He reached out and cupped her breast. 'I have only one thing on my lust-have list.'
'You're insatiable,' she breathed, unable to stop her moan when his thumb passed over her nipple.
Bending his head, he brought his lips close to hers. 'Only for you do I have this need,' he muttered thickly. 'And, por favor, I won't have it denied.' He drew closer until their breaths mingled.
'What about dinner...the dish...?' she whispered.
'You'll have it,' he vowed. 'Just...later.'
With a muted groan, he closed the gap, sealing them in a hot cocoon of fevered need so intense it stopped her breath.
The cocoon held them intimately all the way through their torrid lovemaking in Marco's bed and in the shower afterwards, where he explored every inch of her body as if seeing it for the first time.
His phone rang as they dressed for dinner. At first she thought it was a business call. Then she noticed his ashen pallor.
Their cocoon had been shattered.
'Who was that?' she asked, even though part of her knew the answer.
'It was the hospital. Rafael's suffered another bleed.'
* * *
'What the hell are you doing under there? Freebasing engine oil?'
Sasha froze at the voice she hadn't heard in six long sleepless nights and forced herself to breathe. 'Hand me the wrench.'
'Didn't the staff tell you no one's allowed in here?' The harsh censure in his voice grated on her already severely frayed nerves.
'They probably tried.'
'You didn't listen, of course?'
'I don't speak Spanish, remember? Are you going to hand me the wrench or not?'
His designer-shod feet moved, then a wrench appeared underneath the body of the 1954 Fiat 8V Berlinetta.
'Not that one. The retractable.'
The right wrench reappeared. 'Thanks.'
She hooked the wrench on to the bolt and pulled. Nothing happened.
'Come out from under there.'
'No.'
'Sasha...' His voice held more than a hint of warning.
Her mouth compressed. She didn't want to see his face, didn't want to breathe his scent. In fact she wanted to deny herself everything to do with Marco. To deny that every single atom of her being yearned to wheel herself from under the car and throw herself into his arms.
She gripped the wrench and yanked harder, reminding herself of how almost a week ago he'd ordered Romano to bring her to Casa de León and walked away.
As if Seoul had never happened.
'We need to talk.'
Her heart clenched. 'So talk.'
An expensively cut suit jacket landed a few feet from her head, followed a millisecond later by Marco's large, tightly packed frame.
'What are you doing?' she squeaked, holding herself rigid as his shoulder brushed hers.
He ignored her, taking his time to study the axle she'd been working on. 'Hand me the wrench and move over.'
'Why? Because you think you're bigger and stronger than me?'
'I am bigger and stronger than you.'
'Sexist pig.'
'Simple truth.'
'I see you still live in the Dark Ages.'
'Only when it comes to protecting what's mine.'
Realising he wasn't going to go away, she shrugged. 'Fine. Knock yourself out.'
His gaze sharpened. 'No arguments, querida? That's how it works between us usually, isn't it? I say something, then you argue my words to death until I kiss you to shut you up?'
'I don't crave arguments-or your kisses, if that's what you're implying. In fact I'd love nothing better than for you to leave me alone,' she suggested. 'You've managed it quite successfully for almost a week.'
Silently he held out his hand. She slapped the wrench into his palm. With a few firm twists he loosened the bolt on the axle.
'Show-off,' she quipped. 'What do you want?'
'I thought you'd want an update on Rafael.' His gaze stayed intense on hers.
'I thought he was off-limits?'
'If I still believed you and he were involved I wouldn't have taken you to my bed.'
'Okay. So how is he?'
'He's doing better. The doctors managed to stop the bleed. They expect him to wake up any day now.'
Licking her lips carefully, she nodded. 'That's great news.'
'Sí.'
The intensity in his eyes sent a bolt of apprehension through her. Without warning, his gaze dropped to her lips. Belatedly Sasha realised she was licking them. She stopped. But the quickening was already happening. The cramped space underneath the car became smaller. The air grew thinner.
'You didn't have to come back here to tell me that. A simple phone call would've sufficed. I'll pack my things and leave this afternoon.'
He stiffened. 'Why would you do that?'
'Rafael will need you when he comes home. I can't be here.'
'Of course you can. I want you here.'
Despite the thin hope threading its way through her, she forced herself to speak. 'That wasn't the impression I got from your six-day silence.'
He sucked in a weary breath and for the first time she noticed the lines of strain around his eyes.
'I didn't expect to be away this long. I'm sorry.'
When her mouth dropped open in surprise at the ready apology he grimaced.
'I know. I must be losing my touch.' He glanced around, his strained look intensifying. 'How did you get in here? The door is combination locked.'
'Rosario let me in. She recognises stir-craziness when she sees it. So-twenty-five vintage cars locked away in a garage? Discuss.'
He inhaled sharply, then flung the wrench away. 'I refuse to have this conversation underneath a car, with grease dripping on me.'
'You should've thought of that before you crawled down here.'
'Dios, I've missed your insufferable attitude.' He paused. 'This is your chance to tell me you've missed me too.'
The stark need to do just that frightened her. 'Are you sure you don't want me to leave? I can go home for a few days before the team leaves for Abu Dhabi next week. Maybe it's for the best.'
'And maybe you need to shut up. Just for one damn moment,' he snarled, then grabbed her arm and turned her into his body.
The heat of his mouth devoured hers. Fiery sensation was instantaneous. Sasha held nothing back. Her fingers gripped his nape, luxuriating in the smooth skin before spearing upward to spread through his hair. His deep groan echoed hers. Willingly, she let her mouth fall open, let his tongue invade to slide deliciously against hers.
His hand snaked around her waist and veered downwards, bringing her flush against his heated body. Need flooded her. To be this close again with him, to feel him, to be with him, made her body, her heart sing.
She wanted to be close. Closer. Physically and emotionally. Because... Because...
Infinitely glad he'd shed his jacket, she explored the large expanse of his shoulders.
When the demands of oxygen forced them apart his gaze stayed on her. One hand cupped her bottom. Against her belly she felt the ripe force of his erection.
'You do realise we're making out under a car, don't you?' she asked huskily.
'It's the only thing stopping me from pulling you on top of me and burying myself inside you. Tell me you missed me.'
'I missed you.'
'Bueno.' He fastened his mouth to hers once more.
By the time he freed her and pulled them from underneath the car her brain had become a useless expanse seeking only the pleasure he could provide. When he undressed her, led her to the back door of a 1938 Rolls-Royce, she was a willing slave, ready to do his every bidding.
Snagging an arm around her waist, he speared a hand through her hair and tilted her face to his. 'You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this.'
'What?' she breathed.
His mouth swooped, locked on the juncture where her shoulder met her neck, where her pulse thundered frantically.
Her blood surged to meet his mouth. When his teeth grazed her skin she cried out. The eroticism of it was so intense that liquid heat pooled between her legs, where she throbbed, plumping up for the studied and potent possession only he could deliver.
He took his time, tasted her, his mouth playing over the delicate, intensely aroused skin. Just when she thought it couldn't get any more pleasurable his tongue joined in. Ecstasy lashed at her insides, creating a path of fire from her neck to her breasts, to her most sensitive part and down to her toes. Nowhere was safe from the utter bliss rushing through her.
Finally, satisfied, he lifted his head. He took a step forward, then another, until the edge of the car seat touched her calves. With his gentle push she fell back onto the wide seat.
He followed immediately, his warmth surrounding her. In his arms she felt delicate, cared for, as if she mattered. As if she was precious. Which was silly. For Marco this was just sex. But for her...
She shut her mind off the painful train of thought. 'I thought you wanted me on top?'
His teeth gleamed in a slow, feral smile. 'In good time, mi tentación. We have a long way to go. Now, don't move.'
He cupped her breasts, toying with the nipples, torturing her for so long she wriggled with pleasure.
'I said don't move,' he gritted through clenched teeth, the harsh stamp of desire tautening his face.
'You expect me to just lie here like a ten-dollar hooker?'
Despite the intense desire threatening to swallow them whole, laughter rumbled through his chest. 'Never having been graced with the attentions of a ten-dollar hooker, I can't answer that. But if you don't stop tormenting me with your body I won't be responsible for my actions.'