“I’m pleased to hear that. This is a good opportunity for you, my daughter. Don Navarro is a wealthy and respected man. It would be a chance for you—”
Crista finished for her mother. “To make a suitable marriage since the party would have proved disastrous if Don Navarro hadn’t attended, since not one young man had requested a dance.”
“But he did attend and that’s all that matters. You could have a good future, so think wisely when it comes to Don Navarro.”
Crista did just that when her mother left the room. That was all she could think about, which was why it was difficult to sleep. She finally gave up and got out of bed to stand on the terrace and feel the cool night air on her warm skin.
She couldn’t deny that she had missed Diablo. Couldn’t deny she was pleased to see him again. Couldn’t deny how easy it would be to fall back into his arms—into his bed. But there were questions and uncertainties, the most important being… did he intend to stay this time?
“What are you doing out of bed, Crista?”
She turned and found herself in Diablo’s arms and his lips on hers. His lips felt good, gentle and playful, yet powerful and his arms were welcoming and warm wrapped so snugly around her. Again that feeling of coming home rose up in her, letting her know this was where she wanted to be. This was where she belonged.
“I have missed you,” he whispered and nibbled along her ear and down her neck.
That he confessed he missed her warmed her heart. She dropped her head to the side offering her neck to him while drawing her shoulders up in a slight shudder from the goosebumps that tingled along her skin.
“I couldn’t leave you tonight without giving you a proper kiss.” His kiss turned stronger, more demanding this time and Crista returned it in kind.
She was as hungry for him as he was for her and the urge to pull him inside and into her bed overwhelmed her.
He eased the kiss, as if understanding the dangers it presented, and mumbled as he nipped at her lips. “It won’t be long. I won’t let it be.”
She nipped at his lips as well and a familiar warmth spread through her. It didn’t take long before she grew wet between her legs or for his shaft to swell hard against her. She ached to feel him inside her, buried deep, driving in and out of her in a wild frenzy, to explode…
The rap at the door and hearing her name called startled them apart just as the door opened.
Crista grabbed the edge of the terrace door to keep herself on her feet, since Chavez had left her far too fast and left her passion sparking far too hot.
“Crista!” her brother cried out in alarm and hurried to her side and swung her up into his arms to carry her to the bed. “What are you doing out of bed. Mother said she had you settled for the night.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, grateful the half-moon didn’t cast enough light in the room and he would see her lips plump and red from Diablo’s kisses.
“Stay in bed, do not get out again tonight,” Esteban ordered, tucking the covers around her, then sitting on the bed.
“You used to tuck me in at night,” she said, the memory suddenly returning.
“And do you remember sneaking into my room when it stormed?” he asked with a smile.
“I had forgotten.,” she admitted as the memory returned to her. “You would wrap me tight in your arms and tell me I was safe.”
His smile faded. “If only I had kept my word.”
“You did keep your word,” she said, reaching out to squeeze his arm. “I am home safe.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “And safe I will keep you. Do not let mother convince you to wed Chavez Navarro until I can find out more about him. He has come out of nowhere, claiming to have inherited the Edgardo hacienda.”
“He didn’t inherit it?” Crista asked curious.
“I’m not sure. Don Edgardo had no children so he could have left his substantial wealth and land to a relative. That could be Chavez Navarro, but I don’t know for sure. Some say he purchased the place, the conflicting stories have me wondering over the truth.”
“Why would he claim to be who he isn’t?” She knew the answer better than anyone, but she wanted to know what her brother might suspect. His hesitation to answer had Crista believing he kept something from her. “Please, Esteban, not knowing what goes on makes it all the more difficult for me.”
“I didn’t intend to tell you, but then I didn’t expect that Chavez Navarro would show interest in my sister.” He paused for only a moment. “One of the conditions of your release was that I introduced Don Navarro to all in the area and vouch for his good name.”
“Diablo requested this?”
“It wasn’t a request if you were to be returned.” Esteban ran his hand through his hair. “I was to tell no one.”
“Does Father know?”
Esteban shook his head.
“Yet you confide in me.”
“Because Don Navarro seems taken with you and I don’t truly know the man. You will be cautious around him while I see what I can find out. Promise me, little one.”
“You have my word, Esteban,” Crista said, “but who will you ask about him.”
“Don’t worry about that. Now sleep.” He kissed her forehead just as he had done when they were young, another memory that had suddenly returned.
After her brother left the room, she thought about those memories she had buried so long ago. The thought of them having hurt too much had forced her to bury them deep, to forget them. She had missed her brother more than she had remembered. She lay there wondering if Diablo had listened to their conversation and she thought to go to the terrace and find out. She shook her head. If Diablo was still there, he would have been in the room by now.
The man could be fearless, but so could her brother.
This was not going to be easy. She loved both men in different ways and she would protect them both as best she could. And she prayed that she would never have to make a choice between them.
Chapter 21
“This is an opportunity, Crista.”
“You have reminded me of that several times, Mother,” Crista said tired of hearing it, yet finding humor in it as well. She could only imagine her mother’s face if she knew Chavez Navarro’s true identity.
“It is good you smile. A man likes a pleasant wife and also a wife who listens, so let him talk. Men love to talk about themselves,” her mother instructed and shook her head. “You should have worn your hair up. It looks much too wild and unkempt when free.”
It was the very reason Crista wore her hair loose, to remind herself of feeling free. She hadn’t felt that since returning home. Her days were planned for her, meals were taken at particular times and proved far too formal. She missed the laughter, smiles, and spontaneity of the meals she had shared with Ricardo’s family. It was something she intended for her family to share.
Her hand went instinctively to her stomach, the thought of her own family not being that far off.
“You’re feeling unwell again?” Her mother’s anxious tone warned of her worry.
“I am fine, Madre,” Crista assured her. “A bit nervous, that’s all.”
“Of course, my dear,” her mother said with a consoling touch. “Being on the cusp of a man calling on you with the possibility of him becoming your husband can be worrisome. But Don Navarro appears to be a refined gentleman. I don’t believe you have anything to worry about.”
A refined gentleman. He was anything but that.
“Were you nervous when you first met father?” Crista asked, thinking how terrified she had been on her first encounter with Diablo.
“I was promised to your father when I was very young, so I always knew he would one day be my husband. I got to know him well through the years, making it easier for me to marry him.”
“You didn’t love him?” Crista asked, thinking how her mother’s life had been decided for her. What would life have been like for her mother if she had made her own choice? And what of the choice she
had made for herself? What would life be like having made her own decision?
“Your father was good to me and we grew to love each other,” her mother said. “Enough of the past, it’s the future we look to now. Esteban will see his first child born and with God’s good grace, you will have a good husband. Now come, you will sit in the garden and wait for Don Navarro. It is too beautiful of a day to be inside. I will chaperone you and Don Navarro, keeping a discreet distance so you may have a bit of privacy, though nothing improper.”
Improper. If her mother only knew.
Crista sat on the bench that she and Chavez had shared that night, waiting. Anxiousness tumbled her stomach. There was so much for them to discuss, decisions to be made, and news to deliver to him. Her hand went to her stomach once again. What would he think of her carrying his child?
She stood abruptly at the sound of approaching voices, her heart beating rapidly. It increased tenfold when she saw him step out on the patio. He was far too handsome and appeared far too refined. How had he managed that after having lived as an outlaw all these years?
One thing Chavez and Diablo shared was their confident and powerful strides. He commanded attention as if those around him had no choice but to obey him. She had seen that for herself and she had also seen the consequences that followed if one didn’t obey him. She almost cringed at the memory, the sound of his whip cracking echoing in her head.
Chavez might be walking toward her, but Diablo still lurked somewhere inside him.
“Crista,” he said with a slight bow of his head. “I am so pleased to see you again.” He turned to Valerianna. “It is gracious of you, Dona Valerianna, to allow me to call on your daughter.”
“I’m pleased to have such a fine gentleman call on my daughter. Please sit and enjoy this beautiful day. I will have refreshments brought to you.” Valerianna kept a smile on her face. “I’ll be just over there on the patio if you need anything.”
Crista sat and Chavez followed her down on the bench, both watching and waiting for her mother to be a safe distance away before they spoke.
“Your leg is better?” he asked.
“Much, it was a minor discomfort, but we have more important things to discuss than my leg.”
“Nothing is as important to me than you, Crista, which is why it is beyond difficult to sit here beside you and not be able to take your hand, hold you close, kiss you.”
“Don’t,” Crista whispered, closing her eyes briefly, fighting the passion he began to stir in her. She looked directly in his eyes. “I ache for you. It is a relentless ache that only your arms, your lips—” She clamped her eyes shut briefly, the image of him slipping into her, filling her, satisfying her stoked the sparks of passion, igniting them to a dangerous level.
“Crista,” he said softly, the desire to scoop her up in his arms and take her home with him overwhelming.
“Not waking up beside you… is the worst,” she admitted, “though as the day goes on I find myself missing your company, talking with you, laughing with you. Your absence has made me realize just how much I love you.” She shook her head. “I ask myself why I should admit that to you when you left me without even saying good-bye, without telling me I would see you again, without telling me there was a chance for us and make my departure less painless for me.”
He saw the hurt in her eyes and a hint of passion as well, and it tore at his heart. Having been used to taking what he wanted, he had to fight not to do so now.
“Believe me, mi amor, when I tell you the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life was to leave you without saying a word. Unfortunately, it was necessary. Plans had to be altered and if things had not worked out we would not be sitting here now. I would not take the chance of disappointing you. I would rather you be angry with me until I could explain to you, than see you hurt again.” He smiled a wickedly sly smile. “I also trusted that by telling you that you would always be mine you would understand that there was no way I would ever leave you.”
A smile snuck up on Crista. “Are you saying you left a clue of sorts?”
“Are you telling me you never gave it thought?”
“At night, when I missed you the most, I thought about it and hoped, prayed, wished, you’d come to me.”
“And I did,” he said, his smile fading. “I told you I would always be there for you.”
“Why?” she asked, wanting to hear what she knew in her heart.
“That’s easy to answer.”
Crista waited, her breath caught and her heart beat wildly.
“I have grown accustomed to your chatter, to the way I wake with you curled around me, to your never-ending passion, to your smile that lights my heart, to your courage to survive adversities, to your deep love for me that I see in your eyes whenever you look at me, but most of all because I have no choice. You stole my heart from when we first met. I love you, Crista. I love you so much, so deeply, so thoroughly that I cannot—not ever—live without you. Don’t!” he cautioned sharply when she looked ready to throw herself into his arms.
Crista stiffened and cast a glance toward her mother and smiled when she saw a slight frown mar her face.
“You tell me this now when I can’t throw myself in your arms and kiss you until—”
“We tear each other’s clothes off and I slip deep inside you?”
“That’s not fair, Di—” she quickly corrected herself, “Don Navarro. You tease and taunt me at a most inopportune time.”
“Believe me, Crista, I suffer along with you.”
Her laughter was like a soft melody that drifted on the air and she caught a quick glance at her mother’s smiling face.
“That makes it more bearable that you suffer along with me,” she whispered. She maintained her smile, but sounded serious when she spoke. “What do we do now?”
“That depends. Propriety would have us seeing each other and me asking for your hand in marriage in a few months, but you tell me, Crista, can we wait months?”
“How do you know so much about propriety, manners, and such when you’ve lived most of your life as an outlaw?” she asked curious.
“That I will explain at another time. It is more important you answer me. Do we wait or do I claim myself too impatient to wait to make you my wife?”
“You’re asking me if I carry your child,” she said and a sudden thought struck her. “Did you plan on getting me pregnant?”
“I could say it was a way of keeping you, though it was more that I wanted you and only you to be the one that my seed took root in. I had always wanted a family of my own and when I met you I knew you were the woman I wanted that family with.”
“I’m glad to know that our child was conceived from love and that he will have the most wonderful and loving father in the whole world.”
“Then you are—”
“I am,” she said with a smile and a nod.
“If we were alone, I would show you how happy I am,” he said with a wicked smile.
Crista giggled. “I doubt we’d get our clothes off or reach the bed before—”
“I’d hoist you up against me and brace you against the door once closed, then when finished there, I’d move you to the bed, strip us both and kiss your body to life once again, before driving my shaft eagerly into you.”
“Damn you, Diablo,” she muttered and punched him in the arm.
“Crista!”
She turned to see her mother hurrying toward them.
“Now you did it,” Chavez said with a laugh.
“Whatever is the matter with you?” her mother scolded.
Chavez stood. “It is my fault, Dona Valerianna. I was improper with Crista, requesting a kiss when I shouldn’t have. Your daughter quickly reminded me of my manners. I could beg that I am taken with your daughter, which I am, but it is no excuse.”
Crista almost shook her head. Where had Diablo learned such manners?
Valerianna looked to Crista, then back to Don Navarro. “There is also no e
xcuse for Crista to raise her hand to you. I’m sure words would have been sufficient.”
“If you would permit, I’d like to call on your daughter again, tomorrow if acceptable, and perhaps you would allow me to escort her to the next soiree?” Chavez asked. “I believe the next one is at the Bolanos hacienda.”
Crista caught the way her mother stiffened slightly and knew we’d received no invitation to the event. She watched her mother’s face light with a smile at the prospect of Don Navarro escorting her daughter to the soiree.”
“That is most acceptable, Don Navarro,” Valerianna said with a nod.
“I have business I must attend to, but would it be permissible for me to have a few moments with your daughter before I take my leave?”
“Of course, I’ll be on the patio,” Valerianna said, letting him once again know that she’d be nearby.
“I hate that you’ll leave me again,” Crista whispered when her mother was a distance away.
“Do not think of it that way, mi amor. We are doing what is necessary for us to spend the rest of our lives together. After the soiree I will ask for your hand in marriage. I will tell them the truth… I am impatient to make you my wife and start a good life with you.” He grinned. “So impatient that I just may sneak into your bedroom this evening.”
“Do not tease then disappoint,” Crista scolded.
“Never,” he whispered and stepped away from her, the urge to grab her and take her in his arms far too overwhelming to trust himself to stay near her. He gave a slight bow of his head. “Until next time, Crista.”
“Until next time, Don Navarro,” she said and whispered quickly, “which better be soon.”
He smiled and joined her mother on the patio and they both disappeared through the open doors. She waited there knowing her mother would return to her, and she did. If it wasn’t sunny out, her mother’s smile would have lit the sky.
“He couldn’t stop talking about you and how he looked forward to seeing you again tomorrow and that he’d like to speak with your father tomorrow as well. I believe he intends to make it known that he is interested in pursuing you with thoughts of marriage. This is wonderful. When people learn of this, they won’t shun you anymore.” Her smile faded.
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