Читать книгу By Request Collection Part 3 - Майя Бэнкс, Robyn Donald - Страница 31

REALITY hit when Luisa woke.

Last night she’d almost believed they shared more than their bodies. But waking alone in Raul’s bed reminded her where his priorities lay. Their marriage was about his desire for power. Sex was a bonus they shared.

Her chest tightened as she forced herself to think of it as sex. It had felt like making love.

Yet he’d left it to a maid to wake his bride, discreetly pretending not to notice the rumpled bed or that Luisa was naked beneath the fine linen.

Fire scorched Luisa’s skin as the girl swept up the rumpled wedding gown, folding the metres of fine hand-worked veil with the reverence it deserved.

Memories seared, of Raul flinging the veil away. Of her standing with the dress at her feet as he held her arms wide and feasted on the sight of her. Of their blazing passion, utterly heedless of her exquisite finery.

Thrumming arousal beat low in her body, just remembering. Appalled, Luisa realised the need Raul had awoken was far from sated. How much she’d changed in one night!

She nodded vaguely as the maid, eyes carefully averted, pointed out the door in the panelling connecting to Luisa’s room, for when she wanted to dress.

Luisa hadn’t known the apartments were connected. She hadn’t even recognised the corridor when Raul had brought her here! She’d been so caught up in her response to him.

Alone at last, Luisa stared at the empty pillow beside her.

She had no right to feel disappointed. She’d known what she was doing. She’d initiated it! But through a night of intimacy, curled close in his arms, she’d forgotten.

What they’d shared had been purely physical. Her skin prickled as she recalled how eager she’d been. It had been almost a relief to let anger push her into reckless desire.

She’d given herself, knowing where she fitted in his world. Raul viewed her in terms of her usefulness to him. Despite his tenderness, in that he was like her grandfather.

Pain cramped her belly. Her dream of one day finding love like her parents was dead. This—the ecstasy and the loneliness—would be her lot.

Maybe that was why she’d imagined the fragile connection between them: because it was easier than facing reality.

But she couldn’t hide from the world for ever.

Ignoring the breakfast tray, Luisa wrapped a sheet around herself and hurried to the connecting door, determined not to yield to weak regrets. She’d made her bed and now …

She grabbed the door frame and braced herself as sudden realisation smote her. Her knees shook so hard she feared she’d slide to the floor.

They hadn’t used contraception! How could she only just have realised?

It scared her—how much Raul scrambled her thoughts. How she changed when she was with him. He raised passions she’d never known. Her every emotion, from anger to joy, seemed so much more intense because of him.

Giving herself to him surely made her more vulnerable to his potent influence. But it was too late to turn back.

All she could do was try to be sensible, remembering they shared a pragmatic, convenient relationship. She couldn’t afford to fall into the trap of foolish dreams.

She’d begin with contraception. She wasn’t ready to bring a baby into such a situation.

‘Your Highnesses, welcome.’ The mayor bowed low, his bald head gleaming in the sun.

But Raul’s attention wasn’t on the resplendent figure before the town hall. It was riveted on Luisa. In her pale suit and with her golden hair swept up she looked coolly elegant. Yet a darting glance at her full lips and the slenderness of her throat brought waves of memory crashing in on him.

Of Luisa beneath him last night, writhing with a desperate pleasure tinged by innocent wonder that had held him in thrall despite his urgent need for completion. Of her unrestrained passion that blasted through his sophistication and years of experience and reduced him to slavering, uncontrolled need.

As if he was the virgin and she the seducer!

Even the feel of her arm as he guided her over the uneven cobblestones made hunger spring to gnawing life. He had to call on all his experience to mask his feelings.

That was what worried him. The fact that she made him feel. Not merely mind-blowing lust. Nor simply relief and gratitude that the crown was assured.

A cocktail of emotions had stirred last night as she’d spoken of her grandfather and her would-be seducer. A fierce protectiveness utterly unlike that he felt for his country. Fury at her hurts. Sadness. Tenderness he’d never known.

And joy so profound it had shocked him to the core and driven him from bed this morning, seeking work as a distraction.

Instinctively he tried to deny the intensity of his emotions. He didn’t do feelings. That was how he’d survived and rebuilt his life in the face of humiliating public speculation and private pain.

What did Luisa do to him?

Even as a youth, when he’d been smitten by what he’d foolishly deemed love, he’d functioned better than this.

The crowd cheered and it was all Raul could do to remember to wave in acknowledgement. For the first time he had difficulty remembering his duty.

The realisation terrified him.%

Duty had been his life. He’d devoted himself to his country with a dedication other men gave to wives and families. It gave him purpose. Had kept him going in that bleak time when his world crashed around him.

‘Prince Raul, Princess Luisa, welcome.’ The mayor’s eyes gleamed admiringly as he bowed to Luisa.

Raul tensed at his blatant stare. He knew an unreasoning desire to pull Luisa behind him out of sight. Or take her to the castle and lock her in his bedroom.

Now there was a thought!

The crisp wind brought colour to her cheeks. Last night’s passion had softened her lips to a lush, inviting bow that played havoc with his self-control and sent blood surging to his groin. Any minute now and the snapping cameras would catch him in rampant arousal.

‘Your Highness?’

A look at the mayor’s puzzled face told Raul they were waiting for him.

Dredging up his control, Raul spoke, finding calm in the give and take of official welcome. Yet the undercurrent of awareness heightening every sense disturbed him. A night of passion should slake desire, not increase it.

The mayor turned to Luisa, holding out a huge ornamental key that signified her free entry to every locked building in the capital.

‘Welcome to our city, Your Highness. I hope you will be as happy here with us as we are to have you among us.’ He spoke in Maritzian then English and the crowd cheered.

She looked sexy as hell. No trace now of the androgynous mud-spattered farmer. Raul imagined unbuttoning her jacket as he’d undone her wedding gown last night and—

‘Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.’ To Raul’s amazement Luisa spoke in slow but clear Maritzian as she turned towards the people lining the square. ‘It’s kind of you all to come and welcome me to your lovely city. I’ll look forward to discovering it for myself.’

The crowd roared.

It didn’t matter that Luisa had turned from the microphone so the sound blurred, or that her accent wasn’t perfect. The fact that she made the effort to speak Maritzian, when everyone knew from the press release that she wasn’t fluent, endeared her to them.

The mayor beamed. Streamers waved and a ripple of applause rose.

Pride surged as Raul watched her smile at the throng. Only he, beside her, saw the stiff set of her jaw and how her hands shook as she clasped the heavy key.

Only he, the man who’d forced her into leaving everything she knew and adopting a role she’d rejected time and again, guessed what it cost her to put on this façade.

Razor-sharp pain speared through him. He’d done what he must for his nation and Luisa had been the one to suffer.

A memory flashed of her pain last night as she’d spoken of her grandfather’s manipulation. Raul’s hands balled to fists. His own demands must have been like an echo of that dreadful time. The knowledge stirred an uncomfortable, unfamiliar sensation. Guilt.

He’d plucked her from her world, one where she was loved and appreciated, and dropped her into an alien place. Into a role even those born to it found challenging.

Last night they’d shared physical pleasure. But he’d persuaded and challenged her into it. Would she have come to him of her own volition?

‘Here, let me.’ He took the key, disturbed at the shame he felt. He wasn’t used to questioning his actions. He’d spent so long sure in the knowledge he acted for the public good.

‘It’s almost over,’ he murmured. ‘Just back to the car and that’s it.’

Finally Luisa met his eyes and shock sucker-punched him. Gone was the wonderment and warmth that, despite his attempts to rationalise, had turned last night into something remarkable. Something he refused to analyse.

For the first time since she’d agreed to marry, Luisa’s gaze was coolly remote.

Inexplicable loss filled him. He’d thought they’d begun to share something more than an acceptance of duty. Instinctively Raul reached for her but she moved away.

At the last moment he remembered to thank the mayor. By the time he’d finished Luisa was ahead of him, her spine erect and poise perfect. That hadn’t been learned in the last week. Her mother’s teaching?

He followed, his gaze drawn to the slim skirt that shifted over her curves with every step. That was why he didn’t see the bustle on the edge of the crowd. The next thing he knew, one of the security staff lunged across the open space while another hurried forward. Instantly alert, Raul raced across the cobbles, adrenalin pumping, ready to protect her.

He skidded to a halt beside her as she bent. That was when he saw the ragamuffin dog, all hair and lolling tongue, gambolling at her feet.

Raul’s heart crashed against his ribs. When he’d seen the security men swing into action he’d feared the worst. If anything had happened to her.

‘Luisa, he’s filthy.’ The words were brusque, sharper than he’d intended as relief flared. His wife gave him a wide-eyed stare.

His wife! The world shifted beneath his feet and Raul couldn’t tell if it was from shock or reaction to the reproach in her eyes.

‘He’s just a harmless puppy.’ She cradled the mongrel, looking down and murmuring in a soft tone that made the beast wriggle in ecstasy.

If Luisa smiled at him that way, whispering and rubbing his belly, Raul would lap it up too. His groin tightened. Damn it! This was ridiculous. She only had to smile and he got as hard as a randy teenager. He didn’t understand it.

A commotion caught his eye. A small boy was trying to get past Raul’s staff. Raul nodded to them to let him pass.

The kid cast a fearful glance over his shoulder then hurried forward. Raul saw a scowling red-faced man in the crowd where the boy had been.

For an instant memory side-swiped Raul. Of his own father wearing that same expression on one of the few occasions he’d deigned to spend time with his young son. Raul couldn’t remember what he’d done to earn his father’s wrath. Scuffed his shoes perhaps or earned a less than perfect mark in his studies. It hadn’t taken much to disappoint the old man.

Bitterness welled on his tongue and his eyes narrowed.

The boy stopped before them, his head sinking low.

‘Is this your dog?’ Raul had to wait for a silent nod and felt Luisa’s hand on his arm.

What? Did she think he’d rip into the kid?

‘Yes, sir. He means no harm, sir. The cord broke and—’

‘Completely understandable,’ Raul said. ‘With all that noise it’s not surprising he got overexcited.’

The boy raised his head and stared, as if unable to believe his ears.

‘He must have sensed the Princess likes dogs.’ Raul found himself talking just to reassure. He’d had no idea Luisa liked dogs till he saw her cuddle this one. She smiled at the boy and crouched down to his level.

Good with children and dogs. Raul watched the boy’s nervousness disappear under the warmth of Luisa’s approval and realised she was a natural with both. She’d make a great mother—warm and affectionate. He watched her hand the pup over and pat the kid reassuringly.

Raul could imagine her with an unruly brood, unfazed by soccer in the gloomy royal portrait gallery on a wet winter’s day or kids who wanted to run outdoors instead of perfecting their Latin before they were allowed dinner.

Something scooped a hollow deep in Raul’s belly at the thought of Luisa with children. They’d be his children.

For the first time the idea of fatherhood appealed, even though he had no experience of real family life.

He tried to imagine Luisa carrying his child and found the notion strangely satisfying. Though not as pleasurable as having her to himself, naked and needy.

‘It’s time to go.’ He took her arm and helped her rise. Then he steered his wife and the boy towards the beet-faced man at the front of the crowd.

He wanted his wife to himself, had wanted her since he’d forced himself to leave her this morning. But first he had business to attend to.

Luisa raised a hand to wave at the crowd pressed close to the road. Safer to look at them than the man beside her who continually bewildered her.

Self-conscious, she crossed her legs over the ladder creeping up her stockings where the pup had scratched. Then she wiped at the muddy stains on her designer suit.

‘Don’t fidget with your clothes. No one else can see the dirt.’

Startled, she turned. She’d thought Raul focused on the crowd on the other side of the road. Even now he didn’t turn. She had a perfect view of his austere profile as he waved. Luisa found her gaze lingering on his full lower lip as she remembered the way he’d kissed her last night.

Heat spiralled inside and she swallowed hard. It didn’t do any good. She couldn’t quench the need he’d ignited.

Obviously Raul wasn’t similarly bothered. He was utterly composed. No doubt displeased by her behaviour in picking up a grubby little dog that was anything but pedigree. Her eyes shut as she imagined the press pictures. Raul looking regal and she with a ladder in her stockings.

Well, tough! She hadn’t asked to be princess. He’d stampeded her into it. Now he could put up with the fact that she didn’t fit the mould.

She’d read his stern demeanour through the ceremony today. As if waiting for her to embarrass herself. Not even her carefully rehearsed lines, learned with Lukas’ help, had softened Raul’s severe countenance.

Had she really sought his approval? The notion of such neediness disturbed her.

Only once in the whole proceedings had his face softened. With the boy.

‘Why did we go over to that man in the crowd?’ She hadn’t even been aware of the question forming in her head.

Raul turned and a sizzle shot through her as their gazes collided.

Luisa slumped back against her seat, heart pounding as fire roared through her veins. How did he do that? Was it the same for all the women he bedded?

The idea was pure torture.

‘I wanted to make sure there was no trouble.’

‘Trouble?’ Luisa scrabbled for coherent thought.

‘He was complaining loudly about his son being uncontrollable. And about what a nuisance the dog was.’

‘You’re kidding!’ Luisa straightened. ‘Peter was a darling, but so serious, not uncontrollable. If anything he seemed too old for his years.’ She hadn’t understood everything he’d said but his gravity had struck her.

Raul shrugged but the movement seemed cramped. ‘Living with a judgemental parent will do that.’

It was on the tip of Luisa’s tongue to question Raul’s assessment, till she read a bleakness in his eyes that made her back off.

‘What did you say to his father?’ Raul had looked every inch the monarch, full of gracious condescension.

Again that shrug. A little easier this time. ‘I congratulated him on his fine son.’

‘Good on you!’

Startled green eyes met hers and for a moment Luisa lost the thread of the conversation.

‘And I invited both boy and dog to visit the castle, to renew the acquaintance.’

Luisa tried but couldn’t read Raul’s expression. Yet instinct told her why he’d done it. ‘You wanted to make sure he didn’t get rid of the pup?’

For an instant longer Raul held her gaze before turning back to the window and raising his hand in acknowledgement of the people thronging the road.

‘A boy should be allowed a dog for companionship. Don’t you think?’

His tone indicated the matter was of no importance. Yet she remembered Peter’s trembling fear and the nervous way he’d eyed his father. Raul had gone out of his way to speak to them when he hadn’t made time to glad-hand anyone else in the crowd, preferring to wave from a distance.

Luisa sensed the matter was anything but unimportant to Raul. The scenario had struck a chord with him.

Frowning, she realised she knew almost nothing about the man she’d married.