And then there were his personal feelings for Rose.
If he’d been a different man, things might have moved faster with Rose, but protecting her from his darkness took priority. That said, it was becoming harder each day to be apart from her. Imagining Rose with another man was totally unthinkable.
‘I’ve got an announcement to make,’ Sofia declared in her usual fizzy tone as she tapped on a glass. ‘Your Royal Highnesses, lords, ladies and gentlemen—’
He might have known several jokers would insist there were no gentlemen present.
‘To honour our friend Rose Kelly,’ Sofia continued the moment order had been resumed, ‘we’re going to take a short break to get changed into our finery. And no shenanigans while you’re below decks,’ she warned with a mischievous twinkle, ‘or the party will never get started.’
This remark brought about a fresh bout of good-natured laughter, during which Raffa asked the purser to make sure a steward accompanied Rose to her suite. He was determined she would feel at home on thePegasus, not as his employee, but as a valued friend of the family.
Closing the door on the now familiar sumptuous accommodation, Rose rested back against the wood with relief. She needed a few quiet moments to get her head around everything that had happened in the past few hours. The birthday party was such a lovely thing for Raffa and Sofia to have arranged, but Raffa’s appraising stare had told her nothing beyond his concern. Trying to be businesslike and sensible about this, she reasoned, pulling away from the door, was impossible where Raffa was concerned, when just seeing him again was enough to flood her mind with images of his impossibly powerful body pressing hungrily against hers.
Heading for the dressing room to pick out something to wear for the party, she wanted to impress him. What was wrong with that? Today was her birthday, and this year she was gifting herself Raffa.
He was as stunned as everyone else when Rose returned to the party. Bathed in moonlight, she looked like an old-time movie star in a slim column of night-blue silk, with a split up the side that revealed her flawless legs. But, once again, it was her hair that took the prize. She had chosen to wear it loose, and it tumbled to her waist in a fiery profusion of shimmering waves. Lust fired inside him. Rose Kelly fired him in every way possible. There were many beautiful women on board thePegasustonight, but none compared to Rose, because her inner beauty, fired by a generous heart and a loving nature, meant she could not be outshone.
‘Will you dance with me,señorita?’ he asked, bowing over Rose’s hand, marvelling at how pale and slim it was, and yet how strong.
‘I’d love to,’ she said in her customary unaffected way.
Rose’s delectable scent and quick smile intoxicated him, as did the sparkle of challenge in her bright emerald eyes. This promised to be an outstanding evening.
‘You dance well,señorita,’ he said, relishing the brush of her body against his.
‘I have an excellent partner,’ she replied with a grin and the lift of a brow.
Rose might be in the mood for teasing him, but tonight she looked like a queen—a queen who moved in his arms as if she belonged there. The acid stares from her brothers suggested the attraction between them was glaringly obvious. Don’t hurt her, their looks said, as clearly as if Rose’s brothers had bellowed the instruction in his ear.
‘What can we do about this?’ he reflected out loud.
‘About what?’ Rose asked.
Sweeping her brothers’ concern from his mind, he voiced his own. ‘I haven’t got a birthday gift for you.’
‘What’s this?’ Rose demanded, glancing around. ‘Isn’t this party the most wonderful gift? Not to mention the gown I’m wearing,’ she added, smoothing an appreciative hand over the tailoring.
‘These are such small things, Rose.’
‘Not for me,’ she assured him with a reproachful look.
At a loss to know how to please a woman who expected nothing from him, when he wanted to do so much for her, he drew Rose close again and they danced on. But not for long. ‘I really should go and look after the guests,’ she told him during a brief pause in the music. ‘My brothers will never forgive me if I don’t introduce them around.’
And with that she was gone. He filled the gap left by Rose by making sure everyone was enjoying themselves. They caught up later at the cake table, where Rose, surrounded by a crowd of well-wishers, was telling everyone that she’d been spoiled tonight.
‘No more than you deserve.’
She turned at the sound of his voice. ‘Raffa!’ Her glowing eyes told him everything he wanted to know, and he was glad when her companions took the hint and melted away.
‘This is such an amazing night,’ she enthused. ‘Just look at this cake...’
The lightest touch of Rose’s hand on his arm was a thunderbolt to his senses. He followed her stare to the towering mountain of chocolate icing, festooned with various horse-related candies attached to each layer of the mammoth structure. On the topmost layer, the figure of a woman riding a horse was supposed to represent Rose, but the sculpted hair on the marzipan figurine was bright orange, while the horse was a dull, chocolatey brown. Neither did justice to Rose, or to her favourite pony. It was a good attempt by his chef, but now he wished he’d sent for a master patissier from Paris. The hair should be glittering gold, and the pony should have its ears pricked and its head turned towards Rose.
The ceremony of cutting the cake was a welcome break from the growing sexual tension between them. Rose made a big play of wielding the knife in a way that made everyone laugh, but then she grew serious and made a short speech. Thanking both him and Sofia, for the opportunities they’d put her way, as well as the chances they’d given to so many more people, she also thanked her guests for taking valuable time out of busy schedules to join the celebration.
‘There’s no one more deserving than you,’ his sister called out.
Sofia’s comment was received by answering cheers as Rose cut the cake. He took a glass of champagne to Rose so they could toast her birthday. ‘You still haven’t told me what you’d like for a gift,’ he reminded her.
