CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER EIGHT
E LODIE STEPPED INTO the house and heard Ramon close the door behind them. The conversation that had bubbled so easily between them for hours on the flight had evaporated and she felt so awkward that even breathing seemed difficult and unnatural. Energy, adrenaline, anticipation all coursed through her, rendering her uncoordinated. But they were finally here and now it would happen. Only she didn’t know how to start. Should she undress? Only he’d said he wanted to do that. Should she walk straight to his room? Only she didn’t actually know which one that was. She was so skittish she stumbled on her high-heel sandals. Only he must’ve been right behind her because he caught her and swung her into his arms.
‘Nicely done,’ he murmured sardonically and tossed her lightly to pull her closer.
‘You think I tripped deliberately?’ She wished she had thought of it because she was appallingly happy to be pressed against him like this.
‘I think you’re very good at playing your part.’ He walked swiftly down the corridor.
‘Right. This isn’t real,’ she reminded her thudding heart with a breathless murmur.
‘And yet.’ He set her down on her feet. ‘This is the only wedding night I’ll ever have.’
‘You really don’t want to fall in love? Marry again later—for life?’
‘No.’ A smile curled his lips. ‘So indulge me in the fantasy of tonight.’
‘You’re into role-play.’
‘And you’re not?’ His humour flashed.
More than he would ever know. But she had no idea how to fake worldliness in this moment.
‘This is so elegant.’ He tracked a finger along the neckline of her silk slip dress. ‘As for that diamond collar. As for you ...’
Her heart was going to beat right out of her chest any moment. She couldn’t take her gaze off him as he tangled his fingers in her hair and tilted her head back. She arched towards him. He liked her dress. Her necklace. He wanted her . Which was such an immense relief because he was all she wanted.
‘Feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this. Going to take you apart, Elodie,’ he swore. ‘Going to make you come harder than you’ve ever come in your life.’
‘Get on with it then,’ she breathed. ‘Enough talking.’
But she stilled as that anticipation paralysed her. He was overwhelming and she really didn’t know where to begin. There was a curious smile in his eyes as he studied her. Next moment he lifted her onto the bed. A haze enveloped her as he stood above her. She wanted to touch him but couldn’t reach, couldn’t find the strength to do anything but moan. Her fingers fluttered. Then she couldn’t do anything as he caressed her. His fingers trailed all over her until her hips lifted through no choice of her own. She rippled, undulating on the bed, meeting his tender, teasing strokes. So easily he made her a mindless creature who craved anything he cared to give her—from the lightest kisses, to the briefest of touches. When even this—the mere play of his skilled hand—destroyed her. He didn’t even have to kiss her to have her so completely his.
She was in awe as his potent sexuality overpowered everything—until she was aroused in a way she’d never been—wanting things she’d never wanted and twisting restlessly until he took pity on her and kissed her through the silk dress. It was no less of an intimacy—of a torture.
‘Ramon!’ She wanted him closer.
He slid her dress up, slid her lace panties down. His smile was feral as he watched her arch to meet his hand and let her have just a finger. It wasn’t enough and yet she shook with need. There was only now. Only him. In that moment he was all there would ever be for her.
‘I can’t take any more.’ She trembled. ‘Please, Ramon. Please .’
He was flushed and breathing hard, revelling in her escalation. ‘What do you want?’
She shook her head, only able to gasp his name. She wanted to hold him. To feel his whole body against hers. Skin to skin. But he just teased her—devastatingly—watching her lose control at his touch.
‘ Tell me,’ he groaned. A plea as much as a dare.
Singular words tumbled from her in an incoherent erotic mess. But he didn’t do as she begged. He just kept teasing her with that devilish touch until she thrashed beneath him then utterly strung out, she arched one last time.
‘Oh, no...’ she shuddered.
‘You don’t like that?’ he rasped. ‘You don’t want—?’
‘I want you inside me...’ she moaned.
But it was too late. She shuddered as waves of bliss tumbled over her until, wrecked, all she could do was gasp for air. He chuckled and slowly nudged the thin straps from her shoulders. Soon she wore only the diamonds. He touched them, then lifted his gaze. She was simply a puddle of goo in the heat of his blue eyes.
She didn’t strip him. Yeah, that threat had been completely hollow. She couldn’t even move. She was still quivering too much. He stepped back and yanked off his jacket and shirt, shedding shoes, trousers, boxers. He even remembered to use protection when she’d not even thought of it. She was just stunned—only able to watch because Ramon was genetically blessed. He was beautiful and so terrifyingly, fantastically focused . On her. She couldn’t handle the intensity of her rising desire.
And he seemed to know because he helped. He was gentle as he joined her on the bed, pulling her closer. She moaned almost helplessly as he braced above her. He slid his hands beneath her, holding her so he could sink deep in a powerful thrust. She cried out, unable to hold back the delight as he filled her. His beautiful face stiffened as his jaw locked.
‘Happy now?’ he gritted.
So happy she choked back a sob and closed her eyes to hide her tears. The only thing she could manage was to kiss him. His moan as he pressed deeper into her was guttural. It was so slow. So perfect. Every inch of her skin tingled. Every muscle was like jelly, wrecked from the shuddering tension between bliss and need. The sensation—to her bones—was exquisite. He swept his hand down her arm, pressing his palm to hers, locking their fingers together.
His blue eyes blazed into hers. ‘I knew we’d be good but this —’
Yeah. Ecstasy competed with overwhelm. All she wanted was to pull him closer still. Finally she found her strength. She wrapped her legs around him, kissing him long and deep. Something unleashed within her. Something he unleashed. Not just pleasure but power, she found purpose in her own body. She was meant to be here—meant to be like this—with him. She welcomed it. Wanted more. Braced closer. Everything melded as they made love.
He closed his eyes and hissed. They were locked together, fighting to get closer still. Best feeling. Ever. Best moment of her life. Ever. She didn’t want it to end. Ever. But his draw was too strong, the drive between them inexorable and her next release simply sneaked up. The savage cry was pulled from her soul and she shook in his arms. They tightened—so very tightly. He gripped her and growled as he thrust hard one last time. She clung to him as he shuddered in her arms. She never wanted to let him go. She would hold him like this always.
Ramon didn’t want to move. Couldn’t, actually. Elodie was draped over him, her legs entangled with his. Soft, warm, utterly asleep. They were nestled together and apparently had been the entire night. So much for all his threats of prowess. There’d been no acrobatics. It had hardly been a sexual marathon. He’d been shattered on a level he didn’t recognise by that one encounter then slept like nothing else. She was still knocked out.
He wriggled to glance at his clock, stunned to realise the time. He roused his will—the discipline that saw him rise early. Always. That’s how he caught up on issues from the other side of the globe that had come in overnight. He needed to do that now. So he ignored the inner scream to stay and keep cuddling her and steeled himself. Stole out of the bed and went to shower in a bathroom further away so he didn’t disturb her. Though she was so asleep he doubted she’d wake.
He turned the water to cold because the desire he’d thought would ebb, had only done the opposite. He was hot as hell and it was everything he didn’t want.
His father had been ridden by urges, unable to control impulse or appetite. He’d wanted everything and had no compunction in going for it all. He’d groomed Ramon to be his heir. In everything. Once when Ramon had accompanied him on a business trip, he’d walked in on his father with his ‘assistant’. Not an image Ramon ever wanted to recall. Nor was the ‘man-to-man’ talk his father had then had with him.
‘These things are minor. Mean nothing. There’s no need to hurt your mother. It’s never anyone she knows, never at home. You play away—you understand? As long as you’re discreet—’
As if that made it okay somehow.
To the world—indeed to Ramon up until that moment—it seemed his father had adored his mother. Ramon suspected his father believed that he loved her. But his greed and conceit led him to think he could have more—to have everything and anything and anyone he wanted. And he did. Less than a year later his father had died while in the company of one of his lovers. Ramon had moved mountains to keep that horrible secret safe from his mother and he’d succeeded until her own sister—Cristina—had revealed something far worse.
Ramon was a lot like his father—fully success driven. He’d feared it would take nothing to tip into that same world of greed and excess, so he restrained himself. Never made promises he couldn’t keep—never allowed a lover to consume his thoughts or influence his choices. He’d never intended to marry and definitely didn’t need heirs to dump his driven nature onto. He’d relished his work and would work until the day he died. It had satisfied him completely.
Until he’d met her.
Now Ramon finally understood why and how his father had just ‘needed more’. Elodie Wallace had activated his libidinous gene. All he could think about was going back to bed and taking up from where last night had ended. Because it had been amazing. Yet their intimacy had gone differently to how he’d expected. She’d talked a big game but the second he’d actually touched her she’d rapidly become so overwhelmed it was almost as if she’d been shy . Her fingers had curled in and she’d only been able to gasp as he’d tasted her. She’d certainly been sweet . He’d been happy to take the lead and in doing so it had become evident that she adored sex. Which was good. Being as insatiable as each other meant they could burn this out. For his own peace of mind he needed it to burn out quickly .
He looked in on her and mentally willed her to wake. She didn’t. She was so deep in slumber that he felt like a stalker. He went back to his office, printed off the document that had arrived in his inbox, spent an hour reading it before realising not one word had sunk in. Then he returned to his bedroom—delighted to see her sharp eyes open. He could only see to her shoulders because she was snuggled beneath the sheet. Her hair was somewhat wild and her face flushed, and she was still wearing the diamond necklace.
‘You should send another proof-of-life picture,’ he said huskily. ‘You look...’
Beautiful. Like an utterly irresistible living jewel.
‘What?’ She eyed him warily.
‘Cute,’ he completely understated, reaching for some defence against his weakness. ‘Didn’t expect you’d be so cuddly.’
She stiffened. ‘Apologies if I overstepped.’
‘No, you were sweet. I slept well.’
Her expression pinched. ‘So glad.’
He laughed. ‘And you didn’t?’ He tossed the papers beside her and thrust his hands back in his pockets. He could practice self-restraint. Sure he could.
‘What’s this?’ she looked sniffy.
‘Your wedding present.’
She scanned the first page. ‘You’ve bought the building? Not just the business?’ She nudged the offending document with a single finger until it fell from the bed to the floor. ‘This is more than we agreed,’ she said coldly.
His adrenaline surged. She wanted to reject it. She wasn’t just reactive or responsive, but volatile as hell. He liked it—liked that she let him know the second she was unhappy about something. That at moments like this, she held nothing back.
‘Spectacular as it was, this isn’t a bonus for last night.’ He couldn’t resist stepping closer. ‘Consider it payment for your vow of obedience yesterday.’
‘What?’ She sat bolt upright, clutching the sheet to her beautiful body. ‘I never vowed obedience.’
‘Didn’t you understand the Spanish?’ he inquired innocently. ‘I think it had a slightly different meaning.’
‘Rubbish.’
‘It is so easy to aggravate you.’ He laughed again. ‘Now you own the building you can really go to town. Put in that flood room and you can drown the most annoying customers.’
‘Don’t put ideas in my head.’
‘You already have ideas. Sadly, there isn’t the time to enact them right now. That is why I’m keeping my distance. Your temptress wiles will not work on me this morning.’
Who was he kidding. He was going to act on them.
‘Wiles?’ She held the sheet to her neck and awkwardly swivelled to get out of bed, dragging the linen with her across the room. ‘I’m not doing anything. You’re the one with the apparent need to flex .’
Yeah, he had no idea why he’d thought he should get dressed earlier. Dumbest idea ever. And if she still wanted him to take the lead, he’d do so. Happily. He trod on the edge of the sheet. She stopped seven paces from the bed. Tugged. He didn’t relent—rather, he took two handfuls of the thing and pulled it right off her. Delighted when she was suddenly naked before him.
She glared even as colour tinged her from top to toe. Only then she flicked her hair and turned her back. Possessive fire destroyed his soul.
‘Don’t turn away from me.’ He was on her in two paces and spun her to face him. Embarrassingly, his words were a strangled plea. ‘Look at me,’ he muttered breathlessly. ‘Right at me.’
‘Why?’
Because she couldn’t hide her response to him when she faced him and he needed that desperately. Because he didn’t want her to shut him out. He needed to see the heat and longing she couldn’t suppress. For him .
‘So you can’t pretend to yourself that it isn’t me who does this to you,’ he growled. ‘That it’s me you want more of.’
Yeah, he got off on that in a way he wasn’t sure was altogether healthy. More than a desire, it was a desperate need. He growled, pushing out that disturbing thought. He’d reduce her to that writhing beauty again—squirming and sighing at his touch—where the only word she could utter was his name. That was all he needed.
‘Egotist.’ But she faced him and her body flushed with desire.
He stripped off his tee, observing with keen pleasure the colour flame across her face. ‘Yeah, but you can’t deny it.’
He shoved down his jeans and she stepped towards him. He went in low, scooped her up and tumbled her back to the bed. This time there were few preliminaries. No matter. He was hard. She was hot and wet. He gazed into her eyes as he thrust home. He liked the excitement she couldn’t hide from him. Liked seeing her lose total control the second before he lost his.
It was over far too quickly. But this time he wasn’t wiped out. He was energised.
‘Not enough,’ he muttered.
He filled the bath and took her in there. Propelled her to the kitchen for sustenance and ended up taking her there again too. Then he’d had to carry her back to bed where hours passed in a haze of sexual hunger and fulfilment which was exactly what he needed. They would burn this out.
He woke with a start. Swore as he blinked at the time.
‘Wake up, carino .’ He shook her shoulders gently. ‘Get dressed for the evening. We’ll take the helicopter.’