Page 68 of The Virgin's Dance
She looked at him now too. She let her eyes fall down across his body, taking in his strong neck and the broad shoulders that his cotton shirt could barely contain. He was intoxicating and beautiful, and the kind of man any mother would describe as trouble. He was not a gentleman—that much was clear.
But tonight, she didn’t care.
“So, Donna, are you living in Spain?”
“Visiting. That’s why my Spanish is so bad,” she said with a wry smile.
“My English is bad, I apologize for that.”
“Well, we are in Spain, after all,” she giggled, hardly recognizing the flirty sound that came out of her mouth. “So what is this place? Who are these people?”
“This is the community that lives here. We are not very well off, but we make our own entertainment, away from the people below who do not accept our culture.” His voice was calm, but Donna didn’t miss the flicker of anger that crossed his face, before he quickly concealed it a second later.
They continued sipping wine into the evening, Antonio playing the role of the charmer, while Donna pretended to play a game of cat and mouse, knowing full well that she was already caught.
It had been inevitable from the moment their hands had touched.
After an hour or so, and once Antonio gauged the situation as tenable he said, “You wanna get out of here?”
Donna nodded, tingles running down her body.
She followed him back into the showroom, where people were now drinking and playing guitar and singing in little groups around the room.
He took her hand tightly, towering over her by a good two feet, and she let him lead her out of the cave. His lithe dancer’s body skillfully avoided Ivan, who was in the center of the stage room talking very loudly and rapidly to another man, who was dressed conspicuously in a suit.
They walked into the night hand in hand, and Antonio walked her right up to a dangerous looking motorcycle. “Jump on,” he said after putting on a helmet. He sat there, looking like every teenage girl’s fantasy, revving the engine with a devilish smile on his face—as if he were daring her to step outside her comfort zone.
“Oh no, I’m not sure I can get on that!”
“Sure, you can,” he replied confidently, offering her his hand to take.
“No, really, I don’t think so. Not downhill in the middle of the night. I’m not great with heights”
“You will be safer on here with me than you will be walking down here in the night. Don’t you know you’re in Gitano territory now? You’re safer with me.” His voice became more expressive than it had been all evening, and she couldn’t tell if he was teasing her or not.
“Gitano?”
“Yes, gitanos … the gypsies!” He was sniggering a little, enjoying the shocked look on her face.
“Run away, moon, moon, moon.
If the gypsies find us,
They would cut out your heart
To make necklaces, silvery rings.”
Antonio sang to her as Donna finally put her hand in his. He guided her onto the back of the bike, helping her balance as she gingerly took her seat.
Chapter 6
Aware of her bare legs against his as they rode through the night, she could feel the heat of his big body as she wrapped her arms tightly around his hard stomach, clinging for dear life.
His body relaxed as it touched hers. She could feel rippling abs under his shirt, smell the musk of his damp sweat, and had to resist the urge to bury her face in the fine, dark hair that covered his neck. He smelled so good.
The journey was short and they were down the hill in a flash, her hair flowing behind her. Though her heart felt like it was in her throat the entire ride as they sped along, that didn’t stop other sensations from stirring within her.
She felt like their bodies, pressed so closely to each other, were communicating something that couldn’t be expressed with words.
