He nodded. ‘You owe me something.’
‘I do?’
He nodded as he put down the cup and reached for the tie on her robe and undid it. ‘You owe me a wedding night. But first...let’s take a little dip.’
He pushed back the robe and it fell off her shoulders and down to the ground. Leonora blamed her semi-awake state for the fact that she felt so languorous as Gabriel looked her up and down while she stood there in nothing but two flimsy scraps of lace.
As she watched he opened the top button and his shorts dropped to the ground. He was naked, and she took in the magnificence of his naked form as if she’d never seen it before. Now she was wide awake. Her body humming with electricity.
‘Turn around,’ he instructed.
She did, revelling in the warmth of the morning sun and the humid air. He undid the clasp of her bra and it fell away, floating gently on the breeze. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his mouth searching for and finding the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder. She shivered in reaction. All that was separating them was that flimsy scrap of lace, and Gabriel’s hands were there now, pulling it down over her hips.
Her panties fell to the ground at her feet and she turned around, heart beating so fast she felt light-headed. He stood back and held out a hand. She took it and followed where he led her to the pool.
As they descended the stone steps leading down into the clear cool water, with the backdrop of nothing but lush nature around them, she felt as if they were embarking on something very elemental.
The fact that this was so far removed from what Leonora might have imagined of a marriage was too huge to absorb at that moment. So when Gabriel reached for her she went willingly, wrapping her legs around his narrow waist, her arms around his neck, mouths fusing and passion drowning out all and any disjointed thoughts except for this bliss.
Breakfast turned into a very late lunch that day...
* * *
A few days later Leonora was dozing on a lounger under an umbrella by the pool. Since that first cataclysmic morning she’d discovered that Gabriel had a discreet, friendly staff, who melted in and out of the villa every day, leaving food and tidying away the evidence of the previous night’s passion.
At first she’d been mortified, but now she was ashamed to say she was already used to the sensation of invisible hands keeping her world pristine. It was a novelty after years of hiring only the most minimal help at the castillo, because she literally had not been able to do all the work alone.
Their days had fallen into a lazy, sensual pattern. Leonora would wake late, as she was generally only falling into an exhausted sated slumber as dawn was lightening the morning sky, and Gabriel would already be up, taking calls or doing some work in his airy study on the other side of the villa. He would join her for a late lunch, which would invariably end up with them back in bed.
Leonora blushed now under the umbrella. They were insatiable. She’d never known sex could be like this—so all-encompassing.
The previous night he’d been about to automatically don protection when she’d acted on impulse and put a hand on his, stopping him.
He’d looked at her for a long moment and then he’d put the protection
aside and lain down beside her. ‘Are you sure about this? Are you ready?’
Leonora had looked back at him, and even through the haze of desire she’d known they were crossing a line. She’d nodded and said, ‘Yes. I want children with you. I know it’s hard work, because I looked after Matías when he was younger, but these are different circumstances.’
Gabriel had put a hand on her belly. ‘These are very different circumstances, querida. You’re not alone any more. Our children will have two parents who want the best for them, who will support them no matter what. You’ll be a great mother. You’re amazing with your brother and you love your parents...’
Leonora’s heart had felt suspiciously full. She’d reached for Gabriel, pulling him over her, opening her legs around him, guiding him into her body. Skin on skin. No barriers. Telling him without words that she wanted all those things too. And more.
That was why she’d stayed silent—for fear of what she might say.
She hated to admit it now, and she told herself it had only been because of the unique sensation of not using protection, but making love to him last night had felt almost...spiritual.
She put a hand on her flat belly, imagining a baby already taking root inside her. And then she told herself she was being ridiculous. It wasn’t the right time. But it could happen within the next cycle. Soon.
She realised how badly she wanted it now. She wanted to show Gabriel that their family could be different. That there could be love. Her heart clenched. Her fantasy of a fuller, richer life wasn’t just a fantasy any more. No matter what he’d said or how much he’d warned her not to build castles in the air. If Gabriel wanted a different life for his children then who was to say he couldn’t fall in—?
‘Afternoon, sleepyhead.’
Leonora’s eyes snapped open behind her shades. Gabriel was standing beside her sun bed, tall and broad. Bare-chested. She was glad that the oversized glasses hid what had to be the soppy expression on her face.
She snatched her hand off her belly and sat up. ‘Afternoon. Did you have much work to catch up on?’
Gabriel sat down on the lounger next to hers and reached for some of the fruit that his housekeeper had left out for Leonora in a bowl. He shook his head and his mouth tightened almost imperceptibly. ‘A phone call about a project with someone from the other side. Intensely irritating but unavoidable.’