He pushed her over with another deep thrust, the rolling waves of release tossing her about like a rag doll until she was totally limp in his arms. She felt his shuddering explosion inside her, the muscles on his back taut as a bow as he emptied himself, the scent of sexual intimacy filling her nostrils.
The silence settled in the room like dust motes after a hot breeze had blown through an opened door.
Keira could hear the sound of her heart beating, the roar of her blood making her feel light-headed. Again she felt as if she had betrayed herself to him. It would no doubt please him to know she still had feelings for him; it would make his victory complete to cast her from him when they finally divorced.
An aching sadness filled her as if it were being drip-fed into her bloodstream, making her body feel heavy and lethargic with grief at how her life had turned out. Patrizio was within touching distance, she still had the essence of him in her most feminine place, and yet he was a world away from her in terms of bitterness and hate.
The mattress shifted beneath his weight as he got up. ‘I have to get to work,’ he said. ‘Do you need a lift to college?’
She pulled the sheets up over her nakedness. ‘No,’ she said, avoiding his eyes. ‘I can make my own way by tram.’
‘What happened to your car?’ he asked.
‘I had to sell it.’
Patrizio frowned. ‘Why?’
She gave a little shrug of one shoulder. ‘I needed the money for paint and canvases.’
‘I can organise a car for you,’ he said after a short pause. ‘Would you like me to do that?’
She shook her head, still not looking at him. He moved back towards the bed and, leaning down, hitched up her chin so she had to look into his eyes. ‘I will make sure a car is delivered to you as soon as possible,’ he said. ‘You can have it as long as you want.’
‘I don’t want you to do that, Patrizio,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t seem right.’
He straightened from the bed. ‘Consider it payment for services rendered,’ he said with an up and down sweep of his gaze over her body.
Her violet-blue eyes glittered with sparks of anger. ‘That’s disgusting.’
He lifted one brow. ‘But accurate, no?’
‘No,’ she said, tightening her hands into fists. ‘I didn’t sleep with you for any other reason than…than…’
‘Than what, Keira?’ he asked. ‘Old times’ sake?’
She ran her tongue over her lips, the slight tremble of her chin making Patrizio wonder if she had been as affected by him as he was by her. His body still tingled where she had touched him, the scent of her skin was on his and the sweet taste of her lips was indelibly imprinted on his.
A short-term affair should just about do it, he thought. It would get her out of his system once and for all. He would leave when he felt it was time to quit. He would dictate the terms this time around; he wouldn’t leave himself vulnerable to her betrayal again.
‘Why did you sleep with me, Keira?’ he asked into the ticking silence.
‘You know why,’ she said so softly that he almost didn’t hear it.
‘Because you just could not help yourself, right?’ he said with a derisive twist to his mouth. ‘Because you are a highly sensual woman who is always on the lookout for a playmate, right?’
‘No, that’s not what I meant at all.’
He made a move towards the en suite bathroom. ‘I am happy to keep you occupied for the next six weeks, a couple of months even if you are agreeable, but after that we are getting divorced as planned.’
‘I’m not sleeping with you again,’ she said with a determined jut of her chin. ‘We were supposed to be pretending to be reconciled, remember?’
He gave her a cool little smile. ‘We are pretending, yes, but why not have our cake and eat it too?’
She folded her arms across her breasts. ‘This cake is not for sale.’
‘Every cake is for sale, Keira,’ he said, raking her with his gaze. ‘Even yours.’
Keira responded by throwing the sheets over her head, but the sound of his mocking laugh as he went into the en suite bathroom taunted her long after he had left for the office.