The Purest of Diamonds? by Susan Stephens Page A

touch sent her over the edge. She was so aroused he had to curb his intentions and go as slowly as he could, which wasn’t as easy when Leila Skavanga was the most desirable woman he’d ever known. Her hunger added to her seductive lure and fired his appetite, so that what had begun as an intriguing encounter was transformed into a challenging exercise in restraint for him. His only regret was that there wasn’t enough time for them to enjoy each other for as long as he would like.
    ‘Don’t stop! Don’t you dare stop,’ Leila warned him when he drew back. Guiding his hand, she was quite open about what she wanted. He could feel the heat of her need without exploring, and he had to tell her to slow down as he felt around for his jacket.
    ‘I said, don’t stop,’ she complained, grabbing on to him impatiently.
    ‘And I say we need to take a minute.’
    He kissed her into compliance, but he was lost too. He wanted this woman—and not just for easy sex. His hunger defied reason. Wanting Leila had hit him like a freight train. He had never felt this with any woman. And he wanted Leila to want him as he wanted her. He wanted to ride her into Hades and back as he watched pleasure unfold on her face and felt her body bloom beneath him. He wanted to burn his brand into her mind, so there could never be anyone else—
    ‘And I’m bad?’ he murmured, when, finally losing patience with him taking so much time to protect them both, Leila grabbed hold of his hand to urge him on.
    ‘You make me bad.’
    ‘Weak argument,’ he countered, feeling dangerous heat rush through him as Leila laced her hands around his neck, trusting him with that one small gesture.
    ‘We make each other bad,’ she amended, smiling as he drew her into his arms.
    Now that he wouldn’t argue with. There was something between them he couldn’t explain, a fire like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He’d barely touched her before she flew screaming over the edge again, forcing him to hold her firmly in place as, lost to pleasure, she bucked mindlessly beneath him. When she’d calmed down, he smiled. ‘This could be a long night, Señorita Skavanga.’
    ‘I certainly hope so,’ she said groggily, but then, slowly coming round, she pulled back to look at him and her cheeks flushed red.
    ‘There’s no need to apologise for enthusiasm where sex is concerned,’ he assured her, kissing her to reassure her as he stroked her hair to soothe her down. ‘But if you’d like me to stop—’
    ‘No,’ she said fiercely. ‘Don’t you dare stop.’
    Laughing, he dropped kisses on her mouth. This was turning from intriguing to extraordinary. Leila was unique in his experience—unique in the way she made him feel. Why shouldn’t they make a habit of this? She should come to his island and stay there.
    And he needed a complication like that?
    No. But when Leila nestled into the crook of his arm, she was so alluring he had to remind himself forcibly that he’d seen the damage relationships could cause firsthand—the boredom setting in, the unreasonable ties people put on each other, the tragedy of children no one had planned and no one wanted. To see those children shunted back and forth, never really spending time with their parents, but just living their lives with a series of childminders and nannies—
    ‘Raffa?’
    ‘I’m still with you,’ he confirmed with a wry smile.
    Seeing Leila resting so trustingly in his arms with her eyes full of concern for him prompted him to drop a kiss on the tip of her nose. It was hardly the prelude to a night of wild sex, but, for once in his life, he wasn’t sure that was what he wanted, though he had never wanted a woman more.
    What was he thinking? Leila had no place in his highly engineered existence, a life that he had polished to his liking over all his adult years. He had created the world’s largest chain of fine jewellery stores, with offices across the world, and thousands of people depended