‘You may never get a chance to see anything like this again,’ Xavier said, his warm breath so close to her earlobe she had to stop herself nuzzling into him to enjoy the rasp of the rough stubble on his face. Sophie made a valiant effort to take it all in. Vibrant costumes…men in reds and ochre, deep blues and white. Neat red hats, almost fez-like in shape. Women transformed into butterflies—richly embroidered skirts, vivid woven shawls and headgear. ‘I like the pancakes,’ she murmured dreamily.
‘Pancakes?’
The regular pulse of his breathing was caressing the most highly sensitised part of her neck relentlessly. ‘How do they keep them in place?’ she managed weakly. ‘Hats like pancakes…’ As her voice trailed away, Xavier smiled.
‘Are you losing it?’ he suggested huskily.
‘Yes.’ And she was—losing control that was, willingly, thankfully.
‘Shall I try and find out where we’re sleeping?’ he murmured softly.
‘Yes…yes please.’
Taking hold of Sophie’s arm, Xavier urged her away from the semicircle of onlookers and steered her towards the other side of the clearing. The accommodation some villagers directed them to was a small building set apart from the rest of the village. As Xavier pushed open the door Sophie saw the windows had been flung wide to allow the cool evening breeze to curl around the sleeping area. She swallowed as she looked at it. A vast raised area in the middle of the room, far larger than a conventional marriage bed, was covered in numerous throws, rugs and pillows in soft shades of madder, rust, coral and magenta. The only light came from a flickering oil lamp, and there was some incense burning in one corner giving off a soft and seductive scent.
A curl of amusement tugged at Xavier’s lips as he looked at her. ‘You’re not having second thoughts, are you, Sophie?’
Sophie’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at him. ‘How long will we be here?’
‘Just overnight.’
‘And then?’ She almost didn’t want him to answer that. Now should have been enough…
‘You know,’ he said gently, resting his hands on her shoulders as he dipped his head to drop a kiss on the nape of her neck. ‘Back to Lima, and then on to Spain. Why? Are you sick of me already?’
His eyes were dark, and the shadowy play of light on his features carved his face into a new, harsher image—one she felt wary of and drawn to all at the same time. ‘Overnight’s not too bad. I’m sure I can tolerate such a very small dose of you.’
‘What do you think would happen if we increase the dose, Doctor?’
Sophie’s faltering heart picked up pace. ‘I…I don’t know,’ she murmured, her gaze locked on his. ‘Would it be safe?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Xavier said huskily, running the palms of his hands very lightly down her arms. ‘I haven’t completed my examination yet.’
‘You haven’t?’
‘No,’ he murmured, smiling a little. ‘It’s time to open wide and say ah, Dr Ford.’
As Sophie’s lips parted to chastise him he claimed her mouth with a fierce, possessive hunger and didn’t release her until she was moving against him with the same desperate urgency. She knew she had missed him, she just hadn’t known how much. She could never have anticipated the climax that overtook her—that made his arms drag her close to support her when her legs weakened beneath her. Throwing her head back, she cried out, first in surprise and then in ecstasy as the violent spasms rippled through her in an intense rhythmical sequence that seemed without end.
Kissing her and soothing her, Xavier murmured to her constantly in Spanish, the heat in his words intensifying her pleasure—passionate words of encouragement as he watched the waves of enjoyment consume her, and then finally, when she had quietened, much gentler words of love. ‘Remind me to rethink my examination techniques,’ he teased huskily against her mouth. ‘Anyone would think you’d had to wait a long time for that.’
‘I have,’ Sophie complained softly. ‘Almost a day.’
‘As long as that?’ he murmured wryly. ‘Then I shall have to make sure you never have to wait so long again. But first—’
‘What?’
‘A bath, I think. You’re still covered in mud, querida, and, much as I would like to lick every inch of your body, a bath would bring us both so much pleasure—’
‘Can we?’
‘Oh, I think so,’ Xavier confirmed, leading her by the hand to some doors that led out on to a small clearing. ‘When I was asked by the villagers what we would like—what they could do for us to bring us pleasure, I thought of only one thing.’
Following his gesture, Sophie saw a large tin bath on a raised platform. And the water was warm, she discovered, dabbling her fingers into its fragrant depths, and there were flower petals floating on the surface of the water…
‘Big enough for two?’ Xavier commented, breaking into her mental meanderings.
‘I hope so,’ Sophie said, turning to look up at him.
‘Do you want me to take them off for you?’
‘What? Oh…’ Her voice broke on a sigh as he began removing her clothes, his strong fingers brushing her sensitised skin, tantalising her beyond reason. She shivered with delight when at last he came to the tiny thong she was wearing and she stepped out of it.
Lifting her in his arms, Xavier carefully lowered her into the bath, and then, stripping off his own clothes, he joined her at the facing end. Leaning forward, he dragged her close so that her legs were parted wide and secured around his waist. Then, cupping her breasts in each hand, he chafed each blatantly erect nipple with his hard thumb pads, chafed them with remorseless intent as he stared deep into her eyes, enjoying the pleasure he saw reflected there.
Sophie’s breath came on a soft groan of surprise and delight. It was as if none of her needs had ever been answered before by him—as if her hunger had returned refreshed, un-sated and redoubled. She needed him like never before; needed the touch of his knowing hands and the tug of his probing fingers, the nip of his strong, white teeth and the relentless purpose of his tongue when he lodged first one nipple and then the next against the firm roof of his mouth and began to suckle. She needed it all…all at the same time. Now. Letting out a long, ragged sigh, she admitted huskily, ‘I’ve missed you so much.’
‘And I you,’ Xavier admitted, pausing to stare at her. ‘You’re quite right—a day is far, far too long…especially when you have the most spectacular breasts—’ Lifting them gently, he feasted his eyes on the blatant signs of her arousal so clearly reflected in the almost painful erection of each prominent rose-tinted nipple. ‘You were made for this,’ he promised, whipping her senses to a new height of awareness with his penetrating stare. ‘Made for me,’ he said huskily, bending to capture one pink tip very lightly between his teeth. ‘Deny it?’ he challenged, pulling back.
‘I have no wish to deny it,’ Sophie assured him, linking her fingers behind his head to bring him back to her again.
After a while, when her soft rhythmic moans told him that she was all sensation, he replaced his mouth with his fingers and watched her responses with fierce enjoyment as he alternately tugged and caressed. Sophie wasn’t capable of speech any longer. Even breathing was more effort than she wanted to make—she was scarcely aware that she was panting just to keep pace with her heart.
‘And now I shall wash you, prepare you—’
Could she take any more? Sophie wondered as Xavier’s whisper connected with an inner ear that seemed to have a direct line to every erotic zone she possessed. And then, as he nuzzled his stubble-roughened face against her neck, she could only whimper in encouragement.
The touch of his hands brushing against her as he wielded the sponge was electrifying. He left no inch of her untouched. And then when he tossed the sponge aside she made no complaint when his arms tightened around her waist and he lifted her, cupping her buttocks as she held herself in the position he wanted, and then settling her down so very slowly until she was completely filled b
y him.
‘That is the most incredible sensation I’ve ever experienced,’ Sophie admitted softly, resting against him with her head buried into his shoulder.
‘I’ve warned you before not to speak too soon,’ Xavier murmured, lifting her again until he had withdrawn almost completely from the moist warmth of her clamouring muscles.
‘Again,’ Sophie urged him hoarsely, ‘again.’
‘Cierto, querida,’ Xavier agreed, taking control. But he took his time and would not increase the pace as she wanted so that when the moment came for her, it was in a reason-dousing firestorm of sensation. She was hardly aware that he lifted her out of the bath, or laughed softly as he went to lay her on the bed.
‘What happened to my bath?’ she demanded groggily, reaching for him as he came to stretch out beside her.
‘What bath?’ he teased, seizing her fingers in his mouth to suck when she went to stroke his face. ‘There’s not a drop of water left.’
‘There isn’t?’ Sophie sighed with confusion. ‘How did that happen?’
‘I wonder?’ Xavier murmured sardonically, ‘Like this perhaps,’ he said, capturing her hands lightly in his as he mounted her. And this time he took her where they both needed to be quickly and efficiently, using firm regular strokes that had her bucking and crying out in surprised delight as she climaxed beneath him again.
‘I can’t believe it,’ she murmured softly later when they were lying together looking into each other’s eyes.
‘What can’t you believe, amada?’