Spring Equinox: Celestial Seductions, Book 2 (2 page)

No one but Rafael had ever called her that. Isabella. Lovely, hearing her name that way on his lips.

“Rafael, tell me what’s happened with you. Did you ever marry?”

“Never.” His eyes remained locked on hers, the hazel rimmed in long, dark lashes. He paused, laid her hand gently on the table. “I assume since you’re here that you are also alone, unmarried?”

“I’m divorced.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. I’m only sorry I married him. That I didn’t stay here…”

“No regrets, Isabella. Life happens the way it’s supposed to. Perhaps we had to grow up, experience life, before we could be together. There’s no telling what will become of this meeting. That is, perhaps, part of the beauty of it.”

She
wanted
that surety. She wanted to know that after coming all the way here their romance would pick up where it had left off, when her parents had taken her back home to the States after their long vacation on Isla de Margarita. She’d dreamed of this for so long.

But his words made sense. They would have to spend a little time together, see if the old connection was as strong as her hopes were. She was still too much in shock at seeing him to know what to do next, to figure out how it was supposed to go.

The one thing she was entirely certain of was that she wanted to be in his arms—and in his bed—as soon as possible.

Chapter Two

Rafael could not believe she was there, on his little beach. At his hotel. Close enough to touch. Finally.

He watched her as she spoke, her lush lips tinged with pink. He remembered the way her lips felt beneath his, his cock stirring at the thought. She’d been all sweetness in those days. She would taste every bit as sweet now, but there would be so much more to her.

He groaned quietly, shifted in his chair. Focused instead on the glint of her silky brown hair, gone gold in the amber lighting of the bar. She’d always worn it long, but now it was to her waist. He wanted to touch it. To wrap his hands in it and pull her down...

He watched the graceful movements of her slender hands. He couldn’t prevent himself from thinking of the way those hands had felt on his skin, twelve years earlier. The old memory was as fresh in his mind as though she had touched him only a few moments ago. A ripple of desire ran though him, but he forced it back, forced himself to concentrate on the lovely cadence of her soft voice, on the things she was saying to him.

Stop. Focus on her.

Her.

“Tell me about your marriage, Isabella. Your divorce. Whatever you want to tell me.”

Her green eyes were gleaming in the same light that touched her hair. “I want to tell you everything.”

“Then do. I want to know.”

“I was married for four years. He was an attorney. We split up two years ago. It was a little ugly. These things tend to be. He was very…controlling. He didn’t like me breaking away from him, even though he spent his entire life at work. His life revolved around his law practice. I was…almost an afterthought. An accessory.”

“It breaks my heart to hear you say you were so unhappy.”

She shrugged, her breasts moving beneath the thin white cotton of her long sundress. “It happens. I made a poor choice in marrying him, and I paid for it. It made me grow up, though, being forced to stand up for myself, finally. But eventually I realized that having to do that all the time wasn’t what a happy relationship was supposed to be. I wanted happy. So I left.”

“And? Have you been happy? Have you made a good life for yourself?”

“Much happier, yes. I’ve found that standing on my own two feet is a good thing. Being independent.”

“What have you been doing since then?”

“I’ve been working as a corporate event planner in Chicago. I moved there a few months after my ex and I married, and I started my own business a few years ago.”

“You throw parties.”

He couldn’t help but smile. The young girl he’d known had been so full of life, this seemed the perfect job for her, even if the grown woman before him was much more somber. Too somber. But perhaps he could change that. If only she would stay for a while. But he had no right to think so far ahead.

“Yes, I throw parties. Nothing like the festivals you have here, of course.”

She smiled, that beautiful smile, but it seemed more wistful than happy, suddenly.

“You don’t like Chicago? Your work there?”

“Actually, I hate Chicago. I’ve been planning to leave for a while. I sold my apartment recently, put everything in storage. I’m not sure yet where I’ll settle. Maybe I’ll go back to California. I need to be someplace warm, and my sister Samantha is there. You never met her. She was already away at college when I came here with my parents” She ran her fingers around the rim of her glass. “But she has her own life, her husband, her kids. I don’t know. I can work anywhere. I’ll figure it out. It’s nice to have the freedom to do that.” She paused to sip her
mojito
. “But what about you? What have you been up to? You said you never married. I’m surprised.”

He shrugged. He wasn’t sure he should tell her he’d never married because he’d never found another woman to love. There had been no one like her in his life. No great love. Perhaps because he’d never really looked for it.

“After my father passed, I needed to step in and take over the business, take care of my mother. That’s kept me busy.”

“It’s like you to be that dedicated. But you’ve taken no time to have a life of your own? You deserve that, Rafael.”

“Everything at that time happened so fast. I did what needed to be done. I suppose I still do.”

“What happened? To your father, I mean,” she asked quietly.

“Pancreatic cancer. It was quick. Merciful. I had graduated from college with a degree in business administration only a few months earlier, never knowing how soon I would need to use my education. I’d been living in Miami while I went to school. Of course I came back as soon as I knew he was ill. After he was gone my mother couldn’t stand to be here any longer, where they’d been so happy together. And so, I took over, for the most part. Of course, we still have Manuel managing the place. You remember him, I’m sure. I didn’t mind. I love it here, on Isla de Margarita. I always have.”

“Is your mother all right? I remember Julia…she was always so nice to me.”

“She’s done well. She opened another hotel in Miami, then a small, beautiful inn, like this one, in the Florida Keyes. She’s busy. Happy. And she remarried only last year. He’s a nice man. He treats her well.”

“I’m glad for her. But you…have you led a lonely life all these years? I can’t stand to think of you like that.”

“I’ve had a good life, Isabella. I have wonderful friends. My best friend since college, Carlos, will be visiting me here soon. Perhaps, if you stay a while, you’ll get to meet him. And I’ve been involved in several relationships. None that have ended well, apparently. But I’m fine. Except that I’ve been without you all these years.”

His gaze caught hers. Her eyes were shining, her features soft.

“And now I’m here,” she said, her voice sweet, soft with unspoken questions.

His heart twisted in his chest. “And now you’re here.”

Her smile widened, and she blinked, long lashes framing her brilliant green eyes, like the emeralds that came out of Brazil. There was hope in her eyes, as well as confusion. He understood how she felt. He felt it too. And he also felt the longing he saw reflected in her gleaming gaze, felt the heat between them.

He knew that heat would bring them together. What would follow he couldn’t say. But his entire body hummed with the need to touch her. Her full breasts rose and fell with her breath beneath the innocent white cotton of her dress. He sensed in the way she looked at him, in the sensual way she touched even her wine glass that she no longer was innocent, as she’d been when they’d met.

He had to be alone with her. They’d talked enough.

“Come, Isabella. Walk with me in the garden.”

They stood, and he led her to the large courtyard garden in the center of the hotel. The greenery there grew in the profusion of the tropics, everything lush and full, the salty scent of the ocean punctuated by fragrant flowers. Overhead the almost-full moon hung in the sky like a pale blue lamp, casting its soft light over everything.

They paused at the edge of the garden, by a low wall overlooking the beach. The waves, silvered in moonlight, crashed on the shore, making its rhythmic music. He usually found the sound soothing. He could watch it for hours in the evening, sitting with a glass of wine in his hand, or playing his guitar. But all he could really see tonight, all he could think about, was her.

She was still nearly as slim as she had been as a girl, but her breasts and hips had filled out. Glorious. She was more a woman than ever.

“Isabella.” He reached out, needing to touch her, and brushed his fingertips over her bare shoulder, down her arm, felt her shiver. “Are you cold?”

“No, not cold.”

She caught his gaze, hers full of green fire. The force of it was like a punch in the gut. Lust. Need. All his years of longing were mirrored there in her eyes. He wrapped his fingers around the curve of her shoulder, pulling her close, until her soft, pliant body was right up against him. She was warm, so warm. Her breath came fast.

Unbelievable
.

She was here with him, in his arms, where he had always known she belonged.

Nothing had ever felt more right.

He bent his head, and took her lips with his.

Isabel moaned. His mouth was soft, lush, sweet. Better than she remembered. Better even than the dreams she’d had of him over the years, the fantasy scenarios she’d created in her mind. His body was all solid planes, her breasts crushed against him. Just a soft brush of those lips, but it was driving her crazy with need already. With a small sigh she opened her mouth to him.

His warm, wet tongue dipped in, and her limbs turned to liquid. All she could think was that this was
him
.

Rafael.

His arms went around her, pulling her closer, and she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck. She couldn’t get close enough. His skin was hot and smooth. Just the texture of it beneath her fingers was overwhelming, sensual, his long hair brushing the back of her hand like silk.

And God, the man could kiss. How had she forgotten? This divine pleasure in having his mouth pressed to hers, his tongue slipping between her lips?

She was coming apart inside already.

His hands moved into her hair, sliding until he held her face in his palms. His tongue explored her mouth, sinuously curling and tasting. Nothing had ever felt more purely erotic to her than his mouth on hers. Small tremors of need flashed through her system, her nipples peaking hard against the muscular wall of his chest. She was sure he could feel it. She didn’t care.

Finally he broke away.

“Isabella.” His voice was rough with desire, his dark brows drawn together. “I want you. But I won’t take anything you don’t want to give. It’s been twelve years. I can’t presume.”

“I’m here, aren’t I? I came all this way to see if…if you would be here. If you still wanted me.”

“Yes. But you couldn’t know if you would still want
me
. It’s been so long.”

“I want you. I need you. More than I ever have.” She couldn’t believe he’d had to ask. She was panting so hard she could barely speak.

“You’re bolder than when we were young.” His wicked smile lit up his eyes, caused lovely creases at the corners.

“I’m no virgin anymore, Rafael. I’ve had lovers. I’ve learned to love sex, and I’m not shy about it. I never have been. My first experience with you was too wonderful for me to have ever developed any hang-ups. My one concern has been that if we did meet, if we did reconnect, that I would be too…open-minded for you. Too sexually aggressive. That you might be unable to accept me other than as that young, inexperienced virgin you knew when we were eighteen.”

“I’m glad to hear this. We are still a good match, Isabella.”

His widening smile encouraged her.

“I see no reason to deny what I want, Rafael. No reason not to have it, as long as you want me.”

“Ah, I want you. I’ve never stopped wanting you.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and laid small, hot kisses over the back of her knuckles, turned her hand over to kiss her fingertips, making her tremble with need, stark and pure.

“Oh, that’s nice, Rafael. You never did that before, when we were younger.”

“There’s so much we never had the chance to do. Too much we didn’t know when we were only eighteen.”

“No. But I’ve learned quite a lot. I’m sure you have too.”

“Shall we find out if there is still something I can teach you?” He paused to kiss the tender flesh at her throat. “Or perhaps there is something you can teach me,
querida
.”

When he dipped his head again to brush his mouth over hers, she shivered. She whispered against his lips, “Take me somewhere, where we can be alone, where we can show each other.”

Silently, he moved away from her. Taking her hand, he led her across the courtyard, through a narrow, tiled walkway, to a private bungalow at one end of the hotel. Her pulse raced, her heart hammered a sensual cadence in her chest, in her sex, as she realized what was about to happen. He would finally be naked with her, touching her, just as he had done in twelve long years of fantasies.

She knew already it would be a hundred times better now, as adults, than that one lovely, sweet experience had been. It would be better than anything she had ever imagined.

He opened the heavy wood door and pulled her into the cool interior of his home. One small lamp cast a golden light over the tiled floors, the heavy beamed ceiling, the potted palms set here and there. Through a wall of windows overlooking the beach she could hear the muted roar of moon-tipped surf. But she wanted to concentrate only on him. She would explore this lovely place later.

He stood with her a moment in the entry hall, watching her, a small smile on his lush mouth. His gaze was dark on hers.

“You’re more beautiful than ever, Isabella.”

His words warmed her, but she didn’t want to talk anymore. As though he could read her thoughts, he moved in and kissed her again, his hands going to her cheeks, then sliding down to caress her shoulders, her arms. His touch was pure heat, lighting up her skin. Electric, as though every nerve was acutely attuned to his touch.