His eyes bored into her, hard, cold, implacable. “Why would you care?”
“Did you?”
He watched her a moment and then he shook his head, tumbling strands of black hair across his forehead. “No. I saw her in the stronghold, but I did not take her to my bed.”
Carly bit hard on her lip. “I’m sorry about tonight. I know you don’t believe it, but I only wanted to please you.”
He scoffed, a bitter sound rolling up from his throat, but he did not speak.
“I-I thought if I behaved like a true Spanish lady it would make you happy. I thought you might think of me as a wife, instead of just another woman to warm your bed. The last time we were together, I behaved very badly and you went away. I hoped this time… you would stay.”
Ramon just stared, his dark eyes fixed on her face. “You thought that was the reason that I left? You thought that you had done something wrong?”
Her face flushed scarlet in the moonlight. “I begged you not to stop. I let you touch me… everywhere. Surely a lady wouldn’t act like—”
He cut off her words by reaching for her, dragging her into his arms and crushing her against him. “Santos de Christo.How could you believe such a thing?”
“Tia Teresa said—”
“Tia Teresa has never been with a man.” He tilted her chin with his hand and she could feel it shaking. “Since the moment I left here, I have thought of nothing but making love to you. I remembered every touch, every kiss. I burned to touch you that way again.” He brushed her mouth with his lips. “I should have told you how much you pleased me. What I said to you that night… it was only that I was angry… and it wasn’t the truth. I was confused, uncertain about my feelings. I didn’t make love to you that night because I needed a woman. The truth was, I needed you.”
Tears stung her eyes. She blinked but they rolled down her cheeks. “Ramon…” Her arms slid around his neck and she clung to him.
“Forgive me,querida.I have had little experience with innocence such as yours.Por Dios,how can a man be such a fool?” He kissed her then, a bold, hot, ravaging kiss that sent a shower of heat through her body.
This time Carly didn’t fight it. She wanted to please him.
She loved him.
She kissed him back, mated her tongue with his, and heard him groan. She didn’t stop kissing him until he pulled away and lifted her into his arms.
“Ramon?” She clung to his powerful neck as he strode back toward the house.
“Si, querida?”
“What… what about the hole?”
“What hole?”
“You know, the one embroidered in the sheets.”
Ramon stopped on the path, a rumble of laughter erupting from his wide chest. “My tia has a good heart, but she knows little of men. I do not think there is a Spanish man born who has ever made use of the hole sewn into the sheets.”
Carly started laughing, too. She felt giddy with relief and once more was burning with hope. He hadn’t gone to Miranda; he had come back to her. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but if she did, he might remember that she had forced the marriage. He might believe she had meant to trap him all along, and she didn’t want to face any more of his anger. She only wanted him to make love to her.
Their laughter died away as they approached the house. Ramon nudged open the heavy oak door with the toe of his boot, strode in, and settled her on the bed.
“Whatever happens between us is no cause for shame,” he said, cupping her face in his hands. “Promise me you will remember.”
“I’ll remember.”
He reached for her nightgown, pulled it over her head. “There is no need for this. We will sleep together as God made us.” She flushed, but the thought of his smooth dark skin, his hard male body wrapped around her each night, sounded so wonderful, a wave of pleasure rolled through her.
She watched him undress, enjoying the ripple of muscle beneath his skin. He came to her naked and Carly welcomed him with open arms—and with all the love she felt for him that she could no longer deny.
He kissed her fiercely, then gentled the kiss, teasing her senses into tingling awareness. He took her passionately, filling her and making her cry out his name. Then he took her gently, wooing her with soft Spanish words and tender caresses. This time when they finished making love, she knew that she had pleased him. Perhaps in time, he would even come to love her.
They slept for a while, then he took her again, and once more just before dawn. Her lips were slightly bruised from his kisses, her body gently battered and wonderfully sated. She felt content as she never had before.
