The Purest of Diamonds(58)

                ‘These walls must have seen a lot of excitement in their time. Perhaps I should send the staff home and let you do just that.’

                ‘Then you should strip off too,’ she insisted. ‘Why don’t I help you?’

                She lingered over every glorious inch of him, peeling back his top slowly so she could appreciate the bronze map of hard muscle...the flat stomach...the impossible width of his shoulders, tapering down to the washboard waist—

                ‘Let me help you,’ Raffa offered when she fumbled with his belt.

                Swinging off the bed, he freed the tine. His jeans and boxers followed, and she was glad of her ringside seat as Raffa turned his back to stretch like a big cat. Every inch of him was bronze, and his thighs were towers of muscle, his legs so lean and long. His calves were powerful, and even his naked feet were sexy. She loved his naked feet. But most of all she loved his hard-muscled buttocks, those twin engines of pleasure—

                She had to stop thinking about twin engines of pleasure, or she would lose it right now.

                ‘What?’ Raffa said, swinging round to stare her in the eyes.

                ‘Nothing—’

                ‘Liar. I can see what you’re thinking in your eyes—’ Sweeping her into his arms, he kissed her. ‘And I’m right, aren’t I?’

                ‘This won’t change my mind,’ she insisted as he dropped kisses on her mouth. ‘I’m going back to Skavanga just as soon as we’ve finished our business here.’

                He laughed. ‘I’m not even going to ask what type of business you’re referring to.’ Lowering her onto the bed, he hummed with appreciation as he kissed his way down her body. ‘You do taste different.’

                ‘Better?’

                ‘Different,’ he argued, stretching out his length against her. ‘Rich and full—’

                ‘Like a carton of cream?’

                ‘Like pregnant—’

                Making love with Raffa was different this time. He didn’t tease her as he usually did, and there was a new intensity in the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, and it was a dangerous development in their relationship that made her want to stay with him for ever and not just for the birth.

                He was totally devoted to Leila as he made love to her. They had never been so relaxed with each other, or so intimate. He’d never felt so close. Yes, they’d had sex many times, but nothing like this. This was reassurance from him to her, his pledge to Leila that whatever happened in the future the child they’d made would always be a bond between them. He took her slowly and with infinite care, but these slow, careful thrusts were as potent as their wildest sex had ever been, and she lost control almost immediately, her fingers biting into him as she screamed his name until he soothed her down.

                ‘Remind me to teach you some control,’ he teased her when she quietened.

                ‘Must you?’ she teased back.

                ‘Do you think I’m going to let you glut yourself every time?’

                ‘Why not?’ She smiled, and there was mischief in her eyes. Then, lacing her fingers through his hair, she brought him close again for more.

                How could he resist this woman? Thrusting deep, he took her over the edge again, and again. He never tired of watching Leila lose control in his arms. It was the best; it was a sign she felt safe with him. And he would keep her safe. He would keep the baby safe too. However accommodating Leila might think him, nothing had changed. She would give birth to their child at a place of his choosing, which meant here on the island. He would not risk Leila’s life.