He collapsed on top of her and then scooped her into his arms and rolled them onto their sides so that they were face to face, while he ensured she came too, kissing her neck as her moans escaped her.
Her heart took a while to calm and even longer for the euphoria to dissipate.
‘Well, that was…’
‘That was…’ he said, his hand tracing her jawline. ‘Welcome to Lisbon.’
She burst into laughter and he tucked her closer and she nuzzled into his chest, her leg slipping naturally between his. She’d never felt so comfortable with her own nudity or with a man. It felt like they’d been doing this forever.
Chapter Eleven
‘So this is the master en suite bathroom,’ she said with a teasing smile when they fell out of the very nice shower an hour later. Felipe, it turned out, was very good with his hands and a bottle of shower gel. He handed her a large, fluffy towel as she took in her surroundings. The bathroom was tiled in dark green rustic tiles with a copper overhead shower and a large marble sink.
‘And this is the master bedroom,’ he said holding out a hand and indicating a simply furnished room, which she hadn’t a chance to take in previously. The room was dominated by the bed that was set into an arched alcove, which was clearly an original feature. It was painted in what looked like gold leaf and while the effect was decadent, it fitted beautifully into the rough-hewn sandstone walls.
Wooden shelves were mounted on the wall on either side of the bed and obviously acted as bedside tables.
‘It’s so lovely.’ She loved the simplicity and clever marriage of the contemporary and traditional, like the ceiling that had been painted in a muted beige which threw the original whiteplasterwork of decorative roses and leaves dotted around the ornate lamp into relief. Then there was the far wall with its modern double-glazed window, framed underneath by the old stone sill and original ceramic wall tiles patterned with faded yellow and blue designs.
‘It’s beautiful. Any chance I can see the rest of the place?’
He squeezed her bare bottom. ‘I’d have given you the guided tour if you hadn’t insisted on dragging me straight to bed.’
She arched an eyebrow. ‘Of course. You were kicking and screaming every step of the way.’
‘Oh, there’s a courtyard,’ she said with a little cry of delight as she glimpsed the walled area complete with a stone fountain built into the wall. She was already charmed by the one room. ‘But we’re on the first floor.’
‘The building is built into the hill, so the back is much higher than the front. That’s what you get when you build on such steep hills. Come on, I’ll let you see the rest of the place.’
He pushed open the door to reveal the beautiful parquet floor, strewn with his shirt and her T-shirt along with their abandoned overnight bags. It made her smile– they really had been in a hurry. So much so, she hadn’t even noticed the stunning staircase running up one side of the wall– althoughstaircasewas too mundane a description. It was a work of art, big, wide planks of dark wood on individual white plaster plinths. Simple in design and execution. Thestark stairs had no banister or guard rail but made quite a statement.
‘This is really lovely,’ she said.
‘Whatever you do, don’t tell Katerina and Cristina. They like to think it’s some sort of bachelor hovel they’d hate.’
Rebecca grinned at him. ‘I could blackmail you.’
‘I’d make it worth your while not to,’ he said. ‘The bedrooms are on this floor and the lounge and kitchen upstairs.’ Hepointed to another door further down the hallway. ‘Guest room. For guests.’
‘What am I?’ she asked.
He scrunched up his face in thought and then winked. ‘Definitely not a guest.’
The stairs opened out into a light, airy, open-plan room with a smart modern kitchen at one end, a run of cabinets, and a small cooker and sink built into another brick archway mirroring the one downstairs in Felipe’s bedroom. At right angles was another run of cabinets and an alcove housing a fridge-freezer, which was such a perfect fit, you could almost imagine the fridge had been built to measure.
But it was the view opposite that drew her and she immediately crossed to the far end of the room, drawn by the golden evening light glowing through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
‘What a wonderful outlook– an estate agent’s dream.’
‘Yes. Once I saw, I was sold,’ said Felipe, coming to stand beside her.
Outside the window was a tiny wrought-iron balcony and just enough room for a table and two chairs. A leafy green climber wove in and around the iron railings, creating a natural screen from the narrow, cobbled street below.
From the balcony there was also a magnificent view of the wide estuary of the River Tagus.
‘I just love the pavement,’ she said, looking across at the paving on the street beyond made of a mosaic of small white stones, patterned with an intricate design of black stones.
‘It’scalçada Portuguesa. It originated in Lisbon in the mid-nineteenth century and then spread to other parts ofthe country and ultimately to Brazil. We’re very proud of our pavements, although they’re expensive to keep up and can be abit treacherous when it’s wet. They’re an important part of our heritage and much prized.’
