A neat row of small teeth marks scored the flesh of his shoulder. And suddenly Lexie was back in that moment of such extreme pleasure that she’d had to bite him to keep from screaming.
She ducked her head again quickly, face burning. It all came back...every scorching moment. Taking him into her body had been far more momentous and emotional than she would ever have imagined it might be.
She’d cried like a baby.
Lexie cringed to think of how she’d curled up into his chest and sobbed. How he’d asked if he’d hurt her. Far from it. She felt almost guilty—as if she’d misled him by not telling him about herself. As if she’d taken something she only had half a right to. This man would never know the precious gift he’d unwittingly given her.
A sense of liberation from the dark past rushed up in a giddying sweep of emotion so physically acute that Lexie had to move or risk waking him. And she wasn’t ready for that assessing gaze to land on her just yet.
Moving stealthily, she managed to extricate herself and climb out of the bed without disturbing Cesar, who lay in a louche, sexy sprawl. She couldn’t help stopping for a momen
t and looking at him covetously. He was so beautiful...his skin a deep olive, his chest broad and powerful, and lower... Her face burned even hotter at the thought of how he’d felt moving inside her. So gentle but so powerful.
Emotion tightened like a fist around her heart. On first acquaintance with this man, she never could have imagined he’d have so many hidden depths, or have the capacity to be so...considerate.
Lexie immediately dismissed the direction of her thoughts when a kind of panic seized her guts. She had to lock off her emotions. This was purely physical. She’d gone into this with eyes wide open. It was an affair. And when the time came she would walk away with her head held high.
Lexie grabbed up her things and crept out of the room. Once she was in her own room she had a shower, before donning faded comfy jeans and a V-necked cashmere top. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and went to find the kitchen.
* * *
Lexie had found a radio station playing classical Spanish music and was blissfully unaware of the tall man resting his shoulder against the door, arms crossed, as she made breakfast.
It was only when she turned around to find some salt and pepper that she saw him and nearly jumped out of her skin.
He straightened. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’
Lexie flushed, still not ready to see him. Already a hum was starting in her blood. ‘You didn’t...’ She flushed some more. ‘I mean, you did—but it’s okay.’
He was bare-chested and wearing jeans with the top button open. Lexie nearly melted. Her body was unaccustomed to this overload of sensations and desires.
He came into the kitchen, right up to her, and growled softly, ‘I woke up alone.’
‘I just...I woke up and you were asleep,’ Lexie stammered. ‘I didn’t want to disturb you.’
A look she couldn’t identify came into his eyes and he said, ‘You didn’t.’
He bent then, and pressed his mouth to hers. In an instant she was on fire, her mouth opening under his, seeking more. When he pulled back she was breathing fast. She was out of her depth. This whole morning-after thing was totally alien to her.
In a bid to try and disguise her discomfiture Lexie turned back to where she was frying some eggs and bacon, glancing over her shoulder. ‘I hope you don’t mind... I found some food in the fridge. Are you hungry?’
She was babbling now.
Cesar just leant back against the island in the kitchen and said huskily, ‘I’m starving.’
But the look he sent up and down Lexie’s body told her he didn’t mean for food. She bit her lip and tried to ignore her body’s reaction. Was this even normal?
Somehow she managed to make something resembling breakfast and coffee, and to serve it up without it ending up all over the floor.
The state-of-the-art kitchen in Cesar’s apartment led into a large open-plan dining/living space. She sat down at the table there and noticed that there were Sunday papers, and—thankfully—that Cesar had put a top on.
He saw her glance at the papers and explained, ‘The concierge drops them in if I’m here.’
Lexie spotted something that piqued her interest and pulled one of the more tabloid-looking papers out of the pile—only to realise that the press had managed to catch her and Cesar on their open-top bus tour.
There were also pictures of them walking hand in hand back to the apartment.
Something about that sent acute disappointment to her gut. It had been a spontaneous moment. This tainted the memory. She said faintly, ‘I never imagined they could have known that we’d be doing that.’