JACQUELINE BAIRD - Raul's Revenge

‘Apparently the Colombian traded her in for a younger, more fertile model, and she returned to Spain two days ago. I am telling you all this, Penny, so you are warned. The master loves you and, given time, he will many you—of this I am sure. But beware of Dulcie; she is an evil but clever woman. Around the master she was always sweet and innocent, but you have seen how she treats people when he is not around.’

For some reason all Penny could think of was Raul and that horrid woman together. She was eaten alive with jealousy at the thought of Raul making love to Dulcie, touching the other woman as he now touched her. It was ridiculous; it had all been over years ago but she could not help feeling a certain dread. She tried a smile.

‘Don’t worry, Ava. Raul is much older and wiser; he would never allow himself to be fooled twice, and—’

‘So this is how my two favourite women spend their time when I am not around.’ A deep laughing voice cut across Penny’s. ‘Drinking wine and gossiping.’

Penny spun around in her chair. It was Raul... He was leaning carelessly against the wood frame of the dining-room door, his jacket casually hooked on a long finger and draped over one broad shoulder. A snowy white shirt open at the neck revealed the strong column of his tanned throat, and his eyes glinted with humour and something more. He looked all male and incredibly sexy. Penny jumped to her feet and in seconds had thrown herself at him.

His arms opened to enfold her. ‘You never said last night.’ She reached up and raked her fingers through his dark hair, cradling his head with her small hands. Her head tilted back to gaze up into his handsome face.

‘I decided to surprise you, querida,’ he murmured as his mouth fastened on hers.

CHAPTER THREE

RAUL’S kiss was so overpowering that Penny was lost in it in seconds; she forgot where they were and that they had an audience; she hungered for him with a desperation she had not thought possible. Once more in his arms, her tongue twining with his, she clawed unconsciously at the fine silk of his shirt, popping his buttons in her haste to feel the satin skin beneath, while Raul’s hands roamed freely down her back, cupping her buttocks, hauling her into the hard cradle of his hips, making her intimately aware of his aroused state.

‘Dios,’ he groaned against her mouth, and when he lifted his head, his dark gaze burned down into the blue depths of her passion-glazed eyes. “That was some welcome, Penny. Can I take it you missed me, hmm?’

‘Yes, every minute,’ she agreed, an ecstatic smile lighting her lovely face.

‘Did you miss anything else?’ he demanded hardly, straightening to his full height and stepping back.

‘Only you.’ She moved and, standing on tiptoe, nipped at his square jaw. It was as high as she could reach. His strong hands curved around her shoulders, holding her firmly away from him, and through the euphoric haze at seeing him again it slowly dawned on Penny that he was deliberately keeping her at a distance.

‘Raul?’ she husked tentatively as his dark eyes slid down the length of her body with a possessive arrogance, then back to her flushed face, a silent demand in their black depths. Wide, puzzled blue eyes met his narrowed, predatory gaze and a tremor of something very like fear slithered down her spine. Raul exuded a raw, animal magnetism, an aura of power and vitality that suddenly seemed oddly threatening. And what on earth did he mean? Who else could she have missed? It didn’t make sense.

‘You’re sure about that?’ he queried, the corner of his mouth twisting in a cynical smile.

‘Of course,’ she said emphatically. Surely he knew how much she’d missed him, loved him...? ‘What is it, Raul? What’s wrong?’ She twisted her hand in his shirt in agitation and another button popped.

‘Nothing—nothing at all. But unless you want to shock poor Ava completely—’ his hands dropped to catch hers at his chest, and, entwining their fingers, he lowered her hands to her sides ‘—I think you’d better stop trying to rip my shirt off.’ His dark head bent, and, his voice lowering to a husky drawl, he added, ‘Not that I mind. I seem to remember denying you a siesta in Dubai; now seems a good time to correct the omission.’

She had forgotten all about the older woman. Penny glanced over her shoulder to see Ava standing by the table, her brown eyes wide and round and ever so slightly shocked. ‘I think you’re right.’ She turned back to Raul, her lips twitching. ‘We don’t want to offend her sensibilities, and suddenly I feel incredibly tired.’ She chuckled, inwardly relieved that it was only Ava’s presence inhibiting Raul, and nothing more sinister.

Penny opened her eyes and yawned widely. The sun was setting, the last rays streaking the room with a warm rosy light. She turned on her side and smiled, a languorous sexy curl to her mouth as her gaze feasted on Raul lying flat on his back beside her. His chest rose and fell slowly in the steady rhythm of sleep.

With his eyes closed he looked younger and somehow vulnerable. The ridiculously long sweep of his dark lashes curved on his high cheekbones, almost feminine in their thick lusciousness. But it was certainly the only slightly feminine thing about him, Penny thought dreamily, and, raising up on one elbow, she studied his sprawling, nude body.

They had spent all afternoon in bed and had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep. Now just looking at Raul made her shiver with the rekindling of passion. She reached out a small hand and ran it lightly over his broad shoulder and across his massive chest, her fingers entwining in the surprisingly soft chest hair. She grazed a small male nipple and still her hand moved down.

It was incredibly sweet to have him at her mercy, to let her hand roam lower over the taut, flat stomach, to feel his hard, warm body, to linger over the muscles of his thighs. She lowered her head and kissed him softly, not wanting to wake him, simply to love him freely with her hands and mouth.

‘Woman, behave.’ Raul’s hand grasped her wrist like a manacle and in seconds their positions were reversed. Penny was flat on her back and Raul was looking down into her startled eyes. ‘You’re insatiable,’ he chuckled. ‘I never imagined when I first took you to bed what a sleeping tiger I was arousing.’

‘Tigress, surely?’ she husked, shivering in delight as his glittering dark eyes swept her naked body with a sensuous, knowing triumph. ‘You’re the only tiger around here, with your gold-flecked eyes,’ she corrected him throatily.

‘Grr...’ Raul teased, and, bending, rubbed his unshaven jaw against her soft cheek. ‘Only around you, Penny.’ He lifted his head. ‘You must know I adore you.’

She sighed as his hand trailed across her body to cup one full, round breast. ‘And I you; all you have to do is touch me and you can have m-e-e-e.’ She ended on a moan as he rolled one taut nipple between his thumb and finger, sending arrows of sensation through her ultrasensitive flesh.

‘Much as I would like to take up your offer, I can’t.’ He brushed his mouth briefly over hers. ‘I have work to do if I am to take you to London at the weekend.’

Penny beamed up at him. ‘You mean that?’

‘Yes. I promised and I am a man of my word.’ He rolled over and got to his feet, and she stared at him, her breath catching in her throat.

At that moment she loved him more than life. Raul, her lover, was back. How could she have imagined for a second that she was bored? She would spend her life waiting for Raul if she had to, but she didn’t need to. He was here and he was keeping his promise to take her to London. He did love her. Ava was right; it was only a matter of time before they married.