by Lynne Graham
'Por Dios,' he whispered, in between explorations of the moist interior of her mouth which had her breathing in panting little gasps of anticipation. 'A silver bullet wouldn't stop me.'
In case she was in any doubt as to his meaning, he pressed a hand to her hip and locked her into raw connection with the hard bulge of his aroused manhood, and she grabbed at bis shoulders to stay upright when every sense prompted that she lie down wantonly on the nearest available horizontal surface. He groaned in matching frustration, his big powerful body trembling against her. The knowledge that he was as close to the edge as she was made her feel incredibly proud of her femininity.
'I could come over all dizzy and go upstairs and lie down,' she whispered in desperation. 'We could saddle a couple of horses and get lost.' 'We could chuck the horses out and just go for the stables.'
'You are an incredibly sensual woman,' he muttered thickly. 'I want to be inside you again so badly...but we are going to wait for our wedding night.'
'OK.' Deciding on shock tactics, Georgie dropped her arms, eased free of his hold and strolled across the room to throw herself down on a chaise-longue where she extended her long tanned legs with flagrant provocation. Incandescent golden eyes flamed over her with such a force of hunger that she ached and stopped playing. I love you, she wanted to say, I love you so much, but the awareness that that information would be seriously unwelcome silenced her. Keep it light, Georgie, keep it light, she urged herself angrily.
According to Rafael, marriage was a lifetime commitment. She had all the time in the world. The last thing she wanted to risk now was scaring him off before she got that ring on her finger. Were Rafael's emotions so disciplined that he was afraid of letting go and loving her, or had he merely been telling her up-front that while he might lust after her like mad, he just knew he wasn't capable of falling in love with her?
As he moved forward he frowned, and bent to pick up something from the carpet. 'Yours?' He extended a gold charm bracelet.
Georgie got up to accept it. 'It's always falling off. I should get the safety chain repaired.'
Rafael laughed. 'That might be a good idea.'
'Lucky it dropped off in here,' Georgie said, carefully clasping it back round her wrist. 'I'd hate to lose it. Steve gave it to me for my twenty-first '
'Had I known, I would have dumped it in the trash.'
Georgie blinked and glanced up. Every shred of good humour had been stripped from Rafael's expression. He bristled with visible aggression, his expressive eyes cold and hard.
'Just because Steve gave it to me?' Georgie asked in credulously. 'Why are you still so hostile towards him? You know that nothing happened between us, and he is part of my family '
'Not in my eyes, and he will never be welcome here,' Rafael asserted with grim emphasis. 'Nor will I permit you to meet him except in the company of your parents.'
Georgie was seriously tempted to giggle. It was so ridiculous. Did Rafael have any idea how ridiculous he sounded? Was he jealous? Was that the problem? Four years ago, he must have been eaten alive with sexual jealousy when he believed that Steve had been her lover and now, even though he knew what nonsense that had been, he was still stubbornly clinging to the same closed mind.
How could any sane man be jealous of a single embrace? Or was it that Rafael still suspected that she found Steve attractive, other than as a brother? Now, that idea really did worry her. If Rafael could still cherish such suspicions, he had a real problem. That kind of jealousy was neither amusing nor understandable... it was threatening and dangerous.
'Rafael... you know that night when Steve grabbed me and kissed me, I was really turned off,' Georgie con fided. 'I do not find Steve attractive in that way '
'I am now aware of that.'
'In fact, I was so upset and embarrassed—well, that's why I took off for Danny's for the night,' she completed.
'I have also worked this out for myself.'
'What a leap of faith that must have taken!' Georgie couldn't help her sarcasm. Her explanations had not altered Rafael's attitude one iota. Freezing austerity still stamped his set, dark features. 'I'm rather glad I've lost touch with poor Danny.'
'He was merely a friend. Naturally I accept that now '
'But not my stepbrother, who is my brother in all but blood?'
Rafael sent her a smouldering look. 'I do not wish to discuss this matter further.'
Georgie tussled with her hot temper as Rafael banded an arm round her narrow back. 'We have so many other things more important to discuss,' he reminded her.
Instantly, Georgie was cooled and stabbed by conscience. Why on earth was she wittering on about Steve when she knew that Rafael was under great strain? Now was not the time to tell him that he was being unreasonable. 'I'm sorry,' she sighed. 'You must be really worried.'
Ebony lashes lifted on golden eyes. 'About what? Oh...thatV he grasped, contriving to look suddenly very grave again as his arm dropped from her. 'But didn't we agree that we would forget about that until after the wedding?'
'Yes, but '
'No buts.'
'You must have nerves of steel. The way you've been behaving, nobody would even suspect that there's anything wrong.'
'It is in the back of my mind constantly,' Rafael sighed heavily. 'But I am depending on you to help me to be strong.'
He was standing over by the window, his back turned to her as if he couldn't quite bring himself to make such a demand and look her in the face. Georgie took the hint and closed her arms round him. He swivelled fluidly and pressed her face into the hard wall of his chest. A tremor ran through him. 'Let's get some fresh air,' he suggested.
It was a wonderful day. He showed her round the estancia, introduced her to everyone and made up ridiculous stories about all his illustrious but deeply boring-looking ancestors that had her falling about in hysterics. She had forgotten what a wonderful sense of humour Rafael had when he let his guard down. They spent the afternoon in the swimming-pool, and were still sitting talking at the dinner table long after Tia and Beatriz had excused themselves to go to bed. And even though Georgie slept alone, she slept like a log.
The second day was even better. The helicopter dropped them at the mouth of the Rio Tuichi, where they were met by a guide and a motorised canoe, and they cruised through a section of rainforest until it was time to go back, and Georgie wasn't a bit sorry that Rafael was lowering himself to a simple tourist excursion for her benefit. She was well aware that he usually travelled into the Amazon with various professionals in tow and camped out to rendezvous with Indians from the more remote settlements. She was equally aware just how much pleasure he was receiving from showing her a world she had never dreamt of sharing with him.
She went up to her room to change for dinner and was stunned to find the closets and cabinets in the dressing-room, stuffed full of unfamiliar garments. Bewildered, she fingered a shot silk top and palazzo pants outfit with a famous designer label.
'Like them?' Rafael grinned at her stunned expression from the doorway. She hadn't even heard him enter her bedroom. 'Everything is in my size.'
'It's yours. I had a selection ordered. Exquisite as you look in that white dress you wear every night for dinner, I thought you might enjoy a change.'
'But these kind of clothes cost a fortune!' Georgie gasped. 'And I thought you were broke!'
Rafael winced and actually paled. 'Things aren't quite as bad as that—not as bad as I initially imagined, that is,' he added, studying her frowning, surprised face intently.
"They aren't? Are you sure?' Georgie persisted in considerable confusion. 'Why didn't you say?'
'I was about to... Wear that for dinner,' he suggested in an intimate tone that quite sent her temperature rocketing and blitzed her reasoning powers. "Turquoise and green will look stupendous with your hair, querida mia' Georgie threaded a self-conscious hand through her torrent of curls and smiled blissfully at him. 'You think so?'
&nbs
p; 'I think so.'
'Will you be able to keep your jet?' Rafael's lustrous gaze narrowed. 'Perdon?' 'I just couldn't picture you travelling economy class,' she confided.
He lounged back against the door-lintel and treated her to a devastating smile. 'I do believe that I will be able to save you from such a sight.'
The third day, the day before the wedding, Georgie went out riding with Rafael. When they returned to the house, Rafael was called to the phone, and she found herself seated alone with Beatriz, Tia having opted for breakfast in bed.
'You must be pregnant,' Beatriz said coldly, right out of the blue. 'Why else would he be marrying you?'
Georgie stiffened. 'I am not pregnant.'
'I was betrothed to Rafael as a child,' Beatriz told her with icy dignity.
'I'd be a liar if I said I was sorry it didn't work out,' Georgie managed after a long pause, belatedly registering why the brunette disliked her so intensely. She had been far too wrapped up in her own happiness to spare more than the most fleeting thought for Beatriz, who was the most snobbish, moralising bore she had ever met. The other woman was also beautiful, highly intelligent and very accomplished, she had to concede in all fairness, although it went against the grain to do so.
'His father died, and then mine. He would have married me had he not met you,' Beatriz said thinly. 'And I want you to know, before you congratulate yourself on your success on trapping him, that I intend to tell Rafael that your arrival in our country during his sister's absence was no accident.'
'I beg your pardon?'
"The whole family knows. It was a standing joke. Every time Maria Cristina made it known that she had issued another invitation for you to visit, she left the country soon afterwards!'
'Say that again,' Georgie invited breathlessly.
'She confided in Tia. That is how I know. In her innocence, Maria Cristina wanted to bring you and Rafael together, and obviously you persuaded her to do it!'
"Then how do you explain the fact that I didn't come to her wedding?' Georgie was in a daze, but a great whoop of laughter was mingling with her incredulity.
All these years she had believed that her best friend was entirely ignorant of her feelings for Rafael. But Maria Cristina had clearly known all along and kept quiet, perhaps out of respect for Georgie's apparent wish for privacy. And, in her own uniquely scatty way, Maria Cristina had tried to throw them together... by ensuring that if ever Georgie did arrive in Bolivia she would find herself stranded and forced to contact Rafael.
'And I was so very disappointed when you failed to show...'
Both female heads spun. Rafael was poised several feet inside the door, a curious half-smile playing at the corners of his sensual mouth as he looked at Georgie. 'Did you know that Maria Cristina knew about us?'
'But does she? Or was it just me—I mean my feelings—she guessed at?' Georgie stumbled awkwardly. 'I never told her anything!' 'Neither did I.'
'You don't understand, Rafael,' Beatriz put in with distaste. 'The woman you are on the brink of marrying plotted and planned to throw herself in your path——' 'How flattering,' Rafael drawled. 'And, what is worse, she manipulated Maria Cristina into doing her bidding.'
'My sister has the temperament of a mule,' Rafael said drily. 'I don't think anybody has ever manipulated her into doing anything she didn't want to do.' He switched smoothly to Spanish and, a moment later, Beatriz went puce, stood up, stalked out and left them alone. 'She said you were betrothed as children.' 'Our fathers certainly discussed it, but she was only a child at the time and there was no formal betrothal. However, when I remained single, Beatriz began to nurture certain ambitions,' he volunteered. 'She has a keen sense of her own many virtues and will undoubtedly make someone a splendid wife, but she lacks any sense of humour and, between you and me, I would as soon take a refrigerator to bed!'
A startled giggle erupted from Georgie, and then her face tightened worriedly as she searched his. 'I didn't do what she said... and I can't believe that Maria Cristina deliberately invited me here, knowing she would be abroad.'
'If my sister did, I should be very angry. To strand a young woman in a foreign country where she does not even speak the language is not a joke.'
'All the same, I think I could forgive her.'
'You may amuse yourself ferreting out the truth when she arrives this evening.'
'Maria Cristina's coming tonight?' Georgie flew to her feet. 'And I haven't even told her—I didn't even ask you for her phone number!'
'She doesn't know about the wedding. I swore Antonio to silence,' Rafael admitted mockingly. 'She doesn't even know you're here.'
'I really can't believe we're getting married tomorrow,' Georgie confided helplessly.
'What could possibly go wrong now?' Encircling her with his arms, Rafael eased her close and, briefly, she tested her cheek against his shoulder, drinking in the scent and feel of him.
'I'm not sure I can handle being so happy,' Georgie whispered unsteadily.
'Are you happy?' Narrowed dark eyes roamed over her upturned face. 'Is the past finally behind us?'
Georgie shrugged playfully, her fingers flirting with his silk tie and lingering to splay against the muscular breadth of his chest. 'What past?”
A lean hand clamped over hers, his gaze turning incandescent gold with hunger, his expressive mouth curling with amusement. 'I've been wondering... where did you pick up those moves you unleashed on me that night in the Ferrari?' Georgie reddened. 'Magazines.' He looked down at her for a stunned instant. 'What sort of magazines?'
'Perfectly respectable women's magazines...' Georgie shifted sinuously against him, eased her free hand below his silk-lined jacket and skimmed her fingers along his waistline, feeling the muscles in his flat hard stomach jerk tight in involuntary response. 'And you know something, Rafael... it was all true. You reacted like a textbook case and then you blew it,' she sighed.
"The next time you do that I want you to...' And as he bent bis dark head down and told her in explicit language exactly what he wanted her to do next, she went hot all over and weak at the knees.
When his mobile phone buzzed and took him off to the library, Georgie felt bereft. She also felt a little embarrassed for herself. Every time she got within hailing distance of him, she behaved like a wanton. The intense sexual attraction between them just took over, but she couldn't help being aware that Rafael's control was far stronger than hers. Maybe she should be playing it more coolly. If she didn't, Rafael was likely to tumble shrewdly to the fact that she simply couldn't keep her hands off him because she loved him and that was the only way she had of expressing those feelings.
In the late afternoon, she was fixing flowers in the hall, cheerfully unconcerned by the knowledge that she had no hope of matching Beatriz's magnificent arrangement in the drawing-room. When she heard the helicopter flying in low, she didn't even lift her head. Helicopters came and went on a regular basis on the estancia. About five minutes later, however, Teresa came rushing in from outside. 'Your brother has come, senoritaV she gasped, out of breath. 'I not expect, nobody tell me he was coming. Where do I put a brother to sleep ?'
'Steve? Steve's here?' Georgie interrupted in astonishment, the flower she had in her hand dropping unnoticed to the polished floor.
CHAPTER TEN
Georgie flew across the gardens and sighted Steve's familiar, broadly built figure, the sun glinting on his thatch of blond hair. A delighted smile lit up her features as she raced up to him. 'How on earth did you know where I was?' she demanded.
Steve studied her with a tight mouth. He looked pale and strained, almost as though he had been bracing himself for a far less welcoming reception. 'I received a call from our mutual parents.'
'But I haven't been in touch with them '
'Berganza is having them whisked off their ship and flown out here for the wedding, I believe.'
'Gosh...he thinks of everything, doesn't he?' Georgie shook her head slowly. 'I didn
't like to mention them coming because I thought I'd left it too late. He must want to surprise me.'
'How sweet of him,' Steve sneered, his pale blue eyes cold with condemnation. 'Thanks for telling me you were getting married. You came out here just to run after him, didn't you? You never let on to a soul what you were planning!'
'Because I didn't plan it! It just happened,' Georgie muttered, taken aback by the attack. 'And OK, I know you don't like him but, for my sake, surely you can grit your teeth and be pleasant?' 'I'm hoping to take you back home with me.' 'No chance. I love him,' Georgie said baldly. 'Please don't spoil things, Steve.'
'You've been out here.. .what? A week? And you're marrying him? Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten what he did to you the last time?'
"There was a misunderstanding which I don't want to go into,' Georgie said awkwardly. 'And I appreciate that you think I'm jumping in feet first, but maybe you should know that Rafael was going to ask me to marry him back then '
'Like hell he was!'
'You haven't seen the mermaid taps.' For a moment, Georgie looked positively smug.
'I don't know what the blazes you're talking about and, to be blunt, I don't care! I'm taking you back to London with me right now.' A large hand clamped round her slender forearm.
Georgie gazed up at her stepbrother in disbelief. 'Have you gone mad? I'm getting married tomorrow.'
'He'd make you bloody miserable. He's a womaniser, Georgie. If he's willing to give you a ring, it's only because that's the only way he can get you!' Steve said unpleasantly.
'Don't be stupid... Look, what's the matter with you?' Georgie shot at him with shocked eyes. "Why are you acting like this?'
'Get your hands off her.'
Georgie's head spun. Rafael was standing about ten feet away, both fists clenched. He wore an expression of chilling menace. 'Oh, no, don't you start,' she snapped in exasperation. 'What is the matter with the two of you?'