‘I love it when you’re wet for me, baby.’
‘I like your face.’ She was staring up at him so caught the twitch of his lips. ‘It’s the face of a Visigoth. I’ve always thought so.’
Stunned. He gave a shaky laugh. ‘Jesus, you slay me. Where do you come up with this stuff.’
‘You’re a Catalan.’
‘Am not. I’m an Englishman through and through.’
‘You’ve Latin blood in you,’ she argued.
Rafe nibbled a path softly along her jaw.
She shuddered.
‘I need to get up, get dressed.’
‘Stop trying to distract me. You’re not going anywhere,’ he murmured.
‘I’m not sure this is a good idea.’
‘This is a great idea, doll face. We need more practice.’ He tugged the T-shirt over her head, gathered her in his arms. ‘And you know what they say, practice makes perfect.’
Chapter Thirty Four
How in the name of God had she ended up lying on her tummy spread-eagled on his bed with the pillows, sheets and duvet tumbled on the floor?
Stunned, Coco rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling fan, which rotated lazily displacing the air.
This was all her own fault. She’d let him seduce her. And she’d certainly been ready and willing to give as good as she got, so to speak.
She’d wanted him, lusted after him, even loved him for years and now she had him what the hell was she supposed to do with him?
No one was accountable for this new dynamic in their tortuous relationship except herself.
But what was this new dynamic?
For all her talk and bravado, she had no experience of this type of behaviour.
She was independent, bright and knew exactly what she wanted out of life.
A life that was all mapped out ahead of her.
This sort of thing, this intimacy with Rafe of all people, was a deviation of her master plan.
It could only lead to highs that were too high and lows that had the potential to have her crash and burn.
‘I need to get dressed,’ she muttered.
Next to her, Rafe gave a fervent groan.
‘Doll face, I’m only human. Give me at least an hour to recover.’
Every time Coco tried to leave his bed, he worked hard to persuade her to stay.
Why wouldn’t she just lie there and enjoy a kiss and a cuddle?
When she moved he simply rolled on top of her.
‘Rafael, I’m serious.’ She patted his cheek. ‘Get a grip on yourself.’
Ignoring her he kissed her forehead, her nose and her chin. ‘We need to eat. I’m famished. What do you fancy?’
‘I want to wear clothes.’
‘Fine, let’s have pizza. We need lots of carbs.’
One of these days she was going to give him a fat lip.
How could he make her want to scream and laugh at the same time?
‘You’re not taking me seriously.’
‘Coco.’ He rolled off her, sat, stretched his arms and arched his back. ‘God, I feel great. We’re amazing in bed and out of bed. And in the shower. And on the floor.’ Then he sent her such a look of sheer lust it made her shiver. ‘And against the wall. If we get up now, we’ll be right back here in half an hour. Let’s just get something to eat.’
To shield her body from his hot gaze she pulled a pillow off the floor and hugged it.
‘We need to talk about this, it isn’t normal to have so much sex.’
‘Pepperoni okay with you?’
She simply blinked twice and huffed out a sigh. ‘Yes.’
‘Excellent, I’ll organise it.’
He got up, tugged on his jeans without even zipping them up and strolled out.
For a full two minutes Coco simply sat and stared at the door.
He was like a juggernaut, nothing stood in his way.
He was totally focused and goal orientated.
She had to admire that about him, even if he did drive her absolutely nuts.
‘For someone who looks like a stick insect, you put away more food than a ditch digger. And since I’ve seen plenty of soldiers digging ditches, I know this to be the simple truth,’ Rafe told her.
Sitting in the kitchen sipping a glass of Chianti, he leaned over and picked up a slice of pizza.
Coco merely shrugged, lifted a slice the size of a dinner plate.
‘A high metabolism. Anyway, you can talk.’
She took a big bite.
Dark eyes danced wickedly into hers in a way that reminded her of a young boy.
Her heart did a funny little shimmy and she gulped down a slug of wine to help her swallow.
‘Most women I know nibble on a lettuce leaf washed down by a bottle of designer water.’
She arched a brow. ‘Most of your squeezes work the skinny blonde look.’
He flashed that ready grin at her.
‘True, very true. You’re not my type.’
‘You’re so not my type either. Which is why this ... thing... is so weird.’
‘We’re lovers and that isn’t a
thing
, it happens to be a fact. It also happens to be a fact that I want you.’
‘But we can’t have an affair. We don’t even like each other.’
‘Doll face, we’re not engaged, married or have a significant other so how can we be having an affair? What we’re having is a mutually enjoyable intimate relationship.’
Thinking hard, she frowned. ‘Sex is not a relationship.’
‘We’ve always had a relationship, it’s just evolved now we’ve had exceptional sex.’
Coco lifted her chin and knew she was being stubborn and pigheaded but the way he was so certain about everything irritated her.
‘But I don’t want a relationship with you. It can only end in catastrophe.’
‘Really?’ His tone was casual but his eyes, sharp now, stayed on her face. ‘Why?’
‘You know what my father’s like, Rafael. Our lives won’t be worth living if he hears about our relationship.’ She took a bite of pizza and waved her glass. ‘He’d have us making out a guest list for the wedding.’ Then she paused and decided to be completely honest. ‘I need my independence and freedom to be with whomever I want to be with.’
Concentrating on her food, Coco wondered why those words sounded strangely weird.
She’d always had strong feelings for Rafe.
And things had most definitely changed for her.
But that wasn’t his problem it was hers.
The man she wanted as a life partner needed to be supportive of her work and ambitions, not someone who’d control every part of her day to day life and make decisions for her.
Rafe loved to take the lead. Probably something to do with him being in the army, a leader of men. And she knew he enjoyed being in command in the bedroom.
How could she fault him for that when he’d brought her to dizzy heights of ecstasy and constantly put her needs and pleasure before his own? And he was so gentle, so caring, who’d have thought he had it in him?
If only he could treat her with the same respect in the real world and see her for who she really was.
Her beautiful face was so serious.
It made Rafe want to give her a big hug, even as her words had him rub a slight ache between his ribs.
‘Doll face, I think you’ve got a bit ahead of yourself.’
Her mind appeared to be miles away as she stared into space and continued as if he hadn’t spoken, ‘I have goals, ambitions. My plan is to work on my career without interference from my father or unwanted distractions. I love being single.’
So he was an unwanted distraction was he?
He swallowed back hurt, told himself he was being a pussy.
‘I love being single too. I also need to be with you although God knows why. You’re too high maintenance.’
At that statement, violet eyes snapped back to focus sharply on his.
‘Am I really?’ Ice edged her voice as her eyes narrowed. ‘Give me an example.’
Pleased with the flare of temper in her eyes, he watched her as he sipped his wine.
‘You’re spoilt, headstrong and bad tempered. With a cranky disposition and a big chip on your shoulder.’ He smiled as her eyes flashed. ‘Not my type at all.’
‘Well, you’re a controlling, arrogant, egotistical and selfish pain in the butt. So you could say you’re definitely not my type.’
‘There you go, we’ve cleared that up.’ Not bothered at all by her mutinous expression, he topped up her wine. ‘However, I still want you. I can’t help but have a soft spot for you, doll face, always have done.’
‘If you’re under the mistaken impression that that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside...’
‘I’m not trying to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. I’m telling you the truth. You’re a beautiful girl. And that mix of sassy confidence along with fragile innocence is terribly seductive – and it’s damned near destroyed me now I know what an animal you are in bed. Look, we’re single, free and healthy adults with an elemental attraction for one another. We’re enjoying it. It doesn’t need to be anything more or less than that.’
For a moment, she couldn’t think of anything to say and wondered why his words, although they made perfect sense, made her feel upset and a little panicky.
‘Well, if we keep acting on the elemental attraction, we both need to understand the limitations of this relationship.’
‘I don’t like the word limitations, Coco.’ It seriously annoyed him to have her sit opposite him wearing his T-shirt spouting complete crap about limitations.
He’d give her limitations all right.
‘While we’re having sex, we don’t have sex with anyone else.’
Dark brows winged into her hairline. ‘This is not a long term deal.’
‘Whatever, nobody touches you but me.’
‘You don’t get to make that choice for me, Rafael.’
‘And that includes dear Robert,’ he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘You’d better watch yourself there.’
She choked, quickly grabbed her wine and took a sip.
‘Excuse me?’
‘I mean it, Coco.’ She jolted as he slammed his glass down. ‘If your father gets wind of him, you’ll be walking down the aisle before you can blink. At the moment he’s got Ethan in his sights, and is constantly harping on to him about continuing the family line. Jeez, he’s even been muttering to me about finding a nice girl and settling down.’
Stunned, she simply stared at him.
‘I’d no idea daddy was giving you and Ethan such a hard time. I don’t know what’s got into him these days, but I absolutely agree with you. I have no intention of marrying anyone, ever. So you don’t need to worry.’
‘That’s just where you’re wrong. Robert is a Lord.’ He waggled a slice of pizza at her. ‘You need to be very careful, because for you to have a title would be a dream come true for the old man.’
‘You’re a Lord,’ she reminded him.
He shook his head, waved his hand as if swatting away a bug.
‘Name only. I’ve no land, no countryseat. Robert, on the other hand, is loaded. Just perfect for your father’s little fantasies for his baby girl.’
She threw him a cheeky grin, her eyes dancing.
‘Robert is gorgeous. I hadn’t thought about being Lady Coco. And now you’ve broken me in, so to speak, I’m over that particular hurdle.’
‘If that man lays a finger on you I’ll break every bone in his body.’
Running her tongue along her top lip, she kept big eyes on his.
‘Robert has met someone else. He’s out of the picture.’ Now she sent him a smile of pure mischief. ‘Do I detect the green devil?’
Rafe knew she was playing him, the little witch.
He didn’t give a fuck if Robert was out of the picture. The thought of another man touching her had him stalk towards her.
And he was very pleased to see those violet eyes grow wary as he gripped her wrists.
‘Jealous? Nope, but I am possessive.’
‘How pitiful are you?’ She grinned up into his face. ‘I mean sex with you is enjoyable. It’ll be interesting to see what sex is like with other men.’
He growled deep in his throat as he glared at her, hauled her to her feet.
‘Enjoyable?’ Then he caught the naughty look in her eyes, and kissed her until she shuddered, moaned into his mouth. He lifted his head and felt better when he saw those eyes glazed with desire. ‘Baby, you haven’t seen anything yet.’
*
Jealous? He’d never been jealous in his life, Rafe told himself.
He lay in the dark staring at the ceiling with Coco, sprawled on her face, sound asleep beside him.
He was merely protecting what was his.
Of course, she didn’t know she was his.
Not yet.
It was much too soon to declare himself.
She’d come around to the idea of being with him.
Eventually.
He hoped.
He loved her company.
He loved the sound of her voice, especially when she was annoyed with him, all cool and polite. And all high and panting when he was inside her.
As far as he was concerned Coco had had a pretty idyllic childhood.
Surely she couldn’t be serious about not having a family.
He found the idea too painful to contemplate.
Of course it was only recently he wanted a family for himself. Now he’d met the right woman, he wanted a home and children. And he could see himself having those things, and more, with her.
When he thought of Coco these days, how she cared so passionately about her work, how she loved her friends and even her family, in spite of the issues she had with her father, pride in her caught his throat.
Thinking of a big hurdle ahead, he frowned. A hurdle that if it wasn’t handled correctly, might blow his plans right out of the water.
Charles Monroe needed to tell his daughter why he was so over-protective. He needed to tell her the truth about how her mother died. The thought of Coco’s hurt and devastation made his gut burn, but her pain couldn’t be avoided. Charles had spent over twenty-seven years protecting Coco from the truth. The time was right to tell her, and he’d be there to help her through it.
Jealous?
Yep, definitely jealous.
He’d kill any fucker who put his hands on her.
Chapter Thirty Five
Dozing with the sun sizzling on her skin, Coco lay on her tummy.