Chapter 55

Same suite, separate rooms.

Gina let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and glanced at Alejandro through the connecting door between the rooms. He'd left it open after ushering her through to her room. He moved around his room with an easy fluidity, as sure of himself in the confines of one of the nicest suites that the fanciest hotel in La Paz had to offer as he was on the training field with his men. He stood half facing away from her, his strong profile highlighted by the radiant hues of the setting sun shining through the balcony windows.

As she watched, fascinated and immobile, he reached up to tug the buttons of his shirt loose starting at his strong throat and finishing just below mid-chest letting his shirt gape open over his broad muscles. He placed those long fingers and strong hands at his narrow hips and stood solid, unmoving. She took a quick breath, trying to keep it as quiet as possible, but still needing to fill her lungs with air before she fainted from holding it for too long. He turned toward her anyway, though he couldn't possibly have heard her inhale. The piercing look he gave her with those dark eyes shot a quiver of heat right through her body. She shivered and fisted her hands at her side, hiding them in the folds of her skirt so he couldn't see what he was doing to her.

She wanted to go to him. As she'd wanted to a hundred times before; no, a thousand. More. She wanted to put her hands on him, run them over the muscles that she'd seen working out dozens of times with his men. Touch the shoulders that carried the burden of his king's empire and place her palms against his, touch her heat to his, because she knew now that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. The thought stole her breath. But now was not the right time.

Separate rooms.

Though he hadn't said a word when he'd opened the separating door and ushered her through the suite, she'd known as clear as if she could read his thoughts. He wouldn't make love to her until she was his wife. The thought was both exhilarating and frightening. Alejandro was a conqueror. Reyes had seen it the first moment he set eyes on the man, which was why he'd hired him at any cost to stand at his side while he captured Bolivia and the surrounding borders.

Gina was about to become his next conquest. She could see it in the flash of his dark eyes, the set of his jaw and the promise of his every command as it led them to this moment.

A knock on the outside door of her suite startled her and broke their silent communication. Gina turned and took a step toward it, but stopped when Alejandro commanded sharply, "Stop, don't move."

Gina halted immediately, knowing better than to question his edicts. He moved swiftly toward her, pulling a gun from the holster under his arm. She was so used to seeing him and all the men around her armed that the movement didn't phase her at all. She knew it was protocol and the likelihood of anyone unexpected knocking at her door was slim to none. They had men in the hallway acting as their protection.

Alejandro reached for her, wrapping his long fingers around her upper arm and pulling her behind him. He gave her a look that clearly said "stay" without actual words and went to answer the door. He placed her so she was standing completely out of the line of fire if anyone hostile was to enter the room.

"Si? Identify yourself," he demanded at the door.

Gina didn't hear the answer, but it must have been okay because he opened the door and indicated the person should come in. She watched curiously as a man and a woman entered the suite. The woman came in first holding two cases stacked on top of each other. Both were silver with gold trimming. She set them down on top of the courtesy desk, glanced at Gina and looked lingeringly at Alejandro. Gina hid a smile. She didn't blame the lovely Latina woman for looking her fill. Alejandro was definitely something else. He was indeed beautiful to look at, and he was taller and broader than most of the men around them. Even more than that though, he carried himself with an enigmatic intensity that drew people to him almost as much as it repelled them when they realized that intensity was steeped in blood and death.

But for Gina, a woman born to the mob, everything about Alejandro drew her with a magnetic attraction that she was helpless to resist. And now, she knew, he was just as powerless as she. Which shifted the balance of power from the lion to the mouse.

She snapped her fingers against her skirt, making a slight but noticeable noise. Both Alejandro and the woman looked toward her. Gina gave the woman a stormy narrow-eyed look that told her everything. She could appreciate her fascination with the mob enforcer, but she was not to touch. Without another glance Gina turned her gaze toward the man who was holding several garment bags. He made his way toward the walk-in closet and began hanging them one at a time. Gina automatically tried to follow him in, knowing the items in the bags were meant for her.

Alejandro caught her arm and held her back. "Wait for him to finish, cari?a."

"But I want to see," she murmured, tugging on her arm and craning her head to see around the edge of the closet door.

Alejandro pulled her back and gave her a look. "Gina," he said in a low voice.

She looked up at him and decided her best bet was to wait until the wardrobe guy was finished. She knew Alejandro wouldn't hurt her. But she also knew if she pushed her luck and got too close to the other man Alejandro wouldn't hesitate to take him out. As she looked up at him, their gazes tangled, her breath caught in her throat. Elation flooded her body. Alejandro had finally declared his intentions; he'd drawn his line in the sand.

And she'd stepped up to that line, then redrawn one of her own.

Neither of them acknowledged the hotel staff as they finished, murmured their goodbyes and left. Instead, they stood locked in the moment, staring at each other as though it were the first time.

Alejandro brought a hand up and traced two long fingers across her jawline. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. He touched her mouth. "I've wanted to bite these lips from the first moment I saw them." Not kiss, but something more brutal, barbaric. Like him. Her heart leapt in victory.

"Then bite them," she whispered against his fingers.

He growled low in his throat and reached out to wrap his other arm around her waist and jerk her forward, slamming her hard against his body. She brought her hands up between them, not for space, but to brace herself against the sheer aggression pouring off of him. His fingers dug into the softness just below her ribcage.

"If I kiss you I won't stop," he rumbled dropping his head until his forehead touched hers. "I'll bite, kiss, touch and fuck every part of you. I won't be denied any longer, Gina."

Her chest ached from the need to suck air into her starved lungs. He was killing her with his words, both spoken and unspoken. A year! An entire year of dancing around each other had finally led to this. And god, it was almost bittersweet. She loved this moment, she didn't want it to end. She wanted to beg him to fuck her but knew she couldn't. Shouldn't. They would wait for their wedding.

"You will stop," she whispered back, her breath feathering across his throat. She saw the shiver of tiny goosebumps where the air touched him. She felt the stiffness of his frame where he held the savage back from tearing her apart. She knew. Because she knew her Alejandro. She'd spent a year learning everything she could about him.

"I will?" he asked, a dangerous edge to his tone.

"You will," she said with confidence and tilted her head to look up at him, searching the darkness of his features for the truth in her words. "You'll kiss me with the feelings I know you have for me and then you'll let me go and tell me what you have planned for tonight."

His eyes narrowed. She waited, her heart pounding. She'd never given him an order before. He was used to his sweet little mouse simply nodding her head in agreement, smiling pretty and maintaining her silence. They would have to find new footing if he wanted her to become his bride. She just hoped she survived the experience.

He didn't wait for another invitation. He swooped, his lips covering hers in a kiss that could only be called devastating. It was indeed a bite. Not a nip or a pinch but the soul-searing, devouring seizing of her mouth. He swept in, his lips warm, his tongue scorching and he took over, stealing every bit of her breath and sanity on a single kiss that lasted mere seconds but punched a hole in her sanity. He finished by biting all along her bottom lip until she was moaning in his arms and tilting her head back so he could kiss a path along her cheek to her ear.

"If I put you on that bed right now and fucked you, you wouldn't stop me," he growled against her throat.

She blinked, annoyance flashing through her grey eyes. She shoved a hand between them and stiffened her legs, which had gone weak under the intensity of his kisses. "Maybe," she agreed huskily. "But my answer to your proposal, if you get around to asking, would be a lot less positive than it was a few minutes ago."

She found herself set quickly back on her feet, his hands falling away from her as he put distance between them. Rather than relief she felt disappointment when cool air touched her skin. She told herself it was because it had been years since she'd felt the touch of a man. It was no wonder her body craved such hedonism. Yet, she knew better. Alejandro was not just a man. He was the man for her.

"Tread carefully, mi amor," he said and though his voice was light, his eyes spoke volumes of the dark, delicious torments he would like to enact once he got his hands on her. "This reprieve is self-imposed and will not last. As you know, I am not a moralistic man. Waiting until after we are married… it is a gift for you alone, cari?a. Out of respect."

Sudden tears filled her eyes and she turned away so he wouldn't see them. She didn't need him to know that she was vulnerable. But it touched her that he would care enough about her feelings to give her time, even just a day or two, to adjust to the idea of marriage to him. She tilted her head down, her blond hair falling in a sheet around her face.

"Gracias, Alejandro," she thanked him softly.

At first, he said nothing. She could feel his eyes on her. Then, "You are very welcome, Gina." His deep voice took on an edge of command as he strode to the closet and turned on a light in the rapidly fading daylight. "There are several dresses in here. You will choose one to wear this evening. There should be shoes and purses to match in the boxes. I will collect you in an hour."

He turned and strode to their connecting doors without another word, closing it firmly behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Gina reached for the bed, her knees folding and her body collapsing weakly beneath her. She fell back on the fluffy blanket with a sigh, her hair flaring out and her arms falling to her sides. She closed her eyes. "Dear god…" she whispered and traced shaking fingers over slightly swollen lips. "That was… incredible."

She couldn't help the grin that slowly lit up her face. She rolled onto her side and hugged herself tightly for a moment before reaching for the phone. As soon as her fingers landed, she hesitated and chewed on her bottom lip. It was an easy bet that Alejandro would know if she made a call as soon as she dialed out. And moments later he would know exactly who she was calling. She could use her cell phone. Thanks to a permanent satellite, their valley home was able to send and receive calls any time.

But did she really want Alejandro to know that she was discussing their business? He was smart enough to guess that she would call her cousin for a good gossip session. They told each other everything, whether the men liked it or not. Reyes had learned to live with it, would Alejandro? Or would he create yet another stupid rule and forbid her from talking to her cousin. At least until the dust had settled on their new marriage. It seemed like something the controlling enforcer might do, especially if Casey decided to get overly involved.

Gina dropped her hand and sat up on the side of the bed straightening her shoulders. No, now wasn't the time. She and Alejandro had some things to sort through and Casey had a tendency to voice her opinions quite stridently when family or friends were involved. They would talk when Gina got back to the compound… when she was safely married to Alejandro.