He reached out and used the pad of his thumb to wipe away her tears. “Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”
“I’m sure.”
“You should have told me,” he said, fighting to stay still when his entire body was urging him to move. The feel of being so deeply embedded inside of her was getting to him. It was a tight fit, and he could feel her muscles gripping him.
As if she’d decided not to argue that point, she said, “Do you have to stop? I still want you.”
And he still wanted her. For some reason, he wanted her even more so now. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
He was glad to hear that. When he felt her muscles hold him even tighter, as if to lock him inside of her, he said, “Stop that.”
“I can’t. Please finish what we started, Cort. I want you to make love to me.”
A war was going on inside of him. He wanted her so damn much, yet he knew he had to be careful. Perspiration was forming near his brow as he began moving, gently at first, determined to keep his promise and make sure she enjoyed it.
He leaned in and captured her lips, kissing her with a passion he felt all through his body. When he heard her moan, he broke off the kiss and moved to her breasts, sliding a nipple into his mouth. He could tell her breasts were sensitive, and he enjoyed giving her pleasure. He was still moving inside her, slowly, and the sensations of her inner muscles, contracting and clamping tightly to him, drove him almost over the edge.
“Cort…”
He released her breasts to reclaim her mouth. Closing his eyes, he took kissing her to another level. Unable to hold back any longer, he increased the pace of his strokes.
Suddenly, an orgasm struck and she nearly bucked off the bed. He released her mouth, needing to look at her, wanting to make sure she was experiencing more pleasure than pain.
Seeing the look of intense satisfaction in her eyes, he kept moving, gently yet thoroughly, and when she screamed out another orgasm, waves of intense pleasure overtook him, as well.
Cort shifted his body off of her and eased out of the bed. Never had he felt such sensual satisfaction with a woman. Going into the bathroom, he dispensed with the condom and grabbed a couple of washcloths to clean her up. After running warm water over them, he returned to the bed. Throwing back the covers, he placed the warm cloths between her legs.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying to close her legs. It was obvious she felt embarrassed that he would look after her in such an intimate way.
“Taking care of you,” he said, holding tight to her thighs to keep the cloths in place. “Doing this now will make it better the next time.”
“I’m fine, Cort.”
He tightened his hold on her thigh. “Let me do this. Please.”
She didn’t say anything and finally laid back and allowed his ministrations. After a while, he removed the cloths and went into the bathroom again. When he returned, he got back in bed and eased her into his arms. “You want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “No, not tonight,” she said, cuddling close to him. “Later. Tomorrow. I want to sleep now.”
He didn’t say anything, just held her tight. They would talk tomorrow. He would make sure of it.
For him, the fact that she was a virgin made tonight different, a game changer, even. He wanted to know all there was to know about her…especially why she’d chosen him to be her first? Why hadn’t she been with a man before tonight?
“Okay, Adele, but we will talk about it. In the morning, over breakfast.” He heard her mumble a few words, then realized she had drifted off to sleep.
At some point he fell asleep, as well.
He slept through the night, and unhurriedly opened his eyes when the sunlight shining through the window shone on his face. It took a minute for him to come fully awake, and the first thing he noticed was that the spot beside him in the bed was empty.
Cort figured Adele was simply using the bathroom, and fought against drifting back to sleep. But when several minutes ticked by and she didn’t return to bed, and he didn’t hear any sounds in the bathroom, he sat up in bed and glanced around. “Adele?”
When he got no response, he eased out of bed and went to the bathroom and knocked. When he still didn’t get any response, he gradually opened the door. The room was empty. Going back to the bedroom, he looked around, his gaze immediately going to where he’d thrown her clothes across the chair, then to the nightstand, where she’d left her purse. Everything was gone.
He moved to sit on the edge of the bed as a feeling of panic consumed him. Hopefully, she’d just gone out for breakfast and would be back. That had to be it. After looking around for a note and not finding one, he decided to get dressed. When even more time passed, and she hadn’t returned, a sinking feeling that she wouldn’t started to grow in his stomach.
Fully dressed, he left his hotel room, intent on finding her. There wasn’t a trace of her anywhere, and some of those same emotions he’d felt when he’d discovered she’d been a virgin began to consume him again. Especially anger.
He left the hotel and spent hours walking up and down streets, searching for any sign of her. He even went back to the café where they’d met yesterday, but she wasn’t there. The longer he looked, the angrier he became. She’d had no reason to run out on him. Adele had a lot of explaining to do when he found her. And he was determined to find her.
He had to.
Present day
CORTEZ NOTICED VICTORIA THE moment she walked into the restaurant. Seeing her made him wonder…when, exactly, had he realized he had fallen in love with her? Had it been that first moment he’d seen her at that café in Paris, sitting alone? Or the moment he’d realized he was her first? Or even when he’d woken up alone in that hotel room and his panic almost suffocated him?
After searching for her for days, he’d discovered plenty of Adele’s in Paris, but none of them had been her. He’d felt like Prince Charming, looking for his Cinderella the day after the ball. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out his Adele didn’t exist. However, he’d refused to give up the search, even when it was clear he wasn’t going to find her.
So, no one had been more shocked than him when, two years later, he and his brothers had flown to Los Angeles to attend Alexia’s fortieth birthday party. He had met a number of Alexia’s family members over the years, but since the Bennett family was so large, there were still a few he hadn’t met.
The minute he’d walked into the party, he’d felt something different. Quickly glancing around the room, his gaze collided with Victoria’s. He’d recognized her immediately, and knew she’d recognized him, too. Shock had been obvious on both of their faces. But when he started toward her, she’d deliberately gone in another direction, making it obvious she hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with him. And that had made him angry.
And when Quinn and Alexis had introduced them to each other later, it was clear that she hadn’t wanted anyone to know of their previous connection. He’d gone along with it because, like her, it seemed, a part of him had wished they’d never met. He couldn’t get over how she’d used him, then left him, and now was acting as if she didn’t know him.