“Come Signorita,” he continued to coax, his hips swaying to the beat of the candle flames. “A beauty like you must dance.”
I could feel a blush flame across my cheeks as I shook my head, mortified by the multitudes of paired dinners staring at me.
“Maybe I can persuade you.”
My breath left me in one long whoosh as I looked up at the man before me. The candlelight was at his back, illuminating his tall physique and casting shadows across his features. It could have been anyone really and his English was flawless but I knew who it was. A thrill ran up my spine and I shuddered.
The Frenchman extended his hand and the moment I took it, I was in his arms, pulled there seamlessly as I rose. I was overwhelmed by the smell of him and the strength of his body against mine.
“The lady is dancing,” the MC cried, causing a polite round of applause. “My job is done for the night, ladies and gentlemen. Please enjoy.”
The music grew louder, filling the heavy night air with beats and vibrations. I felt them thrum through the soles of my feet and I laughed when a couple beside us spun gracefully across the dance floor.
“It’s good to see you again.” He waited for
me to supply my name and I realized with a start that he hadn’t known it on the plane.
I bit my lip and considered my options. It was exciting, my interaction with the stranger, and I wasn’t willing to give too much of myself away so with sudden confidence even though no one had ever called me by the name, I said, “Elle.”
He repeated the syllable and the way he tasted my name was sinful, like biting into a decadent sweet.
I looked up at him and smiled wryly. “I wouldn’t have thought so. You practically sprinted from the plane this morning.”
A small smile twisted his lips but his hands tightened, one in mine and the other on my hip. “Any man with sense runs from a siren.”
“Good save.” I looked up at him from under my lashes and was rewarded with his sparkling blue eyes. “I don’t see you running now.”
“No.” He seemed just as perturbed by the idea as I was. “I’m here to work and usually, I’m not the type of man to mix business and pleasure but when I saw you sitting here…” he shrugged, irritated by his lack of control even as he moved us masterfully across the dance floor. “I’m also not the type of man who denies himself something when he wants it badly enough.”
The music pulsed quickly now. I could feel the beat at my core and any questions I might have voiced were lost to my breathless enthusiasm as the Frenchman spun me faster. We were doing some version of the tango. I had taken enough dance classes with my sisters growing up to know that but the more we moved together, the less formal it became. One strong hand hiked my leg up over his hip and I slid inch by delicious inch down his steel thigh until he pulled me upright once again. With my arms on his chest, I undulated like the wavering flames low to the ground, his hands on my shoulders guiding me down. I was short of breath, but not from dancing. I was moving intimately with a man I hardly knew, and I could have sworn nothing had ever been so erotic. The music reached its rapid-fire crescendo and I was sent spinning across the floor, tight circles guided by his strong hand. It was only when the music suddenly slowed and ended on a breathless whimper that he stopped me with his body flush against my own.
He was basically unfazed by the most sensual experience of my life, cool and composed with not a gorgeous strand of hair out of place. But those electric eyes were dilated as they stared down into mine and his body was tense with unease. I felt myself melt further against his marble edges and, for a moment, I thought I might have the courage to kiss the perfect stranger but hands descended on our shoulders, jarring us apart.
“Very beautiful couple, very beautiful!” the MC cried, inspiring a round of applause. With his arms on both of us, he grinned at the crowd. “I think we have a winner for best couple tonight, si?”
There was some outcry and a smattering of agreement from the other diners and he taunted them to take the dance floor and show us up.
“And these two, they will dance again!”
A hand snatched his mike out of the air and my Frenchman looked down into the much smaller man’s face with inscrutable coolness. “No. We will not.”
The MC nodded and laughed nervously but I was forced to mask a chortle as I was led from the dance floor.
His table was pressed up against the beach, close to the fire but on the other side of the sweltering music so that its tangy refrains faded away, replaced by the gentle crush of waves on the shore. It was an utterly romantic setting, but I had a feeling my Frenchman could have made an industrial waste plant sexy.
“I have people joining me,” he muttered petulantly even as he pulled out a chair for me.
I hesitated awkwardly poised over my seat. “There is no need for me to join you.”
Strangely, my coolness seemed to amuse him. Even in the wavering light, I could see a grin cut into his left cheek. “Excuse me, as I said before, I’m not used to mixing business and pleasure. My objection is to my pending associates, not you. Please, eat with me, Elle.”
I bit the inside of my cheek but finally settled in my seat. I was silent as a waiter came to take our drink order even though I was usually very opinionated about wine. It was obvious, when he began to order in heavy, polished Spanish, that he knew what he was doing.
When we were alone again, he sat back in his chair languidly and stared at me with such carnality that heat flared across my skin and my nipples puckered shamelessly against the frail fabric of my dress. He was so sleek and powerful it was hard not to relate him to a jungle cat, something dark and solitary stalking the woods at night looking for prey.
“You know,” I attempted to make casual conversation, anything to lower the temperature between us, “I don’t even know your name.”
His mouth flat lined and his hands flattened on the table as if he was bracing himself. I shifted impatiently in my seat while I waited but when he did look up the desire in his eyes paralyzed me. “Have you ever had a holiday affair, Elle?”