He groaned again, his eyes closing, as Cairo slowly began to ride him, her knees placed on the lounger beside him to give her purchase as she raised almost to his tip before plunging down again. Again. And again. Riding him steadily faster. Harder. Her hips thrusting, drowning him in sensation, until he felt the first surge of his own release, his hands moving instinctively to her hips as he began to pump deep inside her, grasping her, holding her as he thrust into her in ever-increasing wildness, falling weakly backwards as she continued to milk every last drop from his body.
The fog of desire faded as the cool night air stroked the aroused heat of Cairo’s body, and she groaned low in her throat as she realized exactly what she and Rafe had just done.
This wasn’t real, she recognized achingly as she stared down at him in the moonlight. This madness with Rafe, the two of them being intimate like this, it wasn’t real. It never had been.
Not eight years ago.
And not now, either.
‘Cairo …?’ Rafe questioned huskily as he obviously felt her withdrawal.
This wasn’t real, she told herself again as she began to tremble in reaction.
She shook her head. ‘We can’t ever do this again, Rafe.’ Her voice broke emotionally.
‘Why the hell not?’ he rasped his disappointment.
‘I— We just can’t!’ Cairo cried, not even knowing how she was going to escape from this with dignity.
Minutes ago, she had been in ecstasy, totally lost to reason, but now she could see this for exactly what it was. A purely physical attraction—at least, on Rafe’s part. Cairo was very much afraid that for her—as it had been eight years ago—it was something totally different.
She stared at Rafe, at his dark beauty, her eyes widening with horror as she realized that, despite everything, she was still in love with him.
Had she ever really stopped loving him?
No, she hadn’t, Cairo acknowledged heavily. Rafe had been her first love and he was also her last love. But he hadn’t been able to love her in return when they were together before, and it wasn’t love he felt for her now, either. She had made a lot of mistakes in her life, but she wasn’t about to make the biggest one of them all by deceiving herself into believing it could ever be otherwise!
She moved up and away from him to turn and pick up her discarded nightgown. ‘I think it’s time I went back inside. Alone,’ she added abruptly so that Rafe should be left in no doubt about her intentions.
‘Cairo?’ Rafe stood up to reach out and grasp her arm, turning her to face him as he looked down at her searchingly.
What the hell had just happened?
Minutes ago, he knew Cairo had been as wild for their lovemaking as he had, and now she was just going to walk away? He gave a puzzled shake of his head. ‘What’s going on, Cairo? Why are you so hot, so wild, one minute and then back to being the ice-maiden the next? Was I just a quick lay? Is that it?’
She gave a pained frown. ‘It wasn’t like that—’
‘It sure as hell seems like it to me!’ he grated.
She shrugged. ‘I—I was curious, that’s all.’
‘You were curious?’ he repeated in a dangerous tone.
She nodded. ‘To see if that physical attraction really was still there.’
Rafe’s eyes narrowed ominously. ‘And?’
‘Obviously it still is,’ she acknowledged dryly. ‘But that doesn’t mean we have to do anything more about it.’
His mouth twisted derisively. ‘Your curiosity has been satisfied. Is that it?’
‘I— It was a mistake. A mistake that’s better not repeated, don’t you think?’ Her face was very pale in the moonlight.
No, Rafe certainly did not think that!
Nor did he believe that Cairo was as coolly dismissive of what had just happened between them as she wanted him to believe. He just had no idea why she was behaving like this. With any other woman he would have said she was running scared from the depth of their response to each other, but he knew it couldn’t be that because it had always been this way between them. From their very first night together their passion had been just this out of control.
‘No, I don’t think it was a mistake, and it’s not what you really believe, either, Cairo,’ he bit out.
She looked momentarily taken aback and then she gave an incredulous laugh. ‘Strangely, Rafe, I find I don’t actually give a damn what you think!’
‘No?’
‘No,’ she insisted as she calmly slipped her nightgown back over her nakedness. ‘It’s only your own arrogance that makes you say differently.’
‘You—’ Rafe swallowed an angry expletive. ‘You’re playing with fire, Cairo,’ he warned harshly.
‘But that’s my point, Rafe; I have played, and I don’t want to play any more.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe Lionel was right, after all, and my tastes have become more—sophisticated, over the years. I certainly hope I’ve learnt never to make the same mistake twice,’ she added.
Rafe drew in an angry breath. ‘Let’s hope you’ve learnt the same sense where Bond is concerned, then,’ he snarled.
‘What’s this got to do with Lionel?’
Rafe’s mouth twisted humourlessly. ‘Unless it escaped your notice earlier, the man obviously wants you back.’
‘It isn’t me Lionel wants, Rafe,’ she contradicted.
‘What do you mean?’ he prompted sharply.
‘Never mind.’ Cairo gave a weary sigh. ‘It really is very late, Rafe, and despite her late night I’m sure Daisy will still be awake bright and early in the morning.’
Rafe looked at her searchingly for several long seconds, a gaze that Cairo returned unblinkingly. Unemotionally. The passionate woman he had held in his arms such a short time ago had completely disappeared behind that façade of cool indifference.
But to Rafe it was obvious now that it was just a façade and he was more determined than ever to penetrate it. For now, though, he knew Cairo had had enough. Of Lionel Bond. And of him. If he tried to push her any more tonight, she would just retreat even further behind that barrier she had erected around her emotions.
He forced the tension from his shoulders and smiled slightly. ‘Okay, Cairo.’ He nodded. ‘Sleep well, hmm?’ he added ruefully—knowing he wasn’t going to be as lucky!
She looked a little less certain as she eyed him guardedly. ‘I— Yes. And you.’
He grimaced. ‘I think I’ll go for another swim and cool off.’
‘Goodnight, then.’
‘’Night, Cairo,’ he echoed huskily.
Rafe stood and watched her as she glided up the steps before disappearing inside the villa.
He stood there for several more minutes and mulled over this last conversation with Cairo, wondering exactly what she had meant by that last remark about Lionel Bond….
CHAPTER NINE
‘NICE of you to join us,’ Rafe drawled dryly as Cairo stepped onto the terrace where he and Daisy were eating breakfast.
‘Good morning, Daisy.’ Cairo completely ignored Rafe’s jibe as she sat down next to her niece and poured herself a cup of coffee. ‘I knew you were up,’ she told him as she sat back in her chair cradling her mug of