Spanish Nights (Harlequin Treasury 1990's)

by Jennifer Taylor

  ‘You still shouldn’t overdo things, Luis.’ Her voice held a huskiness she knew at once he had heard and understood.

  ‘No?’ He shifted slightly in his crouched position, steadying himself with one hand on the tiled floor. The action opened the front of the shirt even more, giving her glimpses of his strong stomach muscles, and she felt a sudden heat curl inside her. Deliberately she turned and swam to the far side of the pool then stopped uncertainly as she realised her dilemma. Her clothes were still lying on the chair close to where Luis was now standing watching her. Even if she climbed out at this side she would still have to go back to collect them. She couldn’t walk back to the house without a stitch on!

  ‘Your concern for my well-being is touching, amada. It only heightens my concern for you. Isn’t it time you got out before you catch a chill?’

  ‘I’m fine. I think I’ll just do another few laps. Don’t bother to wait for me to finish, Luis. You go on back to the house.’ She set off swimming again but by the time she had swum another four laps of the pool he was still there. She stopped at the far side to catch her breath, feeling her legs trembling with the unaccustomed exercise. Her knees felt like rubber, her arms aching; there was no way she could swim any more yet no way she could climb out with Luis standing there watching her.

  ‘Finished now, querida?’ There was warm amusement in his deep voice. It lit the first spark of anger inside her.

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Then it is time to get out.’

  ‘I have no intention of getting out while you are standing there!’ Now that she had stopped swimming she could feel a chill invading her limbs and her teeth chattered quite audibly.

  ‘I have seen you naked many times, Laura. What difference does one more time make to you?’

  She had no idea, but it did! A whole lot of difference, in fact. ‘I am not getting out while you are there. Understand?’

  ‘I do.’ He turned away and she gave a tiny sigh of relief that was short-lived when he merely sat down on one of the chairs.

  ‘Luis!’

  ‘Sí. You want something, amada?‘

  ‘I want you to leave, but I suppose that is too much to expect!’

  ‘How can I possibly leave you by yourself? You could slip and hurt yourself. Anything could happen, and I would never forgive myself, Laura.’

  ‘I imagine it would serve your purpose if something did happen to me! Then you would have me out of your life for good!’

  That first spark had started a fire but surprisingly Luis merely laughed at her anger. He got up and walked around the pool, stopping beside her to offer her his hand. ‘You are getting angry because you are cold and uncomfortable. Come along, Laura, be sensible.’

  It was obvious that he wouldn’t give in and just as obvious that she couldn’t stay in the water any longer. Her whole body was already so numb that she could barely feel her legs.

  With a glare in Luis’s direction she ignored his hand and hauled herself out of the water then found to her chagrin that her legs just wouldn’t support her. She stumbled forward and heard Luis mutter something under his breath which she took to be an oath before his arm went around her, drawing her against him for support.

  ‘Little fool. You are always so determined to do things your way rather than see sense.’

  She didn’t appreciate that assessment but could do little about it as the weakness spread through her limbs. When Luis drew her closer to him, taking her weight, she murmured a protest before falling silent. It felt so good to have him hold her like this, to feel the warmth of his body against her. If she closed her eyes then she could pretend that everything was all right again, that he still loved her as she loved him.

  ‘Come. The night air is cool. Go and put your clothes back on.’

  The curt instruction brought reality back with a jolt that was painful. She moved away from him at once, wrapping her arms around her trembling body as she hurried to where she had left her clothes and dragged them on over her wet skin, but even then it was difficult to stop the shivers which racked her.

  ‘Dios, Laura! You will be lucky to escape a severe chill after this folly.’ Anger was a thread of steel in his voice. It startled her into looking round at him and she felt the shudders intensify as she saw him watching her. The moon chose that moment to slide silently from behind a cloud, lighting his tall, imposing figure in its stark silver glow. Luis had always exuded an urbane sophistication which stemmed from both his wealth and his background, yet he looked so different from the man she knew as he stood there, legs slightly apart, the white shirt hanging open over his tanned chest with its heavy strapping of bandages. He looked almost primitive like that, and it shocked her.

  She must have made some sound, although she wasn’t conscious of doing so. It seemed to draw him back from the edge of some deep emotion and as she watched his face settled back into its customary lines.

  ‘You need to get warm. Come inside at once and I shall make you a drink.’ He made no attempt to touch her as he walked past her to the house. If she hadn’t had that fleeting glimpse of him in the moonlight then she would never have seen that unexpected change in him. What had he been thinking, feeling just now? She wished she knew, wished that for once in his life he would let the barriers fall and allow her to get close to him. But that was like wishing for that huge silver moon to drop at her feet, because it would never happen.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE house was quiet when they went back inside. Laura was surprised to find that it was after midnight when she glanced at the ornate clock hanging on the wall in the hall. She hadn’t realised how long she’d been outside, nor how long she must have spent in the pool. No wonder she was so cold and numb.

  She followed Luis across the hall, then stopped when he opened the door to his study and beckoned her inside. He raised a mocking brow when she stood hesitating by the stairs. ‘I will give you some brandy to warm that chill from your body.’

  ‘I...I don’t really need anything, thank you.’ She forced herself to stand quite still but it was impossible to hide the shiver that raced through her, and he smiled.

  ‘There is no need to worry. Brandy is all I have on my mind, so come along inside.’

  His mockery annoyed her and she marched towards the door, refusing to let him think that she was afraid. However, Luis barely glanced at her as he closed the door then went and poured two generous measures of brandy into balloon glasses, carrying them back to where she was still standing just inside the room.

  ‘Please sit down. You will feel far more comfortable, I am sure, rather than standing there as though you are half tempted to run away at the first move I make. You are quite safe, querida. Even if I were so inclined I doubt I am up to forcing myself upon you in this state.’

  Did he really imagine that she was going to stand there and be taunted like that? With a mutter of annoyance, she pushed past him, forgetful of his injured shoulder until she heard the sharp hiss of his breath and saw all the colour drain from his face. ‘Are you all right? Luis?’

  She lifted the glasses from his hands and set them down on the table by the couch then watched helplessly as he sank down on to it, his lips rimmed with white.

  ‘I...have...felt better.’ His voice was rough, belying the dismissive statement and she dropped to her knees in front of him.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Luis. I never meant to do that. Can I get you anything? Or shall I call the doctor?’ She started to scramble to her feet but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  ‘No. There is no need for that. On the table in my dressing-room...you will find some pain-relief tablets that the doctor left for me.’

  ‘I’ll fetch them at once. Stay there and don’t move.’ She ran from the room and up the stairs, finding the bottle exactly where he had said. Clutching it tightly, she ran back downstairs then hesitated outside the study before running across the hall to the kitchen to fill a glass with water.

  ‘Here you are. How many are y
ou supposed to take?’ Flipping the cap on the bottle, she shook a few tablets into her hand then stared worriedly at the instructions printed in Spanish on the white label. From what she could tell it said that he could take two, but how often and with what sort of a time-lapse between dosages?

  ‘Just give me one. That will be sufficient. I don’t want to become dependent on drugs!’ There was a rough impatience in his voice as he held his hand out while she dropped a single tablet into it and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  ‘How many did the doctor tell you to take, and how many times a day?’ she asked quietly as she handed him the glass of water and watched him swallow the tablet with a grimace of distaste.

  He cast her a cool look, running a hand over the bandage as he settled more comfortably against the cushions. ‘I can see no reason to take them on a regular basis. They will not heal the torn muscles, merely mask the pain.’

  ‘Then surely that is the best reason in the world to take them! Really, Luis, it is ridiculous to try to do without pain-killers when you need them.’

  He smiled faintly, resting his dark head back as he stared up at her through narrowed eyes. ‘Does the idea of my suffering upset you, Laura? I should have imagined that you would feel glad that I had been punished in this way for making you come back here with me.’

  ‘I don’t want to see you in pain! What a horrible thing to say.’

  ‘Was it? Then I apologise. I keep forgetting that you still profess to have some feelings left for me despite everything that has happened.’ He laughed as she turned her face away. ‘Why does it upset you to hear me remind you of that? Yesterday you were only too anxious to tell me how you felt.’

  ‘And yesterday you made it quite clear that you weren’t interested, one way or another!’ She took a deep breath, refusing to let the pain cloud her mind to what he was doing. Luis seemed to take a great pleasure from taunting her this way but if she was to survive then she would have to learn to hide just how successful he was with his gibes. ‘However, what happened yesterday is not under discussion here. Do you want me to get you anything else before I go upstairs to bed?’

  It took a moment before he answered, and just fleetingly she caught a glimpse of something akin to admiration in his eyes before it disappeared so fast that she knew she must have imagined seeing it. ‘I would like some coffee if it isn’t too much trouble. I don’t think it would be wise to drink the brandy on top of that tablet.’

  ‘It most certainly wouldn’t. I shall go and make some for you.’

  Glad of the breathing space, she hurried to the kitchen and filled the coffeemaker then glanced at her reflection in the darkened window. Her hair was straggling around her shoulders, her silk dress sticking limply to her after being dragged on before. It would take a few minutes for the coffee to drip so she might as well go and change into something comfortable while she waited.

  It took only minutes to slip off the crumpled clothes and towel her hair dry. She slid on a dainty pale green cotton nightshirt which skimmed her thighs then covered it with a thick fleecy white towelling robe. Her hair was almost dry but curling wildly about her face after the brusque handling so she brushed it back and tied it up high on her head with a length of white ribbon. Then, feeling far more like herself, she ran back down to the kitchen, stopping abruptly when she found Luis there.

  He glanced round when he heard her, his dark eyes skimming her slender figure in the warm, thick robe, then turned back to pouring coffee into two heavy white mugs. ‘Do you still take cream and sugar?’

  ‘Er—yes, but you shouldn’t have bothered. I would have finished making the coffee.’ She moved uncertainly just one step further into the room, wondering why she felt suddenly nervous. Nothing had changed, Luis still looked his usual self, fully in control, yet she could sense a certain change in the atmosphere, unless it was just her mind playing tricks.

  ‘It was no trouble, and you need this as much as I do, Laura.’ His voice was soft and throbbingly vibrant. It seemed to ripple across the room towards her, stirring her senses.

  ‘I...I do?’ she queried huskily.

  ‘Mmm, of course. You must still be cold after that swim.’

  He was wrong about that; she wasn’t cold, in fact, she was starting to feel uncomfortably warm. There was something disturbingly intimate about the two of them being here in the quiet kitchen in the dead of night sharing coffee. It seemed to make a mockery of all the arguments and heartache. This was what it would have been like if they had been able to resolve their differences. It made her suddenly determined not to give up. If there was a way of making Luis listen to her and finally accept what had happened in her past, then she knew with a sudden startling clarity that she owed it to them both to find it.

  When he set the mugs down on the small table in the alcove and pulled out a chair, she went and sat down opposite him. She took a sip of the hot coffee, feeling it warming away the last of the chill. She glanced up at him. ‘How does your shoulder feel now? Is that tablet starting to work?’

  He nodded, sipping his own drink before replying, ‘It seems to be easing a little.’

  ‘I am sorry, Luis. I never meant to hurt you.’

  ‘It is not always possible to avoid getting hurt.’ He was speaking about something more than just the injury he had suffered, and she felt quick tears mist her eyes. She reached out and touched the back of his hand tentatively with the very tips of her fingers, afraid that even that small gesture would be misconstrued.

  ‘I really am sorry, though, Luis...about everything.’

  His hand remained where it was for an instant then slowly he drew it out from under hers, cradling his mug in both hands as he raised it to his lips although he didn’t drink. ‘Let us not rake over the past tonight of all nights, Laura. Neither of us is in any fit state to endure more arguments.’

  ‘But there don’t need to be any arguments,’ she protested, then sighed wearily. ‘I suppose you are right. We do seem to end up arguing every time we speak about it.’

  ‘It is difficult to be impartial, but I have come to realise that it is something we must both try to be if we are to make this marriage work.’

  ‘Do you really think it has a chance?’ She laughed softly. ‘I often think that you would have been so much better off if we had never met. You would probably have married Mercedes then.’

  ‘It is pointless to speculate on things that can never be.’

  ‘Perhaps but it is human nature to do so. Haven’t you ever wondered what the future could have been like?’

  ‘No. The present is all that is important to me.’

  ‘I wish I could be like you then, Luis.’ There were shadows in her grey eyes as she stared just past his head, lost in the dreams she’d once had. ‘I used to build pictures of the life we would have before we married, imagining what it would be like living here with you, perhaps even having your children in years to come. Dreams, Luis, I know, but sometimes it is hard to destroy them even in the face of reality.’

  She shifted her gaze to his face and was shocked to see the naked emotion there. ‘Luis, I...’

  He stood up, carrying the mug to the sink to rinse it awkwardly under the tap, his back rigid. He set it to drain on the worktop then turned. ‘It is late, Laura. Time we were both in bed. I shall sleep in the room next to yours until my shoulder heals. That way I won’t disturb you if I have to get up through the night.’

  He was gone before she could find the words to call him back, but then what could she have said? To apologise for the agony she had witnessed so fleetingly on his face would have been crass beyond belief. Apologies would never compensate for all they had lost, her dreams and maybe at one time Luis’s also. All she could do was try to find a way to make him understand that she had never meant to trick him into this marriage. Maybe then there would be a chance to build fresh dreams for both of them.

  * * *

  It was over a week before the doctor allowed Luis to remove the bandages. By t
hat time Laura knew that his patience had been tried to the limit. He was used to being active and the restriction in his lifestyle irked him. Not that it affected his work; in fact, he seemed to spend more and more time at the bodega only returning in time for dinner which in traditional Spanish style was served at ten each evening.

  With her he was unfailingly polite, asking after her health, how she had spent her day, trotting out so many polite enquiries that she felt she would scream if she had to answer one more. Yet somehow she always managed to curb her temper and reply calmly, afraid to damage the fragile truce that had existed since that night they had shared coffee in the kitchen. She had the feeling that Luis was playing some sort of waiting game, a feeling heightened by the fact that he was still sleeping in the adjoining room. But waiting for what? That was the one question she couldn’t answer.

  It came as a shock, therefore, when she returned to the bedroom one morning after breakfast to find Luis standing by the window. He had usually left well before this time to go to work. Over the past week Laura had slipped into the routine of going down late for breakfast to avoid the intimacy of having to face him over the breakfast table. Doña Elena nearly always took breakfast in her room, and Laura preferred the loneliness of eating by herself to the strain of having to cope with yet another polite conversation.

  Now she halted in the doorway, her eyes widening as she saw that Luis wasn’t dressed in one of his many elegant business suits but in tight black trousers and a short, waist-length dark grey jacket which made the most of his wide-shouldered, slim-hipped physique. With his black hair lying smoothly against his well-shaped head and his tanned skin gleaming with health and vitality, he looked superb, and she couldn’t quite hide the faint hunger in her eyes as he suddenly turned to her.