Raul's Revenge

The rage draining out of him, he raised a hand from her shoulder and closed his eyes for a second, nipping the bridge of his nose with finger and thumb before adding, 'I'm tired. I'm sorry. I believe you and forgive you.' His deep voice thickened and he stroked a long finger down her smooth cheek, his eyes lingering on her slightly parted lips with sensual anticipation.

She tried to speak but her breath caught in her throat. Her heart was thudding in her breast and suddenly she felt sick. As quickly as his anger had come it had van­ished, but she could not hide her hurt so easily.

'Just never give me a shock like that again,' Raul husked. His hand gentled on her shoulders and slid down to curve around her waist; his eyes deepened to a slum­brous, sexy black and his dark head bent to kiss her.

Penny was incredulous and furious. She looked up into his face, at the five o'clock shadow on his hard jaw, and wondered if she had ever known him. She jerked away from him, catching him by surprise.

'That's it, is it? You forgive me, after branding me little better than a whore,' she derided. 'Well, thank you,

Raul; you have such faith in me I am quite over­whelmed. Maybe I should kneel at your feet and pay homage to your magnanimity.'

'Hush, Penny.' He held out his hand. 'Come on, it was a genuine mistake; I was worried about you.'

She looked at his outstretched hand and up into his handsome face, and out of nowhere came the thought, How worried? Worried enough to marry her? Amy's idea suddenly didn't seem quite so outrageous. She could put her hand in his and in minutes they would be in bed together. She wanted to but she wanted a whole lot more! She deserved a whole lot more! she thought suddenly, seeing an image of the future, with herself as Raul's sex slave and not much else.

Raul stepped closer, one large hand tilting her chin. 'No more argument, Penny. I was wrong and I'm sorry; put it down to pure male frustration. I've missed you, querida.'

Her heart said yes and she raised her hands to his chest, but her head said something else.

She ran her hands up and down his shirt-front, feeling the hard-packed muscle beneath with delight, but as she swayed towards him she hesitated. 'Do you know what year it is, Raul?'

'Around you I hardly know what day it is. You have this shocking effect on me,' he teased softly, and, catching one of her small hands in his, he trailed it down his muscular thigh.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, her heart pounding beneath her breastbone as her fingers touched the hard, aroused length of him beneath the fine wool of his trousers. He wanted her, she knew, and—dear heaven!—she wanted him, but...

'It's leap year, Raul. Will you marry me?' she got out in a breathless rush. Tilting her head back, she stared up at him, her wide blue eyes sparkling with love and hope while her small hands nervously caressed his fam­iliar solid form. A second later she was pushed back­wards onto the sofa with a resounding thump, all the air whooshing out of her lungs in a rush.

She didn't know what had hit her, but, glancing up into Raul's furious face, she had a good idea. 'Hardly the response I expected,' she gulped. 'Unless, of course, you intend to join me on the sofa.' She tried to joke, but inside she was filled with a deepening dread.

'Now I get it,' he laughed mirthlessly. 'The arguments of the last few weeks, the defiance, and then the grand finale—staying out all night. What kind of fool do you take me for, Penny?'

'No, Raul.' She wished with all her heart that she had kept her mouth shut, and, pulling herself up to a sitting position, her blue eyes fixed on his rugged face, she lifted a tentative hand to touch his thigh.

He glanced down at her, one dark brow lifted in cynical amusement, before he casually knocked her hand from his leg and stepped back. 'Did you really think depriving me of your sexy body on our last night in Spain and then trying to make me jealous would work?' he drawled mockingly. 'Better women than you have tried to man­ipulate me into marriage and failed. You're good, but you're not that good, Penny.'

His comment was like a knife in her heart. She wanted to curl up with the pain but she didn't; her pride would not let her. For a long, tense moment she simply stared at him. His black hair was dishevelled and falling over his broad brow, his dark eyes were stony, as was the stubborn jut of his jaw. She let her gaze roam over him— the tanned column of his throat, the broad chest and lean hips. He was standing, feet apart, hands stuck in his trouser pockets, all virile, powerful male.

'I take it that was a no,' she got out between clenched teeth. And, rising to her feet, she would have brushed past him, but he stopped her, a hand on her arm.

'Correct, honey. If and when I take a wife, I will do the asking. No little girl will trap me into marriage. I am far too old to be caught that easy,' he said icily.

Penny wanted to lie down and die, but anger came to her aid. For months she had loved this man, given him everything, loved him unconditionally, because in her foolish heart she had thought he felt the same. What a naive idiot she was, she thought bitterly. What had he said? She was good, but not that good.

'You're right of course; you are too old; I should have realised sooner,' she retaliated, hoping to hurt him just a fraction of how much he had hurt her. She felt his fingers tighten angrily on her arm.

'Nice try, Penny, but insulting me will not make me change my mind,' he gritted.

'Take your hand off me,' she said flatly, her glance resting on the large, strong hand wrapped around her arm. And for the first time since meeting Raul his touch had no effect on her.

'The hands-off policy is hardly going to persuade me to marry you,' Raul laughed harshly, and, spinning her around, held her hard against his strong body. 'And I know you, querida; you can't say no.' Bending his head, he feathered his lips across hers.

She trembled helplessly, long before the fiery heat of his mouth melded passionately with her own. She wanted to be immune but she had not the strength to deny him. It was the heaven she longed for but it was also the hell of complete humiliation.

He played her like a violin. His hand roamed her slender form with a sophisticated expertise against which she had no defence. His hard thighs pressed against her soft curves, moving rhythmically, stating his male dom­inance, forcing her to accept his sensual superiority. She shivered violently, yet she felt as if fire, not blood flowed through her veins.

With a husky laugh Raul set her free and stepped back, his smile mocking her pathetic capitulation to his assault on her senses. 'Forget trying to manipulate me, Penny. You will never win; your body gives you away every time,' he drawled with silky emphasis, his glittering eyes deliberately lowering to her breasts, where her nipples were outlined betrayingly against the soft wool of her sweater, before returning triumphantly to her flushed face.

Penny had never raised a hand to anyone in her life before. But, seeing the smug triumph in his dark eyes, the arrogant stance of his long body, she lost control completely. All the pain and humiliation flooded her brain and, without thought, she lifted her hand and smacked him hard across his self-satisfied face.