“Are you sure you’re OK, Shane? You really don’t look well,” his friend said.
Ari laughed, then quickly covered it up by coughing, and Shane was mortified to realize she had a pretty good idea of what was going on. The situation just kept getting worse and worse.
“Maybe I should go back to the room and lie down,” Shane said, taking full advantage of their concern. When he got Lia alone, he was going to make her suffer as much as she was making him.
“Of course, Shane. You’ve been through so much, and here we are keeping you out,” Rosabella said, making him feel about two inches tall.
“You know what, I’m sure it’s just that I’m too warm. I probably simply need more water,” he said, looking down, not able to look in Rosabella’s eyes and tell an outright lie.
“Are you sure?” she asked. She’d been like a second mother to him from the moment he’d walked into her home as a young man.
“I’m positive,” he said, shooting a chuckling Lia a warning look.
Lia continued torturing him for the next two hours. But by the time they arrived back in the room, she wasn’t laughing anymore, not when he pressed her against the wall and sank inside her, making her beg for more.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ari
For two weeks Ari had been back at home, back to teaching, and back to her real life. Well, sort of.
She stepped inside the doors to her classroom, still getting that feeling of pride as she approached the desk she used when she taught history. The smell of jasmine enveloped her from a bouquet left for her in the departmental office; she had brought a few of the sprigs along with her when she went to teach.
Before every single class there was something waiting for her, in her mailbox or beside it — flowers, books, a bracelet, chocolates, candles — the list went on and on. And each time, a note accompanied the gift.
She’d told Rafe on the way home from Italy that she wasn’t ready to jump back into a relationship with him; she’d warned him that she had to focus on herself first before she could consider attaching herself to another person — even him. But the man was persistent and she was wearing down.
She’d inhaled the sweet scent of jasmine as she grabbed his latest note. Even her name was written beautifully in cursive on the envelope. Rafe had incredible handwriting, far better than hers.
Meet me after class. I promise it will be an evening you will never forget.
Rafe
Maybe she should just do it. Was she going to win this battle of wills with Rafe? She had every intention of holding out, but the thought of having him touch her, of having him make her heart race, was enough to make her think she was a fool for depriving herself of something she wanted with every fiber of her being.
Soon her class was about to begin, and as she looked out and her eyes connected with Rafe’s, she was lost.
It was a fruitless battle. She desired him, wanted him on so many levels that it was insanity come to life.
Usually when she taught, the time flew and class was over before she knew it. Not so today. She couldn’t erase from her mind questions about what he had planned for her.
Though she tried not to look his way, her eyes kept going to him involuntarily, only to find his gaze always centered right on her. Her blood circulation was rising, her heart beating as if she were in a marathon, and her clothes feeling like restraints on her overheated body.
She needed to decide what she was going to do. As her eyes connected with his again, she made her decision.
When the class ended, she sat at her desk, answered questions and waited.
When she looked up and found Rafe gone, her heart thudded dully. Maybe he’d given up. The disappointment that filled her made her angry. He’d left, given her what she wanted, so why did she feel so let down?
Leaving the sprigs of jasmine on her desk, Ari gathered her belongings and slowly walked from the classroom. It looked to be a long, achingly lonely night for her.
When Ari stopped and looked out at the curb along the building in which she taught, her heart picked up speed again.
There was Rafe, standing in front of his flawless silver Jaguar, a single orchid in his hand as he gazed at her with his sparkling eyes. She couldn’t help but notice how debonair he looked in his sharp hand-tailored business suit, his crisp white shirt standing out against the black jacket and tie. When had he had time to change? Did it matter? No.
Slowly approaching, Ari felt relief and hunger all at once. She wouldn’t turn his invitation down — not with the level of excitement filling her just at the sight of him looking so suave, so incredibly toothsome.
“I’ve thought of nothing but you today,” Rafe said as she reached him.
“You look very handsome, Rafe,” she admitted, not wanting to play games.
His eyes rounded in pleasure as he leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. “Words can’t come close to describing how beautiful you are, Ari.”
The honesty in his tone took her breath away. She felt beautiful in his presence. Her heart was already involved, so why punish herself any longer? There was no use in pretending she didn’t want this, didn’t want to be with him.
“Where are you taking me?”
At her simple words, his shoulders relaxed and he pulled her into his arms, the flower dropping to the pavement as he lifted his hand to her face, cupping her cheek and looking into her eyes.
“My place.”
“That’s a bit presumptuous, don’t you think?” she asked on a sigh.
“Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen.”
She knew he meant it. This gentler Rafe was nice, but she found herself missing the assertive, almost domineering Rafe she had known. What was wrong with her?
“I’ll come on one condition.”
He looked at her in surprise. She had always been strong-willed, but she had allowed him to lead their relationship. It seemed he didn’t know what to do with this stronger personality that she was presenting him with.
“What is your condition?”
Ah, there was the fight she liked to hear in his voice. Rafe didn’t like to be controlled. She’d test his patience tonight. Knowing what she had planned made desire pool deep inside her, made her feel emotions she hadn’t felt for two years.
“I get to do whatever I want to you.”
He looked at her with puzzlement.
“I don’t understand.”