Finally, when she thought she couldn't stand the sexual torment any longer, he shifted his weight, still staring deep into her eyes as he gave them both the exquisite satisfaction that their bodies demanded.
This time when she peaked she felt his body shudder within hers and felt the pulsing strength of him deep inside her. Her fingers tightened on his arms and she cried out his name, clinging to him in desperation as she tumbled headlong into paradise.
Gradually their breathing slowed and he rolled onto his back, holding her firmly against him, giving her no opportunity to distance herself.
She lay still in his arms, shocked by the explosion of pleasure that had rocked her entire body. Then she turned and gave him a weak smile. 'I thought you said that you shouldn't exercise when you've just eaten?'
He bent his head and kissed her. 'That,' he said slowly, 'depends on the exercise.'
Libby stayed with her head on his chest, feeling the roughness of his body hair against her cheek and the steady thud of his heart. His wonderfully male smell teased her nostrils and she closed her eyes, not wanting the moment to end.
It just felt so perfect.
But it wasn't. Nothing could be that perfect.
'I better get some clothes on-'
'No. This time you're not going anywhere.' He rolled her underneath him and stroked her damp hair away from her face. 'Having communicated honestly through body language, this is the part where you speak and admit that you have feelings for me.'
Achingly aware of the weight of his body touching every part of her, she caught her breath. 'Feelings?'
'That's right.' He gave a lazy smile and shifted slightly.
'What makes you think I have feelings?' She gasped as she felt him against her. 'It was just sex, Andreas.'
He chuckled and bent his head to kiss her again. 'Ah. Back to ''just sex'' again. Tell me, Lib, how many times have you had sex like that before?'
'Oh, you know-once or twice … ' She licked dry lips and tried to look casual but it was pretty hard because he was still lying on top of her and she could feel the hard muscle of his thigh wedged against hers.
He rested his forehead against hers, intensifying the contact between them. 'You're lying, agape mou. You've never had sex like that before.'
'You are so arrogant-'
'And the reason I know that,' he said, ignoring her interruption, 'is because I haven't either. Something happens between you and I, Libby, and it's special. Unique to us. Just ours.'
Just ours.
He was doing it again. Making it sound special.
She struggled to catch her breath. 'That's rubbish.'
'Is it?' He shifted slightly so that not one single inch of her body was left untouched by his. 'If it's rubbish, why did you run out on me the night of the ball?'
'The evening was over.' The hair on Andreas's chest teased her sensitised nipples and she struggled to concentrate as her body responded to the lightest of touches.
'You always desert your partner without saying goodbye?' He moved against her and she gasped, realising that he knew exactly what he was doing. 'No, Libby. You ran that night because what we shared was so frighteningly good-so intense-that you were scared witless. You panicked.'
She was writhing under him now, her body arching in an effort to ease the intolerable ache in her pelvis.
'Andreas … '
He gave a low growl and raked a hand through her blonde hair. 'Tell me how you feel, Libby. Tell me.'
She stared up at him, lost in the expression in his dark eyes, her whole body feverish and quivering. She just felt so hot. 'I want you … '
He gave a groan of frustration and bent his head to capture her mouth. 'Admit that it's not just sex.'
Desperate for him, she gasped and arched against him. 'Andreas, please … '
'No.' His voice was a low growl. 'Not until you admit the way you feel.'
Libby whimpered. 'Do you want me to hit you?'
'Admit it.'
'Andreas … '
'I love you, Libby.' He spoke the words softly and her breathing and heart stopped simultaneously.
He loved her?
Afraid she'd misheard him, she lay utterly still and he gave a sigh and shifted slightly so that he could look at her.
'Did you hear me?'
She nodded slowly and he gave a wry smile.
'So this is the point when you tell me that you love me, too.'
Libby felt a rush of panic. She didn't love him. She didn't want to love him. It was asking for trouble. He'd hurt her …
'It's just sex, Andreas. Good sex, admittedly, but just sex.'
He gave a frustrated grunt. 'You're lying and if I have to pin you to this bed for the rest of your life I'm going to make you admit the truth.' His dark eyes were unbelievably gentle. 'The sex is good because we love each other, Libby. Why don't you just admit that you've never felt this way about a man before and that you're scared?'
Libby's heart was thumping so hard she could hardly breathe. 'All right. I've never felt like this about a man before and I'm scared,' she parroted, and he sighed.
'Relationships don't have to go wrong, Libby. I know you've seen some bad examples, but that doesn't mean that there aren't good examples out there, too. My parents were happily married for forty years. Why won't you just trust me?'
She bit her lip. 'Because it's been too quick, too good to be true, and because I don't believe that fairy-tales always have happy endings,'
'Then you'd better prepare yourself for a shock,' he said softly, lowering his head to kiss her gently, 'because this particular fairy-tale is going to have the best ending you can possibly imagine.'
Chapter 9
Andreas sat on the shaded terrace and sipped his coffee.
It was already midmorning and there was no sign of Libby. But remembering just how little sleep he'd allowed her the night before, he decided that it was hardly surprising.
By contrast, he'd been up since dawn, wading through the mountains of family paperwork that always accumulated in his absence.
He'd just signed the last of the papers when he glanced up and saw her standing in the doorway that led to the terrace, wearing a pair of white shorts and a light blue top.
His eyes dropped to her legs and his body reacted in a surge of sexual hunger that took him by surprise. They'd made love for most of yesterday and all of last night and he still wanted her.
But she still hadn't said that she loved him.
'I'm sorry I slept so late.' She looked extremely self-conscious and Andreas sucked in a breath and ditched the papers he'd been reading, his concentration gone.
There was only one thing he thought of when he looked at Libby, and it certainly wasn't business.
'I'm glad you slept well.' His voice sounded husky and he wondered if she had any idea of the effect she had on him. Probably not or she wouldn't have worn those shorts. 'Come here.'
She walked towards him and he dragged her onto his lap, stroking her hair away from her face and kissing her urgently.
'I love you.' He groaned the words against her mouth and she pulled away, her blue eyes wary and more than a little frightened.
'Stop saying that.'
'It's the truth. And you love me, too.'
Perhaps if he said the words often enough, eventually she'd find the courage to say them herself.
She slid off his lap and he saw the confusion in her eyes. 'Andreas … '
'Trust me, Libby.'
'Let's go to the beach.'
Andreas suppressed a sigh, wondering what it would take to break through the wall of self-protection that she'd built around herself.
They spent the days swimming and talking and making love, and the time passed too quickly for Libby. She could have stayed there for ever, locked in the tiny world they'd created, safe from outside influences.
There was something magical about the villa and the bay.
Something unreal.
It felt so far away from their real lives.
It was as if anything could happen here, but once they returned home life would just return to normal.
She was lying on a sun lounger with her eyes closed, trying to catch up on some lost sleep, when she felt the familiar tug in her stomach.
Her heart lurched.
Not wanting to believe the messages that her body was sending, she rushed to her room to discover that her period had started.
She'd been so wrapped up in the emotional high of being with Andreas that she'd temporarily forgotten that she might be pregnant.
Swamped by a feeling of desolation that she couldn't comprehend, she went to the bathroom and burst into tears, sobbing against the tiled wall until her head started to ache.
She tried to analyse why she was crying but her head was pounding too hard to allow her access to her thoughts.
Surely she should have been relieved that she wasn't pregnant?
Why did she feel so utterly devastated?
She didn't even know that Andreas had followed her until she felt herself gathered against his hard chest.
For several minutes she just sobbed without speaking and then she took the tissue he handed her and blew her nose hard.