Untamed Fire

by Donna Fletcher

  “Go on,” she encouraged, wanting to hear more, especially the part about love. Was he going to tell her? Could he truly, possibly love her?

  “I love your smile, your quick wit, and most of all, I love the way you dance.”

  She poked him in the ribs again.

  “Ow, what did I say now?”

  “Nothing, absolutely nothing,” she sighed.

  He laughed and hugged her tighter. He knew what she wanted to hear, what he wanted to tell her. And when the time was right he would. He would tell her how he could never live without her. That she was his life, his love. That he never loved anyone the way he loved her. Yes, he would say all those things and more.

  Gaby sighed silently. He would tell her one day that he loved her. She was certain of it; she could feel his love. She would wait; he would tell her.

  “You will speak with Galvezes?” he asked her quietly.

  “Yes, I will speak with them, but—”

  “How did I know you were going to say that?”

  “You are familiar with my stubbornness.”

  “Among other things,” he added.

  “I’m being serious,” she scolded.

  “I don’t want to be.”

  Gaby sat up abruptly, mindless of the blanket falling away and baring her full breasts. “You don’t want to be serious?” she asked incredulously.

  “Yes, that’s what I said. I’m sure I said it.”

  She leaned over him and kissed him soundly.

  “What was that for? Not that I don’t like it, mind you. I do, but why?”

  “You’re changing,” she said with a smile.

  “Changing?”

  “You’re always serious. You rarely laugh, or joke, or tease, but now you do. You’re beginning to live life.”

  Rafael looked at her strangely. She was right. He felt different, good, happy, and he owed it all to her. He returned her smile and wiggled his fingers at her. “Good, then I can tickle you?”

  Gaby squirmed until she lay beneath him laughing, begging him to stop. He did, then he kissed her with such tenderness that she felt like crying.

  “So what is this ‘but’?” he asked.

  Gaby wrinkled her brow.

  “The Galvezes. You speaking to them.” he reminded.

  “Oh,” she said finally recalling. “I’ll speak with them as long as I am not made to wear those horrible clothes. I wish to wear my own.”

  “I agree.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, as long as you allow me to have some new and colorful skirts and blouses sewn for you.”

  Lupe’s warning about her pride tolled like a bell in her mind. She swallowed some of that pride before answering. “Agreed.”

  “We better go before someone searches for us,” Rafael said.

  “Must we? It is so peaceful and pleasant here.”

  “In this shed?”

  “No, alone with you.”

  He kissed her tenderly. “Will you come to my room tonight? It is a request not a summons.”

  Gaby burst with a radiant smile. She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, Raphael, I will come to your room tonight, but—”

  “Another, but,” he teased, not letting her finish.

  “But only if I can... “ She pulled him down to whisper in his ear all the things she wanted to do to him.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “You will enjoy Spain,” Dona Isabel said as she and Gaby rode at a slow pace toward the hacienda. “It is so entertaining, the men so gallant, the ladies so gracious not like—”

  “I find the people of Los Angeles caring, giving, and, above all, honorable,” Gaby said with a deliberate emphasis on the three traits the padres had taught her were the most important qualities a person could learn.

  Dona Isabel spoke in a guarded tone. “I’m sure the people of Los Angeles have wonderful virtues, but this is an uncivilized land. Spain is not.”

  “It depends on what you consider civilized,” Gaby said, patting her horse’s neck and assuring him they would be home soon, the heat of the morning’s sun beginning to wear on the both of them.

  “Dress, manners, proper behavior for a young lady, to name a few,” Dona Isabel said as she pushed the damp wisps of hair off her perspiring forehead.

  Gaby could only imagine how unbearably uncomfortable the woman must be in the dark heavy riding outfit. But then, dress and manners were important to her. And at the moment Gaby wasn’t really feeling up to arguing with her about such ridiculous matters.

  So when she answered her it was with a smile, and if Rafael had heard her response he probably would have been shocked. “I’m sure you will teach me all the things I need to know.”

  Dona Isabel’s eyes looked as though they were about to pop from her head. “Yes, yes, of course. After all, that is a mother’s duty to her daughter.”

  Gaby couldn’t bring herself to respond or look at the woman. She still could not believe that the self-centered woman riding alongside her could possibly be her mother. They had nothing in common, shared none of the same interests, and didn’t even resemble one another. That fact greatly disturbed Gaby. A daughter usually looked somewhat like her mother.

  “This afternoon we shall discuss proper dress. I cannot abide those horrible peasant clothes you insist on wearing. And your hair, something must be done with it. That long braid just isn’t fitting.”

  Gaby didn’t argue. Her stomach was protesting and Rafael had promised to speak with Dona Isabel regarding the clothes she wore. She would tell him upon their return and let him handle the matter.

  “Do you feel all right, Gaby? You look pale,” Dona Isabel asked.

  “It is hotter than usual today and I’m a bit tired,” Gaby answered, not wanting anyone to know of the child she carried.

  “This heat is horrible, and I could use a nap myself. Perhaps if we move our mounts along a little faster,” Dona Isabel suggested.

  Gaby readily agreed. She had been traveling at a slow, monotonous pace to appease the woman’s sense of propriety. She was glad the heat had forced a change in her opinion.

  Gaby picked up the canter. Dona Isabel followed with ease. She actually began to pass Gaby, so Gaby followed. Both women and their escorts were traveling at a fairly good gallop as they approached the corrals.

  Gaby pulled slightly ahead, wanting to dismount as quickly as possible since her stomach grew worse with each bounce. She was just about to slow her pace before entering the corral area when she felt her saddle slip beneath her.

  All her muscles tightened in alarm as she suddenly found herself and saddle slipping off the horse. She flung her arms around her stomach offering the only protection she could think of to her unborn child and hit the hard ground with a solid thud.

  She heard yelling and a high-pitched squeal. She was quickly surrounded by numerous vaqueros, all demanding to know if she was all right.

  Gaby found it difficult to speak at first. Her breath seemed caught in her throat and her body felt numb.

  “Take her to her room.”

  “Get Lupe.”

  “Be careful when you lift her.”

  The voices drifted around her, but she wasn’t able to distinguish them. Her only protest when she was lifted was a slight moan. It was followed by a quick reprimand to be careful.

  “Put her on the bed.”

  That was Lupe’s voice. Gaby felt safe now.

  “Go,” Lupe said, chasing the vaqueros with a wave of her hands.

  “Will she be all right?”

  Gaby recognized the voice. It was Sanchez.

  “Yes, she’ll be fine. Some rest, some ointment, she’ll be fine,” Lupe said confidently, then crossed herself for extra assurance.

  “Lupe,” Gaby’s voice sounded strange to her own ears.

  “Don’t try to speak just yet,” Lupe ordered. “Rest and let me take a look at you. Tell me if anything hurts when I touch it.”

  Gaby felt no pain as Lupe examined every inc
h of her, but when she attempted to press her stomach, Gaby prevented her with a gentle touch to her hand.

  Gaby’s frightened expression told Lupe everything, and she shut her eyes and shook her head. “Does he know?”

  “No.”

  “You should tell him.”

  “When the time is right,” Gaby said.

  “Do you have any pain here?” Lupe asked, pressing gently on her belly.

  “None,” Gaby answered.

  “You must stay off your feet,” Lupe insisted as she reached for the wet cloth and began to bathe the scrapes on her arms and legs.

  “The baby?” Gaby asked, almost fearing the answer.

  “The baby is fine. He is well protected inside you. But you must rest for when you rest he rests.”

  Gaby began to cry. “I was so afraid. So afraid I would lose Rafael’s child. I don’t want to lose his baby. I want his baby more than anything.”

  “Lupe, leave!”

  Lupe jumped at the sound of Rafael’s stern command. She turned. He stood in the doorway. His eyes were ablaze with controlled fury and his hand that held the door was white from his forceful grip. He had overheard.

  “Leave!” he ordered once again and with more force than Lupe had ever heard him issue.

  With a quick nod of assurance to Gaby, Lupe hastily left the room.

  Rafael closed the door behind her and locked it before he walked over to the bed.

  Gaby tried to sit up, feeling totally at his mercy lying flat on her back. His harsh command stilled her.

  “Don’t you dare move.”

  She did as he said.

  He stood looking down at her once he reached the side of the bed. She couldn’t tell by his expression how or what he felt. She didn’t know if it was anger, pain, or sorrow, she only knew it overwhelmed him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you carried my child?”

  “I would have told you when the time was right.”

  “And when would that be, after you left?”

  “No, I would have told you... the time just wasn’t right.” Her voice sounded weak and unsure, even to her own ears, her quivering tone irritating her as did the tears that began to fall.

  “I had the right to know immediately.”

  “You have no right,” she yelled and sat up.

  “I have every right,” he said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

  “You have no rights, no rights,” she cried, angry that she could not stop the tears.

  “I have every right,” he demanded. “I’m the father. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She did not respond.

  “Why?” he asked the demand in his voice gone.

  Her breath came in short gasps as her crying subsided. Her dark lashes shined like wet spikes and she stared at him for a moment before answering.

  With a soft, gentle whisper she said, “I want your love, not your pity.”

  Rafael closed his eyes against the pain. She had waited for just the right time to tell him of the child, fearing the consequences, as he had waited for just the right time to tell her of his love. What a fool he had been. There was no right time. There was only that moment when one must listen to their heart.

  Rafael looked into her eyes and said what he should have said when he had first realized it. “I love you, Gaby Alvardo. I have loved you since the first day you dared to defy me.”

  “You’re not just saying—”

  Rafael pressed a gentle finger to her lips. “No, I’m not just saying it now because you carry my child. I say it because I mean it. I love you, Gaby Alvardo.”

  Rafael wiped away the last of her tears and brought his lips to hers slowly, as if he was about to kiss her for the first time. His arms slipped around her and she melted against him and melted with the kiss.

  “I love you,” he whispered between kisses as he carefully laid her back upon the bed. He stretched out beside her and continued kissing her and continued saying, “I love you.”

  “And I love you,” she finally managed to say.

  “That I never doubted.

  Gaby smiled. “Tell me again.”

  Rafael laughed and teasingly said. Haven’t I told you enough?”

  Gaby shook her head. “No, I think I should hear it again... and often.”

  “Will once a day be enough?”

  “No, I think more.”

  “Two?”

  “No.”

  “Three?”

  “No.”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “No— what did you say?”

  Rafael grinned. “I said, ‘Will you marry me?’ And you said, ‘No.’”

  Gaby was shocked. “You want to marry me?”

  “Yes, I want to marry you, and it looks as though I’m going to have to order you to marry me.”

  “You can’t order me,” Gaby said, poking him in the chest.

  “Then you don’t want to marry me?” he teased.

  “Yes. I mean, no. I mean, yes, I do want to marry you, but—”

  “How did I know there would be a ‘but,” he said with a laugh.

  “It’s an important ‘but,’” Gaby assured him seriously.

  “Oh, important, I didn’t know there were varying degrees of buts.”

  “There are and—”

  “Before you continue, let me say something. I love you and that is why I wish to marry you. And I would still ask you to marry me even if you were not carrying my child. If you are a Galvez or not makes no difference, I’d still ask you to marry me. I love you. That is the reason, and the only reason, I wish to marry you. Now for your ‘but?’”

  Gaby rested her hand against his cheek. “You chased all my ‘buts’ away.”

  He turned his face into the palm of her hand and kissed it. “Then you will marry me?”

  “I will marry you and for the same reason... I love you.”

  They kissed, long, slowly and with love.

  Rafael reluctantly ended their kiss to prevent their passion from escalating any farther. She was not in any condition to be making love. “We will marry immediately.”

  “What will the Galvezes say?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Gaby smiled and snuggled against his chest. “I don’t think anyone should be told of the baby.”

  “I agree,” Rafael conceded. “It will be our secret. No one else knows but Lupe?”

  “I spoke of it to no one.”

  “I will make arrangements for Padre Pablo to marry us before he leaves.”

  “I would like that very much.”

  “You have no pain?” he asked.

  “A bit of soreness that’s all.”

  Rafael hugged her more tightly to him. “What happened?”

  Gaby recounted her experience to him. “It’s strange that the saddle should just slip like that.”

  “Too strange.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t think it was an accident.”

  Gaby looked up at him. “Someone wished me harm?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who? Why?”

  “I don’t know, though I’m beginning to piece together the why. I am sure it is connected with the kidnapping of the twins years ago.”

  “You think someone meant to kill my sister and me?”

  Rafael didn’t feel it wise to tell her of her true identity just yet. “Someone meant you both harm, but someone else loved you both enough to save you. That is why you were left at the mission with orders to be looked after.”

  “Padre Pablo told you this?”

  “Yes, and I need to look further into it to try and determine who is behind all this.”

  “I can help,” Gaby said excitedly.

  “No, you will not become involved. You will do as I say and nothing else,” Rafael ordered adamantly.

  Gaby wouldn’t argue, but then she wouldn’t obey him either.

  “You will listen to me on this, Gaby.”

  “As you
wish.”

  “Gaby, I mean it,” Rafael said, knowing full well she had no intentions of following his orders. “I don’t want anything happening to you.”

  “Nothing will happen to me.”

  “You are so sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m too stubborn.”

  Rafael laughed and patted her rear. “That you are, but stubbornness can’t guard you against harm, and you not only have yourself to consider, you have our child. You will listen.”

  “I will listen,” she amended, not wanting to cause him any further worry.

  “Promise me. I love you too much to lose you. I want us to marry, raise many children, and grow old together.”

  “Will you still love me when I grow old, Rafael?” she whispered.

  He kissed the top of her head. “I will love you always, and you will always be beautiful to me, no matter what age.”

  “You are a wonderfully honorable man,” she said with a satisfied smile.

  “And you have a wonderfully deceitful way of not answering my questions. Now I’ll have that promise.”

  She wrinkled her nose as though disliking the words she was about to speak. “I promise.”

  “Good,” he said and slipped off the bed.

  “Where are you going?” she asked anxiously, not wanting him to leave.

  “You need rest. I need to take care of some things.”

  “Can’t it wait until later?” she questioned sweetly.

  “No, it can’t, and if I stay here, you know what will happen.”

  “Of course I do. Why do you think I want you to stay? Ow!” she yelped, a pain jabbing at her as she attempted to sit up.

  Raphael leaned down, his arm wrapping around her just beneath her breasts and hauling her up gently to rest comfortably against two pillows. “That is precisely why I can’t stay.”

  “I understand your point,” she conceded. “And you are right, I think I will rest.”

  He sat beside her. His hand covered her belly, his fingers splaying across it. “I am happy you carry our child. I look forward to watching you grow round and full with the babe we made together.”

  Gaby covered his hand with hers. “I am happy too.”

  “You will take care, querida?” His look was intense, his concern evident.

  “I will,” she said not wanting to cause him more worry.