The two of them had been careful, but he always kept an eye on the women he was with sexually. If something were to happen, he wanted to be the first to know about it.
Making himself calm down, he paged his assistant to the room. Amedeo was there within a minute.
“Amedeo, make sure two men are aware of Rachel’s whereabouts for the next three months,” he demanded.
His assistant didn’t blink and didn’t ask questions; he just followed orders.
After Adriane had given more orders for packing the things in his hotel room, he mentally prepared himself for what was to come. He tried to push Rachel and his impromptu visit to Florida to the back of his mind, but for once, it wasn’t easy. He took a final look around the room that he had spent so much time in for the last week, and then just shook his head before he firmly closed the door behind him.
Adriane made his way to his jet, focused on what was ahead of him. It was time to return home and fulfill his duty.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ari
Ari was feeling quite smug as she left the restaurant.
Yes, she would be aching all night, but at least she’d been strong. At least she’d been able to get the upper hand and walk away from Rafe’s invasion of her space with her head held high and a smile on her lips.
If the dismally dull doctor had stirred her in any way at all, she might have called him up to see whether his emergency was finished. Of course, in reality, he most likely hadn’t had an emergency. He’d probably arrived at the hospital only to find it had been a false alarm. Yep, Rafe and that page…
She was vaguely curious to find out whether Dr. Foot in Mouth would call her. She knew she wouldn’t take the call, as she wasn’t so desperate for attention that she would endure that man for even another thirty seconds, but it had been the first date she’d been on in months.
It didn’t please her that she had found much more pleasure sitting with Rafe for an hour than she’d found with any of the men she’d attempted to date. None of them stirred her; none of them piqued her interest. She was afraid that she was ruined for any other man after having Rafe in her life.
As she approached the curb to hail a cab, she felt a hand on her arm. Alarm zipped through her until she realized that it was Rafe, then excitement rose unwanted in her stomach. She should have known that getting away from Rafe wouldn’t be that easy. Turning to give him a snarky comment to cover up the pleasure she felt, she never got the chance — she was suddenly being pulled forward. A squeak escaped her tight throat as she was thrust into the backseat of a limo.
Getting her voice back quickly, she turned to him in a rage. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” she demanded as the vehicle pulled away from the curb and she punched Rafe in the arm.
“You know that I always escort my date home,” he replied, not even flinching from her hit.
“This wasn’t a date — at least not with you, Rafe!” she said between her teeth as she glared at him. She retracted her hand; she had hurt it far more than she had him by her punch.
“I had a good time, bought you dinner, and watched the sexy sway of your beautiful derrière as you walked from the table. It was a date,” he said with a satisfied smile.
“I guess you haven’t changed, have you Rafe? You still must get your way,” she snapped as she leaned back in irritation, both from his words and the perverse pleasure they brought her.
“I’ve changed, Ari. I have just discovered in the last week that you have, as well. I’m not going anywhere, so a little…persuasion is needed.”
“Persuasion? This is downright force, Rafe.”
“No, Ari. You would know if it were force,” he said as he slid closer.
She moved away, squeezing against the door on the opposite side of the car.
Rafe followed.
“I have papers to grade,” she said as his leg brushed against hers.
Please don’t betray me now, she begged her body.
“It’s Thursday night, Ari. You don’t have class again until Monday. I think the papers can wait.”
“You aren’t the one who gets to decide that.”
“Of course not, but I thought you would like to see more of the journal.”
He was dangling the carrot before her, and she really wanted to take a bite.
“I don’t think I should. Your behavior has been reprehensible,” she said.
“It’s your choice, of course.” He knew how badly she wanted to lose herself in that journal again. He knew it was his ace in the hole, so to speak.
“Can you keep your hands to yourself?” she asked.
“Nope. That was a one-time deal.”
Oooh, the man was a rogue. He’d given her a taste and now all bets were off.
“Fine. Then, I want to go to the library to read it. That’s a nice and safe place where it won’t get hurt.”
Rafe looked at her with a new light in his eyes that had her worried.
“Do you really think that you would be safe just because we’d be at a library, Ari? With a connection like ours, it doesn’t matter where we are.”
“I can control myself, Rafe. I will admit that I still feel some attraction toward you, but that doesn’t mean I want to jump your bones. I can control myself, and I would expect a man of your age to be able to do so as well,” she said primly.
Rafe laughed as he looked into her eyes. “Did you just call me old, Ari? I’m barely over thirty. I don’t think I have a foot in the grave quite yet.”
“Well, you act like a teenager, so you may be safe. I would think a respectable businessman would act with more…decorum,” she said, taking a moment to think of the right word.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks. I want you, and I refuse to hide that fact. You’re a stunning woman who makes my head spin and my body hard. I will give you the moon and stars if you just let me.”
She wanted to snort at his language, but he was serious. She could see it in his expression. And yet she was afraid. He’d hurt her in ways she didn’t know a person could be hurt. If she surrendered to him again, he would take her soul, and she might never get it back.
Wasn’t it all about the chase with Rafe? Once he had her, wouldn’t he lose interest and want to move on to his next conquest? She was sure that she was the only woman ever to have walked away. Offering him her heart hadn’t been enough for him — he’d wanted only her body — her submission. Well, that wasn’t good enough for her. It wasn’t then, and it certainly wasn’t now.