‘I completely agree.’ Faith took another sip of her orange juice. ‘No matter how hard I try I simply can’t behave in a callous, insensitive fashion. Fortunately that major defect in my character hasn’t affected my ability as a vet. Generally animals respond very well to a woman’s touch.’
Finally alerted to the fact that the atmosphere wasn’t all it should be, Pedro glanced at Raul who displayed a characteristic lack of concern.
‘As you can see, my wife is as spirited as the horses she loves so much. Faith is extremely well qualified.’
Pedro’s eyebrows shot upwards. ‘If she’s that well qualified, why doesn’t she have her own practice?’
‘She met me,’ Raul murmured. ‘And I derailed her career.’
‘Postponed,’ Faith corrected him sharply. ‘I can return to my career any time I choose to do so.’
Sofia smiled. ‘So you fell in love.’
‘Who wouldn’t love Argentina?’ Faith deliberately chose to misunderstand her. ‘It’s a fascinating and beautiful country. And the perfect place to practise equine medicine.’
‘He’s dangerous in the stable.’ Pedro was back to the subject of his horse. ‘We can’t let him out, he’ll create havoc.’
‘But horses are herd animals,’ Faith said. ‘They like social contact. Especially the stallions. They are naturally dominant and assertive.’
‘Sounds uncannily like Raul,’ Sofia drawled. ‘Dominant, assertive, a challenge to handle …’
Faith looked at her, startled, because actually the description she’d used did sound like Raul.
How many difficult stallions had she handled who’d appeared to give no thought to the effect they had on those around them?
He probably hadn’t invited his ex-mistress here with the express purpose of upsetting her. He’d invited her here because he was thoughtless. But did that really make his actions any more acceptable?
How in a million years could she ever be happy with a man this insensitive to her feelings?
Deep in thought, Pedro didn’t appear to have heard his wife’s comment. ‘I might send him over to you, if that is within your realm of experience? Might be a bit much for you.’
Raul frowned. ‘There’s nothing Faith can’t handle. She’s very clever.’
‘There’s nothing clever about it,’ Faith said. ‘They just need patience and understanding.’
‘Now I’m really confused.’ A cheeky gleam in her eyes, Sofia laughed. ‘Are we talking about Raul or the stallion? Clearly Faith has a special way with difficult men, since she dragged you to the altar.’ Sofia slid her arm into Faith’s again. ‘And now, enough of this. Raul if you don’t feed me soon I swear I shall join the horses in your yard. They’re better cared for.’
CHAPTER NINE
THEY enjoyed a typical Argentine asado—a barbecue cooked over an open fire—and it was dark when Faith and Raul waved their guests off and walked back towards the Beach House.
Furious with him for hurting her and even more furious with herself for caring, Faith stalked ahead, her heels tapping on the path. She didn’t trust herself to speak for fear of exploding and she wasn’t sure whether she’d produce tears or anger.
‘When you’re angry, your neck seems longer,’ Raul drawled from behind her and she straightened her shoulders and increased her pace. ‘And that won’t work, either, because my legs are longer than yours and I can walk faster.’
She turned then, like a cornered animal ready to fight. ‘Do you really want to have this conversation out here? Think hard, Raul, because you probably won’t want an audience for what I’m going to say.’
Apparently unconcerned, he lifted a bronzed hand to his throat and loosened the top button of his shirt. ‘I thought we’d had enough conversation for one day.’
‘If you want to avoid conversation, don’t invite your ex-girlfriends to dinner without at least having the courtesy to warn me.’
Raul’s eyes narrowed defensively. ‘Given that you are the one wearing the wedding ring, you have absolutely no reason to be jealous.’
‘It isn’t about being jealous, it’s about courtesy.’ Faith kept her eyes on his, ignoring the dangerous shimmer in his eyes that warned her of the shift in his mood. ‘Let’s look at this another way—what would you have done if you discovered that I had invited an ex-boyfriend to dinner?’
‘Flattened him,’ Raul said in a cool tone. ‘But that’s entirely different.’
‘It is not different. I have feelings, Raul. It would be nice if you would remember that.’ Shaking so much she could hardly stand, she turned sharply and walked through the door of the Beach House. Dropping her bag as she walked, she went straight through to the bedroom and removed her earrings, dropping them on the bedside table.
‘I don’t understand your problem.’ He stalked into the room like a very angry jungle-cat and she clamped her teeth onto her lower lip to stop herself from crying.
‘I know you don’t,’ she whispered. ‘And that is the problem, Raul. You don’t seem to be able to stop yourself hurting me. You never think about my feelings and I promised myself that I wasn’t going to allow you to do this to me again.’ She kept her back to him, willing herself not to break down and sob.
‘That is a totally unfair accusation,’ he snarled, ‘Given that it was precisely to protect your feelings that I didn’t tell you.’
‘So in other words, you knew I would be upset.’
She turned and then wished she hadn’t because the physical impact of the man almost fused her brain. He was extravagantly, impossibly handsome, his features bold and masculine, his posture one of complete control.
Immediately on the defensive, his fabulous dark eyes narrowed to two dangerous slits. ‘I thought you’d behave like a typical woman, and you’ve just proved me right.’
Faith inhaled sharply. ‘She taunted me with your relationship. Waved it under my nose like a red flag. We have a word for him in Spanish—guapisimo.’ She mimicked the other woman perfectly and then glared. ‘Well let’s see how guapisimo you are when I’ve blacked your eye, Raul.’
‘You are behaving in a totally unreasonable fashion.’
‘You think it’s unreasonable of me to be upset?’
‘Frankly? Yes. She’s history.’
‘She couldn’t take her eyes off you!’
‘That’s her problem, not mine,’ Raul replied instantly. ‘And not yours, either.’
He didn’t have a clue!
‘Perhaps I am being silly but she knew a great deal about you,’ she breathed. ‘And I couldn’t work out whether she was being friendly or nasty. But I had the distinct impression that she wished she was the one who was married to you.’
‘She wouldn’t have been able to handle me in a million years.’ He yanked the tie from his throat with an impatient hand and Faith swallowed, transfixed by the hint of bronzed male skin and the tangle of dark hair at the base of his throat.
She wasn’t sure she could handle him.
‘She is very beautiful.’
‘Don’t do this to yourself,’ he warned, dropping the tie and slowly undoing the buttons on his shirt. ‘You’re more intelligent than that, Faith. I never pretended not to have a past and you have no reason to be insecure.’
‘Of course I have,’ Faith said quietly. ‘I know you didn’t want this marriage.’
‘Don’t do that female thing of dissecting every single action,’ he warned in a throaty voice. ‘You’ll just hurt yourself.’
‘I just spent an evening with a woman who hammered home just how well she knows you. If I didn’t have doubts about sustaining this marriage before, then I certainly have them now.’
‘Sofia has nothing to do with our marriage.’
‘You invited your ex-girlfriend into our home without telling me and expected me to be nice to her! That has everything to do with our marriage.’
They were circling each other like animals and the atmosphere in the room heated and sparked.
Raul watched her with raw frustration. ‘Actually, I invited a business associate into our home in order to negotiate an important deal. Sofia just happens to be his wife. I didn’t think that was important, given that she’s my ex-girlfriend. What possible reason would there be for you to be so upset?’
‘Because I’m your wife!’
‘Precisely,’ he drawled in a sardonic voice, his handsome face cold and unsympathetic. ‘Cuenta his beneficios.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Count your blessings. You’re the one wearing my ring. If anyone around here should be upset, it’s Sofia, not you.’
Faith was so shocked by his unique interpretation of the facts, that for a moment she couldn’t voice a response. ‘You can’t possibly mean that. Even you can’t be that arrogant and insensitive.’
The air around them heated to a fierce blaze.
‘Don’t do this, Faith,’ he warned softly, his voice as deadly as the expression in his eyes. ‘Don’t do this to us.’
‘I’m not the one doing it, Raul,’ she spat, but she saw him step towards her and every muscle in her body quivered with tension. ‘That’s far enough.’
If he came close to her, if he touched her …
Terrified that he was going to do just that, she went to stalk past him but he moved so swiftly that she didn’t stand a chance. And she knew deep down that she’d never had a chance. With merciless intent one hand locked around her wrist and the other came round her waist.
‘No, Raul.’ She squirmed and writhed, the silk of her dress sliding against the hard muscle of his thighs. ‘Don’t you dare touch me. After what you did tonight, you’re never touching me again!’ But they were just words and both of them knew it. The atmosphere was thick with what they were both feeling, and in many ways that made it worse because she so badly wanted to be able to walk away from this man. ‘Let me go.’
‘Why?’ He brought his mouth close to hers and she turned her head to avoid the contact, her eyes closing as she felt the roughness of his jaw scrape the sensitive skin of her cheek. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘Because we’re making each other miserable.’
‘Only when we talk, cariño,’ he murmured softly into her ear, his low masculine voice as sensuous as his touch. ‘We hadn’t touched each other for weeks and it’s been driving both of us mad—’
‘No, Raul, that isn’t—’ She broke off with a gasp as his mouth traced the line of her jaw. ‘Don’t do that—don’t do that.’
But he wasn’t listening. ‘I haven’t paid you enough attention.’
‘That isn’t what I was saying—’ She moaned as his mouth found the tiny pulse at the base of her throat. ‘Raul, I’m asking you not to—’
‘What? You’re asking me not to do what?’ His strong fingers slid around her cheek and with firm, relentless pressure he drew her lips back towards his. His mouth hovered a breath away from hers, but he didn’t take the kiss. ‘Why do you fight this?’
‘Because I have to,’ she whispered. ‘For my sanity and my self-respect.’ It was the last desperate plea of someone who was drowning and the words turned to a groan as his mouth finally brushed hers in a suggestive, sensuous kiss.
Flames erupted though her body with explosive force and she felt her insides turn to hot, molten lava.
‘You don’t want this?’ His tone husky and full of dark, sexual promise, he lowered his head and lightly explored the edges of her mouth with his, the erotic slide of his tongue plunging her straight into a whirlpool of excitement. She was sucked downwards, spinning, in sexual free-fall. ‘If you don’t want to do this, then stop me,’ he murmured, his mouth still against hers as he ruthlessly used every skill to drive her wild. ‘Walk away, if that’s what you want to do.’
Every single part of her was on fire, burning up in the heat of his seduction. ‘How can I when you’re holding me?’
His dangerously clever mouth curved into a sardonic smile. ‘I let go of you five minutes ago, cariño. So why are you still pressed up against me?’ He gave her less than five seconds for the truth of that statement to sink into her fevered brain and then he brought his mouth down on hers in a bruising, glorious kiss that sent both of them out of control.
This time there was no careful teasing or skilfully orchestrated seduction. There were no tentative touches of his tongue or sly brushes of his firm lips. Instead he claimed her mouth with his, driving out her protests with the force of his kiss.
And she responded because the way he kissed her demanded nothing less.
All the emotion and incredible tension that had been building over the past weeks exploded to the surface and they devoured each other hungrily as their bodies thundered with need.
His mouth didn’t leave hers but his hands dropped to her shoulders and he tore ruthlessly through the fabric of her dress. It slithered to the floor of the bedroom and was instantly forgotten by both of them because his hand was on her breast and Faith gave an agonised moan and closed her eyes.
Her head was filled with a kaleidoscope of light, and as his fingers grazed the sensitised peaks of her breasts, sharp arrows of desire shot through her body straight to the very heart of her. She leaned into him, pressing herself against his throbbing, thickened shaft, her response to him every bit as animal and basic as his was to hers.
They had no control. None. And it had always been this way with them.
‘Now,’ Faith sobbed. ‘Now—’And she tore impatiently at his shirt, drew her nails through the dark hair that covered his chest and then moved her hand lower to cover him. His responsive groan echoed her own desperation and when he lifted her, she slipped both arms round his neck because to let him go now would have been unthinkable.
Neither of them was thinking, each of them just responding to a sensual hunger so basic that it bordered on the shocking.
She wanted to touch and taste and he obviously felt the same way because his hand went between her legs and she cried out and arched against him in instant response. When he drew a skilled finger over her silken warmth, she gave a shiver of delicious pleasure, the anticipation exploding inside her.
Somehow she was on her back on the bed and he was above her—bronzed, virile and very much in control. When his mouth found her breast she sobbed with pleasure and when his fingers slid deep, she raked her nails over the hard muscle of his shoulders because his touch was so unerringly skilled and confident that she could do nothing else.
The room was dark except for a shaft of moonlight that sent a spotlight across the floor and she opened her eyes and looked straight into his. Dark locked with green for a fiery, breathless moment and she just feasted on him, savouring the hard, packed muscle of his shoulders and chest and the perfect lines of his bone structure. He was hot, hard, handsome and hers—all arrogant, dominant male, the weight of his powerful body pinning her into a position of total submission.
‘Mine,’ he growled possessively, his hand in the silken curls that guarded the most private part of her. ‘You are mine—’
‘Yes—’ She didn’t want to be anyone else’s ever and just to be sure that he knew that she slid her leg over his thigh in a blatant invitation that drew a groan from him.
‘Wait.’ His breathing erratic, he swore softly in Spanish. There was a brief pause and then he surged into her with all the force of his passion, the power of his silken invasion driving her breath from her body because he was big.
Hard and powerful, he filled her completely and for a moment she struggled to breathe, completely overwhelmed by the feel of him deep inside her. Engulfed by excitement that terrified her in its intensity, she stared up at him in the semi-darkness, completely transported by the exquisite pleasure that their bodies created together. There was nothing but the two of them, their bodies locked in one glorious explosion of excitement as he drove into her with ravenous, fiery intensity. His hand was locked in her hair, her nails were in his shoulders and she urged him on with the thrust of her hips, her leg
s spread for him, her back pressed against the bed.
‘Raul—’ She groaned his name and he slid an arm under her hips, strong, virile and demanding as he lifted her into each surging thrust of his powerful body.
It was wild, uninhibited and out of control and when she shot into her first orgasm she took him with her, his body erupting with potent force as her inner muscles tightened around him. Mouths clashed, hearts raced, breathing quickened as every one of their senses was swamped by incredible sensation and they drove each other through wave after wave of pulsing ecstasy. Bodies slick and hot, they kissed their way through the whole incredible experience until the explosion was reduced to flickering, fluttering aftershocks.
Lying on the tangled sheets, weakened by pleasure, Faith wrapped her arms around him tightly and waited for her heartbeat to slow. She was so dazed after her climax that when he slid down her body and deliberately parted her thighs, she was unable to do more than whimper a faint protest.
‘I love your body,’ he murmured, his lips trailing a path that started at her knee and slowly traced the length of her thigh. ‘Do you know how much I love your body? Because if you don’t then I’m about to show you …’
Her brain and body still pulsing in the aftermath of her last orgasm, Faith tried to squirm away from him, too weakened to even consider another sensual onslaught.
‘No, Raul,’ she choked. ‘I don’t think I can—’
‘Then I’ll prove you wrong,’ he said huskily, guiding her thighs apart with single-minded focus and complete disregard for any modesty on her part. He held her there for a moment, surveying the tangle of bright golden curls with a hungry, sexual gaze that made her squirm self-consciously.
‘Don’t.’
‘I’m admiring.’ His mouth curved into a slow, teasing smile. ‘How can you be shy? On the surface you can be very English and proper.’ He stroked a strong confident finger along the most intimate part of her and she curled her fingers into the sheets because he knew exactly what he was doing, his gentle touch impossibly, agonisingly accurate.
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