Hannah Howell (7 page)

“You don't really know your place, do you,
señorita?"
The way Marilyn sneered the last word made it an insult.

“My place is where I am.” Antonie was determined not to let the woman make her angry.

“How very clever. If you were wise, you would find your place elsewhere."

“Do you threaten me?"

“No. I'm merely warning you. Royal is mine. I will not allow you to take him away from me."

“Perhaps I only mean to borrow him for a while."

Marilyn smiled coldly. “And give up all this? You want me to believe you would not try to become mistress of this ranch?"

“It is but dirt,
señorita.
If I decide to try for anything it will be for the man, not the dirt he stands on."

“How very noble, but you do not fool me.” She remounted, glaring down at Antonie. “I won't stand idly by and let you have your merry way. I intend to have Royal, to be mistress of this ranch, and I won't let any little Mexican slut get in the way of that."

“Ah,
El Magnifico,"
Antonie sighed after Marilyn had left, “that woman begs to be shot. She has not tasted the fire."

A smile touched her face when Oro appeared at her side a few moments later. “I thought this a hidden place."

“The
gringo
bitch found you easily enough.” He lay down, crossing his arms beneath his head.

“She warned me to stay away from Royal."

“It is said that they will marry."

“Royal says he has made no vows, given no promises. I believe him. She hungers to rule over his kingdom."

“And what do you hunger for, little one?"

“The fire. I want to taste the fire. I think and I think and no reason dims that hunger.” She settled into the same position as Oro. “I think that if I do not taste the fire I will always hunger for it, and always wonder about it. That could be a greater pain than what I might receive if my heart follows my body. Regret can be harder to bear than loss, eh?"

“Yes. Give it a few more days, Antonie. Be sure before you give away your innocence. It can never be retrieved."

“I know.” She reached out to clasp his hand. “I will think on it a while longer. It is not a decision to make hastily, I know."

Oro suddenly rolled on top of her. “Maybe you just need a man, little one."

She let him kiss her, even heartily participated. His skilled hand traced her curves as his mouth plied hers with slow sensuality. She was not unmoved, could even see that it could be very nice to make love with Oro, but it was not the same.

“There is not the fire. I could make love to you, but I do not have to, if you see what I am saying.” Seeing the warmth in his dark eyes, she suddenly worried if her words had hurt him. “Did you feel a fire, Oro?"

“Not as you mean. I am a man and you are lovely and soft. It would be easy to feel passion for you, to make love to you.” He sat up. “You are not just hungering for a man though, but one man. Royal Bancroft. Lying with me would not solve the problem.” He smiled slightly. “I know what you speak of, but I have never felt it. I am almost jealous. If you decide to lie with him, you will taste something I have never known for all my times of bedding a woman. I will not fault you if you do choose to go with the man."

“That is a comfort. It would pain me to disappoint you. Now,” she smiled, “you must help me begin
El Magnifico's
training."

He laughed heartily at her choice of name just as she had thought he would, and the air of seriousness disappeared. They romped like two children as they played with the puppy, teaching him very little. For the moment, Royal Bancroft was completely forgotten.

Royal saw them as he rode past. It was an innocent scene but it annoyed him. She claimed that her guard dogs were no longer watching over her, but they were still too close for his liking.

When the pair started to laugh Royal quietly rode away, still very confused and angry about the relationship that existed between Antonie and the Degas twins. For a brief moment, Antonie and Oro had certainly appeared to be lovers, but the embrace had ended quickly, their air of innocence returning within an instant. He was still trying to answer his own questions when he met Cole, who had clearly seen where he had been.

“Did your little
señorita
need soothing after Marilyn spoke to her?” Cole asked.

“Marilyn spoke to Antonie?"

“Oh yes. Didn't hear much, but it was plain as day that dear Marilyn was telling the girl to stay the hell away from you."

Royal swore softly. “Marilyn oversteps her bounds. I've made not one damn promise, not even hinted at one."

“We-ell, silence in the face of all the assumption could have been enough for her. You know what's been thought about the two of you for a good long time but you have never flatly denied it. You've given the woman free rein around this place. You can't fully blame her for thinking everything's all set."

“Perhaps not, but she's never shown this sort of possessiveness before, and I've been far from faithful."

“True, but you've never brought any of your women to the ranch before. Neither have you ever been in such obvious heat."

“Is it that clear to see?” Royal was not all pleased to be so easily read.

Cole chuckled. “Air plain sizzles between you and the little
señorita.
She is a fine-looking piece."

There was a not-so-subtle intonation in Cole's words that made Royal frown. The plan was to bed Antonie, not wed her. Cole's approval of the girl shouldn't have mattered to him. But it did.

“Don't you like Antonie?"

“Can't say. Don't know her. Still, she dresses like a man and shoots like one. That ain't the way of a lady."

“Don't forget, she was raised by a
bandido,"
Royal said and was as surprised by the defensive note in his voice as Cole seemed to be.

There could be a chance that it was more than his loins being drawn to Antonie Ramirez. He was no snob, cared little what stock people sprang from, but the daughter, adopted or not, of a
bandido
who had been the scourge of Texas for twenty years or so was stretching tolerance a little too far. He cold tell by Cole's face that his brother felt much the same way, and Cole's next words confirmed that suspicion.

“I don't. Just don't you forget it,” Cole said quietly. “I've seen her sensual side, her childlike side as well. Despite her clothes, she's damn feminine. You don't forget she's a woman, that's for damn sure. I've also seen her pull a gun on a man with the clear-eyed intent of killing him. It don't matter one tiny bit that she wasn't born of Juan's blood. He raised her, taught her. She grew up with thieves and murderers. She doesn't live by our rules. Don't forget that for one minute, Royal. Enjoy her all you want, but don't trust her for one minute, not for an inch."

Watching Cole ride off, Royal thought about what his brother had said. It all made sense, was very sound advice, but he could not feel the same. He could seem to do little else but trust Antonie, although he knew that that trust had barely been tested. Spurring his horse after Cole, he decided he would be wise not to completely disregard Cole's words. Whatever happened between him and Antonie, he would strive to remember who she was and where she had come from.

Heavy with the unfulfilled promise of rain, the night felt as if it were pressing in on Antonie, choking her. Finding Oro, she told him she was going to the swimming hole they had been shown during one of the many tours of Royal's lands. Not feeling inclined himself, he sent her on her way with a word of caution. Although the last week had been peaceful, Antonie agreed that it would not be wise to ease her wariness. She was not even sure she could. It was too much a part of her.

It had been one long week since Royal had last kissed her, and Antonie began to think that he had changed his mind about wanting her. She also knew that he was one reason that she found the weather oppressive. He had left her with a deep restlessness nothing could cure. She prayed that a cooling swim would dull the fire in her blood enough so that she could sleep.

Royal found himself stifled by the night, something he had never suffered from before. A restlessness had taken possession of him in the last few days. He cursed softly and rose from the desk—where he had been fruitlessly trying to do some work—to search out Antonie. A week was long enough for her to decide what she wanted. If she had not decided yet, he would do it for her.

Oro closely studied Royal as he asked Antonie's whereabouts. “It might be wisest if I do not tell you."

“And why is that?” Royal immediately wondered if Antonie was with a man and frowned when the thought of that actually hurt.

"Señor,
I am not stupid. You burn for the little one. Tonight the flame is very hot, eh?"

“Surely that is a matter strictly between Antonie and me."

Shrugging, Oro said,
"Sí
and no. It is her body, so it is hers to do with as she wants. Then again, she is like a sister to me and you can understand how I feel. I do not want to sit back and watch her get hurt."

“I have no intention of hurting Antonie."

“That is easy to say, eh?” Oro sighed. “Ah well, it is out of my hands. Antonie herself asked that. She has gone swimming."

“Alone?"

Oro nodded.

“Where?"

“Justin said it was the place of your childhood."

Upon reaching the pool surrounded by a stand of cottonwoods, Antonie knew exactly what she might be getting into with Royal. A week of thinking about him and about being his lover had not really decided her. It was when she thought that he might have decided not to bed her that her decision had been made. The thought that she might have already lost her chance was so painful she knew she would give in if he asked her again.

Each time she thought about his kisses that delicious warmth his touch created had curled inside her until now it seemed to be there all the time. Seeing him, even from a distance, was enough to fill her head with erotic images. The man was becoming a drug.

Shedding the last of her clothes, she dove into the water, relishing its coolness. While it eased the discomfort of the heat of the night, it did nothing for the heat within her. Swimming naked held its own sort of seductiveness. Yet again her mind filled with images of her and Royal making love. Antonie softly cursed the man for nudging awake feelings she could not seem to control.

Royal saw her as he reached the stand of cottonwoods. Her fair hair was like a beacon in the way that it caught and held the moonlight. For a moment he simply watched her, enjoying the grace she displayed as she swam. Then, careful not to startle her with too stealthy a move, he approached the edge of the pool.

“Have you come for a swim?” she asked, careful to keep herself modestly covered by the water.

“Am I invited?"

“It is your pool."

He began to remove his clothes, pausing when he was stripped down to his underdrawers. Recalling that Justin had said the trio swam in their underdrawers, he decided it might be best to leave his on. To dive in totally naked would be presumptuous, and the last thing he wanted was to make any wrong move or gesture. He wanted to pull her closer not scare her away.

As they swam, he noticed that she kept just out of his reach. The occasional glimpse of her slim limbs tantalized him. He could not be quite sure of exactly what, if anything, she was wearing. Finally, he stopped, standing in water that reached to his waist.

“You swim like a fish,” he remarked as she came to a stop far enough away so that the water covered all but her sleek shoulders.

“It was a skill Juan thought good to know.” Her hand itched to smooth over his taut skin as she admired his lightly haired chest.

“Come here, Antonie,” he commanded quietly, tired of the waiting game they had played for a torturous week. “I want to hold you."

Her pulse jumped erratically at his words, even as she replied, “You might find me a very large armful,
gringo."

“I'm willing to risk that. Antonie, I want to make love to you. No, I crave it. It's nearly an obsession with me. Come here, Antonie."

She moved closer, shivering beneath the warmth of his gaze as her breasts slowly cleared the water. “It is a very big step,
querido."

His gaze fixed hungrily upon her full breasts, the rose tips hard and inviting. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I'll help you make it."

The feel of her breasts pressed hard against his broad chest made her tremble. She slid her arms around his neck as he took her mouth in a deep kiss. Slow and enticing, it revealed his hunger for her, a hunger she shared.

As his kisses grew more demanding, he smoothed his hands down her back. When he met no obstruction to his touch, he trembled, gliding his hands over the gentle curves of her backside and urging her hips against his. The soft moan that escaped her as she came into contact with the indisputable proof of his desire sent his passions soaring. When she moved against him in growing urgency, he found himself shaking.

“You can't turn away from this, Antonie. Let me love you,” he groaned against her throat.

"Sí."

As he scooped her up into his arms, Antonie knew that that one small word had irrevocably committed her. He set her down and spread out her towel and his shirt for her to lie on. She mused idly that a man had no right to look so good in wet, sagging underdrawers. When she sat down on their makeshift bed and watched him shed that last piece of clothing, she decided it had to be a sin for him to look so good without them. The man was strength, grace, and virility perfectly blended.

His gaze never left her moonlit curves as he knelt before her. Softly kissing her, he urged her onto her back. When he released her mouth, he stayed crouched over her, surveying her as he lightly skimmed his hand over her.

“You're lovelier than I had imagined.” He cupped and weighed her full breasts with his hands. “I've thought of you like this since the day you arrived.” After caressing her waist, he slid his hands down to her thighs, urging them apart so that he could kneel between them. “God, you're all cream and gold. It's going to be heaven, Antonie."