Ignoring the younger man’s glower, Raul walked across the hall to the door and listened. She was working on the Brahms Piano Concerto Number One, another favorite of his. Feelings stirred inside him. He knocked.
If Heather had thought she could exorcise Raul Cardenas from her thoughts with a grueling practice schedule, she was very much mistaken. To her consternation, the increased isolation in the cubicle tended to make her concentrate on him to the exclusion of anything or anyone else.
When a knock came at the door, she ignored it. Hopefully the person on the other side would go away and leave her alone. Surely Todd had gotten the message and wouldn’t dare bother her now.
The knocking persisted.
Almost angrily she pounded out the last set of chords and jumped up from the piano bench, pulling her T-shirt down over her shorts. With the light of battle in her eyes, she undid the lock and opened the door.
There was instant stillness as she gazed up into the sun-bronzed face and midnight eyes that had scorched her with their intimate perusal in Evan’s study three nights ago.
Without her high heels, his six-foot-two physique seemed even taller, his black hair curlier in the humidity. He was the most gorgeous male she’d ever beheld.
Heather held on to the door. She was afraid that if she let go, she would sink to the carpeted floor. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, she couldn’t think of one. Fear that he’d sought her out because of some family crisis prevented her from saying anything at all.
Raul was still trying to recover his breath. He’d been living with the image of her in the long black dress she’d worn to play with the symphony. He wasn’t prepared for this side of her in a ponytail and bare legs. She wore no makeup, and looked utterly desirable.
“Your bodyguard out here in the hall seems to think you wouldn’t want to be disturbed. Is that true?” he inquired silkily.
Bodyguard? Her delicate brows frowned. “Oh—y-you must mean Todd,” she said when she could finally manage to talk. Beyond Raul’s broad shoulder she could see him glaring at the two of them from across the hall. “He’s just another student here.”
Raul stared at her through shuttered eyes. “He doesn’t seem to think so.”
Heather was still incredulous that instead of being halfway to South America by now, Raul was standing outside her practice room.
“Has something happened to my father or the Dorneys? Is that why you’re here?” she asked anxiously.
He rested one hand against the doorjamb. “The problem is a little closer to home, Ms. Sanders. I’m afraid something’s happened to me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“What would you say if I told you I changed my flight because I expressly wanted to see you again?”
Warmth started from Heather’s toes and crept up her body to her face until she felt white-hot.
“I—I thought you were on your way to Argentina.”
“I am. I have about twenty minutes before I must leave for the airport.”
No!
Smothering a groan she cried, “Then why did you bother to come at all?”
She heard him take a deep breath. “Maybe to find out if you were merely a figment of my fertile imagination.”
Feeling light-headed, Heather didn’t know where to look. “You shouldn’t have come.”
“You’re right.” His voice grated. “But for once in my life I did something totally against my better judgment.”
She moistened her lips in a nervous gesture. “Th-this is too soon after Salt Lake.”
Her honesty was as disarming now as it was the night they met. Raul bit out an epithet before raking an unsteady hand through his hair. He straightened to his full, intimidating height.
“Shall I let you get back to your practicing?”
“No—” she blurted, absolutely frantic he would walk away and leave her more desolate than ever.
His black eyes narrowed on her mouth. “Where can we go and be alone, Heather?”
Though they weren’t touching, he could feel her tremble.
“Right here.”
She’d finally whispered the words he’d been desperate to hear. Raul knew that if he went into that room, his whole life was going to change. He had the gut feeling she knew it, too. It was as if they could read each other’s minds.
He hesitated, giving her a chance. For what, he didn’t know exactly. She simply stood there, waiting…
Unable to help himself, he moved inside, taking the irreversible step. As he closed the door behind him, he noted the stunned expression on the young man’s face.
Raul fastened the lock, then turned to her. “You know what I want to do.”
“Yes,” came the aching reply. “It’s all I’ve been able to think about.”
“Then come here to me, muchacha,” Raul begged.
She stepped slowly into his arms, raising her mouth blindly for his kiss. He lifted her off the floor to mold her beautiful body to his, but nothing in his imagination had prepared him for the experience of touching and tasting Heather Sanders.
Her overwhelming response swept away all barriers, leaving Raul the one who was trembling from the passion she’d aroused. He’d heard it in her music, had spent sleepless nights dreaming of unleashing it in his arms. The reality was beyond his comprehension.
Together they began to move and breathe as one flesh.
He wanted to know all there was to know about her, and could no more stop what was happening than she could.
Heather had never experienced this kind of ecstasy before. The few kisses she’d exchanged with the boys she’d dated had nothing to do with this mindless rapture. Raul had awakened an insatiable hunger in her. She never wanted this giving and taking to end.
She moaned aloud when he tore his lips from hers and buried his face in the silken sheen of her hair. His breathing had grown shallow.
“Madre de Dios. I want you, Heather. I want you so badly I could swallow you alive.” He crushed her closer. “How am I going to walk away from you, amorada?”
Still caught up in a state of sensual euphoria, his question didn’t register all at once. But when it did, it might as well have been a dagger plunged to the very core of her being. Through sheer strength of will she stopped raining kisses on his face and pulled completely out of his arms.
Shaking like a leaf in the wind she cried, “How can you tell me you want me, and then ask me that question in the same breath?”
His features hardened, making him look older. “How can I not? We have no future. I had no right to touch you. If your father had any idea I had come here—”
Heather grasped the corner of the piano for support. “I—I think you’d better go now.” She forced the words from lips swollen by his kisses. “You’ll miss your plane.”
He felt as if he’d been running for miles and couldn’t catch his breath. “I made a grave mistake in coming.”
Her proud chin lifted. “If you’re worried on my account, please don’t be. We’ve both satisfied a craving. Th-that’s all it was.”
Raul shook his head. “That’s the first dishonest thing you’ve said since I met you.” His face darkened