruy and always would be.
The limousine dropped them off at an enormous mansion milling with beautifully dressed guests.
From the moment she entered she was conscious of female eyes clinging to her.
Mercedes made a special point of greeting her again while from every corner Ruy was hailed as though he were a very important guest indeed.
Before very long he was the centre of a crush of men, gamely answering every question aimed at him.
‘Ruy seems very popular,’ she remarked to Mercedes.
‘He always has been. That level of success impresses most people. He was also every girl’s pin-up when I was at school and he hasn’t lost his appeal to the ladies,’ Mercedes responded.
‘I noticed that he attracted a fair amount of attention at the church,’ Suzy admitted uncomfortably.
‘It’s vulgar, but all the women who made a play for him and got nowhere are madly curious to know what you had that they didn’t and why you have that ring on your finger.’ Mercedes wrinkled her nose with distaste. ‘I’m afraid that Ruy acquired the reputation of being a commitment-phobe.’
‘I can’t think why.’ Suzy laughed although she could taste bitterness behind her fake amusement because Ruy was exactly what everyone had thought he was: a commitment-phobe.
She had never been in the running for anything deeper with Ruy.
From the outset he had made it clear that he didn’t want a relationship and he had stuck to his rules.
Ruy retrieved her and they took their seats and a long elaborate meal began, accompanied by many speeches. It was a relief to get up and stretch her legs on the dance floor afterwards. ‘If I ever get married,’ Suzy told Ruy, ‘there will be no pomp and ceremony to it.’
‘Weddings are very much family affairs. The bride and groom don’t always have a choice.
I have very stuffy relatives. This type of ritual and tradition is exactly what they appreciate and respect.
Some of them have come to speak to you today but most of them are too busy observing you and gossiping and they won’t officially meet you until tomorrow. ’
‘You’re scaring the life out of me!’ Suzy censured, slender hips moving in time to the pulsing beat of the music as she moved back from him.
Another man hovered, requesting permission with a look at Ruy to step in to partner Suzy.
Ruy wanted to say no but he was mindful of the occasion and reluctant to act possessive, even knowing that he was hellishly possessive when it came to Suzy.
He backed to the edge of the floor, taking the chance to watch her dance, appreciating the fluid grace of every movement, her perfect synchronisation with the music.
His replacement moved in with a great deal more panache than Ruy had in the dance department and a wry smile curved his sardonic mouth.
‘Who is he?’ he asked his brother as he drew level with him.
‘Don’t you recognise him?’ Rigo said in surprise. ‘Jorge’s a professional...stars in that dance show Mercedes adores on Channel—’
‘I don’t watch dance shows. Do you think she needs rescuing?’ Ruy interrupted, his entire attention glued to Suzy’s animated face.
‘I don’t and maybe you need to let her have some space,’ Rigo murmured thoughtfully, turning to study his twin. ‘Never thought I’d see you being clingy with a woman.’
‘I’m not.’
‘Never thought I’d get married again either though,’ his twin continued as if Ruy hadn’t spoken, a relaxed note to that admission that impressed Ruy. ‘But I don’t need pills or booze to get through the day with Mercedes around. She lights up my world.’
‘Congratulations. I’m very happy for you both.
’ Ruy breathed in deep and slow, suddenly appreciating how important such an exchange was with his long-lost twin, opening the possibility of a closer, more normal relationship.
It heartened him, made him realise how much Suzy’s presence had lightened the atmosphere between him and his brother.
At the same time, Rigo’s words had made Ruy reluctantly recall his world pre-Suzy.
It had been very well organised, and every moment had been scheduled to maximise efficient productivity.
He had fallen off that relentless train, however.
He didn’t think that way any more because Suzy had driven a coach and horses through his schedule.
Only now was it dawning on him that in less than twenty-four hours Suzy was leaving and he would be returning to that rigorous cult of maximum efficiency.
The prospect was not enticing, not the way he had dimly assumed it would be.
She had changed him...somehow she had contrived to change him in a fundamental way.
..and Ruy was no fan of change or innovation.
He was much more likely to fight it off than embrace it.
‘Maybe we could meet up for dinner some evening once we get back from our wedding trip,’ Rigo said hesitantly. ‘Mercedes was very taken with Suzy. ‘
Ruy was still struggling to deal with the awareness that Suzy would no longer be around the following evening. ‘That...that would be good, great,’ he stressed, endeavouring to express his gratitude for that invite with greater warmth.
Rigo swung away to greet an older man who had grabbed his arm to get his attention.
Ruy strode onto the dance floor to reclaim Suzy.
She and her partner had gathered an audience with their display and he judged it time to intervene, not because he objected to her dancing or attracting attention, but because he intended to make the most of every moment he had left with her.
‘Gosh, that guy was very intense,’ Suzy hissed, breathing heavily from her dance moves but visibly grateful to leave her partner. ‘He wanted me to audition for some television competition show and he was so pushy. I’m not good enough for that sort of thing.’
‘I’m no expert but I think you probably are good enough,’ Ruy overruled.
‘But it’s not me. I’m not a performer. I never was. I like teaching kids. I like dance as an exercise but I’m never comfortable with people watching me when I do it,’ she whispered. ‘It drove my teacher mad when I was a teenager when I wouldn’t apply for stuff but that’s the way I am.’
‘Nothing wrong with that...’ Ruy looked askance at her as she pulled away from him.
‘I’m hot. I need to freshen up. I won’t be long,’ she told him, walking off into the crush.
The overpowering plush opulence of the large cloakroom made her roll her eyes.
Emerging from a stall to wash her hands at the vanity counter, she jerked in surprise when she saw an older blonde woman seated in a chair in the corner and staring at her.
‘Sorry, I didn’t see you,’ she muttered in taut Spanish.
‘I wanted a closer look at the woman Ruy Valiente is planning to marry,’ the blonde informed her, rising from her seat. She was so thin she was almost emaciated, the bones of her chest visible through the glittering diamond necklace she wore.
‘Why?’ Suzy asked baldly as she dried her hands, rather creeped out by the suspicion that she was being ambushed on purpose.
‘Only a very confident woman could attend this wedding with Ruy and still hold her head high.’
‘And why’s that?’ Suzy enquired, removing a lipstick from her clutch.
‘A decent woman would have been too embarrassed to show her face so boldly. After all, Ruy slept with Rodrigo’s first wife and she killed herself when he dumped her. It took his brother a very long time to get over that betrayal.’
Suzy was so shocked she was frozen in suspended animation with her lipstick tightly caught between her fingers.
The blonde departed with a malicious smile.
In a haze of disbelief, Suzy renewed her lipstick and stared into space, blank with shrinking horror at what she had been told.
Was it true? It couldn’t be true! That could not be the reason that Ruy had a troubled relationship with his brother!
Ruy could not be guilty of such an indefensible act, she reasoned in consternation.