Rayna was fiercely glad that she was Adam’s responsibility. He would do nothing foolish with her in his charge. “Please, Adam,” she said. “Hamil is no fool.”
“I know he is not,” Adam said, “but it does not change how I feel.” He pictured Arabella lying beneath Kamal, and he saw red.
Rayna sought to distract him, and quickly rose to wind her arms about his waist. “All will be well, my lord. You will see.” She rose on her tiptoes to kiss him.
He made love to her, slowly, watching her as she reached her climax. Was he treating Rayna, he wondered, as he prayed Kamal had treated Arabella? His fury at the man he had never seen washed over him once again, and he took his own pleasure quickly, violently.
Rayna clutched her arms around Adam’s back when he would leave her.
“Love,” he whispered against her temple, “the ground is hard. I don’t want to crush you. Let me go.”
But she didn’t. She knew that he was again thinking about Arabella.
Finally she let him ease off her and roll to his back. When he pulled her against him, she pressed her cheek to his shoulder and rested her leg over his belly.
“It won’t be much longer, Adam. I am afraid too. Not just for Arabella, but for our parents. You know my father will not sit idle in Naples.”
“No, he won’t. Likely my father has seen him. Lord only knows what they will do.”
“Perhaps, my father will be more reasonable when I see him again.”
“You have that much faith in your sire?”
“Perhaps I have more faith in your virility, my lord.”
“You little wretch.” He broke off, knowing that if his child were growing in her womb, he had only himself to blame. And he had continued to make love to her. He couldn’t seem to help himself, no matter the arguments to the contrary.
“Where will we go on our wedding trip?” she asked.
“To Greece, if it pleases you. We will take the Cassandra and sail the Aegean.”
“It pleases me, my lord. It pleases me much.”
She felt him tense, even as he said, “Do not worry, Rayna, I will not do anything foolish.”
“Father, she is beautiful. She is named Fearless. Just like Mother’s sailboat. Ah, to be on the sea is to be free.” She unfurled the mast, laughing as the rising wind tore through her hair. The sunlight was so bright, she had to squint and shade her eyes with her hand.
Then it was dark and she was crying. “Oh God, she is dead and I killed her. The fence was too high for her. Father, Diana was so proud, and I killed her.” She heard a voice speaking to her, easing through the darkness.
“Papa? Please forgive me, Papa.”
She felt hands lightly stroking her hair back from her forehead. “I forgive you,” the voice said. “You must think only of getting well now. Do you understand, cara?”
“Yes, Papa. Why did she have to die?”
“It’s all right, sweetheart. No, you mustn’t move. Lie still. Drink this and you will sleep.”
She did as she was bid. She felt his hands on her shoulders holding her up while the rim of the goblet touched her lips. How odd that her back hurt so badly.
Suddenly the darkness was closing in on her, and she cried out, “Don’t leave me, Papa. Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t leave you. I promise.”
She felt strong fingers close over her hand, and she sighed deeply, calm now. She drifted back into a bottomless sleep where there was no light and no dreams.
Kamal slowly pulled away his hand. He sat back in his chair. She believed him her father, a man who obviously loved his child. Ah, Arabella, what have you done to me? You are as willful as the sea, as unpredictable as the desert wind, and I am drawn to you as a moth to a bright flame. Your beauty makes me tremble even as your foolish pride makes me want to thrash you. And now I have hurt you, and if you did not hate me before, you will now. I have lost you, yet never possessed you, save for that single night.
“What in God’s name am I to do?”