Luisa looked at his concerned expression and tried to remember how callous he was. That he’d forced her hand.
‘Just think. If you hadn’t reached me, you mightn’t have had a princess to marry. Then you’d never inherit.’
A large firm hand cupped her jaw and cheek. His gaze snared hers and her breath caught. The gold in his eyes seemed to flare brighter. Or was that because he was nearer?
He shook his head slowly. ‘If there was no princess, the contract would no longer bind me.’ His thumb slid under her chin and Luisa’s eyelashes fluttered as a strange lethargic heat stole through her. ‘I’d have been free to marry whomever I want.’
‘Is there someone you want to marry?’ The notion clawed Luisa back from the brink of surrendering to his caress.
‘Don’t worry, Luisa.’ His face loomed closer. ‘You’re not coming between me and the love of my life.’
‘So there’s no one special?’ It confirmed his cold-blooded approach to marriage. But right now, dazzled by his brilliant stare, lulled by his rhythmic caress and the encompassing heat of his body, Luisa couldn’t scrape the energy to be outraged. She felt … distanced from pain. Who’d have thought she’d find solace in Raul’s embrace? There was unexpected pleasure in the sense that, for this moment at least, they could be frank.
‘No one who matters.’ His warm breath caressed her face and she struggled to find the anger that had burned within her before. Surely she shouldn’t enjoy being here, with him.
‘You really are ruthless, aren’t you?’ Her tone was conversational, curious, rather than accusing.
It was as if, after the shock of her accident, she floated on another plane where all that mattered was that she was safe in Raul’s strong arms.
He shifted and she found her head lolling against his shoulder, his body cradling hers. She almost sighed at how good that felt. She felt boneless, like a cat being stroked in the sun.
‘If you mean that I plan to get what I want, then yes.’ His lips curved in a smile that held something other than humour. His intense focus reminded her of the way he’d watched her in Paris. Heat filled her.
‘Have you always managed to get your own way?’ She should protest about how he held her but it felt so good and Luisa liked this new, unreal world where she and Raul weren’t at daggers drawn. Where that fragile connection shimmered in the still air.
He shook his head. ‘Far from it. I was anything but spoiled. My mother died in childbirth and my father was impatient with children.’
Her heart clenched. No wonder Raul was so self-sufficient. She stared up at his perfectly sculpted mouth, just made for reducing women to mindless adoration.
‘But as an adult. With women, I bet you’ve always—’
‘Luisa.’ The hand at her jaw slid round to thread through her hair and hold the back of her head. His eyes gleamed with an inner fire. ‘You’re talking too much.’
She watched those lips descend in slow motion. As if he gave her a chance to pull free. Or to savour their impending kiss. Excitement raced through her.
By the time his mouth covered hers Luisa’s breath had stalled, her lips opening to meet his, her pulse an insistent, urgent beat.
Their kiss was slow, a leisurely giving and receiving of pleasure. Delight swamped her in a warm, sultry wave. This wasn’t like the forceful, hungry passion they’d shared in Paris.
A voice in her head tried to point out that in Paris they’d shared nothing. Raul hadn’t felt anything.
But Paris seemed so far away.
Here, now, this felt like something shared. Something offered and accepted. Not dominance or submission. Not demand or acquiescence, but something utterly, satisfyingly mutual.
Luisa slipped an arm around his waist, revelling in how his muscles tensed then relaxed to her touch, testament to the leashed power of the man caressing her so gently. The realisation heightened her pleasure.
His tongue curled against hers as he drew her deeper into his mouth and the little voice of sanity subsided, overwhelmed by the magic Raul wove with his kiss, his big body, his tenderness.
Desire unfurled within her like a bud opening to the sunlight. Tendrils spread low to the feminine hollow between her legs. Up to her breasts that tingled as he pulled her closer, as if to absorb her into his body.
Her other hand rose to splay across his neck, discovering the pulse thudding heavily at his jaw. Then up to tangle in the rough silk of his hair.
Raul growled at the back of his throat. The raw sound of pleasure thrilled across her skin and sent heat plunging through her.
The languor that had held her spellbound dissipated and she wriggled against him, wanting more. The tingle of sensation at her hardening nipples became a prickle of need. The lavish, slow swirling eddy of delight in her belly grew more urgent.
Then, abruptly, he pulled back. Just enough for her to see his face. Stunned, it took a moment to read the heat in his hooded gaze and realise he was breathing heavily.
He grasped her wrist and tugged it down, holding it securely away from him.
‘Next time—’ his nostrils flared as he drew a deep breath ‘—if you want a tour, ask me. I’ll arrange to come with you or have someone guide you. Agreed? ‘
Silently Luisa nodded, her mind abuzz, her world rocked out of kilter. Could she blame shock for the fact that she wanted to fall back into the arms of the man she’d been so sure she detested?
Two weeks later, in conversation with a gallery curator, Raul found his gaze straying to Luisa. She stood before a display of botanical studies, talking to the junior curator who’d organised the exhibit.
Raul’s gaze slid appreciatively up her slender legs. It was the first time he’d seen her in a dress and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Especially when she smiled at her companion with all the warmth of her sunny homeland.
The impact was stunning. Heat flickered along his veins and pooled in his groin.
She was blossoming into a lovely woman. That had to explain why she’d been knotting his belly with thwarted desire since Paris.
And why he’d succumbed to temptation and kissed her in the tower. His pulse jumped and a spike of something like fear drove through his chest at the memory of her sprawled out over that fatal drop. The need to hold her and not release her had been unstoppable. The hunger for another sweet taste of her lips inexplicable.
It disturbed him, the force of this unexpected attraction.
She was utterly unlike his usual companions. She was unpolished, preferring flats to high heels and avoiding even the simplest of her inherited jewellery. She had a habit of talking to anyone, particularly the staff, rather than to VIPs. He sensed she’d be as happy chatting to the gardeners as attending a glitzy premiere occasion.
Yet his heart lifted when he was with her.
He told himself that was sentimental twaddle. Yet there was definitely something about his bride-to-be.
Raul shook his head. Didn’t he prefer his women sophisticated, assured and sexy?
Why did Luisa infiltrate his thoughts at every turn? Why had he found it so hard to release her that day in the tower? Or to pursue his own busy agenda while she began her lessons in language, etiquette, history and culture?
Because he wanted her. And, almost as much as he wanted her, he wanted her company.
Raul turned to his companion. ‘Could the Princess and I have time alone to view the rest of the exhibition?’