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She ignored him. Or at least she tried. She cast a desperate look towards Luis, but her friend merely reached across the table and hugged her close, murmuring in her ear, ‘It’s your birthday, Suki. Life’s too short. Give yourself a break and live a little. It’ll make you happy, and it’ll make me infinitely ecstatic!’
Before she could respond, he was headed for the redhead’s table, smiling that smile that made women trip over themselves.
‘I said, sit down,’ Ramon pressed.
There was no way to leave the booth while he blocked her exit. With Luis’s words ringing in her ears, she slowly sank back into her seat. ‘I can’t imagine why you’d want me to. I have nothing more to say to you.’
His gaze gradually defrosted from arctic cold to heated green as he scrutinised her face with that unnerving intensity. ‘I think we established that I owe you...something.’
‘An apology. Is that a difficult word for you to say?’
He shrugged and opened his mouth, just as raucous laughter fuelled by hours’ long hard drinking erupted from a group nearby.
Distaste crossing his face, he rose and stationed himself at the mouth of the booth. ‘Come, we’ll continue this conversation elsewhere.’
Despite his imperious tone, Suki stood, telling herself she was obeying just so she could make a quick getaway once they were outside. Ramon Acosta had revealed a part of himself tonight that scraped her giddy dreams raw. She’d seen the ruthless man the financial papers wrote about, the insufferable deity-like brother Luis complained about. She’d also seen a bitter man turned lethally furious by his broken engagement.
Whatever had happened between Ramon and Svetlana still pulsed ill-feeling through his veins. Even now, she felt him loom like a dark lord behind her, quiet fury pouring off him.
The glimpse into his character was a timely reminder that Suki grabbed and held close. Her experiences of men, including her own father, had left her with a deeply ingrained distrust that, unfortunately, received further validation with each interaction with the opposite sex.
Thus far, Luis was the only one who’d breached that distrust. He was the reason why, believing there were other exceptions like him, she’d attempted, despite her mother’s bitter warnings about men, to date six months ago.
Stephen turning out to be a two-timing louse had left her hurt, but not surprised. The part of her that still stung now warned her that whatever was going on with Ramon, she wanted no part of it.
Exiting the pub into brisk October air, she breathed in deep. And started to walk away.
A firm hand caught her elbow before she’d taken three steps, dragging her to a halt. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Ramon breathed.
With the sounds of the pub now in the background, her every sense was filled with him. She took a step back, fighting the insane sensations that warred inside her. He tracked her move, crowding her with his smell, his overwhelming body, that ferocious look in his eyes.
Much too much. Despite the pathetic weakening in her limbs, she met his gaze. ‘It’s late.’
‘I’m aware of the time of night,’ he murmured, moving closer, brushing her legs with his.
The weakness intensified. ‘I need to... I should go.’
He took another step forward, bracing both hands either side of her head and trapping her against the pub wall. ‘Sí, perhaps you should. But you don’t want to.’
She shook her head, frantically calling on her common sense. ‘Yes, I do.’
He leaned closer, until she could see the tiny gold flecks in his eyes, feel the warm, faintly champagne-tinged breath on her face. ‘You can’t. I’ve yet to give you my apology.’
‘So you admit to owing me one?’
His gaze dropped to her mouth, spiky hunger that fused with hers flaring in his eyes. ‘Yes, but I’m not giving it to you here.’
She managed the almost impossible feat of laughing. ‘You know what birthday I’m celebrating so you know I wasn’t born yesterday.’
One hand left the wall, his fingers drifting down her cheek. ‘I can tell you what you want to hear right here and you can walk away. Or you can let me take you home as I promised Luis I would while giving you that apology. Surely you want to give your friend that peace of mind?’
She shook her head against the magic he was weaving with his low, husky voice and sizzling touch. ‘I’m a big girl. Luis will understand. All I want is that apology,’ she insisted.
‘You want more than that. You want to give in, reach out and take that forbidden thing you’ve been craving for a while now. Don’t you, Suki?’
No.
She opened her mouth, but the word stalled in her throat.
Ramon pushed away from the wall, took a bold step back, then another, robbing her of his closeness, dangling the possibility of loss in her face.
No.
This time the word was in objection of the temptation she knew she shouldn’t surrender to. Suki wasn’t aware she’d followed him to the edge of the kerb until a sleek black limo rolled to a stop behind him. Reaching for the handle, he pulled the door open, his eyes not leaving her face. ‘You will get in the car and I’ll take you home, Suki. What happens beyond that will be up to you. Only you.’
CHAPTER TWO (#uba7e59ee-85b6-5e18-a44f-c08c96a2d14d)
INSTINCTIVELY SHE KNEW her path was set the moment she murmured, ‘Okay.’
Life’s too short. Give yourself a break and live a little.
Suki knew that there would be no turning back the second she let Ramon help her into the car and he slid along the soft leather bench seat after her. The door slammed behind them, cocooning them in silence and edgy lust.
‘Your address?’ he rasped.
‘167 Winston Street, Vauxhall.’
He relayed the information to the driver, then his mouth firmed. ‘There are two dozen pubs between where you live and Luis’s residence in Mayfair. Why do you choose one so far outside of the city?’ he asked, casting an irritated glance at the establishment that stood on a quiet street in the middle of Watford.
‘A uni friend of ours just inherited it from his parents. Luis promised we’d stop by for birthday drinks,’ she said, a little relieved at the harmless tone of the conversation.
He’d activated the privacy partition and tinted the back windows, and now, trapped in the dark expanse of the luxurious car, his scent once again sliding intimately over her senses, she needed something to alleviate it.
Unfortunately, the reprieve didn’t last long. ‘And do you always do what my brother says?’ he asked, a different type of edge lining his voice.
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her handbag. ‘Are you about to pick another fight with me? Because if I recall, we haven’t resolved the last one to my satisfaction yet.’
In the space of one breath and the next, he closed the gap between them. Her bag was plucked from her fingers and tossed onto the adjacent seat. Firm fingers speared into her hair, the grip firm enough to direct her gaze up to his.
Electricity vibrated from his body, the dark, purposeful gleam in his eyes rendering her mouth dry. He stared down at her for an age, their breaths mingling.
‘Lo siento. I’m sorry for my less than admirable assumptions. I am not in the best mood tonight, but that was no excuse, so accept my apologies.’
The words were deep and genuine, momentarily silencing the voice screaming a warning at her. ‘I... Okay,’ she mumbled.
His fingers moved, slowly massaging her scalp in lazy, masterful rotations, triggering a low heat in her belly. ‘Are you satisfied?’ he asked.
‘That...that depends.’
One eyebrow rose but the rest of his face tautened with expectation. ‘On what?’
‘On whether or not you’re about to start another fight with me.’
‘No, querida,’ he breathed. ‘I’m about to start something else entirely. And you know it.’
‘I don’t...’
‘Enough, Suki. I told you what happens next is up to you. But I get the feeling I need to move things along before one of us expires from impatience. So the only word I want out of that delectable mouth right now is yes or no. I want you, gatito. Do you want me? Regardless of my sub-exemplary behaviour tonight. Yes or no?’
Her heart leapt into her throat. For three long years she’d harboured a growing crush on this man. But nowhere in that secret longing had there been a possibility that he would be here, in front of her, saying these words to her. She’d always believed she would wake up one day to find herself cured. She’d dated a handful of men like Stephen who, even before they’d proved themselves faithless, had fallen victim to not being dynamic enough, confident enough, tall enough or dark enough—hell, even Spanish enough.
Stephen’s betrayal had triggered a numbness of her emotions, had finally pressed home every warning her mother had relayed since she turned sixteen. A desperate part of her wished for that numbness now, yearned for a clap of thunder to deliver her from the ferocious lust threatening to swallow her whole.
Because, staring into Ramon Acosta’s eyes, she didn’t think she was anywhere near numb. Anywhere near cured of her foolish crush.
And now that he was free...
Oh, God.
She shook her head; the voice whispering that this was the worst idea she’d ever had grew into a scream. Swallowing, she slicked her tongue over her lower lip.
His fingers convulsed in her hair and a strangled sound escaped his throat. About to utter the word that would free her from this madness, she dropped her gaze. His velvet-smooth lips were so close. And good heavens, she was so hungry for a taste.
One. Just one.
Then she would satisfy herself that he was no god, that the lofty status she’d afforded him in her mind was nothing more than dreams spun from loneliness and long-forgotten fairy tales.
‘Suki.’ Her name was a fierce, demanding whisper. A silken, alluring chain winding her closer.
Her breasts grew heavy, the slick, damp place between her thighs clenching with a manic need she’d never experienced before.
‘Yes.’ The word poured from her in a swell of surrender.
Ramon didn’t need further encouragement. With a rough exhalation, he tugged her closer to meet his descending mouth. A hot, demanding mouth that slanted over hers, fusing power and pleasure into her fired-up senses.
His tongue stroked against her lips, tasting boldly, over and over before he demanded entrance. Entrance she gave with a shaky wonder at the thought that she was kissing Ramon Acosta. That wonder melted away in the next instance when he licked his way into her mouth.
Sensation lashed her from head to toe, the onslaught eliciting helpless whimpers that started from deep within and were crushed between their melded lips. The knowledge that she was whimpering sent another bolt of shock through her. She’d been kissed before. Enough times to know that no one kiss was the same, that some were better than others.
But nothing compared to the kiss Ramon was delivering now. Each slide of his tongue against hers, each bold nip of her swelling flesh rained sizzling delight on her, making her strain closer, silently pleading for more.
When the need to breathe forced them apart, he only permitted a second, smoothing his thumb across her lips in a hungry caress. ‘Dios mio, you taste incredible,’ he growled before he took her mouth again, unbelievably deepening the kiss.
The words freed her from a hold she wasn’t even aware of, the guttural utterance lending her enough feminine confidence to unfold her hands from the death grip on the seat. To raise one hand and settle it on his thigh.
He tensed, hard muscles bunching beneath her hand. He tore his mouth from hers to spear her with a rabid look, the light in his eyes sending a thread of apprehension down her spine. Not the kind that made her fear for her safety. The kind that informed her he was stroking the edge of his sensual limits and was determined to take her down with him.
She started to move her hand. He caught and trapped it against his heated flesh, his eyes flashing as he stared down at her. ‘You want to touch me, then touch me.’
‘Ramon...’
He inhaled sharply. ‘I think this is the first time I’ve heard you say my name.’
‘I...what?’ It couldn’t be. She’d said it so many times...in her fantasies.
The hold in her hair propelled her closer. ‘Say it again,’ he breathed against her lips.
‘Ramon,’ she whispered feverishly.
A light tremble vibrated through him. Diving back down, he sealed his mouth to hers. The hand covering hers released her to slide up her arm, stopping every few inches to explore her bare skin. Halfway up, he changed course, his caress gliding over her hip to her waist to the underside of her breast. It stayed here, tantalisingly close to the needy weight that yearned to be touched, the nipples that screamed for attention.
Her breath hitched as hunger ploughed through her. Beneath her hand, his thigh shifted, demanding her attention. She caressed him through the material of his expensive tailored trousers. Higher. To the enormous bulge behind his zipper. And froze at his tight, tormented groan.
‘No. Don’t stop, querida. Touch me,’ he commanded against her mouth.
She smoothed her hand over him, tightened her fist against his virile girth. Thick, inflamed Spanish words spilled from his lips, bruising her mouth with their heat. When one ravenous hand cupped her breast, squeezed and tortured, she returned the words with needful moans. One lane of pleasure rolled into the other, delirium swelling high as he moulded and caressed and kissed.
Suki wasn’t sure when he pushed her back against the leather upholstery or when he tugged her hips to the edge of the bench seat. Not sure when the side zip of her black wool dress was lowered or when he pushed up the hem. But at some point between one potent kiss and the next, he was on his knees between her thighs, his hands sliding up her legs, over the silk stockings she’d treated herself to in a mad moment of weakness last weekend. More fevered words spilled when he encountered their lace tops.
His fingers traced over them, then trailed over her bare skin. A shudder raked her from head to toe. With one last forceful kiss, he raised his head.
‘I need to see you, Suki,’ he rasped, his voice barely recognisable. His hip flexed against her hold, the power of his erection thickening in her hand. ‘Touch you as you are touching me.’
At the back of her mind a warning blazed. A kiss. This was supposed to be just a kiss.
But already her head was moving in a nod, her blood thrilling to the new, unexpected turn the night had taken. There was no way what was happening between them would be sustainable beyond tonight. For one thing, she was too emotionally bruised, her instinct even now shocked at her behaviour. For another, her mother needed her.
Lastly, Ramon divided his time between the many Acosta hotels and his homeland of Cuba. The likelihood of her seeing him again for a very long time, especially once Luis took over the New York flagship hotel, as he was being groomed for, would be low to nil.
And despite the insanity of the sensations Ramon evoked in her now, she knew the shine would wear off sooner rather than later. So maybe she would allow more than just a kiss. Maybe, she would heed Luis’s words, and live a little. Just for tonight—
The fingers tracing the outer edge of her satin and lace panties dragged her back to the exhilarating present. To the looming presence of the powerful man crouched over her.
‘I must be losing my touch if your mind chooses this moment to go for a wander. What were you thinking about?’ he demanded, his thumb sliding dangerously close to her sex.
She shivered. ‘I...nothing.’
He doubled the caress with a thumb on the other side. ‘Don’t lie to me, Suki. I’ve had enough of those in the last twenty-four hours. Were you thinking of another man?’ he sliced at her, his nostrils flaring with quiet fury. ‘While you lay ready and open for me, were you thinking of someone else? A boyfriend, perhaps?’
Her eyes widened and she tried to scramble away. She didn’t succeed because he refused to let her go. ‘You think I’d be here, like this with you if I had a boyfriend?’
‘Answer the question, Suki,’ he challenged, his tone growing even more arctic.
She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t have a boyfriend. If...you must know I was thinking of you.’
The tension gripping him eased. His eyes gleamed. ‘What exactly were you thinking?’ he probed as his thumbs slid under the thin barrier and caressed her damp flesh.
A moan ripped free, her shaky exhalation rushing through her lips. ‘That I won’t see you again after tonight.’
