"Oh, Meriel!" He swept her up into his arms and carried her across the room, his lips hot on her shoulder as she wound herself around him, her whole being enslaved as he undressed her gently and moved with her into a timeless enchantment, their movements a slow and passionate ritual in the lamplit room, touching each other, looking into each other's eyes as if to be separated would be to die. There was no sound except their breathing, Ramon's face dark with passion, his hands gentle and thrilling, and Meriel too had no wish to speak, she only wanted to look at him, to touch him and to love him.
Even his final possession of her was silent, the feelings too deep for words, a tender violence that left her floating in the outer spaces of time even when he had returned to earth. She knew too that he had not shown the depths of his passion, he had taken her with a gentle protection that left him still filled with longing.
"Don't go!" She turned to him urgently when he stirred and saw his smile, half wistful in the lamplight.
"I am well disciplined, accustomed to hardship," he said softly, "but to leave you now would be the end of me. I am still hungry, you know that?"
He cupped her face in his hands, his eyes searching hers deeply.
"I know. I know more about you than you think. Even though you shutter your eyes against me."
"Do I do that?" he asked, smiling faintly, his hands moving over her with an impatience that she recognised and thrilled to. "Perhaps if I did not you would be more timid and shy. Perhaps you would see how I really want you."
"I'm not timid," she assured him, breathlessly, her eyes holding his. "I know how you want me and I'm not made of silk."
"It seems so to me," he breathed, his hands moving in dark exploration over her. "You are so pale, so fair, so very, very—different." He stared into her eyes and she fought the desire to hide from him, knowing his need and looking back fearlessly until his breathing was a hard rasp in his throat, and he moved with deliberate pressure over her, then with a muttered word his mouth found hers and she was drawn tightly beneath him, his arms crushing her possessively as passion leapt from him and flooded her too. There was a craving inside him that had been bottled up for years and she heard his harsh intake of breath as she moved convulsively beneath him, wanting to prove that she was everything he needed. Their bodies burning with heat, they moved together until the feelings became too much to bear and she cried out in a helpless moan of sound that was a plea and a signal all together. Then he lifted her tightly to him, invading her with a hungry urgency that was like nothing she had ever imagined, a depth that reached her soul and beyond, that held her with him to soar into a rapture that was colour and light and timeless.
His breathing steadied at last and he lifted his head to smooth the damp hair from her face, a contentment on his face that she had never seen before.
"You will be bruised tomorrow," he said with a little sigh of regret.
"So will you," she murmured, her long, thick lashes flickering down to cover her eyes. "One of these days, I'll really show you who's boss."
His laughter released the tension and he turned to his side pulling her with him and enfolding her closely, his hand beneath her chin as he raised her face to look at her closely.
"You are afraid now, my sweet Meriel?" he asked softly and she shook her head.
"No." She stroked his face with gentle fingers. "For the first time, I really know you. I've got a wonderful feeling of power." She smiled up at him impishly. "I'll soon be able to call you to heel."
He rocked her against him, laughing softly, and she rested contentedly in his arms. "Yes," he sighed. "You are— different, and you fulfill all the promise in your eyes. Make me another promise, Meriel. Be happy."
It was an odd thing to say at a time like this but she knew with a little burst of anxiety that he often knew her more than she knew herself. He noticed every expression that crossed her face and he looked for her needs. She wanted nothing but his love, and the strained, beautiful face of Consuelo came unbidden into her mind as she nestled against him. Would there be a reason for unhappiness? She prayed not and her arms tightened around him, her lips almost ready to ask outright the question that had hovered there for so long, but his breathing was deep and soft, he was asleep.
She raised herself to look into his face, a face she had dreamed of for so long in her life, and there were no lines of harshness on it, no strain. He was satisfied, content, his strong arm around her waist as if it would never move from her for the rest of his life. She kissed his lips gently and he stirred, tightening his grip, his mouth smiling with a softness that was almost boyish.
"Meriel." He breathed her name sleepily and then was lost to her in the dreams that came in the warm darkness of night.
CHAPTER NINE
FLYING over the llanos a week later, Meriel sat contentedly beside her husband. Things were different. They were both rested and tanned, more at ease with each other than they had ever been before. The week had been days of laughter, nights of love, a week over far too soon because she didn't want to share Ramon with anyone, not even with Manolito. Every minute had been a cherished time to stay in her memory for the rest of her life.
"Look, the last of the cattle being moved. They've managed well."
Ramon pointed down through the window to where she could see a small herd being driven across the flat savanna towards the higher land that was the foothills of the mountains, the men trailing behind and then moving to the flanks to contain the straggling herd.
"How do you know that they're the last?"
"Because today is Friday and this is the day the last were supposed to be moved," he said wryly. "If there are more dotted about, somebody is going to have a few awkward questions to answer."
He suddenly banked the plane and flew out over the grasslands to the south, skimming low, hopping over dry trees and unusual outcrops of rocks, touring the area and giving her a glimpse of the land she had never seen.
"You're expecting to find some cattle?" she asked in amusement, but he glanced at her and laughed.
"No! I'm giving you a view of your kingdom. You did say that one day you would show me who is boss. You had better see exactly what you are boss of."
Remembering the content of her remarks and the time they were said, Meriel blushed wildly and he grinned, his hand leaving the controls to stroke her face.
"What do you think?" he asked. "Does your kingdom please you?"
"I had no idea quite how isolated we were," she breathed, not a little in awe at the vast stretches of land that spread below them. "I'm so used to thinking in terms of the hacienda, and then the plane to the city that the area around has never really had more than a dreamlike quality."
"And now it is a nightmare?" he asked, only half in jest.
"If it is, then you're in it," she smiled. "I'll settle for that nightmare any day." She leaned across and kissed his tanned cheek and he turned swiftly to kiss her lightly on the lips.
It was wonderful and as to the isolation, she would have been content in the high Andes, so long as Ramon was there.
"Well, at least you have the luxury of the house," he said softly, seemingly picking his way among her thoughts.
"A wooden hut would do," she laughed shyly, "always provided that there was running water."
"We will have as much running water as we can cope with before long, I think," he answered ruefully, his eyes on the distant clouds. "We have managed everything in good time but when your father has been taken back to Caracas, the higher airstrip will have to be used all the time."
That silenced her for a while because she hadn't actually thought about her father for the whole week and now he would be going, and she had no idea when she would see him again. There was no pull now, though, between England and her new home. Ramon was here and that was all she would ever want. She smiled and said nothing as he shot her a dark-eyed glance of appraisal, his gaze questioning.
"If you want an answer to that comment, then—er—yes," she said mi
schievously, and saw his quick smile as he brushed her chin with his fist.
He took her with him too the next day when her father was flown to Caracas and caught the flight out of Venezuela, and she was touched by his consideration. He had left them alone for the better part of the evening before, allowing them to talk quietly together. At the airport too he had disappeared after a short while so that their goodbyes would be in private, and it was only as her father went through the last barrier and she turned away that she saw Ramon standing with unreadable eyes watching her.
"You did not cry!" he said in an almost accusing tone as she went to him.
"If you really want me to I could work myself up to it," she quipped, a little shocked by his harsh voice, but relaxing immediately as his arm came tightly round her. There were still these dark and silent moments when she felt that she would never get to the stage when his whole mind was open to her, but it was easy to forget when his arms came around her.
The days were busy now, with much to do before the floods hit the flat plains and filled the river to the top of the deep banks, making it into a violent, raging being. There were also trips to make to the mines, and Ramon took up his duties as if he had never slackened the reins. Meriel hugged to herself the memories of their time in Mexico when she awoke to the feel of his lips on hers, spent the days with his arm possessively around her, for now she hardly saw him.
There were at first days of separation and then, suddenly, two weeks with no word from him. At first, when he had been spending just days away, he had telephoned, sometimes twice in the day, but now, he was silent, the phone never rang and the days were long and lonely.
There was Manuel, of course, and also Meriel had taken up her own duties as mistress of the hacienda. She had wished neither to make great changes nor to interfere but she was too accustomed to work simply to sit about, and after a couple of short tussles with Rosita, her place was established. It had taken a great deal of courage to assert herself in a house where she had always felt excluded from everything, but it had to be done.
She moved purposefully too into Ramon's study, re-organising things, sitting for hours reading through papers and filing things in a more orderly manner, gaining as she went a great insight into the vast wealth of the Ortigas and the great amount of work and responsibility that rested with Ramon.
She had started this project when he had first gone and had stood a little worried as he had surveyed the results with raised eyebrows but his quick laughter had wiped the anxiety from her face and he had looked down into her eyes as he held her and said with a great deal of satisfaction, "I think that soon you will be ready for further duties. We will have to get you a place on the Board. I can then sometimes have a few days off and send you along in my place to argue." She didn't know if he meant it but it was a great compliment, coming from Ramon.
During this long absence though it was hard to settle, her ears were straining all day and every day for the sound of a telephone that never rang, and finally she began to feel almost ill at the strain that Ramon's silence placed her under. Even food was hard to face and many times her breakfast was sent back untouched.
It was Rosita's concern that finally made her realise though that there was more than loneliness troubling her. She was one morning filled with a deep nausea that had her racing to her bathroom and leaning later exhausted by the sink. She opened her eyes to see the reflection of Rosita in the mirror, her face no longer worried but beaming with satisfaction.
"Ah! It is as I hoped, you are encinta! The senor will be filled with happiness!"
Pregnant! It was a thought that had not entered her head. She was used to irregularities and had thought that her flight to Mexico, the excitement, so many things would have been enough to explain her condition. She sat for almost an hour beside the bed, drinking the weak tea and dry toast that Rosita had forced on her, her heart fluttering with excitement, longing to tell Ramon and see his face. She did not get the chance, though, he remained out of contact, and though she knew that the news would spread like wildfire through the house, she told no one herself; there was no one she wanted to tell but Ramon.
It was towards the end of the second week when she came into the sala after one of her bouts of early-morning sickness to find Dona Barbara already seated there, her face oddly smug, her car waiting outside with her chauffeur. She did not intend to stay then, at least that was a relief, and Meriel summoned up every ounce of her courage and courtesy to face her.
"Why Tia Barbara, what a surprise! I'm afraid that Ramon is not here at the moment, though. I hope you didn't come all this way to see him."
"No, Meriel. I came actually to see you and I am very glad that I did."
There had been a brief burst of annoyance on her face as Meriel had addressed her as aunt but her overriding pleasure at something that Meriel could not even guess at soon chased away the quick frown.
"We could have coffee, if you like," she began, urging herself on to be more sociable than she felt. In fact the unusual glee on the tight face opposite was beginning to fill her with a nameless dread. It was the first time ever that she had seen Dona Barbara looking pleased and she knew that this must mean trouble for somebody. Clearly that somebody was herself.
"No. We will dispense with the civilities and get down to the reason for my visit." She settled herself in the chair, staring at Meriel with hard black eyes. "You are pregnant!" she announced without further ado. "Do not bother to deny it, I have the whole thing from Rosita who cannot hold her tongue on any occasion."
"I was not about to deny it," Meriel assured her quietly. "I would have liked it though if Ramon could have been the first to know."
"He has not telephoned you then?" There was actually a smile on the waspish face and Meriel felt her own face paling, her anger was rising too, and she was unsure how long she could keep up the facade of politeness with this woman who had always so clearly resented and disliked her. This now was her home and she was in charge of it.
"He does telephone, naturally but this week I imagine he has been too busy or is not close to a telephone. I would be very gratefully, Tia Barbara, if you would keep the information that Rosita has so obviously blurted out to you a strict secret until I can tell Ramon myself."
"Are you sure, my dear, that this is a wise course?" The malice was uppermost now, drowning everything else. "I really think it would be as well, from your point of view, to hang on to your little happiness as long as possible. When Ramon knows that the heir is assured then I think that your life will not be so very good here as it has perhaps become. You were always outside the family, naturally, and after the birth of any heir you will probably wish that you had stayed out of it altogether."
"What do you mean?" Meriel's face was now as pale as snow, her stomach knotted with anxiety, waiting to hear the words that were so obviously the reason for this visit.
"You were always such a naive child," Dona Barbara sighed. "If you had been in any way normal you would never have married Ramon, you would have seen what is so obvious to everyone else, that he loves another. You were always so stupid."
"I think that you had better go." Meriel stood, her hand still on the chair, needing all the support she could get as she faced the amused old eyes that were watching her with an indifferent and malicious gaze.
"Do not be so dramatic, child! I can see where Manuel has picked up his desire for drama, he has been with you far too often in England. It will be better when he sees you no longer and is back under Ramon's hand solely."
She never moved from her chair but looked up with complete confidence in herself but it was this last remark that struck the final blow at Meriel's heart and her anger rose to the top.
"I am mistress now," she said with a quiet anger, "and I have asked you to leave!"
"I will leave. It was to be only a short visit and I have almost finished. You should in all fairness know what is going on, however. We are a cold and undemonstrative family but we are normally fair
to all. It is unfortunate that such an uncared-for person as yourself should have been chosen as the sacrifice but again I can see Ramon's reasons and there has never been any doubt in my mind of his physical desire for you. This, however, is not love and, as I say, he has loved another for some considerable time, from the moment he saw her in fact."
Meriel was unable to speak. Inside, she knew that this old woman was filled with wickedness, that this was her revenge on both herself and Ramon, but the face of Consuelo Sandoval came again into her mind, the words she had used, her tears at the wedding, Ramon's tight face and his convulsive clasp on her own hand.
"I can see by your eyes that you already know some of the truth, you always had the most expressive eyes, my dear," Dona Barbara murmured triumphantly. "Beautiful eyes really," she put her head on one side and watched Meriel's face. "It is a great pity, but Consuelo cannot ever have children and it is necessary, as you have always known. There is the inheritance. Now that an heir is assured I would imagine that Ramon will want to spend more time with Consuelo, perhaps finally to marry her. He was at great pains to arrange the marriage at the hacienda and not in the church, although the cathedral has always been the place of marriages for this family. Still he would not have wanted…'
"Get out!" Meriel stood wild-eyed, her finger pointing at the door. "Get out! I am Ramon's wife! I am no longer an outsider, to be put aside at the whim of an Ortiga. While I live here you are never welcome! Get back on your broomstick, you wicked and bitter old woman!"
The hard face suffused with colour and Dona Barbara strode to the door, her final shot typical.
"While you live here," she remarked harshly. "I wonder how long that will be."
Meriel stood like stone as she heard the car pull away, her mind numb. It was one thing to listen to her own logic and realise that this was not the way that Ramon would ever act. He had always protected her, always shielded her from hurt. He would never hurt her like this, a hurt that would be final. And yet, her heart told her, he had never said at any time that he loved her. He had wanted her for many years, that much he had admitted. And there was the inheritance, the Ortiga future, the passion that ran deep in this family, their constant link with the past.
The Ortiga Marriage Page 16