He felt that little stiff bud and tickled it so that she groaned and arched her hips up, allowing him to cup her bottom with his hands.
Dazed, Susie looked down at the dark head moving between her thighs. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this level of eroticism. Part of her really couldn’t believe she was allowing herself to drop all her inhibitions like this, and another part was relishing every single second of the experience.
She bucked against his mouth as she felt herself getting closer and closer to a climax and with a fierce groan he rose up and thrust into her—just one long, deep thrust, as though he couldn’t stop himself. Just as quickly he withdrew with a muttered oath.
‘What’s wrong…? You can’t stop now… Please…’
‘I need to get a condom. I can’t believe…’
He couldn’t believe that he had done the unthinkable—that he had been so turned on that he had entered her without protection, even for a split second.
He placed the condom on with fingers that weren’t quite steady, and this time…
One deep thrust.
He was huge, thick and hard inside her, and it felt so good that she wanted to scream out loud. He began moving, easing himself deeper inside her, moving faster.
Susie wrapped her arms around his neck, her breasts bouncing as their movements meshed until they were moving as one, totally in sync.
Her orgasm was overpowering—shooting her into orbit and subsiding so gradually that it seemed to last for ever—and then she knew that he had come as well, felt his whole body stiffen and heard him groan out loud.
He rolled off her and shielded his face with his arm.
This was normally the moment when his mind began slowly but inexorably turning to work. It was amazing how easily he found it to focus on problems and ongoing deals in the aftermath of lovemaking.
Most times he would allow his body a few minutes to subside, then he would be on his feet, heading for the shower, eyeing the laptop which was always within handy reach.
Tonight was different. She nestled against him, and his instinctive urge to ease her away from that sort of compromising position was absent.
Which was odd, considering he had so many reservations about her.
‘Was I okay?’ she asked shyly, splaying her fingers on his chest and ruffling the dark hair which was so masculine and sexy.
Sergio didn’t think anyone had ended a hot lovemaking session with him with that question on her lips, and he smiled and stroked the hair away from her flushed face.
‘Terrible,’ he said gravely, and then grinned when she tapped him lightly on the arm after a moment’s horrified hesitation. ‘Sorry—I meant brilliant,’ he murmured, meaning every word of it.
‘I didn’t expect you to come here, you know…’ Susie told him softly.
She lay back and stared up at the ceiling, which was in dire need of several coats of paint. She twisted so that she was looking at his profile.
Sergio sighed. Certain things had to be put straight, which was a nuisance—but, whatever and whoever she was, she needed to know that this was just something passing. A virus that would clear from his system in no time at all. He could feel her big brown eyes gazing at him, could feel the softness of her breasts against his arm, and he was startled when his body leapt into arousal once again.
‘Sometimes the unexpected happens…’ He addressed the ceiling, putting one hand on his erection and holding it firmly, because right now it wasn’t going anywhere—not until he had said what he had to say.
He turned to her and breathed in her clean floral scent.
In actual fact this was a speech he never actually had to give—not in so many words. It was always understood that, whilst he might thoroughly enjoy a woman’s company, it would be a mistake for her to start building castles in the sky. The women he dated generally got the unspoken message.
‘Which,’ he continued carefully, ‘isn’t to say that it necessarily means anything.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean…put it this way…you told me that you favoured optimism over realism…’
‘I said I favoured optimism over cynicism. What’s the point in being cynical? How can you ever look forward to what life has to bring if you’re busy seeing everything from a gloomy angle?’
Sergio was temporarily distracted. He thought, in passing, that she had amazing eyes—a curious shade of brown, milk chocolate in colour, and fringed with lush, dark lashes… And the tiny mole on her cheekbone was pretty cute as well.
‘It’s extraordinary that you can face each day brimming over with optimism when you live here…’
‘That an incredibly snobby thing to say.’
‘You’re probably right.’ He flushed darkly. Stanley had said more or less the same thing to him, earlier in the evening.
‘You can come from money and still empathise with people who haven’t got any…’
‘Of course I empathise with people who don’t have money… Not that it’s particularly relevant, but Stanley, my driver, doesn’t come from an exalted background!’ He raked his fingers through his hair and wondered how they had ended up down this blind alley.
‘That’s not empathising—that’s recognising…there’s a difference. Although…’ she relented and met his eyes squarely ‘…it’s pretty cool what you did for him.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘He told me. About you helping him get back on his feet after he’d spent time in prison. He said that he pretty much wouldn’t have known what to do if you hadn’t stepped in and rescued him from himself.’
‘Stanley told you that…? He never talks about his past. For God’s sake—he was supposed to deliver you back to your apartment, not launch into an explanation of his life experiences. I’ll have to have a word with him. Discretion is always—but always—the better part of valour when it comes to the business of being a chauffeur.’
‘Please don’t! People confide in me… I’ll be mortified if you go to him and tell him off for opening up…’
Sergio could scarcely believe that his driver had ‘opened up’. He wasn’t the opening up kind. ‘People confide in you…?’
‘It’s one of the things I do really well. I make people feel comfortable…’ She laughed self-consciously. ‘It’s one of my few talents.’
‘How did we get on to this?’
‘I don’t know. You were telling me… Well, actually, you were telling me that the fact you showed up here doesn’t mean anything.’
She couldn’t bear the thought of hearing him inform her in that dark, bone-melting voice of his that he’d had his fill and it was time to say goodbye. Maybe he would tell her that she was worth every rose he had sunk his money into.
Had he said anything when she had jokingly told him that she’d help stick them in vases at his apartment because he would have to take most of them away? She couldn’t remember. Her brain felt fuzzy, caught up with trying to predict what he was going to say.
‘I know it doesn’t,’ she said lightly, because it seemed a better idea to take the bull by the horns than to wait for it to destroy the shop.
‘It doesn’t. I’m not interested in forging a relationship with you, Susie.’
‘I know. I’m not your type,’ she interjected quickly, before he could really get going on something truly hurtful.