The Purest of Diamonds(26)

                ‘I certainly hope so,’ she said groggily, but then, slowly coming round, she pulled back to look at him and her cheeks flushed red.

                ‘There’s no need to apologise for enthusiasm where sex is concerned,’ he assured her, kissing her to reassure her as he stroked her hair to soothe her down. ‘But if you’d like me to stop—’

                ‘No,’ she said fiercely. ‘Don’t you dare stop.’

                Laughing, he dropped kisses on her mouth. This was turning from intriguing to extraordinary. Leila was unique in his experience—unique in the way she made him feel. Why shouldn’t they make a habit of this? She should come to his island and stay there.

                And he needed a complication like that?

                No. But when Leila nestled into the crook of his arm, she was so alluring he had to remind himself forcibly that he’d seen the damage relationships could cause firsthand—the boredom setting in, the unreasonable ties people put on each other, the tragedy of children no one had planned and no one wanted. To see those children shunted back and forth, never really spending time with their parents, but just living their lives with a series of childminders and nannies—

                ‘Raffa?’

                ‘I’m still with you,’ he confirmed with a wry smile.

                Seeing Leila resting so trustingly in his arms with her eyes full of concern for him prompted him to drop a kiss on the tip of her nose. It was hardly the prelude to a night of wild sex, but, for once in his life, he wasn’t sure that was what he wanted, though he had never wanted a woman more.

                What was he thinking? Leila had no place in his highly engineered existence, a life that he had polished to his liking over all his adult years. He had created the world’s largest chain of fine jewellery stores, with offices across the world, and thousands of people depended on him to get it right. He couldn’t afford to squander time on a woman, any woman, even if that woman was Leila Skavanga—especially Leila, who was so young and trusting, and who had her whole life ahead of her. So whatever he imagined he was feeling for her at this moment, he had to remember that his heart was an engine to power his body and nothing more. There was no room in that heart for feelings let alone a self-indulgence like Leila Skavanga. But before he had chance to think about the consequences of involving his emotions, Leila surprised him again and he sucked in a sharp breath as her small hand found him, guided him. Where was his much vaunted self-control now?

                ‘Are you sure?’ He felt bound to ask her.

                ‘I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life,’ she said, her gaze steady on his.

                He had never been more careful in his life. He wanted Leila to enjoy every moment, and stopped immediately when she whimpered, to ask if she was all right.

                ‘Yes,’ she confirmed, moving in a way that drew him deeper.

                He wanted to savour the incredible sensation, but Leila was impatient, and, cupping her buttocks, he positioned her. ‘Still okay?’ he murmured, moving deeper.

                ‘Is it supposed to be this good?’

                ‘I guess,’ he whispered against her mouth, ‘or why would everyone want to do it?’

                ‘With you?’ Her eyes flicked wide open.

                ‘There are other men.’

                ‘Are there?’ she gasped, half laughing on a shaking breath as he began to move. She clung to him, her face flushed, her lips parted to drag in air. ‘I had no idea it would be this good,’ she admitted when he paused to enjoy being so deeply lodged inside her. ‘I feel—’