by Anne Mather
'Thank God for that!' Luis's thanks were heartfelt.
Caroline managed a faint smile. 'When—when my mother—told me he—he was dead, I thought—I thought at first—'
'—she meant me?' Luis finished for her, and she inclined her head.
'That's why I fainted, I suppose. All—all the blood just seemed to drain out of me.'
'Oh, Caroline!'
With a groan of impatience he filled the space between them, stepping so close to her she almost lost her balance and collapsed on to the couch again.
'It is too soon, is it not?' he breathed, the lapels of his dark jacket brushing the swollen fullness of her breasts. 'I should not have come here yet. I should have written to you and told you what had happened, begged you in letter form to reconsider your decision.'
'My decision?' Caroline's voice had a tremor, but she didn't try to hide it. 'What decision?'
'The decision to come back to us,' exclaimed Luis huskily. 'We need you—Emilia needs you—'
'And—and you?' Caroline looked up at him, lifting her hands to finger the smooth satiny hide of his leather jacket. 'Do you need me, Luis?' She paused, then added recklessly: 'Because—because I need you—'
Her words were cut off by the probing pressure of his mouth. As if whatever will-power he had possessed had suddenly snapped, his arms were around her, hauling her closely against him, making her unmistakably aware that needing was not something peculiar to her. She could feel every stirring muscle of his body, and the searching possession of his kiss robbed her of what little strength remained in her legs. She sagged against him, shaking with reaction, and he bent to swing her up into his arms, looking down at her with eyes burning with passion.
'I need you,' he agreed thickly, as she looped her arms around his neck. 'And God knows, I've never said that to any woman before.'
Caroline pressed her face against his neck. 'But—the seminary—'
'I think you know now why I entered the seminary,' he said heavily, lounging into an armchair, with her on his lap. 'Tia Isabel told you, did she not?'
'And Esteban,' said Caroline softly, burrowing against him, parting the lapels of his jacket, and nestling against the soft silk of his shirt. 'In case I—I imagined you might—come after me.'
'Oh, mi querida, there was always that possibility.' He shook his head. 'Each time I saw you it was harder to go back—to go on with the life I had made for myself.' He bent his head to nuzzle his lips against her ear. 'And when Tomas brought the message that Esteban had taken you to Las Estadas—' He broke off with a sound of anguish. 'I knew that whatever happened, my immortal soul was not worth the sacrifice I was making.'
'Luis!' She cupped his face between her hands, gazing at him disbelievingly. 'You mean—you're not going back? Ever?'
'Did you doubt it?'
'I don't know. I was afraid to ask.' Caroline was so overwhelmed, she could hardly speak. 'Oh, Luis, I love you so much!'
'Amada!' His tongue probed the hollows of her ear, while his hand slid up to cradle her throat. 'Can you not feel I am trembling, querida? Believe me, I did not come here secure in your love. I was afraid—so afraid—that this man, this man you cared for might have replaced me completely in your affections.'
'Andrew?' Caroline lifted her face to his like a flower seeking the sun. 'Oh, Luis, I never loved Andrew. I realised that almost as soon as we met. He—I cared for him, I suppose, but not—not in the way I care for you.'
'Dios gracias,' muttered Luis fervently, before seeking her mouth with his once again.
Their kisses were becoming deeper, more passionate, and as if aware that her parents might intrude upon them at any time, Luis finally dragged himself away, to rest his head back against the soft upholstery.
'So,' he said, his eyes still drugged and sensual, 'you will come back with me?'
'If you want me to,' she agreed, loosening his tie and the top two buttons of his shirt, and bestowing a kiss on the brown column of his throat she had exposed. 'Hmm, your skin is slightly damp and salty—'
'—and over-stimulated,' he groaned hoarsely, pushing her teasing fingers away. 'Caroline, do not push me too far, I beg of you. I would not wish to embarrass your parents.'
'How would you do that?' she persisted, carrying his hand to her lips and allowing her tongue to probe his palm, so that with a smothered oath he bent his head, and substituted his mouth instead of his hand.
Her hands slid around his neck, tangling in the thick dark hair that grew down his nape, and she moaned in submission when his hand slid possessively over her thigh, and probed the inner curve of her leg.
'Te deseo,' he murmured urgently. 'I want you, querida. But not here, not like this. Even though you drive me to the edge of distraction!'
Caroline drew back to look at him. 'Do you love me?'
'Love you?' He gazed at her half ruefully. 'Oh, pequeňa, loving is such a simple word to describe the way I feel. I adore you, I worship you! And yes, I love you, too, much more than you could ever imagine.'
Caroline thought about her next words before saying them: 'What—what about—Doňa Isabel?'
'What about her?' Luis expelled his breath heavily, trying without too much success to control his emotions. 'Oh—you mean, because she told Esteban what you planned to do?'
'You know about that?'
'But of course. Tia Isabel and I have had some time to talk about the future.'
'A-and?'
'She knows of my feelings for you.' He sighed. 'It was this, as much as anything, which tipped the balance against you, I am afraid.'
Caroline shook her head. 'But why?'
Luis stroked her cheek. 'The night she sent for me, she was concerned about you, about what Esteban might do to you.' He shrugged. 'But then later, when she saw us together, her mind became confused, and the memories of what happened to Esteban's mother, her sister, became inextricably entangled with what she had seen. In her mind, you were a corrupting influence, and she turned to Esteban because he was there.'
Caroline shivered. 'She frightened me.'
'Do not be alarmed. She is no longer at San Luis. She left a few days after Esteban was buried. She has gone to stay with a friend of Seňora Calveiro's, and afterwards she plans to return to Spain.'
'To Spain?' Caroline was amazed.
'I, too, was surprised,' Luis admitted. 'But you must remember, Isabel is no relation of mine. She was Esteban's aunt. My addressing her as tia was simply a courtesy title. Now that he is dead, she no longer has ties with the hacienda.'
Caroline tried to absorb this. 'So—so there'll be only— the three of us?'
'To begin with,' agreed Luis dryly, and her cheeks darkened with becoming colour. 'So long as you do not object to Emilia's presence.'
'Object?' Caroline gasped. 'How could I object? She has been through so much!'
Luis hesitated. 'You mean—Esteban's death?'
'Her father's death, yes.'
'Esteban was not her father,' Luis told her heavily, and Caroline felt a sudden chill.
'But—but you said—you told me—'
'I told you I was not her father,' Luis reminded her quietly. 'I did not say Esteban was.'
'Then—then who—'
Luis bent his head. 'He was a friend of mine, I regret,' he conceded quietly. 'A visitor to the hacienda, at a time when Juana was most unhappy.'
'And Esteban knew this?'
'No.' Luis sighed. 'I think he secretly believed Emilia was his daughter, even though he allowed the fiction that she was mine to go unchallenged.'
'But—Emilia—'
'—knows the truth. Or at least, as much of it as it is necessary for her to know at this time.'
Caroline sighed. 'She so much wanted to be your daughter.'
Luis shrugged. 'And so she shall be. If you will let her live with us. And when there are other children,' he caressed her eyelids with his lips, 'she will be their older sister, hmm?'
'Whatever you say,' whispered Caroline
softly, and he was bending to kiss her again when the door was peremptorily opened and the subject of their last discussion danced into the room.
'Tio Vincente! Seňorita—oh!' This as Caroline scrambled up rather inelegantly from Luis's knee. Then, her lips quivering a little as she sought to be grown-up about it: 'You are going to marry Tio Vincente, after all!'
'If he'll have me,' Caroline agreed huskily, and bent to hug the little girl close to her as Luis accepted.
Three months later, Caroline returned home from Mariposa one morning to find her husband at work in his study as usual. Since Esteban's death much of the work that had previously fallen to the estate agent's shoulders was now shared by the master of the estate, and the desk which Caroline had previously found so empty and denuded of any correspondence was now much in use and littered with files and papers.
'Well?' asked Luis, getting to his feet as she came into the room, and coming round to put his hands on her shoulders. 'What did old Rivera say? Tell me at once. Is it what you suspected? Nombre de Dios! Do not keep me in suspense. I have done no work this morning. I wait only for your return. You should have let me come with you.'
'To hear that you're going to become a father in the near future?' remarked Caroline teasingly, looking up at him, and Luis's grey eyes narrowed.
'Then it is true?'
'It seems like it,' Caroline nodded.
'Dios!' Luis gazed down at her half impatiently. 'I knew I should have taken more care.'
'Why?' Caroline challenged him quietly. 'I didn't want you to.' She touched his belt insinuatively. 'I want your baby, Luis. I want us to have lots of babies.'
Luis's lean hands stilled her probing fingers. 'Caroline, be serious!' he exclaimed, even though his breathing had quickened in concert with hers. 'We have not even had a honeymoon yet!'
'We can have one afterwards,' said Caroline casually. 'You know Mummy and Daddy said they would like to come out here to visit. They can come after the baby is born, and we'll go away together, just the two of us.' She sighed ecstatically. 'Oh, Emilia's going to be so excited!'
'Caroline, are you sure you're all right!'
'Of course I'm all right.' Caroline pressed herself against him. 'Hmm, darling, you look tired. You're working too hard.'
'And getting too little sleep,' he agreed dryly, and her cheeks dimpled.
'Do you mind?' she murmured, and his eyes darkened with emotion.
'Caroline—'
'Love me,' she breathed against his mouth, and with a groan, Luis gave in to the temptation of her softly parted lips.
Some time later, in the twilit luxury of their bedroom, Luis levered himself up on one elbow to look down at the lissom beauty of his wife beside him. Feeling his eyes upon her, Caroline stirred sensuously, in no way embarrassed by his scrutiny. She was completely uninhibited in his presence, he had taught her to be that way, and she loved these moments in the aftermath of lovemaking, when he was so completely hers.
'I had some news myself this morning,' he murmured, as she lifted her hand to stroke a caressing finger down his chest. 'That rogue Vaquera rang me.'
'Vaquera?' Caroline frowned. 'Isn't he your solicitor or something?'
'He was my father's lawyer, and subsequently Esteban's,' Luis agreed, bending to touch her shoulder with his lips. 'As far as being mine is concerned, perhaps now he would like to be so.'
'Why? What do you mean?' Caroline moved her shoulder against his mouth with sinuous pleasure. 'What did he tell you?'
'Only that he had come across my father's last will and testament,' Luis informed her dryly, and smiled at her sudden arousal.
'Your father's last will and testament!' she echoed. 'You mean—there was a will involving you?'
'Apparently.' Luis subsided on to the pillows beside her again, putting a possessive hand on her still flat stomach. 'He says it must have been drawn up by one of the junior partners who has since left his employ, but my own opinion is that Esteban has been paying him to keep quiet.'
Caroline jack-knifed into a sitting position, one leg drawn up to support her chin. 'You mean—Esteban was bribing him to keep the will to himself?'
'Something like that,' agreed Luis with a shrug. Then: 'Come here! It's nothing to get so steamed up about.'
'It is so!' Caroline was indignant. 'Do you realise what this means?'
'It means that I now legally own, from my father, something I previously owned on my brother's death,' observed Luis quietly. His eyes darkened sensually. 'Now, will you come here? Or shall I come to you?'
Caroline gazed at him in frustration. 'Luis, it means Esteban was depriving you of something that was right fully yours,' she protested.
'But Esteban is dead,' remarked Luis flatly. 'And I have so much. How can I blame him now?'
Caroline sighed, but as his lazy fingers slid over her thigh from knee to hipbone, her protestations vanished beneath a tide of desire too strong to resist.
'But what about your mother?' she whispered finally, as his mouth sought the parted sweetness of hers. 'Will you tell her?'
'I will tell her,' agreed Luis, half impatiently, silencing her further with a breath-stopping kiss. 'But it will not make any difference to her. She is happy where she is. You know it. In that, as in all other things, Esteban was the loser.'
'You're very generous,' she breathed huskily, and his smile was triumphant.
'I can afford to be,' he assured her softly, and sought possession of that which was undeniably his.