Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(8)

Her body throbbed, heavy with expectation. She wanted him to drag her to the floor, to take her with rough, frantic movements, his body a heavy weight on top of her. She wanted to be held and stroked.

“What do you want?” he whispered, his lips against her.

She opened her mouth. Nothing emerged. She could say nothing, nor make a sound. The words were ready to tumble out. She fought to speak them and failed.

His hands dropped from her. He stepped around her and walked away. She lifted her hand toward him, pleading, yet the words still would not emerge, not until he left. Then the cry of frustration and despair tore through her throat.

*

Calli sat up in her borrowed bed. Her heart and head pounded with the pressure of dream-induced horror and a sexual excitement more intense than any she had ever experienced. She pulsed with coursing arousal. Her chest heaved beneath the pink chiffon.

She took deep, measured breaths, bringing her pulse down, working for calm. It took long minutes, for her mind was a jumble of dream images, still fresh, still able to arouse. Chief amongst them, the feel of him holding her. Soft, warm silk beneath her fingers. Underneath the silk, the hard wall of chest muscles. His mouth mere inches from hers. His knowing gaze. The waves of need pouring from him, washing over her. The pressure of his hips against hers. The powerful, arousing pressure.

“Ah, shit,” Calli murmured to the dark. Playing back the dream memories wasn’t helping steady her pulse. She reached for the glass of water on the desk next to the bed.

The desk would be removed tomorrow, along with the leather chair in front of it. Her uncle had intended to use the bedroom as his study, only the demands of the mining site kept him away from the apartment for long hours. He spent all his time there. It was another reason he had begged Calli to come to Vistaria to help Minnie and her mother.

Calli groped for her watch until she remembered it had been taken from her. It was still dark, though—reason enough to lie down and try to find sleep.

Add a watch to the list, Calli, she reminded herself.

His eyes, his body against her, followed her down into an uneasy sleep. They were accompanied with writhing shame. She may have resisted his dream image. She had not resisted the lure of him in person. She had almost begged to know him better. That was something she would never tell another living soul. Not even Minnie, who might understand.

Thank God she would never see him again.





Chapter Three


“You’re not paying attention, are you?” Minnie said, looking over the top of the shimmering dress she held for Calli’s inspection.

Calli blinked away the sense memory of last night’s persistent dream images one more time and forced herself back to reality. She looked at the bright patterns, the predominance of red in the abstract swirls of the dress. “Not my color at all.”

“Not you. Me.” Minnie held it against herself.

“You, certainly,” Calli agreed.

“For tonight, do you think?”

“Tonight? What’s tonight?”

Minnie rolled her eyes. “I told you. Twenty minutes ago. You agreed, don’t you remember?”

“I did? To what?”

“Tonight. The party. Duardo and his friends.”

“Duardo?” Calli’s scattered thoughts congealed into a cold whole. “You mean the soldier Duardo? From last night?” Horror filled her. “Minnie, did you give him your phone number or...or...?”

“God, relax Calli. Sometimes you treat me like I’m still eighteen and giggling about dates. He invited me last night—actually, me and a friend, because I said I wouldn’t meet him somewhere alone.”

“That sounds saner. Only, I keep hearing how little Vistarians like Americans. Do you know how close Vistaria is to outright revolution? What if this Duardo is part of some rebel faction?”

Minnie gave a low peel of laughter, shoved the dress back on the rack and flipped through more hangers. “Not Duardo,” she said with complete certainty. Her voice held the same firm confidence as it had when she had explained the local use of el colinas.

“Yes, you understand how things work, here. Only, what makes you certain he’s not into something dire and nasty? You have no idea who he is.”

“I know he’s an admirer of the Red Leopard, so of course he’s not a rebel.”

Calli shoved the dress she had been inspecting back onto the rack. “Who the hell is the Red Leopard?”

“Why are you getting angry?”

Calli cast about for a reasonable answer to Minnie’s reasonable question. She had to dig hard. “I don’t like not knowing what’s going on,” she muttered.

Minnie smiled. “You’ve been buried too long on your campus. You’re out of your comfort zone. It’ll do you good.”

“I like my comfort zone.”

“Dull, boring. Deadly.”

“Shut up.” Calli’s demand was a token one. She couldn’t think of a better answer.

Minnie laughed again. She moved around the dress rack and tucked her hand under Calli’s elbow. “You need a long, cool margarita under a shady patio with a view of the ocean.”

“I need sleep,” Calli countered.

“Siesta. I can arrange that, too. First, the drink.” Minnie tugged on her arm. “Come on.”