“Yes, too late. I had already fallen in love with you and I didn’t know how to tell you what he’d done.”
Donna paused. “I don’t understand. So you didn’t know Ivan had set me up?”
“Of course not. But when he showed me what he had been doing, finding out who you were, inviting you to the flamenco cave, I was angry. I tried to avoid you after that, but you just kept turning up at my lessons. You kept showing up.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I had to protect my uncle and the community. And I was dizzy, wanting you but knowing I shouldn’t touch you. You have to believe that. All this, this is real.”
He grabbed her by the hips, pulling her towards him, and despite herself she melted into his body.
“This is real.” She felt the force of his lust, the hardness between them.
She found herself reaching up for his lips, kissing him without restraint, eager for his kiss as she felt his fingers digging into the small of her back, as if his will alone would keep her there.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered against her lips between kisses.
“It’s done now,” she said, cupping his face in her hands, unable to do anything else. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”
He reached down and picked her up. He carried her to a secluded beach spot and pushed her to the ground.
Their final night together on the sand was a melancholic pleasure. They clung to each other for dear life, each one drunk with longing and heartache.
Chapter 17
She stood outside the house with her suitcase, waiting for Antonio’s car to turn up.
After their night together, he had offered to give her a lift to the airport. José and Maria had left for their honeymoon, so her goodbyes to her friends were already said.
Eventually a car pulled up and she got in.
They drove a ways in silence. Then he said, “So, what will you do back in the States?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really have much of a plan.”
They were twisting and turning on the roads that lead out of the village.
Soon the dirt paths disappeared and they were on smooth asphalt as they left the tiny town behind them.
They drove on in more silence. Neither could find the right words. The airport was getting closer and that meant it was almost time to say goodbye—the final goodbye. Soon they would share their last few minutes together, and Donna hadn’t said anything she had wanted to say. She gritted her teeth.
Finally Antonio said, “So you have nothing to get back for? No deadlines?”
“No, I just booked my return ticket for three months exactly.”
The last roundabout finally arrived, signs to the airport appearing. But now, instead of taking the turn that would lead to the airport, he drove around the roundabout and took a different exit.
He drove into the parking lot of an airport hotel and put the car in park.
“Stay with me a night here. I can’t let you go yet. I’ll pay for your return flight tomorrow. It’s no big deal.”
“What?” She felt a strange mixture of longing and anger.
He touched her cheek. “You mean something to me. Something I can’t explain. Please just give me one more night.”
Now she felt angry.
“What do you want from me? A few more hours? One last fuck? I don’t want to be your plaything, someone you can just discard!” she shouted.
