‘I want to hear it. Go on.’
Lexie glanced away and then looked back after a moment. His gaze was intent. She took a breath. ‘The woman had heard me shouting and came to investigate. She stepped in and defused the situation. Afterwards she took me for a coffee. She told me she was a casting director and asked if I’d like to audition for a part in a short film.’
Lexie recalled how bleak those days in London had been. How alone she’d felt. How impoverished. Vulnerable, but trying to be strong...optimistic...
‘So I said yes...and I got a leading role in the film. It was shown in the fringe category at the Cannes Film Festival the following year, and it won an award.’ She shrugged one slim shoulder, self-conscious all of a sudden, but determined not to let him see how easily he seemed to be able to
unsettle her. ‘That’s it. That’s how I got started. But it was a rocky road... I had an unscrupulous agent for a while... It takes time to realise who has your best interests at heart.’
For a long moment Cesar was silent, and then he said, ‘I’d imagine if anyone had tried to lure you onto a casting couch you would have subjected them to the same treatment as that shop owner.’
A dart of unexpected warmth pierced Lexie—and then she thought of the lurid photo shoots she’d done and the warmth fizzled out. ‘Unfortunately I wasn’t always so sure of what to say no to...’
Something in the air shifted between them. Lexie couldn’t look away from Cesar’s gaze. It was hypnotic. He seemed a lot closer. For an awful churning moment she wondered if she had moved closer to him without even realising?
‘You didn’t say no when I kissed you in the stable.’ His voice was deep, rough.
Breath was suddenly in very short supply to Lexie’s lungs. ‘Proof that my track record doesn’t appear to be improving with age.’
Her brain was short-circuiting. Was it only a week since she’d first kissed this man? It felt as if aeons had passed. Cesar slid an arm around her waist, pulling her into him. She gasped, filled with a fatal but delicious hot lethargy that urged her not to think. Just to feel. He was going to kiss her, and all Lexie felt was intense anticipation. Her blood was sizzling.
His mouth touched hers. Soft, coaxing. Taking Lexie by surprise. Dismantling any feeble defences she had. His other arm pulled her in even closer and lust exploded deep in her solar plexus.
His mouth was firmer now—insisting, demanding that she respond. As the last shred of trepidation melted away Lexie’s mouth opened, and Cesar’s attack was brutally sensual and complete. His tongue was stroking hers, sucking it, forcing her to respond.
Without even being aware of it, Lexie touched his jaw, her fingers spreading, threading through his hair, gripping it. Learning the shape of his skull.
One of his hands cupped the weight of her breast and it sent no flares of danger into her brain. Only a desire for more. She arched into that hand and heard a low, feral growl of approval.
When his hand left her breast and his mouth left hers she let out a husky breath of disappointment. She opened heavy eyes to see two dark glittering pools of green and black, swirling with depths that reached inside her and tugged hard.
Cesar’s fingers slid under the strap of her dress, dislodging it. Her heart-rate accelerated. The first tendrils of panic pierced the haze of heat.
‘Cesar... I...’
‘Shh...’ he said, and that hand was busy peeling down the strap of her dress.
As if knowing just how to subdue those faint tendrils of panic, he kissed her again, pulling her under even more. Making her hot, making her need. Making something tight coil inside her until she had to move to try and alleviate it.
When air whistled over the bare slope of her breast Lexie tore her mouth away, breathing hard. Cesar was breathing harshly too. He was looking down, and she followed his gaze to see her breast, its nipple pink and tight and pouting. His hand seemed huge and dark against her pale skin.
‘Dios...you are truly exquisite.’
His thumb moved back and forth over her nipple, making it pucker, grow harder. She bit her lip to stop from crying out at the exquisite feeling. The tightening sensation deep in her belly was sharper. She could feel wetness between her legs, against her panties.
She couldn’t think...couldn’t rationalise. She wanted to know how his mouth would feel on her. Tasting her... His tongue... But something was trying to break through. Sense, sanity...self-preservation?
Cesar pulled away from her abruptly, adjusting her dress at the same time, covering her up, and then Lexie heard it: the insistent knocking on the privacy window. A cold wind whistled over her skin.
She felt completely dazed, and could only watch as Cesar, who looked as if nothing had happened, pressed a button and said a few words in Spanish. He turned back to her, but already shame and embarrassment were clawing up inside Lexie.
An insidious image of his usual lovers inserted itself into her brain. She would bet that he didn’t subject those cool beauties to such sensual attacks in the back of his car.
She pulled the strap of her dress up fully, covering her sensitised breast. Through the window behind Cesar’s head she could see people milling, see the flashing pops of cameras. See security people waiting for them to emerge.
Realisation sank into her belly like a cold stone. Of course he didn’t normally do this. He’d engineered that kiss purely because he’d known exactly how close to Salamanca they were. He’d known they were about to emerge from the car and had wanted to make things look as authentic as possible.
She couldn’t meet his gaze, and tried to pull away when his fingers caught her chin. ‘What?’ she spat out, livid with herself for the dart of hurt that she shouldn’t be feeling. ‘Do I not appear sufficiently dishevelled to make the paparazzi believe we’ve been making out like teenagers?’