Proof Of Their One Hot Night by Emmy Grayson
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A RUMBLINGCUTthrough her thoughts. She stepped out from under the tree branches and looked up as stone-colored clouds raced over the hilltop to the west. A brisk wind barreled down the hillside and whipped the lavender bushes into a frenzy.
Alejandro grabbed her hand.
“Time to go.”
They hurried to the car, the first cool drops of rain hitting her skin as he opened the door for her. He ran around the front of the car and got in just as the clouds released a torrent of rain so thick they could barely see ten feet in front of them. She pulled out her phone and checked the weather forecast.
“Rain for hours. And possible hail.”
“There’s a bed-and-breakfast nearby we can take shelter at.”
Alejandro’s words cut through the thundering of the rain as he pulled out of the parking lot. Her hands tightened on the seat of the car, grasping at anything that would anchor her even as her breathing quickened.
“A bed-and-breakfast?” she repeated in as casual a voice as she could muster. “Sure.”
They stayed silent as Alejandro drove at a crawl through the summer squall. It gave her time to think. Too much time. Alejandro had just opened up and shared himself with her. Not the hints and bites of information he’d been giving her throughout the week, but a baring of his soul.
She no longer wondered if she was in love with him. She knew. Now she just needed to know what to do next.
Five minutes and one winding road up a hillside later and they pulled under the awning of L’Auberge de la Lavande.
They walked through the double glass doors into the lobby. Calandra kept her mouth from dropping open. When she heard the words bed-and-breakfast or inn, as the sign on the outside had proclaimed, she thought of quilt-covered beds, pancakes and a long porch with rocking chairs.
The Lavender Inn catered to an entirely different clientele. The lobby boasted dark wooden floors polished to a shine beneath the lamps dripping with crystals that had been artfully scattered among white and lavender-colored furniture. Elegant armchairs, chaise lounges and a few sofas offered rest and places to visit. The walls were covered in professional photographs of the lavender fields, the abbey and the village of Gordes. One side of the lobby was glass that she guessed, on a sunny day, provided incredible views of the valley beneath the inn.
Even the air carried the faint, floral scent.
A sweet-faced girl in a violet suit jacket and starched white shirt smiled at them.
“Bonjour.”
“Bonjour,”Alejandro replied. “Do you have any rooms available?”
The girl smiled, her cheeks dimpling. “You’re in luck! We were all booked, but we just had a cancellation for our honeymoon suite.”
“Honeymoon suite?” Calandra repeated.
The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Top floor. Once the rain passes, you’ll have the best view of the lavender field from a private balcony.”
“I don’t think—”
“Perfect,” Alejandro interrupted as he passed the clerk a credit card. “Monsieur and Madame Cabrera, please.”
His casual use of such a title made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. Laugh, because a week ago she would have shuddered at the thought of Alejandro being involved in her child’s life, much less being tied to him herself.
Cry, because in the last couple of days, she’d thought more and more of what it would be like to have Alejandro not just in their child’s life but in her life.
After checking in, Alejandro guided her to the elevator. The doors swooshed open, and she paused. The last time they’d gotten into an elevator, they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other.
“I promise not to kiss you this time.”
“But what if I want you to?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them. She sneaked a glance at Alejandro. He stood next to her, his body tight, eyes straight forward. Her throat constricted. Had she waited too long?
“Are you sure?”
Those three words, the barely constrained passion in his dark, sensual voice, broke down the last remaining threads of her defenses. Confidence emboldened her to walk into the elevator, turn and meet his eyes, allowing him to see the naked desire in her own gaze.
“You coming?”
Her breath hitched as he stalked toward her, eyes on fire as his presence filled the elevator. The door slid shut.
He started to reach for her. But she didn’t want to leave any doubt in his mind that she was initiating, that she wanted him. She moved forward, pushed him against the wall of the elevator, slid her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Just like that, she was tumbling, falling deeper into the complicated mess of emotions she felt toward this man. Yet instead of being afraid, she threw caution to the wind as her fingers tangled in his hair and she wantonly pressed her body against his.
What have I done?
One last rational thought pounded through her head before Alejandro groaned and leaned in. His tongue swept the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth, moaned when he tasted her.
Without stopping their frantic kissing, Alejandro grabbed her hips, turned and pressed her against the wall. The firmness of his erection pressed against her thighs. She wriggled against him, sliding her core up and down his length with wanton abandon.
“Stop!”
The whispered word penetrated the haze of desire. She reared back, humiliation creeping in. She was very inexperienced, but she’d thought, based on their last time, that she’d at least pleased him.
Alejandro grabbed her face between his hands and rested his forehead against hers, his breathing labored.
“If you keep doing that, I’m not going to last.”
The thrill of knowing she had that kind of effect on him emboldened her. She twisted, wrapped her legs around his waist and brought her body flush against his. She brazenly rubbed herself against his length, moaning as he hardened even more beneath her.
“Then I guess you better find a way to distract me.”
Before he could respond, the elevator dinged and the doors whooshed open. She got a brief impression of a four-poster bed with gauzy curtains and a vine-covered balcony before he whisked her inside.
Where this fire, this passion came from, she couldn’t say. But she loved it, this side of her that she’d only let out once to play. Loved seeing his eyes darken, feeling his shoulders tighten beneath her fingers.
He took up her challenge. And devoured her.
Before she could do anything else, he hooked his fingers in the straps of her dress and pulled them down, baring her breasts to his hungry gaze. Then he wrapped his strong arms around her body and pulled her against him. She cried out, the sensation of her bare nipples rubbing against his chest making her throb with need.
“Alejandro, please...”
He kissed her once more, keeping her arms pinned to her sides. His lips trailed over her jaw, up to her ear, where he placed the most delicate of kisses before sucking the lobe into his hot mouth and nibbling. She nearly came apart then and there.
But he was just getting started. As she moaned and begged and writhed, he pulled her onto his lap and continued his sensual onslaught, dragging his mouth down her neck with excruciating slowness, over the pulse beating wildly in her throat. Fire burned at every spot his lips touched, sparks skipping over her skin, making her feel feverish with need.
And then he sucked a nipple into his mouth. She arched against him, cried out his name. He released one of her arms to cup her other breast in his hand, his fingers cupping her flesh and stroking it with long, skillful caresses. He continued to suck and nip and nibble and kiss until she was almost sobbing.
Then he moved to the other, repeating the same sensuous seduction as she rubbed herself against him, that fire building and building until she couldn’t stand it anymore and came apart. She fell against him, shuddering, her free hand tangled in his hair.
He softened his caresses, gently kissing the globes of her breasts as she drifted back down from the incredible heights he’d sent her to.
“Alejandro... I...”
He kissed her on the lips, silencing whatever she’d been about to say. Then he moved her off his lap onto the bed and stood. She huffed in protest.
Until he grabbed the dress gathered about her waist, tugged it down along with her underwear and tossed it to the side.
Leaving her completely naked.
She started to cover herself, to cross her legs and cover her breasts with her arms. He caught one of her hands in his, brought it to his lips and kissed her fingers.
“Do you trust me?”
Trust. It always came back to trust between the two of them. Could he trust her to give him a fair chance at being a parent? Could she trust him to not repeat the sins of her father and hurt her, hurt their child?
Yes.Yes, she could. This man trusted her. Not just with her job, but with his secrets, his past, his hopes and dreams. He wanted to be a good father, a partner, and she loved him for it.
Slowly, she nodded.
He knelt between her legs. He stroked the folds of her most intimate skin with one finger, sliding up and down with a light touch that drove her crazy.
“Alejandro...please...”
Her hips bucked as his finger touched her there. Then he pulled back, and she whimpered. A whimper followed by a cry as he leaned down and replaced his finger with his mouth. His tongue moved over, dancing over her skin as heat pulsed through her, carrying her higher as she tangled her fingers in his hair and begged for release.
He slid a finger inside her, her heat clenching down around him. He sucked her into his mouth, and she came apart again. Her entire body shattered, sensation rippling over her skin as she closed her eyes against the pinwheels of light dancing in her vision.
Her body went limp, the coolness of the sheets a pleasing contrast against her heated body. Her heart pounded against her ribs. Slowly, with deep, cleansing breaths, her lust receded.
“Calandra...”
She opened her eyes to see him braced above her, that devilish smirk lurking on his lips.
“See what happens when you trust me?”
If he hadn’t just given her such pleasure, she’d be tempted to do something utterly childish, like pinch him. Instead, she sat up, reached forward and laid her hand on the growing bulge in his pants, savoring the darkening of his eyes as he let out a hiss. “What are you doing?”
“Do you trust me?”
He groaned as she tightened her grasp on him.
“Guess I’ll have to.”
She unzipped his pants, her fingers curling around his thick length. He sucked in a breath. His eyes blazed as he watched her hand slide up and down, trailing over every inch of him.
And then she leaned down to suck him into her mouth. He groaned, his fingers tangling in her hair. She loved the taste of him, the musky, masculine scent. It made her feel wild, passionate, free.
“Calandra...”
He stood and removed his clothes. Then he sat next to her on the bed, picked her up and tugged her onto his lap. He paused, the tip of his sex resting against her core.
“Calandra...” She started to ease down, but he stopped her. “You need to know—”
“No conversation,” she whispered as she tried to sink down. She needed him inside her, needed to feel him.
“London.”
The word stopped her cold. She stared down at him, hurt and jealousy splashing cold water on her lust.
“What about London?”
His fingers tightened on her thighs. “Nothing happened. It’s only been you. Ever since New York. No one but you.”
Her heart burst. She slid down his length, then leaned forward, pressed her naked skin against his and kissed him with all the love and desire she could pour into a single act. He kissed her back, fingers tangling in her hair as he marked her as his.
Then she sat up and moved, slowly at first, relearning his body, how he felt inside her. His hands stayed on her hips, his eyes fixed on hers as she rode him.
She burst once more, a kaleidoscope of colors obscuring her vision as she arched back and cried out his name. He jerked against her, returned her call with one of his own as he groaned her name, then shuddered. She collapsed against him, keeping at bay all the wild, rational thoughts trying to maneuver their way in.
For now, just for a little while, she wanted to savor this moment when she’d thrown off the shackles of her past and embraced the present.
And the man who, no matter how hard she had tried, was now firmly lodged deep inside her heart.