‘Trust me, I would tell you if you’d been.’
‘Well, the night is still young and I’m not ruling anything out.’ She laughed again.
His mouth curved in one of those devastating smiles as he reached for his wallet and extracted several crisp notes.
‘I say it’s definitely time to get you back and into bed.’
Her breath caught. He didn’t mean what she thought he meant. Of course he didn’t. But images suddenly bombarded her brain that had her blushing.
As she said goodbye to Camila and headed outside, she prayed he wouldn’t see her reaction to his words.
‘Hey, slow down, you’ll break your ankle rushing in those heels.’ He caught up with her outside and slid a hand around her waist.
The warmth of his body was suddenly too much to bear. ‘It’s okay, I’m fine.’ Her voice emerged a touch too forceful and he glanced sharply at her.
‘What’s wrong?’
She raked an exasperated hand through her hair and tried to stem the words forming at the back of her mind. They came out anyway. ‘You’re supposed to be my enemy. And yet you brought me to one of my favourite places in the world. You’re being so kind and attentive and I can’t help…I…I want you.’
The transformation that occurred sent her senses reeling. From the charming, desirous dinner companion, Theo turned into a hungry predatory beast in the space of a heartbeat.
He pulled her into a dark alley between two high-rises. Her heart hammered as he held her against the wall and leaned in close.
‘You don’t want to say things like that to me right now, Inez,’ he grated harshly.
His mouth was so tantalising close, she shut her eyes to avoid closing the gap between them and experiencing another potent kiss. ‘I don’t want to be saying them either. I can’t seem to stop myself because it’s the truth.’
‘That’s just the wine talking,’ he replied.
She nodded then groaned when he leaned in closer. Heat from his body burned hers and his breath washed over her face. When his stubbled jaw brushed her cheek, she bit hard on her lower lip to stop another groan from escaping.
‘Open your eyes, Inez.’
She shook her head. ‘Nao…por favor…’
‘What are you begging me for?’ he whispered in her ear.
A deep shudder coursed down her spine. ‘I don’t know…’ She stopped and sucked in a desperate breath. ‘Kiss me,’ she pleaded.
With a dark moan, he touched his mouth to the corner of hers. Fleeting. Feather-light. Barely enough.
Her hands gripped his waist and held on tight. ‘Please,’ she whispered.
‘Anjo, if I start I won’t be able to stop. And neither of us wants to spend the night in jail for lewd behaviour.’
She finally opened her eyes. He stood, tall, dark, devastatingly good-looking and tense, with a hunger she’d never seen in a man’s eyes. That it was directed at her made her pulse race that much harder.
‘Theo.’ Her fingers crept up to his face, dying to touch his warm olive skin. ‘Let it go. Whatever my father did, revenge would only bring you fleeting satisfaction.’
His jaw tightened but he didn’t look as forbidding as he’d looked before. ‘It’s the only thing I’ve dreamed about for the last twelve years.’
Her hand crept up to settle over his heart. ‘Have you stopped to think that obsessing about it may just be feeding the demons?’
One large hand settled over hers and he stared fiercely down at her. ‘Are you offering me another way to quiet them, anjo?’
‘Maybe.’
He captured her hand and planted a kiss in her palm. When he glanced down at her, a feverish light burned in his molten eyes. ‘He doesn’t deserve to have you as a daughter.’
‘I can say the same about your parents but we play the hand that is dealt us the best way we can. And when it gets really bad I try to remember a happier time. Surely you must have some happy memories with your mother? And was your father really all bad?’
His mouth tightened. Then, slowly, he shook his head. ‘No. It wasn’t always bad.’
‘Tell me.’
He frowned slightly. ‘They thought Sakis would be their last child. I came as a surprise, or so my mother tells me. She used to call me her special boy. My father…he took me everywhere with him. He had a sports car—an Aston Martin—that I loved riding in. We’d take long drives along the coast…’ He stopped and his eyes glazed over.