Heaven Sent (13 page)

But Serena did not want to let it go. She wanted the fire and passion to last until she burned or drowned in a raging torrent of uncontrollable ecstasy.

“No,” she moaned under the unrestrained assault of his powerful thrusting hips.

Holding her head firmly between his hands, David pulled back and drove his swollen flesh into her wet pulsing body, quickening his rhythm until the dam broke for both of them. Burying his face between her scented neck and shoulder, he bellowed his explosive triumph of surrender into the pillow, while Serena sobbed out her shivering delight against his shoulder.

Both lay motionless and breathing heavily, savoring the aftermath of completion. Serena closed her eyes and trailed her fingertips over his damp back.

David’s breathing finally slowed and he gathered enough strength to reverse their positions. Pulling her close to his moist body, he reached down and drew the sheet up over Serena and himself. “Let’s take our
siesta
now,” he whispered against her ear. “We’ll talk later.”

Nodding, she pressed her bare hips against his groin and smiled. She did not want to talk, because she couldn’t talk. Not when she wanted to relive the
smoldering passion she’d found in the arms of the man cradling her to his heart.

She drifted off to sleep, and minutes later David found his own solace in a sated sleep reserved for lovers. What he wanted to say to Serena could wait, but he wondered how long he would have to wait to make her his wife.

D
avid woke hours later to find himself alone. The space where Serena had lain was cold even though the scent of her body lingered on the linen and on his body.

Rolling over on his back, he could barely make out the furnishings in the bedroom. Lengthening shadows from the setting sun shrouded everything in an encroaching darkness, and it was obvious that his
siesta
had exceeded the normal two- or three-hour limit.

Stretching like a big cat waking from an afternoon of rest, he smiled, recalling the passion Serena had offered him. What surprised him was that he’d offered all that he had, too, holding nothing back. Once he’d entered her he knew he was lost, lost to the ecstasy she aroused by their just sharing the same space.

Serena had come to his bed, soft and purring, and their brief moment of shared ecstasy would remain with
him always. He closed his eyes and relived the feel of her smooth skin, the heat radiating from between her silken thighs, and the exact moment when he touched heaven where his heart opened to the love he had saved for the woman he would share his life and future with.

He could not have imagined when he boarded the jet for this last business trip to Costa Rica that he would also negotiate a deal that would include an affair of the heart—his heart.

An audible rumbling from his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten anything since early morning, and he knew he had to leave the bed where he had placed his invisible claim on a woman. When he looked at her he saw his unborn children in her eyes.

Serena hummed to herself as she added a half-dozen
culantro
leaves to a large pot filled with soup stock. She radiated a glow that was obvious to all who saw her.

Luz Maria was surprised when she walked into the kitchen and offered to help her cook. Even though she’d noticed the tiny, dark red abrasion at the base of the younger woman’s throat she did not say anything. She quickly reminded herself that Serena was the daughter of her employer. Even though she lectured the younger woman on occasion, she knew when not to overstep the invisible boundary set up for employer and employee.

But she did not have to say anything to Serena, because she knew she had taken her advice and opened her heart to Señor Cole.

Serena added a coarsely chopped onion, green pepper, and two sweet chili peppers to the pot. “How long will it have to simmer?”

“About an hour and a half,” Luz Maria answered.

“Señorita Vega, Dr. Rivera is here.”

Serena and Luz Maria turned at the sound of a man’s voice. Rodrigo stood less than five feet away, his dark eyes missing nothing. Neither woman had detected his approach, and both were unsettled by his silent stalking.

Serena recovered first. “Thank you, Rodrigo. Please have Dr. Rivera wait in the
sala
.”

“
Sí
, Señorita.”

Luz Maria arched an eyebrow at her employer’s driver. She had always considered him a strange man, but something unknown communicated that he was also a dangerous man. What it was she had not been able to discern.

After washing her hands in a large, stainless steel sink Serena dried them, then walked out of the kitchen to the living room. She had forgotten that she’d summoned Leandro. Her reason for calling him had changed quickly since she slept with David. A gentle smile softened her mouth when she thought of their session of passionate lovemaking. That smile was still in place when she entered the living room and saw Leandro rise to his feet.

Extending both hands, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “
¡Buenas noches! ¿Cómo está
, Leandro?”

“
Cansado
. I’m more than tired,” he admitted. “I’m exhausted. I don’t think I had a moment to myself from the time the clinic opened this morning. Too many emergencies, including a woman who delivered on my examining table. It was an easy birth, but I would’ve preferred handling the procedure in the hospital.”

“How was the baby?”

He smiled a tired smile. “Beautiful. A big boy. A very
big
boy.”

“Momma and baby doing well?”

“Luckily, yes. Enough about my day. How’s our patient doing?”

“He appears to be healing quickly. He has headaches, but that’s to be expected after a concussion. What’s good is that he’s ambulatory.” She smiled at Leandro. “I will have Luz Maria bring you some refreshments while I check on Señor Cole.”

Serena retreated to the kitchen to instruct Luz Maria to bring Leandro a cup of tea that would ease his stress, then she went upstairs to see David.

Leandro’s mention of delivering a baby sounded a warning bell in her head. She had slept with David without benefit of contraception. The realization had come to her only after she woke up in his bed hours after they’d made love. She had mentally calculated when she last had her period, and her apprehension increased. She had picked the most fertile time of her cycle to engage in sexual intercourse.

Perhaps, she’d prayed, just perhaps, fate would be on her side. Even though Luz Maria had predicted that she and David Cole would have children, she did not want them now.

Knocking softly on the closed door to David’s bedroom, Serena waited, then knocked again. There was no sound of movement behind the closed door. She turned the knob, eased open the door and walked in. Her gaze went to the bed where they’d made love. The twisted sheets were blatant testimony of their passionate encounter.

She walked across the bedroom and toward the adjoining bath, smiling as she considered how quickly her feelings had changed since sharing her body with David Cole. She was certain she wasn’t as sexually experienced as David, and of the few men she had slept
with none had aroused her to the level of carnality that he had—not even when she’d thought herself in love with Xavier.

Luz Maria’s prediction replayed in her mind:
He will offer you a life filled with things most women only dream about
. And she was right. She’d always wanted a satisfying sexual experience with a man. She wanted to be able to lose herself in the man and in the moment without guilt or shame. She always wanted, from the first time she offered her body to a man, to be able to tell him what pleased her and what did not please her. Even though she hadn’t verbalized her desires to David, she was certain now that he was worldly enough to accommodate her sexual entreaties without intimidation.

She found David leaning with his back against the shower stall for support while he slowly and methodically dried his body with a thick, thirsty bath sheet.

“Do you need a little assistance?”

His head snapped up at the same time a slow, sexy smile displayed the attractive dimples on his lean cheeks. He hadn’t heard Serena come into the bathroom. His gaze lingered on her lush mouth as she moved closer. Her hair, pulled off her face, was pinned in a tight chignon on the nape of her neck, allowing him to view her unobscured features. She had exchanged her dress for a pair of jeans and a blue and white striped cotton camp shirt. The denim fabric hugged her compact body, displaying the indentation of her narrow waist and the womanly flare of her rounded hips.

It was as if he were seeing her for the first time. Her exotic beauty was breathtaking, and he loved listening to her smokey voice. Everything about her evoked music. A bluesy Latin-jazz composition with a subtle, English/Spanish voice-over chorus.

He’d tried analyzing what it was about Serena Morris that made him crave her; why did he feel the urge to write music again, and why had he taken her to his bed when he hadn’t known her a week? He’d rationalized it was gratitude, but knew that gratitude usually would not elicit the urge to marry.

He had more than ten days before he concluded his stay in Costa Rica, and he planned that Serena would agree to leave with him when he left for the States. They would fly back to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he would enlist the aid of his family to intervene on her brother’s behalf and introduce her to his family as his future wife.

Dropping the towel on the floor, he moved over to a stool and sat down; he selected underwear, a T-shirt, and a pair of shorts from the stack of clothes on a table near the stool. “I think I have everything under control.”

Serena realized that he was in control. He was now able to wash and dress himself without her help, and she had no doubt that all David had to do was wait for her father to return from San José before he concluded his business dealings in Costa Rica.

She did not know why, but she did not look forward to his leaving even though she knew he was emphatic about dissolving his family’s holdings. Maybe, just maybe, she prayed, something would prevent him from leaving as planned. She hadn’t had her fill of him—not yet.

“Dr. Rivera is here to examine you.”

David gave her a lingering stare; vertical lines appeared between his eyes. “Where is he?”

“Downstairs. Why?”

“I don’t want to compromise your reputation. There is noticeable proof that I wasn’t the only one sleeping
in my bed. The smell of your perfume is all over the linen, along with other telltale signs that we did more than take
siesta
together.”

“Of course,” she whispered, feeling the rising heat flare in her face and chest when she remembered what they’d offered each other only hours before.

She had slipped out of his bed while he slept, retreating to her own bathroom, where she washed away the scent of his body and their lovemaking. She returned and found him still asleep, and loathed waking him to change the bed. She felt no shame about sleeping with him, but she did not want to openly advertise their liaison.

“I’ll help you down the staircase,” she offered, walking over and picking up his cane.

Curving an arm around his waist, she led him slowly out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Both glanced at the rumpled bedclothes, then at each other. They shared the kind of secret smile usually reserved for lovers only before continuing out to the hallway.

David pushed off the first step, holding the wrought-iron banister tightly and making certain not to put too much pressure on his right foot as he switched the cane to his left hand. Soon he was able to coordinate his movements so that he was able to navigate the stairs unaided. At least he knew he would not require Serena’s help if he wanted to leave the boundaries of his bedroom.

The beauty and splendor of
La Montaña
lay before him as he made his way down the curving staircase to the living room. Thick, pale plaster walls provided the perfect backdrop for terra-cotta floors and heavy mahogany furniture in distinctively Spanish style tables and chairs. His gaze lingered on a massive concert piano
and several guitar cases resting along a wall in a far corner of the room. Serena had mentioned that she played piano, and he wondered if she also played the guitar.

Leandro Rivera placed a fragile china cup and saucer on a side table and rose to his feet. A wide grin wiped away all traces of fatigue as he visually examined his patient. David Cole’s recovery was remarkable.

Only a slight swelling was noticeable over his left eye, while the angry, purple bruise had faded to a shadowy yellow-green. The swelling had diminished in his right foot although he leaned heavily on the cane for additional support. He stared at Serena as she settled David on a straight-back chair. His gaze lingered on her until she walked out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

“
¿Cómo está
, Señor Cole?”

“Very well, Dr. Rivera.”

Leandro picked up his black bag and walked over to David. A noticeable silence filled the room as he checked David’s eyes, respiration, and blood pressure. His forefinger traced the healing scar.

“How’s the pain?” he questioned, putting away his stethoscope.

“I’m coping.”

Leandro shifted an eyebrow. “I can always prescribe something if it becomes unbearable.”

David’s gaze lingered on Leandro’s features. The slight puffiness under his slanting eyes marred his youthful appearance, indicating he hadn’t had much sleep.

“I’d rather not take any painkillers.”

“What I’ll give you is not addictive if you follow the prescribed dosage.”

“I’m not concerned about becoming addicted. I’ve always made it a practice not to take any drugs.”

He’d seen drugs destroy the lives of more musicians than he cared to enumerate. Some began taking pills to help them sleep before progressing on to pills to help them wake up. Then there were the recreational drugs—the ones that took away the anxiety so that the fear of performing before a live audience vanished along with inhibitions. Because of the flagrant use of drugs among musicians, the members of Night Mood had taken an oath that any drug abuse was tantamount to expulsion from the band. Not even a single offense was tolerated.

“It’s up to you, Señor Cole. But if you change your mind let me know.”

“I’d like you to let me know how much I owe you for your services.”

Leandro secured the lock on his bag with a loud snap. “That has been taken care of.”

“By whom?”

“
El señor
Cordero-Vega.”

A shadow of annoyance crossed David’s face. He did not want to owe Raul Vega. “How much did he pay you?”

“That I cannot tell you. It is privileged information.”

David’s temper exploded. “Like hell it is! I’m your patient, not
el señor Cordero-Vega
. Give him back his money. I’ll pay for my own medical expenses.”

Leandro could not understand what had angered the American. Most people would be more than pleased to know that someone had graciously paid their medical bills. Since he’d opened his clinic some of his patients were unable to pay the fees he charged, and had taken
to paying them out over several months, while the brash
Americano
openly insulted Minister Cordero-Vega’s selfless generosity.

Grasping his bag tightly, he inclined his head. “There is no need for me to come to see you again unless you request it. Good night, Señor Cole.”

David sat rigidly, watching Dr. Leandro Rivera’s ramrod-straight back as he crossed the living room, opened the door, and stalked out of the house. He was still in the same position when Serena returned.