Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
Gisele opened to his kiss, meeting his tongue with hers in a long, slow caress that left her breathless and wanting more.
They weren’t in her shop; the sun had gone down hours ago. No one would come knocking on Rafael’s door.
Nothing stood in the way of the inevitable.
Her body quivered in anticipation.
They were going to make love.
When she thought she might never need to breathe again, Rafael raised his head.
Then he bent, swept her up into his arms and carried her the few short steps across his apartment into his bedroom.
She cupped his cheeks between her palms and kissed him gently as he lowered her feet to the ground .
As soon as her feet settled on the floor, he tugged her shirt from the waistband of her skirt and raised it up her body and over her head. He tossed it over his shoulder and reached for the clasp on her skirt.
Gisele grabbed the hem of the T-shirt he’d just put on and dragged it upward.
He took over and yanked it over his head. It sailed across the room to join her shirt. Somewhere.
The rest of their clothes disappeared in an instant.
Once again, Rafael scooped her up in his arms and kissed her. Then he laid her gently onto the crisp gray sheets.
He dropped onto the mattress beside her and brushed a finger across her lips. As that finger drifted across her chin and down the length of her neck, he lowered his head and claimed her mouth in a slow, sensuous kiss.
Gisele had always felt a little self-conscious with her last boyfriend. He’d always made disparaging comments about other men and women, criticizing their bodies, hair, intelligence or anything he found less than perfect in his eyes.
When she’d gotten naked with him, and his gaze had raked over her body, she’d felt like she’d come up short every time. Near the end of their relationship, she’d gotten to where she’d turned off the lights before she’d taken her clothes. Then, he hadn’t seen faults to silently judge her.
Rafael left the lights on in the bedroom. As he kissed his way down her neck, his hand preceded his lips and captured one of her breasts in his palm.
He leaned back, his gaze sweeping over her.
Gisele held her breath, shrinking inside, wishing the light wasn’t shining down on every one of her flaws from hips too broad to breasts that were too small.
Rafael’s gaze came back up to hers, his eyes shining. “You are beautiful.”
She shook her head. “My breasts are too small, and my hips too broad.”
His lips spread in a grin as he weighed one breast inhis hand. “Nope. Your breast fits perfectly in my palm. Besides, any more than a mouthful is a waste.” He winked and bent to kiss the tip of the one he held. Then he sucked it into his mouth and flicked the nipple until it hardened into a tight rosy button.
A moan rose in her throat. Gisele writhed beneath him, her body responding to his touch. Her breathing grew ragged as he moved to the other breast and treated it to the same tender attention as he’d given the first.
Gisele wove her hands into his hair, holding him close, urging him to take moreand wanting to be closer.
He sucked her nipple into his mouth and pulled gently, teasing the nipple with the tip of his tongue.
When he abandoned her breast, she could breathe again. But not for long. His mouth trailed down her torso, pressing kisses to each of her ribs, his tongue dipping into her bellybutton as his fingers slid further south to the apex of her thighs.
Gisele’s breath hitched when he parted her folds and stroked her sex. A long, coarse finger dipped into her channel and swirled. Another finger joined it.
Rafael worked his way down her body, parted her legs and lay down between them. He draped first one thigh and then the other over his shoulders.
Then he parted her folds with his thumbs and touched his tongue to her clit.
“Oh, Rafael.” Gisele’s hips rose off the mattress.
He chuckled, his breath warm against her sex. “Like that?”
“Yessss!” She hissed when he flicked her clit and then swirled his tongue around it slowly, gently, growing more and more intense with each round. At the same time, he slid three fingers into her channel, moving them in and out in the same rhythm as his tongue moved against her clit.
Gisele forgot how to breathe as her body tensed like a bowstring pulled to its limit.
All it would take would be one last flick...
Rafael expertly tapped her there, setting off an explosion of sensations that radiated from the point of contact, spreading at lightning speed through her body to the very tips of her fingers and toes.
He didn’t let up the pressure, continuing the strokes and thrusts, giving it everything .
Gisele grasped his hair and called out, “Oh, sweet peaches...Yes!”
Her heels dug into the mattress as she rode the current all the way to the very end.
She collapsed back against the sheets, sucking air into her lungs. “I’ve...never...felt like...that before.”
Rafael chuckled as he climbed up her body and settled his hips between her legs. “And that was just foreplay.” He pressed a swift kiss to her lips, his mouth musky from her sex. “Your opinion of foreplay? Overrated?”
“Noooo. So underrated. Absolutely essential.” She grasped his buttocks in her hands and pulled him closer until his cock nudged her entrance. “Satisfying. But not nearly enough.” She urged him closer.
“Wait,” he said and leaned over to the nightstand, pulled out a drawer and fished out a condom.
Thank goodness he was thinking. She had yet to come down from the throes of her orgasm to even consider protection.
He came up on his knees, tore open the packet and removed the condom.
Gisele took it from his hand and rolled it down his engorged staff to the base. She lingered there, fondling his ballsand liking how he sucked in a breath and held it.
“Enough,” he growled and dropped down to lean over her on his arms .
“What do you want, Rafael,” she asked, smoothing a hand over his tight ass.
“To be inside you,” he said and bent to kiss her, his tongue sliding between her teeth as his cock slipped into her moist channel.
She’d loved how he’d brought her so effortlessly to orgasm, but this...
Gisele raised her knees and lifted her hips, her hands pulling him closer, deeper. When he was all the way inside her, his balls warm against her anus, she held him there for a long moment, letting her body adjust to his size.
He didn’t rush her, letting her choose when she was ready. Gisele eased him out, his shaft sliding easily all the way to the tip before she reversed course and brought him back in.
Back out and back in, she moved him, increasing speed and force with each pass.
His body was tense with his effort to control his movements.
When she reached a certain speed, or maybe Rafael lost control...whatever happened, Rafael took over.
Gisele released her hold on his ass and gripped the bedsheets, rising to meet his thrusts, her breaths coming in short, ragged gasps as she neared another climax.
He thrust deeper and faster until he slammed home one last time, sending Gisele over the edge for the second time. Her channel convulsed around his length as his cock pulsed his release.
Gisele threw back her head, her body drained, her soul satisfied and her libido sated...for the moment. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Wow.”
Rafael dropped low, kissed her, andthen rolled them both onto their sides without losing their intimate connection. “Amazing.”
She nodded. Words seemed inadequate. With the afterglow fading quickly, her thoughts went back to all Shelby had said about Rafael, his vow to himself never to marry, and how he left each woman before she had a chance to fall in love with him. Her gut knotted. Was she too late? Was the knot in her belly a clear indication she was already grieving the loss of Rafael? She hadn’t even left his apartment, yet she was in a downward spiral of depression. She wanted to stay with him. Not just for today. Gisele wanted tomorrow, the next day and the ones after that.
Shelby’s warning echoed in Gisele’s head. He won’t commit, refuses to marry and doesn’t date a woman for long .
But how long? A day, a week? She was torn between staying for however long he would allow and running back to her apartment. How had she let her heart be drawn in by him, knowing he wasn’t a forever kind of guy? He’d been crystal clear. She’d known his limitations upfront .
His friends had warned him to stay away from her. Her friend had warned her of his drawbacks. Yet, Gisele had ignored those warnings, claiming she could handle it, and walked right into Rafael’s arms and bed.
With sanity returning, she had the sudden and urgent need to go back to her place. Only space away from Rafael and time would help her sort through her feelings to allow herself to make better decisions. She had to leave or stay and go for round two… “When can we do that again?” she asked.
Rafael laughed. “Are you ready now?”
“No,” she said. “I’m just curious how long it takes you to recover.”
He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck. “Long enough.”
She kissed him once more, savoring what might be her last taste of him. Then she pushed his arms away and rolled out of the bed.
A frown formed on Rafael’s forehead. “Where are you going?”
She gave him a confused look. “Back to my apartment, of course.”
His frown deepened. “Why?”
“You need time to recover, and I need sleep.” She gave him a quick smile. “I don’t want you to think I’m clingy or want anything more than great sex.” She found her bra, skirt and shirt, but couldn’t locate her panties. She gave up looking for them and slipped her shirt over her head. After stepping into her skirt, she pulled it up over her hips and fastened the catch.
“You’re really going?”
Gisele nodded. “I really am.”
Rafael sat up in the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you being sarcastic or somehow testing me?”
She moved toward the door of his bedroom, edging slowly toward escape. “Neither. You said so yourself that you’re not into commitment.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’ll kick you out of my place immediately after.”
“You’re only into today,” she reminded him softly. “Tomorrow has no guarantees. You’ll be happy to know, I’m not holding you to anything. No demands. I won’t manipulate you with guilt or expect anything from you beyond the moment. I assume it goes both ways. Equal opportunity and all.” She gave him a tight smile.
“What if I want you to stay?” Rafael asked.
“Specific amounts of time could be construed as bleeding into the future. It requires you to commit to a certain timeframe that isn’t now. Can you be specific about how long you want me to stay?”
“I don’t know. I thought we’d cuddle for a while.”
“Is a while equivalent to an hour?” Why was she still standing there when her chest was tight, and her knees were shaking? “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to my apartment .
Gisele really hadn’t thought through her need to leave. She just couldn’t stay the night with him. Every moment she spent with Rafael made her increasingly aware of how she’d feel when he walked away.
Shitty, depressed and bone-achingly lonely.
She’d be better off cutting it off before she sank even further into feelings for the man.
“I have to go,” she murmured, spinning on her bare heels.
She walked out of his bedroom. As soon as she was out of his sight, she ran for the exit. She flung open the door and darted outside and down the metal stairs.
She was halfway down the staircase when a loud shrieking sound cut through the night.
Gisele froze, her gaze shooting toward the rear of the shop. The alarm kept screaming. A dark figure ran away from the back of her building, disappearing into the night.
Footsteps pounded on the staircase above where Gisele stood. She looked up to see Rafael, wearing the gym shorts, barefooted and carrying ahandgun, as he raced down the stairs toward her.
As he passed her, he called out, “Get back in my apartment and lock the door.”
When she didn’t move immediately, he barked, “Now!”
Gisele jumped and ran up to his apartment. As she passed through his open door, she looked back .
Rafael reached the bottom of the staircase, turned and sprinted across the alley toward the back of the shop and disappeared.
Her heart leaped into her throat. She stood for a long moment framed in the doorway, every fiber of her being screaming for her to go after him.
What if the man who’d tried to break into her building was armed? What if he was lying in wait to take Rafael down?
What if Rafael was attacked, shot or stabbed? He could bleed out before anyone got to him.
Gisele’s heart banged hard against her ribs as she stood there, every horrible scenario playing out in her mind.
No way. She couldn’t hide in his apartment when he might be injured.
She had run back down the stairs and crossed the alley when a figure emerged from the back of her building.
A stab of fear ripped through her, and a scream rose in her throat.
The figure emerged into the starlight.
Gisele clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream and staggered forward into Rafael’s arms.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his handgun bumping against her back. “I told you to go back into my apartment,” he said with his lips pressed to the top of her head. He turned her toward the stairs. “Come on. Let’s get you back inside.” He pressed his empty hand to the small of her back and guided her back to his building and up the stairs.
“What about Johnny?” Gisele asked as they reached the door to his apartment. She turned to go back down, but his hand blocked her.
“He’s fine,” Rafael said. “I checked in on him. The intruder didn’t get past the door. The alarm scared him off. It did its job.”
Gisele let Rafael usher her through the door.
Once inside, she stood, looking around, her brow furrowed, at a loss for what to do now.
Rafael made a 911 call and reported the attempted break-in. A deputy would investigate.
“They probably won’t find anything,” Rafael said as he ended the call.
“Why is this happening?” Gisele looked up into Rafael’s eyes. “My shop isn’t anything special. I don’t keep a lot of cash lying around. I don’t understand.”
Rafael pulled her into his arms and held her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know one thing for certain.”
Gisele laid her cheek against his chest, listening to the reassuring beat of his heart. “What do you know?”
“You’re not staying over there. Not until we figure out who the hell is trying to get in and why.”
As much as she wanted to argue with the man, she couldn’t .
As fiercely independent as she liked to think she was, she wasn’t stupid. She couldn’t deal with the situation by herself. Having someone with combat and self-defense skills would come in handy and maybe keep her alive.
When she’d left his apartment a few minutes earlier, she’d been running scared—not of Rafael, but of her growing feelings for the man.
She’d nearly lost her shit when he’d disappeared going after the intruder.
In that moment, she’d realized what she was afraid to admit. The reason she’d left his apartment. The one thing that would surely put an earlier end to whatever was happening between her and Rafael.
She’d realized that though she might be able to live with the man...
She couldn’t live without him.
In the few hours she’d spent with Rafael, she’d fallen under his spell, succumbed to his charm and landed head over heels for the cheeky bastard.