He gave a guttural groan and slid partway inside, waiting for her to accommodate him. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I want all of you.’ She dug her hands into his buttocks, urging him on. ‘Now.’
He went in a little deeper, still keeping control. ‘It will be much better for you, the longer I prepare you.’
‘I’m prepared.’ She pressed her mouth to his, feeding off him hungrily while her inner muscles gripped him tightly. I’m so prepared!
He thrust deeper, his face burying against her neck as he fought for control. She caught his rhythm, feeling every movement, her senses going off into a tailspin when his fingers came into the action, caressing her intimately to trigger that final cataclysmic release.
She shattered into a million pieces, her body shaking and shuddering with an explosive orgasm that left her spent and limp in his arms.
‘Good?’
She could barely speak. ‘Wow...’
He brushed her hair back from her face, his look surprisingly tender. ‘You did it.’
She pointed a finger at his chest. ‘You did it.’
‘It takes two to tango, as they say. We both did it.’
‘Not quite.’ Lily used her inner muscles to squeeze him. ‘You haven’t...’
‘I’m about to.’
She felt a shiver race down her spine at the smouldering look in his eyes. She felt him start to move again, the slow but steady build-up of thrusts that made her flesh tingle all over again. She didn’t think it was possible for her body to experience another orgasm so soon after the previous one but within seconds she was flying away again. She clung to him as he buried his face into her neck as he pumped his way into oblivion.
It was a long moment before he moved away from her.
He had a little frown on his face as he disposed of the condom. He sat on the edge of the bed, his back turned to her. Lily wondered with a painful pang if he was thinking of his ex. How many times had they made love? How long had they been together? Was he comparing Lily’s response to hers?
‘I guess I should go back to my room.’ She gave him a self-deprecating look when he turned to look at her. ‘I’m not sure I want Dominique to find me slinking out of your bedroom first thing in the morning.’
‘Don’t go.’
She rolled her lips together, not sure what to make of his unfathomable expression. ‘You want me to stay with you all night?’
A tiny muscle flicked in his jaw. ‘Not just tonight. Every night until you go back to London.’
He was offering her a relationship. An affair. A temporary one.
Very temporary.
‘Obviously I’m very flattered, but—’
‘But you want more.’ It was a statement not a question. ‘The thing is, Lily, this is all I’m capable of right now.’
Would she sound terribly gauche, asking for more? What chance was there that a man like him would fall in love with someone like her?
Men like Raoul Caffarelli did not fall in love with shy plain Jane English girls with scars.
It just showed how hopelessly romantic she was. But a short affair was all he was going to offer her because he would not commit to anything else unless he was fully mobile. That was the sort of man he was. He could not envisage a future any other way. Could she risk her heart for a hope that might never come to fruition? He had undoubtedly improved in the last fortnight but that was no guarantee that he would regain his full mobility.
He was twice, four times the man of some of the able-bodied ones she’d met. He had so much to offer. He was not the least bit diminished by his physical limitations.
Why couldn’t he see that?
Because he was so damned uncompromising and stubborn, that was why. He thought in terms of black or white, either-or. There were no shades of in between.
What if she said yes? It would give her a little under two weeks of memories that were certainly a whole lot better than the ones she had come with.
He was a passionate and skilled lover. He was a good man, a decent, lovely man to be around. He was respectful and kind. Considerate.
And she was in love with him.
Which was why she should say no. Right now. Nip it in the bud. Do not pass Go. Do not take another step. Do not stomp in where angels fear to tread.
‘I’ll stay.’