CHAPTER TEN

      CASSANDRA stirred, and gradually became aware she wasn’t alone in the bed. For her head lay pillowed against Diego’s chest, a male leg rested across her own, and his arms loosely circled her body as he held her close.

      Diego sensed the quickened heartbeat, the change in her breathing, and brushed his lips to her hair. Tousled silk, he mused, inhaling its fresh, clean smell. A man could take immense pleasure from waking each morning with a warm, willing woman in his arms.

      Not just any woman…this woman.

      ‘You’re awake.’

      She heard his quiet drawl, felt the sound of it against her cheek, and offered a lazily voiced affirmative.

      He trailed the tips of his fingers down the length of her spine, shaped the firm globe of her buttock, then he traced a path over her hip, settled briefly in the curve of her waist before shifting to her breast.

      There was a part of her that knew she should protest. To slip so easily into intimacy meant she accepted the current situation…and she didn’t.

      Dear heaven. She bit back a gasp as he eased her gently onto her back, then lowered his mouth to suckle at one tender peak.

      Seconds later the breath hissed between her teeth as his hand trailed to the soft curls at the apex of her thighs and began a teasing exploration.

      She went up and over, then groaned out loud as another orgasmic wave chased the first with an intensity that took hold of her emotions and spun them out of control.

      His arousal was a potent force, and just as she thought she’d scaled the heights he nudged her thighs apart, slid in, and took her higher than she’d ever been before, matching her climax with his own in a tumultuous fusion of the senses.

      It took a while for their breathing to settle into its former rhythm, and they lay entwined together, spent as only two people could be in the aftermath of very good sex.

      Make that incredible, off-the-planet sex, Cassandra amended as she closed her eyes and indulged her mind and body in an emotional replay.

      It had, she mused indolently, been all about her pleasure. Soon, she’d seek to even the scales a little.

      And she did, later, taking delight in testing his control…and breaking it.

      Enjoy, Cassandra bade silently. For within a few hours she’d return to her apartment and a life from which Diego would fade.

      Later, much later they rose from the bed, shared a shower, then, dressed, they descended the stairs to the kitchen for a meal that was neither breakfast nor lunch but a combination of both.

      Diego’s cellphone buzzed as they lingered over coffee, and he checked the caller ID, then rose to his feet.

      ‘I’ll have to take this.’

      Cassandra lifted a hand, silently indicating he should do so, and she watched as he crossed the terrace.

      French, she registered, barely discerning a word or two…and wondered how many languages he spoke.

      Business, she determined, and let her gaze drift across the pool to the harbour beyond.

      ‘I have to meet with two business colleagues. Their scheduled stopover was cancelled and they took an earlier flight,’ Diego relayed as he returned to the table. ‘I’ll be an hour or two.’ He drained the rest of his coffee, then leant down and took brief, hard possession of her mouth. ‘We need to talk.’ His lips caressed hers with a soothing touch.

      She wasn’t capable of saying a word, and he uttered a husky imprecation.

      ‘Cassandra—’

      The insistent sound of his cellphone brought forth a harsh expletive, and she saw the flex of muscle at his jaw as he sought civility. ‘Dammit.’ He raked fingers through his hair.

      ‘It’s OK.’

      His eyes darkened. It was far from OK. Yet delegation was out of the question. There were only two associates capable of handling the current negotiations, and neither were in the same state.

      ‘I should be able to tie this up within an hour or two.’

      ‘Go,’ she managed quietly. ‘They,’ whoever they were, ‘will be waiting for you.’

      He shot her a piercing look, then turned and made his way through the house, collected his briefcase and keys and entered the garage.

      Minutes later Cassandra stood to her feet, cleared the table, then dealt with dishes and tidied the kitchen.

      Stay, or leave.

      If she stayed, she’d be condoning an affair. And while she could live with that if mutual love was at its base, she found it untenable when the emotion was one-sided.

      She wasn’t an ‘it’s OK as long as it lasts’ girl. Nor could she view hitching up with a man for whatever she’d gain from the relationship.

      No contest, she decided sadly as she made her way upstairs.

      It didn’t take long to pack, or to pen a note which she propped against the side-table in the foyer. Then she crossed to the phone and called for a cab.

      The cat greeted her with an indignant sound and a swishing tail. The message light on her answering machine blinked, and she organised priorities by feeding the cat, then she tossed clothes into the washing machine, fetched a cool drink, then she ran the machine.

      Siobhan…‘Tying the knot in Rome next weekend. Need you there, darling, to hold my hand.’

      Cameron…‘Flying home Tuesday. Let’s do dinner Wednesday, OK?’

      Alicia…‘Hope you’re enjoying the ride. It won’t last.’

      Cassandra didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the latter. The ride, as Alicia called it, was over.

      Keeping busy would help, and when the washing-machine cycle finished she put the clean clothes into the drier.

      The contents of the refrigerator looked pathetic, and she caught up her car keys. Milk, bread, fresh fruit and salad headed her mental list, and she took the lift down to the basement car park, then drove to the nearest store.

      There was a trendy café close by, and she ordered a latte, picked up a magazine, and leafed through the pages while she sipped her coffee.