by Anne Mather
There was a sound behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Alejandro emerging through the French doors.
He grinned when he saw her, his eyes filled with satisfaction at the knowledge that she was his wife now and no one could ever part them again.
‘I missed you,’ he said, coming to nuzzle her shoulder. He drew her back against his hard body. ‘It is far too early to get up. Why do you not come back to bed?’
Isobel lifted her shoulder to accommodate his lips and then said softly, ‘Don’t you think you should put some clothes on?’
‘It would be a waste of time,’ he retorted huskily. ‘I would only have to take them off again, querida.’
Isobel gave a soft laugh. ‘It’s just as well I don’t follow your example,’ she murmured, despite the fact that Alejandro was tipping her satin wrap off her shoulder so that he could nibble her scented flesh.
‘Ah, sim.’ His voice was muffled. ‘But you are a beautiful woman, cara. I would not want to make my male employees jealous.’
Isobel sucked in a breath of pleasure. ‘You’re shameless,’ she whispered unsteadily, and now Alejandro allowed himself a delighted laugh.
‘Shameless?’ he echoed. ‘Yes, when I am with you, I do not care who sees me. You have done that to me, cara. You and Emma both.’
Isobel sighed contentedly. ‘I hope she’s all right,’ she said thoughtfully. Emma was staying with Alejandro’s parents in Rio, quite content to be the centre of attention with her new grandparents.
‘Well, she and Caterina seem to get along well enough,’ replied Alejandro. He pulled a wry face. ‘I think the idea that they are so much alike intrigues them both.’
Isobel nodded. ‘Remember how angry I was when you showed me that picture of Caterina?’
Alejandro chuckled. ‘How could I forget?’
‘I suppose it must have been quite a shock, discovering you had a daughter,’ Isobel ventured. She slipped her arms around his neck, rising up on her toes so she could press herself against him. ‘Have you forgiven me for keeping her existence from you?’
Alejandro grimaced. ‘Ah, cara,’ he said a little roughly. ‘I would forgive you anything. Have you not realised that by now?’ He bent and captured the lobe of her ear between his lips, his teeth causing a pain that was both sharp and sensual. ‘Sometimes I find it so hard to believe I have been given a second chance with you.’
‘Oh, querido!’
Isobel used the endearment deliberately, knowing he liked it when she used his language. And she was learning. While she still wasn’t very good at conversation, she was able to understand a lot of what was said.
Alejandro kissed her then, his mouth hot and hungry, and her head swam with the mindless pleasure he aroused within her. For a moment, she was so consumed by her own body’s needs that she forgot what she had been thinking about when he’d joined her. But then, when she felt his erection throbbing urgently against her stomach, she managed to recover her senses.
‘Someone might see,’ she said breathlessly, but Alejandro only dismissed her fears.
‘Let them,’ he said, slipping his hands inside her wrap and pulling her naked body against his. ‘Deus; I did not think it was possible to love someone as much as I love you, mi amor.’
Isobel smiled, sliding her hands into the lustrous thickness of his dark hair. ‘That’s nice,’ she said teasingly. ‘Because, you know, I love you too.’ She frowned. ‘Maybe just a little bit, anyway.’
Alejandro growled a protest. ‘Just a little bit?’ he protested, and she rose onto her toes again to bestow a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth.
‘Quite a lot, actually,’ she admitted. ‘But I don’t want you to get conceited.’
‘Like that would happen.’ Alejandro’s tone was dry.
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Isobel was thoughtful. ‘I’ve seen the way Carlos’s wife looks at you. I’m sure she secretly thinks you’re hot!’
Alejandro pulled a wry face. ‘I am equally sure she does not. But, in any case, we do not have any secrets from one another, cara.’
‘Don’t we?’ Isobel arched her brows and he gave her a puzzled look.
‘No.’
‘Mmm.’ Isobel considered his answer. ‘You didn’t tell me Miranda was driving the car when you had the accident.’
Alejandro groaned. ‘Carlos did, I suppose? Does it matter?’
‘It matters to me.’ Isobel sniffed a little emotionally. ‘I think you’re far too honourable for your own good.’
‘Oh, please.’ Alejandro pulled a face. ‘I am no hero. When Miranda got into the driving seat of my car that night, what I should have done was haul her out.’
‘So why didn’t you?’
‘Ah…’ He expelled a heavy sigh. Then he cupped her cheek with one hand, his finger finding the pulse beating below her ear. ‘She told me she wanted to prove that she was clean—you know, free of drugs. And I was foolish enough to let her.’
‘What happened?’
He shook his head now. ‘Well, she was not clean, of course. I realised that almost immediately. But, when I told her to stop the car, she ignored me.’
‘Oh, Alejandro…’
‘The accident happened so quickly,’ he said, his eyes darkening at the memory. ‘She was driving too fast, and I knew we were not going to make the corner. She lost control and the vehicle plunged into a ravine.’
‘My God!’ Isobel pressed her face against his chest, inhaling his scent with trembling awareness. ‘You could have been killed!’
‘Yes.’ Alejandro pulled another face. ‘There were times in the next few months when I wished I had been,’ he admitted. ‘Lying in the hospital, I honestly believed my life was over.’
‘I’m so glad you survived,’ said Isobel fervently, and he felt the hotness of her tears against his skin.
He lifted her face and wiped them away with his thumb. ‘That is why being with you is such a miracle,’ he told her softly. ‘You have totally changed my life.’
‘And you mine,’ she whispered. And when he kissed her again she gave herself up to the wanton delight of just being in his arms.
With a muffled exclamation, Alejandro caught her hand in his and tugged her back into the bedroom. Then, tumbling her onto the huge bed, he covered her body with his own.
It was a tangible act of possession that had Isobel arching beneath him, winding her legs about his hips until the open invitation she was offering brooked no denial on his part.
With a groan of pleasure, he filled her with his strength and his fire, creating an answering need inside her. It was always like this when they were together, she thought eagerly—an unleashed passion that neither of them could resist.
Afterwards when Alejandro was lying sleepily beside her, one arm lying with proprietary ownership across her midriff, successfully imprisoning her to his side, Isobel murmured softly, ‘Tell me what the doctors said about you not being able to father any more children.’
Alejandro groaned. ‘Must I?’ His eyes opened to regard her appealingly. ‘Ask me that some other time.’
‘No, I want to know now.’ She was infuriatingly insistent. ‘It doesn’t seem to have interfered with your sexual drive at all.’
‘Agradeça Deus!’ said Alejandro fervently. ‘Thank God!’ He propped himself up on one elbow to look down at her. ‘Surely you knew that?’
‘Don’t I just?’ she said mischievously, stroking a teasing finger down his chest. ‘No, I wasn’t worried. I had another reason for asking.’
‘What?’
‘Tell me what the doctors said and I’ll tell you.’
‘Ah, Deus!’ Alejandro flopped down onto his back, staring resignedly up at the ceiling. ‘I had some internal injuries, as I told you. The doctors were of the opinion that they might have damaged my ability to produce viable sperm.’
Faint colour had invaded his cheeks as he spoke, but now he turned to look at her with defensive eyes. ‘Does it matter? I have you. I have E
mma. That is enough.’
‘Is it?’
‘It has to be,’ he said harshly. ‘Unless you are suggesting something else.’
Isobel’s tongue circled her lips. ‘Like what?’ she asked, and Alejandro swore softly under his breath.
‘There are alternatives,’ he said flatly. ‘If you want other children.’
Isobel smiled then. ‘Oh, I want other children,’ she said, and he felt as if a knife had been plunged into his stomach. Then she went on amazingly, ‘Your children, querido.’ She watched the confusion fill his face and took pity on him. ‘And, if all goes well, we’ll have our second child in about five months from now.’
She saw his expression alter. First he looked disbelieving, then stunned, and finally an incredulous look of wonder spread over his face.
‘You mean…?’
He couldn’t get the words out, and Isobel finished the sentence for him. ‘I mean we’re going to have a baby,’ she said proudly. ‘It seems as if doctors are sometimes wrong.’
Their son was born at the house Alejandro had bought for his family in the Santa Teresa district of Rio some five months later. A sprawling mansion of over thirty rooms, it had an unrivalled view of the Baia de Guanabara, or Guanabara Bay, and Isobel loved it.
It was their home, the place where other babies might be conceived. And, although Alejandro still maintained control of the Cabral company, he had delegated a lot of his work to his brother so he could spend as much time as possible with his wife and family.
Emma had taken to life in Brazil with great enthusiasm. Although she didn’t call Alejandro ‘Daddy’ yet, she understood that he played a huge part in her life. The two of them had become close friends since Isobel’s pregnancy, and the little girl was forever asking when her baby brother or sister would be born.
Isobel had deliberately asked the doctor not to tell her the sex of the baby. She wanted it to be a complete surprise for the whole family. One of her closest friends now was Marianna, Jose’s wife and her sister-in-law. Soon after Isobel’s pregnancy had been announced, Marianna had admitted she was pregnant too.
Alejandro himself was present at the birth of his son, and it was he who put the baby into her arms for the first time. ‘See?’ he said huskily. ‘He is so handsome.’
‘Just like his father,’ said Isobel with feeling, and they shared a smile of total understanding.
‘And you,’ he said, stroking the damp hair back from her forehead. ‘How do you feel? That is the most important thing to me.’
Isobel smiled again. ‘Oh, Alejandro, I feel great—and it was so easy! I told you, you didn’t have to worry. I’m obviously stronger than I look.’
Alejandro regarded her adoringly. He felt so grateful to have this beautiful English girl in his life. He couldn’t imagine living his life without her now. She had made him whole, and it didn’t get any better than that.
‘You’ll have to phone your mother and Aunt Olivia,’ Isobel said after a moment. Alejandro’s parents were looking after Emma at the moment, and Uncle Sam and Aunt Olivia were going to come and stay for a few weeks after the birth to give Isobel time to relax.
‘I think your wife should get some rest, senhor,’ said Doctor Fernandez now, moving forward. He and two nurses had been in charge of the delivery, and he gave Alejandro an apologetic look. ‘You can come back later, senhor. When Senhora Cabral has had some sleep, nao?’
Alejandro hesitated, but Isobel caught his hand and squeezed it encouragingly. ‘Perhaps that would be best, querido,’ she said as one of the nurses took the baby from her arms. ‘You should ring Anita too. I wouldn’t like her to find out from someone else.’
‘You are too considerate,’ said Alejandro drily. ‘But I suppose I do have her to thank for bringing us together.’
‘I doubt she’d see it that way,’ murmured Isobel, smiling up at him. ‘But she has been very kind to me recently.’
‘That is because she has realised how nice it is to have a child about the house,’ declared Alejandro, ignoring the doctor’s evident frustration.
And it was true. Since Anita had met Emma, she had changed enormously. But the little girl would win anyone’s heart, thought Alejandro proudly. He glanced round at the nurse laying his son in a bassinette. And soon the little one would be breaking every woman’s heart.
‘You’d better go,’ said Isobel, aware of Doctor Fernandez hovering behind him. ‘But come back soon, won’t you? I’m going to get up later on.’
‘If you’re sure.’
But Alejandro was in no hurry to leave her. Bending his head, he bestowed a warm, lingering kiss on her mouth. His family, he thought, with renewed amazement. He was so lucky. In fact, he decided, he was the luckiest man in the world…
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5196-4
THE BRAZILIAN MILLIONAIRE’S LOVE-CHILD
First North American Publication 2010.
Copyright © 2009 by Anne Mather.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
All about the author…Anne Mather
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EPILOGUE
Copyright