I love your grandmother as if she were my family. I wish to see her happy before it is her time.”
With that, he left, gently closing the door behind him. Not that his departure did anything to lessen the force of his presence. It seemed to linger, daring her to deny it. Demanding that she consider his request—and not just because of her grandmother.
She perused the card in her hand.
Rey Peralta. President, Lopes Industries.
Her father’s family’s business. She didn’t really think of herself as part of the Lopes family. Although she had occasionally sought out information about them, the Lopes family was a secretive lot. The only things she had unearthed were articles every now and then about the growth of their enterprises and their devotion to protecting the Amazon and the indigenous peoples within the rain forest.
Worthy causes, she thought, laying down the business card and glancing at the walls of her space.
Most would consider her a success. At twenty-eight she already had a reputation for being one of the best in her field. Yet lately there had been a niggling sense of uselessness within her. A desire for more. She wanted the freedom to build instead of destroy.
She thought of her parents then. What if her father had felt something similar? Something that had driven him to return to his home, but which had pushed her mother away?
There was only one way to find out the answer to that question. An answer that was long overdue.
But as she prepared for her upcoming meeting, doubts lingered about the wisdom of going anywhere with the intriguing Mr. Peralta.
Chapter Two
Rey paced back and forth in front of the windows in his New York City hotel room. Floor-to-ceiling, they provided amazing views in every inch of the space. In the buildings surrounding his hotel, there were glimpses of people still at work at their desks, even at this late hour. The lights and displays on every building in Times Square were so bright they chased away the dark of the night, creating an artificial day.
On the street below, tourists milled about the area snapping photos or forming lines for the assorted ticket lines, shops and restaurants while the locals weaved and bobbed around them as they hurried by at a New York pace.
He could imagine Paola racing along at that breakneck speed, rushing to something, but Rey sensed that it was also about running away. Maybe trying to avoid her family history and the questions that lingered in her mind and heart.
Definitely hurrying from him, he thought, recalling her reaction to the immediate link that had happened between them when he had walked into her office.
The pull had come instantly, and he had been powerless to stop that initial blast of desire through his body. Her Guardian energy was strong, and the female spirit within her had called to him, awakening his own energy.
She had experienced it also. He had seen it in her eyes and in the tension of her body. She had been fighting the enticement of the energy as much as he had, but had also been intrigued by it.
He had not expected the attraction. He had not been prepared for it, but he would welcome exploring it if Paola was amenable. He imagined it would be an intense experience to allow such a powerful spirit to merge with his. To join with her physically, as well.
Paola Lopes was a very beautiful woman, a stunning combination of her mother’s Nordic looks and her father’s darker Latin coloring. Caramel-colored hair. Emerald eyes. Flawless skin of a rich, peachy hue with an easy blush. He had seen it today when he’d turned his gaze on her and recognized the passion simmering beneath her apparently calm and professional surface.
Maybe, if she decided to honor his request, they would find the time to explore that passion, although he worried that she would not respond to her grandmother’s plea.
Despite the desire and unrest he had sensed at her core, Paola had seemed to have found her place in this New York bustle, he thought as he turned away from the windows and slowly undressed.
She was successful at what she did. He had performed an Internet search in anticipation of his visit and had found information on case after case that she had won. Plus, the firm for which she worked was top in their field. He was certain that the corner office meant she was going places there.
So why would she choose to leave with him? Choose the unknown over her comfortable and well-off life?
Maybe that unrest he had sensed. He had no doubt it was about her father and the many unanswered questions she might possess.
But he also hoped that after today, a part of her motivation would be about him and the connection between them. About the passion he wished to explore and which, even now, roused him physically.
As he slipped beneath the smooth and slightly cool hotel sheets, they brushed along the hard length of his erection. He allowed himself to imagine being with her. Inside her.
He groaned and forced away such thoughts. They would only complicate what was already a complex and risky situation.
Paola’s grandmother Patricia grew weaker every day, despite all her assertions to the contrary. Such weakness threatened the Guardians and their role in protecting the sacred space. The Guardians’ role was why it was so important to get Paola to return to her family home.
As Rey had seen today, her spirit was strong and with training, Paola could easily take over her grandmother’s role as Priestess. But to do so meant giving up her current way of life. Moving away from the only family she had left.
It also meant risking herself, physically and mentally. The allure of the sacred space was immense. Only the strongest Guardians could visit, but it took even greater strength to leave and maintain a balance between their two worlds.
Rumor had it that Paola’s father had been too weak to resist that allure.
Like father, like daughter? Rey worried, but then he recalled Paola’s spirit and the determination he had sensed in her.
Somehow he didn’t think so. Somehow he knew Paola would be just what they needed to preserve the Lopes legacy and insure the continued dominion of the Guardians.
But somehow he also sensed that Paola was just what he needed. He had been alone at this Guardian thing for way too long. With her at his side…
Rey closed his eyes and allowed himself to dream. It was no surprise when Paola was there, waiting for him. Welcoming him into her arms in his slumber.
Her skin was smooth, but chilled and slightly damp, as if she had just come from a swim. Rey knew just what would heat her up.
Raising his hands, he cupped the weight of her generous breasts and circled the coral tips of her nipples with his thumbs until they peaked into hard nubs. A soft sigh of pleasure escaped her lips.
Taking each tip between his thumb and forefinger, he tweaked them over and over again and then bent his head, soothing them with a lick.
Paola moaned and held him to her, her eyes closed and her head thrown back as her passion grew. She moaned his name, and threaded her fingers through his hair, keeping him near. He licked and sucked at the sensitive tips, and her skin grew heated against his.
Easing his thigh between her legs, the dampness of her desire registered against his thigh and he pressed upward, applying pressure as he continued to suckle her. In response, she rubbed herself against his leg, seeking release, and Rey was not about to disappoint.
He took the tip of one breast between his teeth and gently bit down. She shuddered in his arms and drew herself across his thigh with greater demand, her heat and wetness leaving a trail of passion along his thigh.
In his dreams, Rey eased his hand down and parted her legs. Found the nub at her center and applied pressure with his thumb while easing his fingers into her moist vagina. In and out he stroked, alternating that possession with pressure until she whimpered with need and held on to his shoulders