Читать книгу Dreaming Of... Brazil: At the Brazilian's Command / Married for the Prince's Convenience / From Enemy's Daughter to Expectant Bride - Майя Блейк, Susan Stephens - Страница 18

CHAPTER NINE

‘OH.’ DANNY’S VOICE was flat. The shock of what Tiago had told her cut deep. She couldn’t blame him for his candour after she’d pressed him for an answer. She guessed he’d thought a clean cut would be the best. The news that her mother wasn’t interested in Danny was old, but it hurt all the same. The fact that her mother didn’t even care that she was getting married was brutal.

‘You tried, Danny. At least you tried.’

Yes, she was certainly a trier, Danny reflected dryly. How stupid she felt now, imagining her mother would want to wish her well.

‘I can’t honestly say I expected her to be here for the wedding,’ she admitted, pinning a smile to her face.

She glanced up to find Tiago staring down at her with concern. Maybe she was wrong about him. Maybe he did have feelings but, having spent a lifetime hiding them, now found them impossible to express.

‘Don’t feel sorry for me, Tiago. I’m not a child.’

‘Maybe not,’ he agreed, ‘but my people show you more affection than your own mother. If she had been born with a title, and then squandered an old man’s fortune, I would say that your mother and mine must have been twins.’

The bitterness in his voice told her that Tiago had experience of loving someone and being rejected. She knew that that could lead down one of two roads: the road she trod, where she never stopped trying, or the road Tiago had taken, where he simply turned his back. It was another thought to unsettle her.

‘I can’t bear to see you hurt like this,’ he raged.

‘I’m not hurt. I’m—’

‘Accustomed to it?’ he spat out. ‘Why should you be accustomed to it? This is wrong, Danny. You should cut her out of your life.’

‘She’s my mother. I can’t.’

‘She’s no mother to you.’

With an impatient gesture, Tiago ground his jaw, but thankfully said nothing more on the subject.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said at last. ‘Everyone on the ranch will be here to cheer you on.’

‘And that’s all that matters,’ she said with conviction.

She only had to remember how touched she’d been when a selection of treasured veils and wedding dresses had been brought out of lavender-scented storage for her to choose from to know how much Tiago’s people meant to her.

‘They’re your people now, Danny,’ he said, reading her.

‘Our people.’

That thought made her feel strong. Whatever happened in the future, the bond she was building here with the people of Fazenda Santos would support her as surely as any strong family could.

‘They’ve done so much in the short time they’ve known me to make me feel welcome,’ she said, glancing round the courtyard, which was already dressed for the wedding, ‘and I’m honoured to have been accepted here.’

‘You’ll be happy. I’ll make sure of it,’ he said.

But when Tiago put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close she thought, Yes, but for just one year.

She was certain that Tiago would do his best to make her time in Brazil trouble-free. It wasn’t in his interest to do otherwise. He would never risk this marriage of convenience being challenged by anyone.

‘One last drink before we part?’ he suggested.

‘Why not?’ She smiled.

Tomorrow was their wedding day. It hardly seemed possible. Closing her eyes briefly, she drank in his strength, wishing with all her heart that they were a normal couple, with a normal relationship. But what was normal? Could any couple enter into marriage with complete certainty?

Shaking off her doubts, she walked with him towards the outdoor area at the back of the ranch house, where Tiago loved to stand and look out across his property. She reminded herself that for some married couples it wasn’t even possible to guarantee a happy year.

* * *

The hunter had become the protector. His cold-blooded plan to marry Danny at all costs had been brought to its knees by the way she was treated by her mother. No one should be treated like that. Hot blood surged through his veins as Danny stood beside him. There was anger, and there was lust—and something else he refused to name. Twenty-four hours ago he had held her in his arms—and that seemed too long.

Glancing down, he saw how pale she was. The conversation he’d had with her about her mother had hit her hard. He should have found some gentler way to break it to her. He shouldn’t have been surprised by her resilience, but he was. He poured her a drink—orange juice, as she’d requested. She was determined to keep a clear head, he concluded, quelling his disappointment at the thought that temptation would have to be resisted for another night.

‘Why are you smiling?’ she asked him when he took the empty glass from her hand.

‘You’re wearing a dress, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen your legs before.’

‘Liar. You saw me at the wedding in a bridesmaid’s dress.’

‘Which trailed around your ankles.’ He tipped the neck of his bottle of beer in Danny’s direction.

She shook her head. ‘It did not trail.’ And then she said, ‘Shall we drink a toast to your grandfather?’

‘My grandfather? I’m surprised you’re even thinking about him.’

‘Why wouldn’t I? We wouldn’t be here without him,’ she pointed out.

His lips pressed down with amusement as he shook his head. She was right. His grandfather might have done a lot of things he disagreed with, but he had given Tiago the chance to change his life.

Easing onto one hip, he told her a little more about his history. ‘I never imagined my grandfather would deny me full ownership of the ranch, but he was cunning, and he never liked my playboy antics. He said it reminded him too much of my mother—the feckless socialite, as he called her. That’s why he constructed his will as he did. He knew how much I loved this place. He knew I wouldn’t let the people down.’

‘Whatever it took?’ Danny observed dryly.

‘Whatever it took,’ he agreed, meeting her stare head-on. The one thing he would never do was lie to her.

‘To your grandfather,’ she said softly, chinking her glass against his bottle. ‘Manuelo told me your parents were never around, and that when they were they only came here to beg for money from your grandfather. Once they got that, he said they left—sometimes without even seeing you. So what’s the sequel to this story, Tiago? I know there must be one, because Manuelo thinks the world of you—as does everyone else on this ranch.’

He was reluctant to get into it, but from the look in her eyes Danny wasn’t giving up. ‘My grandfather bailed me out of a juvenile correctional facility—said he’d give me a trial on the ranch. He said I could live with him if I worked for the privilege.’

‘And you fought him every step of the way?’ she guessed.

He didn’t deny it. ‘I didn’t want to work for anyone except myself. And when I saw this place in the middle of nowhere—’ He grimaced. ‘I didn’t feel as I do now about it, that’s for sure. It held no appeal for my teenage self.’

‘But you stayed?’ she pressed, her eyes filled with concern.

‘Yes, because I came to love the people. And now you’ve met them I’m sure you understand why.’

‘I do.’ She spoke softly and touched his arm.

He had to pause and hold himself in check for a moment, or he would have responded for sure.

‘I try never to be away from them for long,’ he went on then. ‘Because they and my grandfather opened my eyes to a different way of life—their way of life. And I could relate to it—to them. The passion they have for the country and their animals is the same as mine, and as soon as the gauchos discovered I had a way with horses, that was it—I was one of them. It was enough for me for a time, and then—like everyone else when they’re growing up—I had to get away. I was desperate to expand my horizons—to explore that other side of me, bequeathed to me by my mother.’

He laughed as he thought about it.

‘And then?’ Danny asked.

‘My grandfather was wise enough to back off and leave me to it.’

‘Where did you go?’

‘I hitched my wagon to whichever polo player was fashionable at the time.’ He shrugged. ‘By watching and learning I somehow managed to save up enough from my wages to buy my first pony. She was an old girl, on the point of retirement, but I was eager to try the game myself, and I made a passable polo pony out of her. Thanks to that mare I could take part in at least one chukka during amateur matches, where not every rider owned a string of ponies and we all did the best we could.’

‘Which brought your riding skills to the attention of those that mattered?’

‘Correct.’

She was standing close enough to touch, and that distracted him for another few moments.

‘Eventually I was entrusted with training a few medium-grade ponies.’ He cast his mind back to those uncertain days. ‘Then my grandfather became ill, but I was having too much of a good time to come home. I should have come. I owe everything I have to him. I just couldn’t see it at the time. Now do you understand why I am so committed to this place?’

‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘It explains a lot about you.’

‘Like why I’m such a selfish bastard?’ He laughed.

‘Like why you belong here,’ Danny argued. ‘And why you believe you can never do enough for this ranch or for the people who live here. You think you deserted your grandfather when he needed you most, but he had let you go, knowing you’d come back. He wanted you to see how wide your horizons could be. You haven’t let him down, Tiago—anything but.’

‘Some of the decisions I’ve had to make to keep this ranch haven’t been easy.’

She shook her head and laughed. ‘I think I know that.’ She looked into his eyes and hers darkened.

The pain in his groin increased. Taking hold of her wrist, he led her around the side of the house, and with the utmost self-control he held her away from him at the door.

‘Goodnight, Danny. The next time I see you will be at our wedding.’

* * *

Could there be anything more beautiful than his bride on their wedding day? He couldn’t hold back a smile as Danny walked slowly towards him down the petal-strewn aisle. She was coming to join him through packed rows of people whose smiling faces meant the world to him.

The fact that they were fast adopting Danny as one of their own was the icing on the cake for him, but he didn’t need anyone to tell him that he’d made a wonderful choice of bride. Danny had so much to offer the ranch and its people. When they were married he hoped she would play an even bigger role, adding the human touch he’d never had time to bring to the ranch.

The outdoor ceremony beneath an archway of flowers passed quickly, in a series of softly spoken words on Danny’s part and brisk assertions on his. He would take away a series of sensory memories, together with the relief of being married.

Danny was small and soft and fragrant—and so keyed-up, so alert she was almost trembling. Her close-fitting lace dress was rustling, though she wasn’t moving. It rustled when she breathed and her breasts rose above the confining fabric, and it rustled when she turned to him to speak her wedding vows, and through all this they were standing close, but not touching, and that tiny space keeping them apart was charged with electricity.

‘You may kiss the bride.’

At last he could breathe freely. He was married. He owned the ranch. The relief of having the caveat in his grandfather’s will fulfilled was indescribable. His people sensed it too and cheered wildly, standing to applaud as he cupped Danny’s face in his hands. The future security of everyone here was assured now. This was his gift to his guests. He had an aide on hand, waiting to make a copy of the wedding certificate, as well as a courier standing by to deliver a hard copy to the lawyers as soon as this ceremony was over.

* * *

This was more romantic than she had dared to hope. Surrounded by fragrant blossoms in front of the registrar, she could feel love swelling all around her. She knew she was doing the right thing. Tiago’s steady gaze was all it took to convince her that her doubts before the wedding had been based on nothing more than pre-wedding nerves.

Surely Tiago must feel the magic too? How could he not? Danny wondered as he dipped his head and kissed her. She closed her eyes, knowing she’d never been so happy. Even the cruel barbs in the press couldn’t touch her now. She remembered some of them, and smiled as Tiago stared deep into her eyes.

‘Can a small-town girl rein in a man like Tiago Santos?’

Yes, she could.

‘Does a leopard change his spots?’

Yes, he had.

‘Will the Playboy be curbed by Miss Whiplash?’

That remark had made her laugh. Nothing mattered now except the fact that Tiago Santos and Danny Cameron were husband and wife. The reporters didn’t know him as she did. No one who hadn’t seen Tiago Santos on this ranch had seen the real man.

‘Well, Senhora Santos, are you ready to start your new life with me?’

‘I am.’

‘When you look at me like that,’ Tiago murmured, ‘all I can think about is taking you to bed. Is that bad?’

‘I like you bad. Tonight I think I’m going to be very bad too.’

‘I’m counting on it,’ Tiago assured her.

He excited her. She trembled in an entirely pleasurable way at the thought of their wedding night. She’d asked for this delay, and could hardly believe how long she’d waited—not long in actual terms of this week, but if she counted in her feverish erotic daydreams from that first moment she saw him in Brazil, that was quite a build-up to tonight.

She was about to find out if her imagination was equal to their wedding night. Pleasure thrummed through her at the thought that she might not even be close.

But they had guests to entertain first, Danny remembered as Tiago was distracted by some of his polo-playing friends.

While he was talking she stared at the jewel-encrusted band on her hand, sitting snugly next to the enormous diamond engagement ring. How incongruous they looked on her work-worn hands. Silk purse and sow’s ear came to mind.

She flashed a glance at Tiago—blisteringly hot, unreasonably handsome, sleekly tailored and unimaginably successful—and in spite of all the encouragement she’d been giving herself before the wedding she shrank a little inside her beautiful borrowed wedding dress.

* * *

The wedding party might have been last-minute but, as he had expected, everyone had pulled together to make it special. It was the best party he’d been to in a long time, and every time he looked at his bride he knew he’d made a good choice.

His groin was straining, begging for him to do something about it, but he was beginning to enjoy the agony—and he wanted to show off his beautiful wife. So many people were waiting to congratulate them that any chance of their being alone was slim, at least for now, but hearing tributes from the heart from his people made it easy to stay.

‘It’s thrilling to feel part of such a wonderful extended family,’ Danny told him. ‘I feel closer than ever to this ranch.’

Covering her hand with his, he linked their fingers. ‘Are you frustrated?’

Her eyes cleared as she took his meaning, and then she held his gaze and smiled. ‘Of course I am.’

Heat swept over him. He wanted her now.

‘Do you think me too obvious? Too unsophisticated?’

‘No. I think you’re a normal healthy woman, with a normal healthy appetite.’

He smiled into her eyes, but she pulled back.

‘Deus, Danny. You look as if I have you by the throat. You can’t be frightened of your wedding night?’

‘I’m not,’ she said, not entirely convincingly.

Putting his arm around her shoulder, he stared into her eyes. ‘So if it isn’t that, what is it?’ He thought of Pintos and the pain she’d suffered. ‘You do know I’d never hurt you, don’t you?’

She laughed—a little sadly, he thought. ‘Of course I do. At least not for a year,’ she joked, and was soon smiling again.

‘You will be secure for the rest of your life,’ he reminded her. ‘I promise you, Danny, I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me. You will never need to worry again.’

Her eyes clouded. ‘Do we have to talk about that now?’

‘No.’ He slanted a smile. ‘What would you rather talk about, chica?’

Would Tiago ever understand that this wasn’t about the money? Or that she hurt because they had not once said they loved each other? But why should they? It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be appropriate. She might love Tiago, but even on their wedding day it wouldn’t be right to tell him how she felt. They had a contract—nothing more. She had payment. He had the ranch. This wasn’t about love. This wedding was for public consumption, to put a seal of approval on the secret they held between them that would bind them together for no more than a year.

She moved restlessly, and was rewarded by the lift of his ebony brow. It didn’t help her composure when she wanted him so badly in every way there was. She ached to be held in his arms and made love to in every sense. Their faces were so close she could see the glint of tiger-gold in his eyes, and that look...that darkening slumberous look.

‘Is there anything I can do to help you?’ he murmured, teasing her into an even higher state of arousal with those words. ‘Bearing in mind that we may be here for some time...?’