Lulu knew that in the real world she would feel shy, would cover herself up, but as his gaze slid down her naked body she didn’t feel anything but thrilled as his eyes darkened appreciably, and she was glad. She felt free to look at his body—so different from her own. He was hard where she was soft, and even her musculature after years of dance had a different, more rounded shape from the powerful planes and dips of his.
She rolled onto her side and studied the definition of his chest with her hand, gliding her fingers down over his abdomen to make sense of the ridging of muscle under the taut pull of his springy olive-toned flesh. Her hand slid down between his hairy thighs to cup him there.
Alejandro hadn’t been expecting that from her. His semi-maiden.
He drew a breath that hissed between his teeth.
She lifted her head. ‘Am I hurting you?’
‘No…’ he choked.
‘Bon, I’m being as gentle as I can. I know how vulnerable men are in this area.’
He made a sound—half-snort, half-groan. ‘No, you don’t,’ he told her. ‘You don’t know the half of it.’
‘I was once forced to use my knee here. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.’
‘I bet,’ he grunted, before the content of what she’d just said hit him. He lifted his head. ‘What do you mean, you were forced to?’
‘I had a date who got rather pushy about where he thought the evening was going.’
Alejandro examined her face for clues as to what ‘pushy’ meant. ‘How did he react?’
‘He howled like a hyena.’
‘No, I mean towards you.’
She bit her lip. ‘After the kneeing he wasn’t good for much.’
‘He didn’t hurt you? Physically?’
She gave an abrupt shake of her head. ‘Just gave me a fright. Said some horrible things.’
Her face contorted painfully and it bothered him a great deal.
He ignored all the conditioning he’d had not to offer comfort and found himself sitting up and pulling her into the shelter of his arms. She looked both startled and pleased.
‘It was over a year ago—I should be over it,’ she mumbled.
‘Why should you be over it?’
‘I don’t know. It shouldn’t be that important. He said I was cold and shallow and needed to loosen up. He said—’ Lulu broke off to take a deep breath. ‘He said some people open a gate to life and let it in, but that I had put a lock on my gate and one day it would be old and rusty and no one would want me.’
‘And you believed him?’
‘No. Yes. I don’t know.’
‘How long had you known him?’
‘Several weeks. I thought we were friends.’
She pressed her lips together and he waited, because he knew there was more.
‘I don’t have a lot of friends.’
It was an odd thing for her to say. He couldn’t imagine she found it difficult to charm anyone. She was sweet and funny and clearly loyal, going by her friendship with Gigi.
He brushed a finger under her chin and tipped it up so he could look into her eyes. ‘He wasn’t your friend, Lulu. I’ve only known you a day and I don’t see a cold, shallow person.’