Authors: Rochelle Alers
“Where were you married?”
“We decided to marry in Bahia. My sister was my matron of honor, and Aaron was Nicky’s best man. Aaron paid for the reception dinner at
Tempero da Dadá
, one of the more popular restaurants in Salvador. It was a very small gathering with my parents and Nicky’s, who had flown up from Buenos Aires.”
Regina sighed softly. “It sounds like a fairy tale romance.”
“And it has been,” Jeannette confirmed. “Earlier this year we decided to start a family, and I finally conceived in August.”
“Which means we should deliver a month apart.”
“Which means our children will grow up together. Our husbands are good friends, and I’m hoping you and I will also become good friends,” Jeannette said, flashing a bright smile.
Reaching across the table, Regina squeezed her hand. “I’m certain we will.”
She wanted to tell Jeannette that she had never had a girlfriend. Her female cousins did not count as girlfriends, and while in school she had never cultivated a friendship with any girl she felt comfortable enough to confide in. After her kidnapping she had found it hard to develop a closeness with anyone outside her family, and when most girls were flirting and hanging out in the malls with adolescent boys she had immersed herself in her studies, excelling, accelerating, and graduating a year ahead of her contemporaries.
She’d moved in with Oscar at seventeen, married him at nineteen, and spent the next eight years caring for her elderly, sick husband. She planned to spend six months in Bahia, and during that time she was certain she would call Jeannette Benedetti friend.
Aaron reread the newspaper article, the smile playing around his mouth widening as his gaze moved swiftly over the words.
“Good news?” questioned Dr. Dennis Liu.
“It has to be, or why would we be sitting here with chilled champagne?” asked the doctor who headed the research team.
Nodding, Aaron glanced up at the brilliant young microbiologist. “Very good news.”
“Then share it with us, Aaron,” a female research assistant pleaded softly.
Smiling at the eight people sitting around the conference table, Aaron lowered his gaze and began reading.
“Doctors at the
São Tomé Instituto de Médico Pesquisa
in Bahia, Brazil, have developed a new way to test fetuses for a potentially fatal blood problem known as RH incompatibility.
“The procedure, which is not yet in general use, is safer and faster than existing tests. Instead of inserting a needle through the mother’s abdomen and into her uterus, the doctors draw blood, with test results available within a day rather than a week or more.
“RH incompatibility can cause anemia, swelling, and brain damage. The current tests for RH-factor incompatibility use a needle to extract amniotic fluid or tissue from the placenta. These tests are accurate, but there’s a small risk—one percent to two percent—of their causing a miscarriage.
“The testing determines whether what is called the RH-factor in the baby’s blood is compatible with the mother’s. If not, the mother’s immune system may create antibodies that attack the baby’s blood.
“In a study to be published today in the
New England Journal of Medicine
, Dr. Aaron Spencer, the institute’s director, said he found that the mother’s blood carries enough of the fetus’s DNA to determine the baby’s RH-factor as early as fourteen weeks into pregnancy.”
Folding the newspaper, he offered each person sitting at the table a warm smile. “Congratulations.”
The man who headed the research team stood up and applauded as the others in the room followed suit, applauding one another.
The young doctor from China, who had joined the research staff a year ago, reached for the open bottle of champagne chilling in a container on the conference table, and one by one each person held out a flute to be filled.
Dr. Dennis Liu filled a glass, extending it to Aaron. “To you, Aaron. For believing in us, and for signing our paychecks.”
“Hear! Hear!” the assembled chorused.
Aaron took the proffered glass and raised it. “To the finest research team in the world. This recognition could not have come at a better time, because this Christmas will become one that I will remember for a long time. And before we end this research year for our holiday recess I’d like to invite everyone to my home for a little celebratory soiree next Saturday evening. You may bring your wives, husbands, partners, or significant others.” There was a stunned silence during which the eight exchanged questioning glances. “The festivities will begin at seven,” he continued smoothly. Draining his glass, he savored the bubbles on
his tongue before swallowing the premium champagne. “Excuse me, ladies, gentlemen. I’m taking the rest of the afternoon off.”
Dennis Liu glanced at his watch. It was only two-thirty. He might have been the newest member of the research team at the
São Tomé Instituto de Médico Pesquisa
, but he was more than aware of the in-house rumors of Dr. Aaron Spencer regularly spending as many as three nights a week at the institute until he took a leave of absence several months ago.
He had returned to Bahia a changed man, and since his wife arrived he had exhibited another facet of his personality no one had ever seen before. He seemed more relaxed, smiled more often, and there were times when he seemed more human, not an automaton who existed for medical research. Yes, Dennis mused, getting married had had an amazing effect on the man who headed the
São Tomé Instituto de Médico Pesquisa
.
Aaron parked the Range Rover in the garage, then made his way toward the garden, where he was certain to find Regina. He slowed his pace, noting the obvious changes. All of the overgrown portions of the flower and herb gardens were cleared away, turning the garden into a civilized oasis. Water poured from the fountain into a pool, which flowed into a long runlet.
Walking along a wide avenue of stone, he noticed that the many flowers were living works of art. He touched the dewy petals of a dainty iris, and inhaled the distinctive fragrance of orchids growing in extravagant abandonment.
He had played hide-and-seek in his aunt’s garden during his youth, usually ignoring its haunting beauty. Regina had painstakingly begun its restoration, and like a phoenix it now rose anew.
Making his way up a flight of stone steps, he smiled at a statuary swathed in palm fronds. He ran his fingers over the cool marble, tracing its smooth curves.
Movement caught his attention and he went completely still, listening.
He heard Regina’s low, sultry voice then that of Christôvão’s. Aaron did not know why, but he felt like a cuckold husband spying on his unfaithful wife. He waited until they emerged from the overgrowth of trees, startling both when they saw him.
“Boa tarde,”
he announced quietly, inclining his head.
Christôvão offered him a half-smile.
“Boa tarde
, Senhor Spencer.” He gave Regina a shy smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Regina gestured to him. “No, Christôvão, don’t leave.”
“Let him go,” Aaron commanded when the younger man quickened his pace and walked away.
Rounding on him, Regina glared at Aaron. “What are you doing? Spying on me?”
Folding his arms over his chest, he tilted his head at an angle. “Is there a reason why I should?”
Heat flooded her cheeks. “Of course not.” She gave him a long, penetrating stare. “What are you doing home so early?”
His upper lip curled under the neatly barbered moustache. “I came home to share
siesta
with my wife.”
“You delude yourself, because I’m not your wife,” she shot back angrily.
His temper rose to match hers. “And what keeps you from becoming my wife, Senhora Spencer?”
Her gaze widened. “There are a number of reasons.”
“Enumerate.”
“I don’t want to become a possession, Aaron. I don’t want to feel as if you own me the way you own this land. And I don’t want you to think I’m beholden to you because I’m carrying your child. Years from now I don’t want you to throw it in my face that you married me because you didn’t want your child to be illegitimate. I also don’t want you to use me to pay your father back for marrying your fiancée. And, last but not least, I don’t need your money to provide support for this baby, nor do I need your name, because I’m already a Spencer.”
“Are you finished?” he questioned in a dangerously soft voice.
Raising her chin in a haughty gesture, she turned her back. “Yes, I am.”
“Good.” Taking two steps, Aaron swept her up in his arms and carried her into the allée of palms closing in around them. She struggled in his embrace, and he tightened his grip. “The only time you aren’t verbally abusing me with that whip you call a tongue is when I make love to you, Senhora Spencer.”
Her gaze widened as she froze. “You’re not going to make love to me in—”
He stopped her words when his mouth descended on hers, robbing her of her breath. Pulling back, he drew in a lungful of air, then recaptured her soft, throbbing mouth.
Day merged into night the farther he retreated deep into the garden, the towering trees blocking out the brilliant Brazilian afternoon summer sun.
Regina, caught up in the dizzying spell of rising passion, remembered Aaron lowering her to the cool, damp earth, but nothing beyond that. It was later, much later that she found herself nude, lying on Aaron’s shirt as he lay beside her breathing heavily. When his respiration returned to normal, he had plucked a flowering shell ginger and tucked it behind her left ear.
The cool earth absorbed the heat from her moist body as she closed her eyes, reveling in the aftermath of their passions having spiraled out of control.
“What are you doing to me, Aaron?”
Turning on his side, he smiled at her thoroughly kissed mouth. “I’m loving you,
Princesa
.”
“No, you’re not,” she slurred.
“Oh, yes I am,” he insisted.
“You’re taking advantage of me. You’re bigger, stronger, and—”
“And I love your life,” he confessed, pressing his mouth to hers.
There was a low rumble as the earth vibrated under their bodies and both went completely still. It was thunder. They were lying naked in the garden while the threat of imminent rain threatened to cool their wanton coupling. There was another roll of thunder, followed by fat, warm drops dotting their fevered flesh.
They sprang to their feet, pulling on articles of clothing to cover their nakedness as they raced out of the garden toward the house. Aaron managed to slip on his slacks and Regina her slacks and top, both leaving underwear and shoes behind.
She clutched Aaron’s hand, while holding her unbuttoned blouse together with her other. “Slow down!” she screamed to be heard above the intermittent rumbling.
He slowed enough to swing her up into his arms and raced the remaining feet to the house. Staring down at her flushed face, he smiled, his gaze moving down to her exposed breasts. The lush darkness of her distended nipples renewed his passion all over again as he pushed open the door to the inner courtyard.
Magda walked across the living room, staring at the rain-soaked couple, her knowing gaze taking in their state of half-dress. “Is Senhora Spencer all right?”
Regina pressed her face to Aaron’s bare chest when she heard the housekeeper’s voice. She wanted to tell Magda that she was wonderful. Aaron had just made love to her in the garden, and all she wanted to do was spend the rest of her life in his arms.
“She’s fine, Magda,” Aaron said, taking the stairs two at a time. He moved down the hallway, smiling at Regina. “Now, are you ready to take
siesta
with me?”
“Umm,” she moaned, angling for a more comfortable position.
He placed her on the bed, removed her damp clothing, then removed his slacks and lay down beside her. “I love you, Regina Spencer,” he whispered as he closed his eyes and joined her in a sleep for sated lovers.
R
egina awoke to a blue-veiled sky and an orange-colored full moon as the backdrop for a profusion of twinkling stars. She moaned softly as she turned away from the window.
“Did I hurt you?” questioned a deep voice in the velvet darkness.
“No. I’m just a little stiff from pulling up weeds.”
Aaron sat up, reached over, and flicked on the table lamp. Turning back to Regina, he frowned at her. “What are you doing weeding? Isn’t that why I hired Christôvão?”
She let out her breath in an audible sigh. “I was helping him.”
Moving closer, he place a hand over her hip, massaging the tender muscles in her lower back. “Next time let the man do
his
job.”
“I will,” she promised. She moaned again. “That feels wonderful, Aaron.”
Going up on his knees, he leaned over her prone body and
massaged her back and legs, his strong fingers working their healing magic.
“I want to host a Christmas party for the staff at the institute,” he stated firmly.
There was a noticeable pause before Regina responded. “Where?” Her low, sultry voice floated up and lingered in the quietness of the room.
“Here.”
“When?”
“Next Saturday.”
A slight smile softened her full lips. “You’re not giving me much notice, Aaron. I have to prepare a menu and decorate the house.”
He ran his forefinger down the length of her spine. “We’ll have a caterer provide the food. Meanwhile, Magda and I will help you with whatever else you’ll need in the house.”
Shifting, she sat up and pressed her back against the massive, carved headboard. “How can you help when you’re working?”
Aaron moved over and sat beside her. His admiring gaze lingered on her delicate profile. “Tomorrow will be my last day at the institute for two months. And—”
“Two months?” she queried, interrupting him. It was apparent she was shocked at this disclosure.
“We always recess for two months. It gives everyone a chance to return to their native countries, or go on holiday. You’ll get to see a lot of me until mid-February.”
“Speaking of February, would you mind if I invited my brother and sister to come for Carnival?”
Curving an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her head to his chest. “Of course I don’t mind. Invite whomever you want.”
She smiled up at him. “You wouldn’t be so generous if I decided to invite the entire Cole clan.”
“Oh, yes I would,” he said teasingly. “I don’t know where
everyone would sleep, but I’m certain we could figure out something.”
Regina stared at her left hand splayed over his muscled chest, her gaze lingering on the white and rare yellow diamonds in the wide band on her finger. Pulling back, she gave him a direct stare. “Did you take my ring from my evening purse?”
He frowned. “What ring?”
“The ring Oscar gave me.”
“No, I didn’t. Why?”
“I can’t find it.”
“When was the last time you saw it?”
“The night we went to Jeannette’s party. You took it off my finger, but I put it in my bag.”
“Do you think it could’ve fallen out?”
She shrugged both shoulders. “I don’t know. I dropped the purse on the staircase, but when I picked it up the next morning it was still closed.”
Moving off the bed, Aaron stood up. “After I shower I’ll ask Magda if she found it.”
Regina went to her knees and held on to his wrist. “Don’t. I’ll ask her. I don’t want her to think you’re accusing her of stealing it.”
His eyebrows met in a frown. “I’d never accuse her of being a thief.”
“Let me handle it?”
“Okay,” he conceded. “I won’t say anything.” He extended a hand. “Come share a shower with me.”
She grasped the proffered fingers. “Only if you promise to behave, Aaron Spencer.”
Pulling her gently from the bed, he swung her up in his arms. “I can promise you anything but that.”
“Aaron,”
she wailed.
“Okay. But just this time.” Walking across the bedroom, he
shifted her ripening body, smiling. She was gaining weight. “I’ve come up with a name for our daughter,” he said mysteriously.
Her eyes brightened with amusement. “What is it?”
“Eden.”
Lowering her gaze, lashes brushing her sun-tanned cheeks, Regina flashed a shy smile. “It would be very appropriate for a girl, but—” Her gaze moved up and locked with his.
“But what?” His voice was barely a whisper.
“But it’s going to be a boy.”
“How do you know that, Senhora Spencer?”
“I just know.”
“We’ll see.”
“Promise me you won’t ask Nicolas to see the ultrasound pictures.”
“Have you seen them?” he countered.
“No. And I don’t want to. Promise me, Aaron.” His mouth tightened beneath his moustache. “Please, Darling,” she pleaded, offering him one of her irresistible dimpled smiles.
“All right. I promise,” he said between clenched teeth.
“I will finish bringing out the dishes and show the caterers where you want them to set up when they arrive, Senhora Spencer.”
Regina smiled at Magda, nodding. “Thank you for your help. Everything looks beautiful.” She and Magda had prepared all of the appetizers for the cocktail hour.
Cold fish dishes, along with other platters filled with assorted cheeses, a Mediterranean salad, a five-tomato salsa, stuffed tomatoes and mushrooms, chicken salads, oven-roasted artichoke slivers with thyme and marjoram, and prosciutto-stuffed figs all lined the tables set up in the courtyard, which was brightly illuminated with more than three dozen lanterns positioned around the perimeter. Strings of tiny electric lights cast an ethereal glow on the garden and beyond.
Regina had planned for an outdoor buffet dinner for twenty, followed by dancing under a navy-blue, star-littered sky. The oppressive daytime temperatures were alleviated by the setting sun, and a nighttime temperature of seventy-five with a warm summer breeze had helped create the perfect setting for a holiday gathering.
Magda offered Senhora Spencer a sincere smile for the first time since she had come to the da Costa estate. Her smile was still in place as she watched Regina retreat to the house to dress before the arrival of her guests.
Even though she resented the younger woman’s presence, she had to admit she had treated her kindly. When Regina had questioned her about her missing wedding ring, she had readily accepted her response that she hadn’t seen it.
She’d lied smoothly; it was she who had taken it from the small purse lying on the staircase. Discovering the ring had been divine providence. She had waited two days, then taken a rare trip to Salvador and sold it for a fraction of its worth. She could have haggled and gotten more money, but what she received was enough—more than enough to pay someone to make certain Senhora Regina Spencer and the child she carried in her womb would not survive the next harvest.
Aaron squeezed Regina’s fingers, then smiled down at her as the first of the invitees walked into the courtyard. The invitation had indicated casual dress. The men arrived
sans
jackets and ties, and the women favored colorful sandals they had paired with dresses that revealed the maximum amount of bare flesh without being vulgar.
Regina felt almost overdressed in her silk ensemble of slacks and softly flowing top with a scooped neckline. She wore red, and Aaron had elected black: linen slacks, shirt, and imported Italian loafers.
She felt the excitement the moment she had descended the
staircase. Every room in the house was filled with flowers, bringing the ethereal enchantment of her resplendent garden indoors.
The caterers and the musicians had arrived, and had set up quickly and expertly before their guests crossed the boundary line marking the da Costa property.
“Everything looks beautiful,” Aaron whispered. “You look beautiful.”
Returning his smile, she nodded. “Thank you, Darling.”
Lowering his head, he pressed his mouth to her ear. “No,
Princesa
, thank
you
.”
“I’m truly wounded, Aaron. You throw a party and forget to invite me.”
Aaron’s head came up quickly when he heard a familiar male voice. A bright smile crossed his face as he released Regina’s hand and pulled Marcos Jarre into a quick, rough embrace.
“If you wanted an invitation, you should’ve let me know you were back.”
Marcos Jarre’s black eyes narrowed in concentration as he ignored the man who was more like a brother to him than his own brother, his gaze softening when he stared at the tall, slender woman standing beside Aaron Spencer.
Aaron did not miss Marcos’s interest in Regina. Curving an arm around her waist, he smiled. “Regina, this gypsy is Marcos Jarre, our closest neighbor. Marcos, Regina Spencer.”
Regina extended a slender hand, offering Aaron’s friend a warm, dimpled smile. “My pleasure, Marcos.”
He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. His steady gaze did not waver behind the lenses of his round, wire-rimmed glasses when he catalogued every inch of her face and body. “No, Regina. The pleasure is mine. I can’t believe my friend has been holding out on me.”
“I wouldn’t have to hold out on you if you called me more than once a year,” Aaron teased. “Marcos has spent the last ten
years of his life studying and teaching in Europe and Africa. And I must admit that he is a brilliant teacher and scholar,” he explained to Regina.
Marcos shook his head, smiling. “You’ve changed, friend. Old age and marriage have humbled you.”
“Old age!” Aaron retorted. “I’m only a day older than you are.”
Regina examined the man who would be her neighbor during her stay in Bahia. She eclipsed his height by several inches, but his slender body made him appear taller than his five feet, eight inches. He affected a close-cropped haircut, while a neat goatee added character to his narrow face. His coloring reminded her of a polished pecan with rich, gold-brown undertones. His English was flawless, and she wondered whether he was a native Brazilian or had learned the language during his travels.
“In case you’re not aware of it, your husband is also an excellent teacher,” Marcos stated with a wide grin. “He taught me English—”
“And you taught me to speak Spanish,” Aaron countered.
“And I taught you how to ride a horse,
amigo
, and you became a better horseman, even though I had grown up around them all of my life.”
Aaron nodded. “That’s because books were your passion, not horses. How long do you plan to stay in Bahia this time?”
“I’ve taken a sabbatical. I’ll be here for a year.”
As he placed a large hand on Marcos’s shoulder, Aaron’s expression softened. “Good. Welcome home, friend.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope you’re going to join us,” Regina offered in a quiet tone.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Marcos teased, winking at her.
“He’s seems very nice,” she said to Aaron after Marcos made his way across the courtyard to where a portable bar had been set up.
“He’s the brother I never had,” Aaron admitted. “He’s truly brilliant,
Princesa
. He has become an expert on African history. He has lived in most African countries, and has lectured at every prestigious university in the States and Europe. He just spent the past two years at Oxford.”
Curiosity and anticipation lit up her eyes. “I’d love to invite him for dinner.”
“Knowing Marcos, he won’t wait for an invitation. Chances are you’ll get to see a lot of him now that he’s going to remain in Bahia for more than a few months.”
She inhaled, then let out her breath slowly. “I think it’s time you introduced me to your guests.”
“
Our
guests,” he reminded her, spying Nicolas and Jeannette as they made their way into the courtyard.
Regina spent the cocktail hour meeting and socializing with the people who worked at the research institute. She thought them too formal, stilted, until each had sampled a cup of potent rum punch. After their second drinks inhibitions were shed, and everyone exhibited a liveliness that was infectious.
The frivolity continued well into the night with drinking, dancing, and a nonstop consumption of food. Regina shared her first dance with Aaron, then with every man present. A few of the doctors from the institute flirted shamelessly with her, but she laughed and ignored some of the more ribald comments, attributing the loose tongues to the intoxicating effects of the punch.
Near the midnight hour she found herself in the arms of Marcos Jarre, once the pulsing musical numbers had slowed to a classic, Brazilian love ballad. He had pulled her into a close embrace, then gone completely still once he registered the slight swell of her belly artfully disguised under the red silk.
“You’re expecting a child?” His voice was a hoarse whisper.
She shifted an eyebrow, smiling. “Yes.”
He whistled softly. “My friend has really changed.”
Her smile faded, replaced by a questioning frown. “Why would you say that?”
Marcos shook his head. “There was a time when Aaron took a solemn oath that he would never marry or have children.”
She forced a smile she did not feel. “I suppose anyone can change.”
“That’s true, Regina. But I just remember Aaron being so adamant about not wanting to get married.” He swung her around in an intricate step, she following easily. “However, I can see why he did change his mind. You’re stunning,” he murmured in a velvet tone.
Easing back, she stared at him. “Are you flirting with me, Marcos?”
“Of course,” he replied flippantly.
She was forced to laugh even though she did not feel like it. Marcos and Jeannette had remarked how much Aaron had changed, and she wondered who was the real man she had reluctantly pledged her future to.
Had he proposed marriage because he truly did love her, or was revenge his intent? The question nagged at her until Marcos’s voice shattered her musings.
“How much of Bahia have you seen?”
“Not too much. I visit Salvador several times a month. I’m currently spending a lot of time at home because I’m restoring the garden.”