A Scandalous Midnight in Madrid

by Susan Stephens

  ‘I can hold my own,’ she assured him. ‘You gave me a good horse to ride. All I had to do was give him his head and stay on. He did the rest.’

  ‘I’m glad you approve.’

  ‘Oh, I do,’ she said. ‘Picnic?’ she reminded him as she unfastened the straps on the pannier holding the feast the elderly ladies had prepared for them. ‘You must be hungry—I know I am.’

  ‘Starving,’ he confirmed. ‘Towels,’ he added, tossing a big blue one to Sadie as he produced a couple from his saddlebags. ‘I used to swim here as a boy.’

  ‘We’re going to swim?’ she asked, staring at the fast-moving water in alarm. ‘Isn’t that glacier melt?’

  ‘Are you chicken?’

  ‘Are you?’

  ‘Let’s cool down, then,’ he proposed.

  ‘Soon. Let’s eat first.’ Removing her horse’s saddle, she gave him a look. ‘Your childhood must have been idyllic,’ she said as he helped her to set out the picnic.

  ‘I was certainly a challenge for my parents,’ he admitted.

  ‘I can imagine,’ she said.

  ‘Stick the wine between those rocks to chill it,’ he told her, handing the bottle over.

  ‘You think of everything,’ she commented with a grin.

  Believe it, he thought.

  They ate sparingly, and, with a swim ahead of them, barely touched the wine, and then it was a case of waiting for a while after eating, to make sure neither of them got a cramp in the icy water. Sadie hunkered down on the grass, while he lay back alongside her, resting on his elbows. She seemed reluctant to talk, so he started the conversation. ‘My parents were madly in love...’

  ‘And what a setting for it,’ she commented as she looked around.

  ‘I was lucky. They gave me the best of examples for what constitutes a happy family life.’

  ‘So, why have you never married?’

  He stared at her with amusement. ‘Why are you interested?’

  ‘I’m not,’ she assured him just a little too hotly.

  ‘It must have been a hideous loss when they were killed,’ she said, changing the subject fast.

  He didn’t want to talk about it, but this was typical of Sadie. Where angels feared to tread she walked straight in. And only out of kindness, he reminded himself as he relaxed. It was a long time, if ever, that anyone had dared to mention the loss of his parents to him, or to Annalisa. After all these years, the wound was still red raw. Perhaps it always would be. It had certainly affected his approach to life, and especially to any potential relationship. He was wary of commitment, wary of love, because it was too much to lose. Adoring his parents as he had had made the pain of their loss almost unmanageable. Only caring for Annalisa, and building the business so many depended on, had helped him to carry on.

  ‘You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,’ he murmured pensively.

  It was a relief to discover that Sadie knew when to let the silence hang.

  * * *

  Sadie hadn’t expected Alejandro to open up as he had, and this softer side of him touched her deeply. It was the first time he’d mentioned feelings, let alone allowed his mask to slip. Pain was etched on a face that usually held nothing but confidence and command. He must have bottled up everything for years, she realised, as she had.

  ‘Annalisa’s lucky to have such a wonderful brother,’ she said gently.

  Lifting his head, Alejandro stared her steadily in the eyes. ‘I love my sister, and I’ll always try to help her out, though my help isn’t always wanted,’ he admitted with an amused smile. ‘I just hope she finds someone to care for her as I do, one day.’

  ‘What about the Prince?’

  ‘That milksop?’ Alejandro’s expression hardened. ‘I’ll be interested to see how long he lasts. I just hope he doesn’t hurt her in the process. If he breaks her heart, he’ll have me to answer to.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll always be around to pick up the pieces.’

  ‘Ha!’ Alejandro exclaimed. ‘If Annalisa will allow me to. My sister’s very like you, in that—’

  ‘She’s sensible, considerate and as calm as the day is long,’ Sadie suggested, tongue-in-cheek.

  Alejandro laughed. ‘That’s not quite how I’d put it,’ he said.

  ‘How about you? Tell me something about your family, Sadie.’

  Turning his face to the sun, he closed his eyes, as if he sensed how difficult it was for her to relive the past and was giving her space to express her feelings. It did hurt remembering, but he’d opened up, and so should she.

  ‘The day I graduated from catering college, Chef Sorollo and his entire family were sitting in the front row. He’s been amazing. I can’t tell you how good he’s been to me.’

  ‘I know the man, so I know how big his heart is,’ Alejandro commented. ‘So, now you’ve started, can you tell me something more?’ he prompted when she fell silent.

  Sadie drew in a deep, steadying breath. ‘I had sent my mother a note, saying how much it would mean to me if she could be at my graduation too...’

  ‘She stayed home,’ Alejandro guessed.

  Sadie shrugged. ‘At least I invited her, but she couldn’t make it.’

  ‘Did she write to tell you that?’

  ‘No. She didn’t reply.’ After all these years that silence still hurt, even though Sadie had always known she was wasting her time trying to enlist her mother’s interest. It was just that, somehow, she could never stop hoping.

  ‘That’s a deep frown,’ Alejandro commented when she had been silent for a while.

  ‘I didn’t think you were looking,’ she accused lightly.

  ‘Well, I am now.’ Squinting against the sun, he shaded his eyes. ‘And I’m waiting to hear more. Come on, Sadie,’ he coaxed. ‘What harm can it do? There’s no one here to hear you but me.’

  ‘Then, I’ll have to swear you to secrecy.’

  ‘We’ll keep it between the two of us,’ he promised. ‘I won’t even make a comment unless you ask me to. How’s that?’

  She shrugged, but he was right. What did she have to lose? ‘I was an accident, apparently.’

  ‘An accident?’ Alejandro queried. ‘Who told you that?’

  She smiled a small comic smile. ‘My mother.’

  ‘Dios!’

  ‘No, really, it’s all right,’ Sadie insisted with wry good humour, knowing her mother’s rejection had to be so distant from Alejandro’s childhood experiences that he was having trouble computing it at all. ‘She blamed me for losing her figure—she was a socialite, the type who could never be too thin, or too rich. And that was the cause of the trouble, because they had this great big house and a very glamorous lifestyle, but hardly any money to back it up. And then I came along.’

  ‘A cause for joy, surely?’

  ‘A cause for wailing and gnashing of teeth,’ Sadie argued. ‘I was just one more problem that was going to cost them money.’ She gave a thoughtful sigh. ‘It couldn’t have been easy for my mother. She never liked me, because I was a drain on the household budget, and when she began to lose her looks, my father started drinking heavily. He used to beat her up when he was intoxicated. She blamed me for that too. We were never close, and I doubt we ever will be. Hey-ho,’ she said, forcing a bright note into her voice. ‘There are people far worse off than me. Are you still hungry?’ she asked as he reached for a hunk of cheese.

  ‘I’m always hungry. Neat change of subject, by the way.’

  ‘I’m learning from a master,’ she said.

  The expression on Alejandro’s face nearly broke her. It was dangerous playing true confessions. They left her vulnerable. Left him vulnerable, Sadie conceded, seeing the shadows behind the compassion in Alejandro’s eyes. Maybe they both needed this opportunity to open up a little and let their guards down. If only life could always be so
simple, that you could just sit on a riverbank and tell all without fear of being mocked.

  ‘No garlic,’ Alejandro said with a lift of his hand, when she offered him some of the pungent bread to go with his cheese.

  ‘I’ll eat some too,’ she offered.

  ‘Does that mean you’re going to kiss me?’ he asked with a lift of his brow.

  ‘You wish,’ she countered, wishing her cheeks wouldn’t always flame red right on cue.

  Alejandro angled his stubble-shaded chin. ‘Is that you telling me that you have no intention of kissing me today?’

  ‘I’ve no intention of kissing you any day.’

  ‘You protest too much, I think,’ he remarked with a wicked look. ‘Maybe it’s time for that swim so we can both cool down.’

  ‘Is that water as cold as it looks?’ Sadie asked with concern as she glanced at the river.

  ‘Colder,’ Alejandro confirmed. ‘But if you can swim as well as you ride, it should be a pleasure for you.’

  ‘As in, if I survive it will be a pleasure?’ Shaking her head, with an amused look she accepted the challenge. ‘So, what are we waiting for?’

  ‘For you to strip,’ he said flatly.

  ‘After you,’ she invited with a challenging smile.

  She whizzed her head to one side when he started to work on his belt. ‘You could give me some warning.’

  ‘Okay, I’m naked. Is that warning enough?’

  Hearing his clothes hit the ground, she tensed, and waited until she heard a splash as he dived in. Only then did she quickly undress down to her modest, serviceable underwear.

  The shock of the icy river snatched her breath away, but it also prompted her to swim strongly against the current. Alejandro was right in that she was as confident in the water as she was on horseback, and she soon made good headway towards the opposite bank. The rush of cool, clean glacier melt against her overheated skin was just what she needed, she had decided by the time she found her feet in the shallows.

  ‘This is fantastic,’ she confirmed.

  ‘Are you ready to swim back?’ Alejandro queried as he shook his thick black hair out of his eyes. ‘Or would you prefer to wait until you become an icicle?’

  He didn’t wait for her answer, which was perhaps as well, Sadie thought as she plunged in after him. The thrill of the race was upon her again, and if they hung around much longer they’d both be frozen solid.

  Alejandro’s face was a picture when she swam up alongside him. ‘Infuriating woman,’ he exclaimed, eyes dancing with laughter, and something far more dangerous, as he helped her up the bank and grabbed his clothes.

  * * *

  Nothing could dull his hunger for Sadie, or his impatience to hold her in his arms. He’d got to know her a bit, and everything he’d learned made him want to know more. Having introduced her to people who lived in these remote areas, and who were generally wary of strangers, he’d seen them welcome Sadie with open arms. They couldn’t resist her. She was warm and inclusive, and sharing good food crossed all boundaries. Like music, it brought people together. His mother had been a wonderful cook, and his father a gifted musician. Sadie combined these qualities. Perhaps that was why he was drawn to her. He would be the first to admit that his childhood had been idyllic, while hers had been anything but, which accounted for her wariness, he thought as he watched her clamber out and quickly dress.

  When they were dry again and settled on the bank, he thought it the right time to resume their conversation. He was curious about Sadie and wanted to know more.

  ‘So your mother didn’t want to know you, but what about your father? Was he not willing to mend fences and attend your graduation?’

  ‘My father cared for me even less than my mother. He blamed his drinking on her, and by extension me, for being the cause of her unhappiness. I’ve told you that he drank, I should also tell you that his alcoholism led to his early death.’

  ‘It’s hard to lose a parent, even, I imagine, if that parent was not the best role model for you. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, Sadie. A young girl needs both of her parents.’

  ‘I was sad to lose my father, despite our difficulties, but my mother was relieved and found a younger man within a month of his death.’

  ‘I see,’ he said, wondering what other horrors were about to come out. Sadie hadn’t finished yet, he suspected.

  ‘Only he came to like me better than my mother, and so she threw me out.’

  ‘Did he touch you?’ he asked as fury erupted inside him.

  ‘I left before he had the chance to.’

  But goodness knew what had happened before then. ‘Do you miss your mother?’

  ‘I don’t have anything to miss,’ she explained, staring at him intently. ‘I’m not like you, Alejandro. I don’t have any happy memories to look back on. And I have my own life now...a life that makes me happy.’

  ‘That’s good,’ he said, though what she said was only partly true, because the scars remained behind her eyes, and that wasn’t good.

  ‘I was spoiled,’ he admitted wryly, sensing a change of subject was badly needed.

  ‘Tell me,’ she encouraged.

  For once in his carefully ordered existence, he found he wanted to share. The pain of thinking back was usually better avoided, but as he talked and Sadie listened, he was surprised by how light he felt after confiding in her. She was naturally gregarious with so much love to give. He’d seen that in action when she met his people and they took Sadie to their hearts, and he was seeing it again now.

  Was he in danger of becoming involved with this woman? The idea was so unexpected he laughed.

  ‘Well, you’ve cheered up,’ she observed as she rested back on her elbows.

  ‘You amuse me,’ he admitted.

  ‘Anyone would think we were getting to know each other,’ she observed dryly.

  ‘You’re shivering,’ he noticed. ‘I should have made a fire.’ Or there was another way—

  She gasped as he brought her into his arms. ‘Basic survival tactics,’ he insisted. ‘Mutual heat...’

  CHAPTER NINE

  SADIE WAS STILL chilled after her swim, while he was steaming. The urge to be skin-to-skin was overwhelming him, but some instinct warned him to hold off. Her full, tempting lips were only a hair’s breadth away, but her eyes were wide and worried.

  ‘Have you never been kissed before?’ he suggested as she shivered in his arms.

  ‘I’ve never been this cold before,’ she admitted, teeth chattering uncontrollably. ‘No—don’t pull away,’ she instructed. ‘I’m only just beginning to thaw out.’

  ‘Glad I can be of help,’ he said as she snuggled closer.

  ‘Any port in a storm,’ she teased as he wrapped his arms around her.

  ‘Thanks a lot.’

  ‘Don’t mention it,’ she murmured, but it was a relief to hear her smiling. He was glad that she could trust him enough to relax in his arms. It was the biggest sign yet that they were getting to know each other, and that some of the barriers were coming down. ‘Better now,’ she said, making a token effort to push him away.

  He was a man, not a saint, and he brushed her lips with his before pulling away to gauge her reaction.

  Challenge darkened her eyes. ‘Call that a kiss?’

  ‘No,’ he admitted. ‘I call this a kiss.’

  * * *

  They came together like an unstoppable force. A starburst of emotion hit Sadie full in the heart as Alejandro drove his mouth down on hers. Blanking all thought, apart from the need to claim him, she felt as if some primal force had taken over from a lifetime of common sense. His tongue probed, her lips parted and pleasure surged. That was all it took for her to demand with everything she’d got that he deepen the kiss even more. No longer a novice, she was learning fast. He kept her marooned on a plateau of pleas
ure where she was quite happy to stay, making her disappointment all the keener when he let her go.

  Cupping her face, he stared fiercely into her eyes. ‘I don’t know what happened to you in the past, but I do know this is now, and I want you.’

  It was such a primal thing for him to say she was excited beyond reason. But then her sensible side took over. The fire in Alejandro’s eyes might dare her to believe him, but did he want her for a few hours, for a few days, or for eternity, and what did she have to say about those options?

  ‘I never say anything I don’t mean,’ he said as he traced her kiss-swollen lips with his forefinger.

  ‘And I never agree to anything unless I’m certain,’ she countered, pulling back.

  ‘Then, this might turn out to be a very long seduction indeed.’

  ‘A seduction?’ she queried.

  Thinking better of where this was heading, she put some more distance between them. She might be drawn to Alejandro, but she had no intention of setting herself up for heartbreak. Confident in every other area of her life, she knew nothing about happy relationships between a man and a woman, and where they were concerned she always shied away.

  ‘Caution rules you,’ Alejandro observed in a lazy growl, not in the least bit fazed, ‘and that’s something I intend to change.’

  Could anyone? she wondered.

  She should have remembered how experienced he was, and when he kissed her again, and kept on kissing her gently and persuasively, she felt so safe, though at the back of her mind there remained the nagging thought that her heart was in danger. But his drugging kisses made her want him even more, and the clothes she’d so quickly tugged on were slowly being peeled off again.

  ‘I want you.’

  The wicked murmur in her ear echoed Sadie’s own thoughts. She guessed Alejandro didn’t need an answer when he could feel how taut with anticipation she was, and see how hunger was blazing from her eyes. Her breasts ached, and her nipples were thrusting imperatively against his chest. Every atom in her body craved him, and he knew this. The faint smile on his hard mouth had the power to make her forget everything, and his kisses to her neck, her cheeks, her eyes and her lips, while his hands worked a special brand of magic on her body, made the outcome certain.