The Love of a Latino (2 page)

****

That girl was trouble with a
capital T, and he needed to get her out of his hotel room before he did
something he’d surely regret. Having sensed that she’d been watching him down
on the beach, Rafe had thoroughly enjoyed the sensation. The small woman had
not been as scantily dressed as most of the women on the beach and her head had
been engulfed by that ridiculously large hat and sunglasses. Although he could
not see her completely, he’d been strangely drawn to her. He’d paid close
attention to her as she read the paper book within her grasp, but felt the
first stirrings of arousal in his body when she’d removed the hat from her
curly head and began to fan herself with it.

The woman had no idea what a
vision she made, lying there with her generous bosom in clear line of his
sight. He felt the heat of her gaze burning through her lenses, causing the
strangest effect to his body. Finally giving into the attraction the sea nymph
had unconsciously caused, Rafe had risen with every intention of introducing
himself when the oddest thing occurred. She’d risen, looked at him, and
fainted.

Acting on instinct, he’d
brought her to his room, undressed her and placed her in bed. By the time he
was finished he’d felt like some horny teenager, thoroughly aroused and aching.
The woman had the perfect body, curved in all the right places with full and
high breasts, a waist so narrow his hand could easily curve around it and the
beauty held wide hips flowing into long, thick legs. Her skin was soft as silk,
but her hair- that lovely mass of curls- had been his undoing. When let loose,
her tresses easily reached her rounded bottom. He’d closed his eyes to clear
his thoughts only to be blinded by the vision of her sprawled naked beneath
him, her sexily long legs wrapped around him as he did unspoken things to her.

A cold shower had hazily
dulled his desire, but seeing her awake
in his bed
, looking ready for
loving, had made him hard as a rock again. Having known she was stark naked
beneath those sheets had only made it worse.

Out on the balcony with the
wind blowing so freely he could calm him his body’s temperature, if only a
little.

“Thank you for taking care of
me.” A tiny voice said from behind him.

He sucked in a lungful of air
before turning to face her. “It was not a problem, you needed help.”

She stood there nervously
flipping her sunglasses from hand to hand. Having addressed him, Rafe found
that she was not looking at him.

“What is your name?”
Why
the hell did I ask that?
He questioned himself. She would be leaving any
minute now and he would probably never see her again and that was fine with
him.

“My name is Dahlia.” She
raised the most mesmerizing cocoa-brown eyes and looked him dead in the eyes as
she delivered the sought-after information.

 Man, he was in deep
trouble!

 
“Dahlia…” He tested the name on his tongue. “An
unusual name, but
precioso
nonetheless. I am Raphael Lopéz Cavos.” He
dared not offer his hand. Touching her would be a huge mistake. This girl-woman
standing nervously in front of him, chewing on her sensual lips without a clue
as to what she was doing to him was bad for his health.

“How old are you, Dahlia?”

“Hmmm…?” She shook her head
lightly, focusing on what he was asking.

“I asked your age.” He
pressed.

“Oh...” She exclaimed. “I’m
twenty-three.”

Relief flooded him at her
response. At least he wouldn’t feel like some sort of pervert when he did what
he was about to do.

“Qué bueno,”
he stated before lowering his mouth to claim her
waiting lips and experienced his first taste of heaven.

****

Kissing her was sweet
torture. Insurmountable pleasure! It would be impossible for a man not to lose
himself in a woman like Dahlia. Kissing her had not been his intentions, but
she was so enticing—so damn kissable. If someone were to ask him how she
tasted, he would say she tasted of vanilla and the sea.

Cautious of not scaring her,
he teased her gently at first, but when her mouth opened up to his coaxing,
allowing him deeper access to her sweetness, he drank freely of the forbidden
nectar. The palm of her hands rested flat on his chest, but as his kiss
deepened they crept up to encircle his neck. He slowed his movements,
lightening the pressure of his kiss, gently nipping on her soft skin instead. When
his tongue darted out to tease the corners of her mouth, she pressed closer to
him, her body begging for more, but Rafe knew he had to stop. He was an
engaged
man and she was almost eight years his junior.

With one final, gentle taste
of her soft flesh, he released her. Stepping away, he walked to the railing of
the balcony to stare at the open sea, but he was oblivious to its beauty. Why
couldn’t he make sense of this? Never had he been so aroused by a woman this
quickly.

The cool afternoon breeze
rose from the sea below bringing with it the scent of salt and fresh ripened
mangoes. Rafe drew in a long breath willing his body to return to normal. With
his arousal in check, he turned to face his tormentor again. She still stood
where he left her, a curious finger examining her lips. She seemed in a world
of her own, her cocoa-brown eyes focused on something past his shoulder. Anyone
looking at her would know she had just been thoroughly kissed, her hair ruffled
from where his hand had latched on as he tasted her.

He groaned inwardly as he
felt his arousal return with a vengeance at the memory. “Dahlia?”

Her eyes drifted to him, her
finger fell away from her lips and she lowered her head.

Covering the distance between
them in a few strides, he reached out to raise her head. She closed her eyes in
what seemed like an effort not to look at him.

“Dahlia, look at me.” He
quipped, his tone demanding. “If you do not look at me, I will kiss you again.”
He threatened.

Her eyes snapped open, and
buried in their depths was her reason for avoiding his eyes. She was
embarrassed. This silent seductress was embarrassed by his kiss.

“There is no reason for you
to be embarrassed,
Princesa.
You are a beautiful woman, full of passion
and made for loving. Any man would be lucky to have sampled an ounce of what I
have just tasted. I stopped only because I fear I may not be able to control
this unexplainable desire I have for you. Do not doubt that I want to make love
to you. You invoke a need in me I have yet to come to terms with, and until
then I will not trust myself to kiss you again.” She was staring at him, her
swollen lips trembling, and Rafe fought with every ounce of his will power to
repress his desire to kiss her again, fearful of where it might lead.

“Gather your things; it is
time I take you home.” His words were a firm command. Releasing her, he watched
as she scurried away. Looking up to the darkening sky, Rafe offered a silent
prayer because he would need a lot more than self-control to suppress this
undesirable feeling that tugged at his heart.

****

Dahlia sat silently in the
taxi, Raphael at her side. Insisting he see her home, he had called for a cab,
which was a new trend in this country, one which Dahlia was quite grateful for
right about now.

The sun was beginning to set
in the west, but she paid no attention to the golden globe that lit up the
afternoon sky. Her thoughts were preoccupied with the events of today. Raphael
had said she was beautiful, but she knew it wasn’t true. He had kissed her, but
obviously was not impressed with her inexperience. He tried to be nice by
telling her it was him not her. How many times had she heard that before? She
was foolish to allow herself to think he could be attracted to her. She was a
simple nobody. This was not some fiction novel; it was real life and in real
life, men like Raphael Cavos
did not
fall in love with people like her.

“Dahlia…?” His voice called
to her.

Against her will, she turned
to face him. She had deliberately sat as close to the door as possible, trying
to put as much distance as she could between them.

“Why do you look so sad?” His
low accented voice sounded too near for comfort. But she too, was conscious of
the driver, intermittently glancing in the rearview mirror.

Raphael slid closer to her
and once again, her pulse began to rap.

“Why do you look so sad,
mi
amor?”
He questioned again.

“It’s nothing, I’m just
tired.” She lied. If only he knew the turmoil inside, this need to be close to
him that was stifling her.

“You do not lie very well,
Dahlia. You wear your emotions on your face. You do not believe the things I
said to you are true.”

Was she really that
obvious?
She looked away from him,
instead focusing her gaze on the sky, now a heavy shade of burnt orange.

“I do not lie,
mi tesoro,
and you will come to understand this.” He took her hand from her lap bringing
it to his lips. Turning it over he kissed the palm, his tongue briefly
flickered out to tease the tender flesh. She breathed out unsteadily, her heart
thudding at an irregular rhythm. She tried to steal her hand away, but he held it
firmly, his lips trailing a part from the palm up to the soft brown skin at her
inner wrist.

“Please,” She pleaded,
tugging her hand, but she didn’t know what she was pleading for. A part of her
wanted him to stop, but there was another part—the part that believed in
happily ever after, that wanted him to continue his kisses up her arm and her
neck. He paused, observing her flushed face for a moment and then released her
hand, the spot where his tongue touched still tingling.

They sat in silence for the
rest of the journey, Dahlia lost in her own thoughts. She couldn’t understand
why she felt so disappointed that she would not see Raphael Lopéz Cavos again.

****

The taxi finally came to a
stop outside a small wooden house.  The moon hung low in the night sky, the sun
having disappeared altogether.

Rafe looked at the woman
sitting beside him wondering how exactly he was going to deal with this
situation. He knew the wise thing to do was say good bye and never think about
her again, but he couldn’t do that. The need to see her again was overpowering.

Exiting his side of the
vehicle he went around opening her door. They both stood silently, Dahlia’s
eyes searching for some unknown object at her feet. His hand came up on its own
accord; the back of his fingers tracing the contours of her cheek. At his touch
she lifted her eyes to his, her beautiful lips parted and despite his earlier
resolution; he lowered his head to lightly brush his mouth against hers.

“I want to see you again.”
The whispered words were out before he could stop them. “Tomorrow, have dinner
with me.”

Hesitance flashed in her
eyes, so he spoke before she could refuse. “There is something between us,
Preciosa,
something you cannot deny. I do not know why you are afraid, but I will show
you there is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing will happen—nothing you do not
wish to happen. I promise. Just have dinner with me tomorrow. If after that, it
is your decision that you do not want to see me again, I will no longer bother
you. You have my word.” He reasoned. When she didn’t answer him right away, he
was sure she was going to decline his invitation.

“No, I do not want to have
dinner with you.” Rafe’s heart sank at her refusal, but he was in for a rude
awakening when she spoke again.

 “I want to take you site
seeing. I want to take you to see something spectacular.” Rafe felt his heart
miss a beat when her seductive lips curved into a smile. This woman was
bewitching. He swore she was a witch, a
bruja
sent to cast a spell on
him.

“Oh, and what exactly are we
going to site see,
Princesa?”
He asked, his curiosity getting the better
of him.

“You will have to wait to
find out. I will meet you at your hotel at around five. Will that be okay?” He
liked this side of her. She no longer looked sad. Her eyes that held so much
pain earlier now twinkled with excitement. He was pleased to know that a part
of that excitement was because they would see each other again.

“Five will be fine.”

“There is one thing though.
We will have company, my sister and her husband. Do you mind?” He did, but she
didn’t need to know that. He would have preferred spending time with her alone.
But if a moment in her company meant enduring a lifetime of her sister and her
husband he would take it.

“Of course I do not mind. I
look forward to meeting your sister.” She smiled. Her smile was wreaking havoc
on his senses, but he found he enjoyed being rewarded with them.

“Okay, then. I guess I will
see you tomorrow. Remember to dress casual, and you should walk with a jacket
because it may get cold.”

Where the hell was she
taking him?