‘You can’t just make everything right,’ she said. ‘You can’t just walk back into Rottingdean House and expect to pick up where we left off.’
‘Why not? Why not, Lizzie?’ he demanded fiercely. ‘We can do anything we want to, if we want it enough.’
She drew breath for a moment, and then slowly relaxed. ‘Do you remember this?’ she said, pushing back her sleeve.
‘That’s not the friendship bracelet I made for you?’ He shook his head with surprise. ‘You’ve still got it after all these years?’ He saw the hurt in her eyes, and understood how Lizzie had felt when she thought he had deserted her. ‘If there’d been any other way...’
There was a long silence and then she said softly, ‘I feel like you, in that I’m glad you came to Scotland, because you and Eduardo inspired me. I would never have been ready for you to leave.’
‘And I didn’t want to leave,’ he admitted. ‘I raged against it.’
‘My mother would have destroyed you. I know that now. No one turns down Serena, but you did. That was your only sin. My father’s a violent alcoholic, who would have ruined what little remained of the estate so my grandmother had good reason to take the power to do that out of his hands. I remember my mother swearing at my grandmother on that last day, saying she didn’t care if they were thrown out, because there were richer pickings for a woman like my mother who still had her looks. There was a lot of gossip after they left, and even if I didn’t understand half of it at the time, I know my grandmother wouldn’t have been granted custody of me, if it hadn’t been bad. And why would Grannie allow me to come on your course in Brazil, if she didn’t believe in your innocence? I think she was pleased I won your scholarship, because she wanted justice to prevail, and giving me her blessing was her way of apologising to you for the harm done to you by my parents.’
‘And what did you think, Lizzie?’
‘Apart from the hurt when you left?’ She shrugged. ‘I just feel awful about the whole episode now. I should have spoken out. I should have confronted my parents in front of witnesses and called them liars to their faces.’
‘No one wants to believe badly of their parents, Lizzie. We make excuses for them, and always try to find some redeeming feature.’
‘That’s our common bond,’ she said with a small smile. ‘That, and learning to trust again.’
‘You’ve been talking to Maria.’
‘Yes, I have,’ she admitted, ‘and she filled in even more of the blanks than you have done.’
‘Running wild in the barrio?’ he suggested, slanting a wry smile.
Lizzie laughed as she admitted, ‘Something like that.’
‘And your grandmother. What did she tell you?’
‘She would never say a word against her son, or my mother. Old-fashioned values prevailed, I suppose—family pride, and all that. Preserving what little remained of our reputation took up most of her time, and the rest she devoted to repairing what my father had destroyed.’
‘Your parents won’t have the chance to destroy anything more now I’m here.’
‘Agreed. I doubt they’d take you on.’ Shaking her head, Lizzie laughed.
‘I suppose there are some compensations to my being the barbarian they talk about in the press.’
Lizzie angled her chin to stare up at him. ‘A barbarian with a great way with horses, and that’s what matters. So, where will you start?’
‘My immediate plans?’ Chico’s eyes had begun to burn with humour.
‘No,’ she warned without much force as he ran one fingertip lightly down her cheek. ‘Not those.’
‘I’m going to expand the training and breeding programme at Rottingdean,’ he said, pulling away. ‘But first I’m going back to Brazil and you’re coming with me.’
When she began to protest that she had duties here in Scotland to attend to, he added, ‘Before you say no, consider this: you need that diploma on your wall, Lizzie, if you have any thoughts at all of involving yourself in the business here.’
‘Working under you?’
‘If that’s your preference.’
Chico’s eyes were the most eloquent eyes she’d ever seen, and right now they were inviting her to do more than help him with his equine breeding programme.
Was she in danger of taking herself too seriously? Lizzie wondered as she gave Chico a stern look. Yes. Quite suddenly, sleeping with the boss seemed like a hard-earned perk that she was most definitely entitled to, rather than a reckless risk that could land her in trouble.
‘Yes,’ she said, holding Chico’s wicked gaze with a challenging stare. ‘I think I might take you up on that offer. And working under you would be my preference too—at least, to begin with.’
* * *
Chico kicked the door shut behind him, and she was in his arms before it slammed shut. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he husked, and that was all he had time for before she was reaching for his clothes and ripping them off.
Sweeping the papers off the desk, he pressed her back. ‘Let’s not waste time,’ he said, staring deep into her eyes.
‘Who’s wasting time?’ she demanded, having already unbuckled his belt. ‘I take my barbarians as I find them—preferably naked, but when it’s an emergency, I’ll take whatever I can get.’
‘I trust you expect me to behave like a barbarian, rather than to waste too much time on unnecessary preparations?’
‘You got that right.’ She groaned as he took her deep.
She had never been more aroused. Chico was big and tough and hungry, and she liked nothing better than to feed his appetite. She loved it when he was tender and gentle with her, but she liked him fierce best of all. ‘Just don’t stop,’ she instructed as he thrust deep. ‘At least not until I tell you to.’
‘Understood. So, to summarise—’
‘Forget the summary and get on with it. I’m close.’
‘You’re the best asset I’ve got,’ he said, setting up a deliciously rhythmical pattern of deep, firm thrusts, ‘so you’ll come back to Brazil with me—’
‘I’ll come anywhere,’ she assured him, hanging on by the slimmest of threads.
‘You’ll graduate and play in the match, and then we’ll discuss the details of your duties—’
‘Stop—’ Clinging to him, she drew a breath. ‘Nothing’s been decided yet.’
‘It has by me,’ Chico informed her coolly as she hung suspended in his erotic net.
‘Then it’s no deal,’ she said.
‘Would you like me to stop?’
‘I’d like you to finish what you started.’
‘That can be arranged...at a price.’
‘Which is?’
‘I need you to work with me. The team I’m going to put in place will need your input.’
‘I need your input.’
Chico’s teeth flashed white against his dark skin as he laughed down at her. ‘I have to say this is the first time I’ve discussed contract terms under these conditions.’
‘I should hope so. Now, could you just—?’
She cried out as Chico did exactly what she needed him to do—and did it thoroughly and very well indeed.
‘That was amazing,’ she panted. ‘You really are the best.’
‘Out of how many?’
So few she wouldn’t even embarrass herself by mentioning the number, and not one of them could make her scream. ‘Stop looking for compliments,’ she said as Chico raked his hair, making wild even wilder. ‘You know you’re the best.’
‘Money’s no object, Lizzie. You can buy all the stock and equipment that you need—’
‘Are we going to just talk about business?’ she interrupted. ‘Because, if we are—’
‘I’m placing all my business with you,’ Chico assured her as his m
outh curved in a wicked smile.
Lizzie pretended to think about this for a moment. ‘Can we move this to the sofa? Only, I’ve got some business I want to discuss with you, and this desk is hard.’
‘Whatever you say.’
Chico lifted her into his arms without breaking that most critical of connections between them.
‘This is the benefit of making love with a very strong man, I suppose,’ she commented as he lowered her carefully down onto the cushions without compromising her pleasure in any way.
‘I’m not letting you go,’ he confirmed, starting to move again. ‘In fact you’re not going anywhere for quite some time. I take it you’re in agreement with that?’
‘Fully,’ she said, groaning as he upped the pace.
Still not entirely sure how they’d make it work once they left this room, she only knew that right now they were as close as two people could be, and something told her that this time when Chico left, they’d leave together.