He smiled around a groan, the delicious curve of his up-side-down lips causing another wave of emotion to suffuse her. “Hmm. I decided I wanted to see your face when I come.”
Her heart caught, lurched, and hammered painfully. He’d said that to her the first time they made love
. I want to look into your eyes when I come. I want you to see exactly what you do to me.
Nothing in his expression showed he remembered that time. He leaned down, kissed her deep and long, the taste of her orgasm on their lips.
Without breaking the kiss, he tugged on a condom. Then he shifted position and settled between her legs, his thighs spreading hers wide apart. His cock nudged her entrance. She moved restlessly beneath him, eager for the sensation only he could give her.
The skin over her hairless mound stretched when he pushed inside her.
“Open your legs wider.”
She did. The feel of him as he filled her blew her mind. “Good. So good.”
When he pulled his upper body from hers she began to protest, but he took her with him as he sat back on his heels so she straddled him. “Now, arch your back. See how that feels.”
Again she did as he wanted. Sensation exploded through her as the skin along her neck, torso, and abdomen tightened even further, pulling her taut where it most counted.
He started to move in and out of her, each thrust filling her with his immense power. He dropped his head and took one nipple in his mouth.
She gasped, then sucked in desperate air as the pressure built inside her. “Enzo!”
Releasing her nipple, he licked along her neck to her lobe. “I’m here, baby. Right here with you.”
His rocking increased; his hands on her hips controlling his thrusts. Heat shot through her. She ground her pelvis into his and felt his movements become slightly uncoordinated as sensation gripped him. She took him ever deeper inside her as he pushed them to the edge.
Lexi locked a hand on his nape and met him thrust for thrust, giving him everything she had as they rocketed toward the heavens.
He bucked hard against her, his guttural cry hot against her neck. She followed him, her spasms wild and unfettered as her orgasm tore through her. Against her chest, she felt his harsh breaths, their sweat-drenched bodies slick in the gathering darkness.
“God, you’re amazing,” he panted. “So fucking amazing.”
Lexi smiled around the sadness in her heart. She wanted to tell him she was amazing because she was with him, but she didn’t. She kissed his cheek and he lowered her to the bed. Sleep tugging at her lids, she clamped both arms around him and, with a sigh, gave in to the oblivion of sleep.
Several hours later, she woke to find him curled around her, his chest rising and falling against her back. The sensible thing to do would have been to wake him, tell him to leave so she could have her sanctuary back.
But she couldn’t bear to let him go. Not yet.
Just for tonight, she let him stay.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“You’re going to see Lexi, aren’t you?”
Enzo tensed with a hand on the doorknob. Damn, he’d thought she was asleep. Hell, when he checked on Cara a half hour ago, she’d been out like a light. Now, he felt like a teenager caught sneaking out on a school night.
Desperation clawed at him. Lexi was avoiding him. The three weeks since they started seeing each other on a full-time basis had been great. Fantastic, in fact. Right up until these last few days.
Now, every time he suggested they meet up, she came up with some excuse not to. Tonight when he’d phoned her, she said she might have to go to New York at the last minute and she was packing. Who the hell packed for a just in case trip? When he’d asked her how long she’d be gone, she said she didn’t know. Damned if he’d let her string him along with non-answers like that. He’d tried her cell again. It was switched off, and she wasn’t answering her house phone.
Something was wrong. He refused to believe she was growing tired of him. The same way he refused to believe she was seeing someone else. No matter how well a woman could lie, Enzo couldn’t believe Lexi could screw him the way she did and go off to do the same with another guy.
“Well, are you?”
He let go of the door. Turning to face Cara, he steeled himself for the confrontation.
However unfortunate the timing, the time had come to bring things out in the open.
He was tired of hiding. Lexi might no longer hold a special place in his life, but she held a place. Besides, he was a grown man of thirty-four, and he’d had enough of skulking around. He could damn well choose who he saw.
“What if I am?” he challenged, even as part of him wondered whether this decision was the right one. Granted, in the last couple of weeks, Cara had made amazing progress. The sample skin grafts the hospital had used on her face had done their job. The surgery was scheduled for three weeks’ time. Cara seemed happy, but did he risk pushing her back into her black hole if he admitted he was seeing Lexi?
Proceed with caution.
He watched as she came to sit on the sofa and tuck her legs under her. “She’s really got you hooked, hasn’t she?”
Resentment burned at the statement, but he ignored it. The larger part of him waited for her to freak out, the way she always did. “No one’s got me hooked. And I didn’t say I was going to see her.”
Chicken.
“Don’t take me for a fool, big brother. I saw the way you looked at her the other day at the hospital. Now, you always leave the room when your cell rings. And yes, call me sneaky, but I checked your phone. Unless you’ve got a girlfriend with the initial
L
who texts you those hot messages, I’m guessing
L
stands for Lexi.”
He clenched a fist, tensing for the histrionics which were sure to come. But his sister remained on the sofa, her demeanor calm, even relaxed. What was going on here?
“I should chew you out for going through my personal stuff without permission. But for argument sake, if
L
happens to be Lexi, would you have a problem with that?”
“Yes, I would.”
Enzo’s heart plummeted, but he refused to let her answer sway him. He sat opposite her and he took a deep breath.
“Cara, I think it’s time we had a talk. I’ve been here for you for the last year, hell, for the last twenty-three years. And I’ll continue to be here for you no matter what. But you have to let me live my life. Whether I’m seeing Lexi or not should not come between us. I know what she did caused you a lot of pain, but you need to move on. I think you have, in fact, which is why you’re so calm right now. This doesn’t have to come between us unless you let it.”
His sister tilted her head to one side, regarding him with solemn eyes. “You still love her, don’t you?”
“
What?
” His harsh laugh sounded hollow in his ears, and this time when his heart plummeted, it went farther down.
“You still love her.” A statement this time, said with a certainty that sent cold dread through him.
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “No, I don’t love her. But there’s unfinished business between us.”
“And you don’t wonder why, after all this time, it’s still unfinished? Are you sure you’ll ever finish it? Do you even want to finish it? You talk to me about moving on. How have you moved on in the last year? As far as I know, you haven’t dated anyone or had so much as had a one-night stand since Lexi came to LA. Okay, so I admit I’m not proud of how I’ve behaved, and I know I’ve been more than a handful for you.” She held up a hand. “No, don’t say anything to make me feel better. I know I’ve been a superbitch this last year. What’s your excuse?”
He smiled after he winced. “For being a superbitch?”
She didn’t return his smile.
He shook his head again. “We’re not talking about me; and you’ve had good reasons to react the way you did.”
She smiled at him, a small grateful smile. “All the same, it took me too long to realize just what I was doing. I just—I just hope I’ve woken up in time to stop hurting the people who care about me.”
“And Lexi? You going to make things right with her too?”
He immediately regretted pushing her when her expressive face closed up. What the hell was he doing, asking for absolution for the person who’d caused of all their misery?
Surely, he wasn’t thinking of forgiving her himself?
Something shifted inside him.
Hadn’t Lexi paid enough? Shouldn’t she also be allowed to move on with her life?
But that means you have to let her go.
He ruthlessly ignored the voice in his head and held up a placatory hand to his sister. “Maybe not just yet. But think about it. It could be the last positive step to putting all this behind you.”
“Well, that a little tough to do,” she indicated her face, “when I see this every time I look in the mirror.”
“If you sort out the emotional side, by the time the physical side is fixed, you’ll be whole again. Think about it.” He got up, went over, and kissed her on the forehead. “Try and get some sleep.”
“Hmm. I might do that. I don’t want to go on my date looking like a scarecrow.”
He paused on his way to the door. “Date?”
Cara stood up, a smile lifting her lips. “Yep. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning. You didn’t answer my question. Are you going to see Lexi?”
After a moment’s thought, he shook his head. “No, I think I’ll head over to the night club and put in a few hours' work before Larry throws another tantrum.”
He tried to decipher the look that came over her face, but failed when her face cleared and she smiled. “Okay, Goodnight, big bro.”
“Goodnight, lil sis.”
He’d give Lexi a night to stew in whatever was bothering her, give her a chance to work it out of her system. Then if she didn't call him by tomorrow, he'd find her, sit her down for a talk.
Things were about to change between them. It was time to take this...whatever this thing was between them to another level.
This time when he grasped the doorknob, his heart was a whole lot lighter.
Lexi zipped her case and put her suit bag on top. Her hints about going to New York to scope things out there had finally paid off and her trip looked like a certainty now. What her boss didn’t know was that she planned to use the trip to find an apartment for herself.
Enzo was right after all. LA wasn’t big enough for both of them.
Pain ripped at her heart, the way it always did when thoughts of never seeing him again encroached. With her departure was almost a reality, the very sight of him made her feel as if she had a gaping hole in her chest.
She couldn’t live like this any longer.
She loved him. She'd never stopped. But he didn’t love her. Simple as that.
It was all about the sex for him. She knew that. But it hurt knowing that it was the first and last thing he wanted every time they met up.
Sure, in the last weeks they’d thrown in things like a dinner at an Italian restaurant Enzo loved and the odd movie, even a baseball game. But he made it evident in every look, every gesture, that he couldn’t wait to get back to the penthouse and fuck her.
The sex was great – hell, it was beyond great - but whoever said it was better to have loved and lost than to never have loved was a moron. Her heart bled every time she walked away from him; every time he shot her that heated look and tried to arrange another sexual marathon with her; every time he gasped baby instead of her name when they made love, her heart shredded a little bit more.
She checked her handbag for the passport she always carried in case her clients’ requests changed. The client who wanted a place in New York would be calling within the next forty-eight hours, but she prayed the call would come sooner. She had a feeling Enzo suspected something was up with her. Avoiding his calls wouldn’t work for much longer. The quicker she got away from him the better. If he turned up at her condo, she wouldn’t open up. Simple.
The doorbell jangled, as if conjured up by her imagination. Her breath clogged in her throat. Forcing herself to remain where she was, she prayed he’d go away. The second ring was longer, more insistent.
Sweat coated her palms
. Please, please, go away.
Silence greeted her unspoken plea. After several minutes, she allowed herself a sigh of relief. Moving down the hallway to the kitchen, she put the kettle on. Chamomile tea would calm her shot nerves.
The mug she’d plucked from cupboard fell and shattered when a bold fist hammered on the door.
Leaving the shards of her favorite cup on the floor, she marched to the door, and wrenched it open.
“In case you didn’t get the message, Enzo, I don’t want to—” Her words dried up in her throat when she saw who stood on her threshold. “
Cara!
”
“Hi, Lexi. May I come in?” Her gaze reflected her nerves as she fiddled with her purse strap.
“I—what are you doing here?”
Black eyebrows quirked. “I almost gave up until your neighbor told me you were in. Do I need to beg to be invited in?” There was a hint of anxiety in her voice.
Lexi’s shock gave way to trepidation when she spied a hint of challenge in Cara’s eyes. The last thing she needed was another confrontation. But instinct told her to take it easy.
She stepped back. “Sure…umm, come in.”
Cara walked in, removing the bag slung over her shoulder as she looked around. “From your reaction, I take it Enzo didn’t come here?”
Lexi fought to hide her surprise. “Why would your brother come here?”
Cara didn’t answer. Instead, she dumped her bag on the coffee table. “Nice place. I like the view.” Her boots clacked on the hardwood floor as she strolled to the window.
Not sure how to take this, Lexi shut the door and remained where she stood. “Err, thanks. Can I get you something to drink? I was just about to make myself some tea.”
Her visitor swung round, the folds of her asymmetrical top flaring over her jeans as she turned. “Tea?” She wrinkled her nose. “No thanks. I’ll take something stronger if you’ve got it.”
“I don’t, I’m afraid. I…I don’t drink anymore.”