She wouldn’t let him dictate to her any more.
‘Then what if I take you out myself, tonight?’ Luisa blinked in astonishment. ‘I have appointments for the rest of the day but after dinner, if you like, I’ll show you some of the sights of Paris.’ He paused for a long moment, his mouth easing into what could almost pass for a smile. ‘Would that suit?’
Blankly Luisa stared. A compromise? That must have cost him!
Instantly suspicion grew that he was up to something. Yet the idea of escaping this gorgeous, claustrophobic house was irresistible.
‘Agreed.’
Six hours later Luisa stood against the railing of a river cruiser, straining forward as each new sight came into view. From the Ile de la Cité with Notre Dame’s flying buttresses illuminated like spread wings against the darkness, to the Pont Neuf and the glittering Eiffel Tower. Paris slid around them, gorgeous and outrageously seductive. Yet still the tension twisted through her.
She and Raul were the only passengers.
Another reminder of what his wealth could buy.
Like her clothes. Stylish black wool trousers and a chic winter-weight cream tunic. Boots and a long coat of leather so soft she had to force herself not to keep smoothing her hands over it. A designer silk scarf in indigo and burnt orange that brought colour to her cheeks.
Except her cheeks burned anyway, remembering the designer’s whispered asides to his assistant about Luisa’s shape, size, posture and walk. Her posture was good, apparently, but her walk! A stride, like a man’s. And she had no notion how to carry off a dress. None!
Yet, despite being an apparently insurmountable challenge, she’d been transformed.
Not that Raul had noticed. He’d escorted her to the car with barely a word. Luisa’s bruised pride had been lacerated that he hadn’t commented on her appearance. Clearly it was a matter of the utmost indifference to him.
And this the man who’d spoken of marriage!
She drew a slow breath. Once in Maritz she’d consult local lawyers. There must be a way out of the wedding contract. Fear scudded through her at the idea of marrying—
‘You’re enjoying yourself?’ In the darkness she saw movement as Raul stood beside her. A trickle of heat warmed her belly and she swallowed hard. She hated the way her traitorous body responded yet she couldn’t douse her excitement. Even in her teens, bowled over by what she thought was love, she hadn’t felt this way.
‘The city is beautiful. Thank you for the cruise.’
‘So you admit there are benefits to our arrangement?’
His satisfied smile set her teeth on edge. He took credit for the beauty of the city, forgetting the blackmail that had forced her hand! It was a relief to let her frustration and indignation surge to the surface.
‘They don’t outweigh the negatives.’
He made an abrupt movement with one hand, a rare sign of impatience that surprised her. Usually he was so calm. ‘You refuse to be pleased, no matter what you are offered.’
‘I don’t recall any offer. That implies choice.’
‘You would rather be with your precious cows instead of here?’ His wide gesture encompassed the magical vista. ‘I give you the chance to be queen.’
‘By marrying you!’ She backed a step. ‘I’ll go with you to Maritz, but as for marriage …’ Luisa shook her head.
The sharp glimmer of his stare triggered her innermost anxieties, releasing a tumble of words. ‘You can’t give me anything I truly desire!’
Years before a man had tried to take her, not out of passion, but calculating ambition. It had left her feeling unclean. That was when she’d decided she’d never settle for anything less than love.
‘I want to marry a man who makes my heart race and my blood sing—’
Strong hands closed on her upper arms and she gaped up at the starkly sculpted face suddenly so close. A passing light played over him. Far from being coolly remote, heat ignited in Raul’s eyes. His expression sent adrenalin surging.
His head lowered and his warm breath feathered her face.
‘Like this, you mean?’
CHAPTER FOUR
RAUL’S mouth claimed Luisa’s, pressing, demanding, till on a gasp her lips parted and he took possession.
Too late he realised his mistake.
The spark of indignation and guilt that had urged him to silence her grievances flared higher. Hotter. Brighter. He tasted her and heat shimmered, molten in his blood. He delved into her sweet, lush mouth and discovered something unexpected.
Something unique.
He slanted his mouth, demanding better access. Needing more. A ripple of stunned pleasure reverberated through him. He’d suspected almost from the start that there was something unique about Luisa. But this …!
His tongue slicked across hers, laved and slid and explored and there it was again.
An excitement, an anticipation he hadn’t felt since he was a green boy.
Still it persisted. The feeling this was different.
He tugged her satisfyingly close between his wide-planted legs. His other hand slid up into the thick silken mass of bright hair that had caught his eye as he’d walked into the salon this afternoon. He’d wanted to touch it ever since.
It felt even better than it looked, soft as seduction.
The fire dropped to his belly, kindling like a coiling Catherine wheel that jetted sparks in all directions.
Tension screwed unbearably tight as her hand fluttered at his throat, a barely there touch that weakened his knees. When she slid both arms over his shoulders to clasp his neck a great shudder rocked him.
How could a kiss ravage his senses?
Trying to staunch the feeling that he spun out of control, Raul moved his lips to the corner of her mouth but she turned her head. Instead of an almost chaste caress, he found himself transfixed as her lips opened beneath his. Her body pressed close and her tongue slipped into his mouth in a move that he’d have called tentative if it hadn’t sent every blood cell in his body rushing south.
Her kiss was slow and deliberate. Unbelievably provocative as she treated him to a devastating sensual exploration that almost blew the top off his head. Shivers of delight coursed through him.
Once or twice she hesitated as if unsure how to proceed. But the feel of her tongue mating with his in slow, lush pleasure soon obliterated such crazy notions.
Raul slid a hand under her long coat, over the tight curve of her bottom. His splayed fingers dragged her close, where that flicker of heat was now a blazing furnace. He tilted his pelvis and felt her welcoming feminine softness. Lust shot through him.
He swallowed her gasp, returning her kiss with growing fervour. Every nerve was sharp and aware, as if it had been an age since he’d held a woman.
Luisa tasted like sunshine, felt warm and soft and luscious like a summer peach.
Heat spiked in his groin and a hard weight surged there. The audacious notion rose that here, now, they should let passion take its inevitable course. He’d never felt such an unravelling of control.
Dimly he registered astonishment as desire blasted him. He met her kisses hungrily, her soft little whimper of pleasure driving him on even as he tried to slow down.
Luisa, with her sweet sensuality and her delicious hesitation, piqued an appetite jaded by over-eager women.
Brightness spilled over them, a wash of cold sanity.
Raul blinked in the light from an overhead bridge. He raised his head but his hands were still on her, their lower bodies welded together, even as they passed a group of sightseers peering down at the Seine.