Alejandro's Revenge (20 page)

Abby was uncertain. ‘You can't deny you took a long time to come to the flat.'

‘You think it did not hurt me, too?' he demanded. ‘You think I can hear that the woman I love has lost my child without feeling totally devastated myself?
Cara
, I needed time to come to terms with it. I admit it. But not because I had any doubts about how I felt.'

Abby shook her head. ‘I don't know if I can believe you.'

‘Why not?' He gathered her into his arms, pressing his forehead to hers. ‘
Por Dios
, Abigail, I cannot live without you now. You are my life, my future. You are all I care about. What use would there be for me to marry another woman when the only woman I want has admitted she loves me?'

 

Some time later, Abby stirred in the rather cramped surroundings of her bed to find Alejandro sound asleep beside her. He had been exhausted, she thought, stretching out a hand to push a lock of silky dark hair back from his temple. But not too exhausted to show her that he meant what he said. He loved her. The unbelievable was true. He loved her. And he didn't care that she was unable to give him another child. They could adopt, he'd told her gently, when she'd persisted in labouring the point. If that was what she wanted. For himself, she would be his wife. She was all he needed.

‘What are you thinking?'

Unbeknownst to her, Alejandro's eyes had opened and now he was watching her with a sleepy amorous gaze. She was immediately conscious of the fact that the sheet had fallen
away to reveal the rounded swell of her breasts, but although she blushed a little she didn't attempt to hide herself.

‘I was thinking how much I love you,' she told him honestly. ‘And I was also thinking that this bed isn't really big enough for you.'

‘This bed is perfect,' Alejandro contradicted her softly, rolling nearer to bury his face between her warm breasts. ‘I hope you are not suggesting that I should return to my hotel? Apart from anything else, it is—' he screwed up his eyes to look at the clock on her bedside table ‘—two o'clock in the morning. And I am so comfortable here.'

Abby's lips tilted. ‘You don't really think I want you to go, do you?' she asked, as he lifted his head to nuzzle the curve of her neck. She wound her arms about his neck. ‘I'm just finding it very hard to believe, that's all.'

‘Believe it,' he told her fiercely. ‘We are going to spend every night together from now on.' He grimaced. ‘Whatever your brother has to say about it.'

Abby pulled a rueful face. ‘I think he'll be surprised.'

‘I do, too, though not perhaps as surprised as you,
cara
. He knew it was in his best interests to be honest with me. Perhaps he has realised that I can be of more use to him as a brother-in-law than an enemy.'

‘Oh, Alejandro!'

“‘Oh, Alejandro,'” he teased her, mimicking her outrage. Then his lips found hers with sudden ardour, his leg straddling her thigh so that she was left in no doubt as to his arousal.
‘Te amo, querida,'
he murmured, whispering to her in his own language. ‘Do you know how much I love you? How much I need you? You are my soul. The very meaning of my existence.'

His tongue slipped between her teeth then, finding the vulnerable contours of her mouth with hungry passion. One hand slid into her hair, the other cupping her bottom, holding her close against him.

‘Tell me,' he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Tell me you love me also. Then perhaps I will let you get some sleep.'

A
BBY
and Lauren were cooling off in the spa bath when Alejandro arrived home.

‘Your husband is early,' observed Abby's sister-in-law uneasily, hearing the car, and Abby didn't correct her. But the truth was Alejandro was usually home early. He'd told her he resented every minute he spent away from her.

‘I hope I am not interrupting anything,' he remarked a few minutes later, strolling out onto the deck that was steaming after the recent rainstorm. He had shed his tie, but he was still dressed in the suit he'd worn to his office. Although Abby was sure he must feel the heat, he looked as cool and dangerously attractive as ever.

He smiled at his cousin, but it was Abby who held his attention. Circling the tub, he bent and bestowed a lingering kiss on her mouth. Lauren shifted a little awkwardly, but Alejandro had no inhibitions.
‘Hola, cara,'
he said, one hand straying sensuously across his wife's bare shoulder. ‘Do you mind if I join you?'

Abby, who was used to her husband's outrageous behaviour, hid a smile, but Lauren had been born of more modest genes. ‘I must be going,' she said hastily, reaching for the towel she had placed strategically beside her. She gave Alejandro a nervous look. ‘Katie will have woken from her nap by now, and you know she doesn't like it if I'm not there to give her her juice.'

Abby reserved judgement. Catriona—Katie—was Edward and Lauren's small daughter. At eighteen months old, she was as pretty and feminine as her mother. Unfortunately, she was also spoiled, by both her parents and her grandparents, and she was becoming quite a tyrant.

‘Oh, por favor!'
Alejandro pretended to be devastated. ‘Do not let me drive you away,
pequeña
.' He glanced down at his wife as he spoke, however, and she saw the wicked humour glinting in his eyes. ‘Surely there is room in the tub for three?'

Lauren's lips tightened, and for a moment she looked disagreeably like her mother. ‘I am sorry,' she said stiffly, clearly waiting for him to leave so that she could get out and wrap herself in the enveloping folds of the towel. ‘I am sure you and your wife would prefer to be alone.'

Alejandro would have continued to tease her, but a look from his wife deterred him. ‘You may be right,' he murmured, brushing his lips across Abby's head before heading for the sliding doors. ‘If you will excuse me, I will go and get changed.'

However, as he entered the building another sound invaded the heat-laden air. A baby's cry, swiftly hushed, had him casting a wry backward glance at his wife.

‘No,' he said imploringly, but Abby was already getting to her feet, climbing out of the pool, wrapping a towel about her nakedness with an innocent disregard for Lauren's feelings.

‘Yes,' she said, catching up with her husband in a few barefoot strides. ‘It is his teatime.' She had fastened the towel sarong-wise under her arms, and now she caught Alejandro's arm in a possessive grasp. ‘It serves you right,' she added in an undertone, pressing against him. ‘You were teasing Lauren mercilessly. You know how she feels about bathing in the nude.'

‘She did not have to worry,' Alejandro assured her drily as they entered the spacious living room. ‘She should know by now that I am not interested in looking at her naked body. I merely thought it would have been fun for us all to enjoy the tub together.'

‘No, you didn't,' Abby contradicted him, but then he turned the tables on her by loosening the towel and gathering her into his arms.

‘Tell me you are not going to spend the next hour feeding
our son,' he demanded pleadingly, burying his face in the damp hollow of her neck. ‘I want you all to myself.'

‘Hardly an hour,' murmured Abby, a catch in her voice. ‘Darling, I'm going to lose the towel completely if you don't let me go.'

‘I do not want to let you go,' he informed her thickly.
‘Ah, cara, quiero hacerte el amor!'

‘And I want to make love with you, too,' responded Abby, who had learned quite a bit of Spanish in the past couple of years. ‘But Antonio is hungry and my breasts are aching.'

Alejandro closed his eyes. ‘Lucky Antonio,' he muttered, and then, opening them again, he helped her adjust the towel once more. ‘I hope he realises what I am sacrificing for his sake.'

Abby dimpled. ‘I am sure he does,' she murmured. Then, more soberly, ‘And we are so lucky to have him.'

‘Hmm.' Alejandro pulled a wry face. ‘I know. Although I sometimes think that if you had not been so sure you would not conceive again we might have taken more care than we did. I never intended us to have a baby just eighteen months after we were married.'

Abby smiled. ‘But you're glad we have him, aren't you?'

‘Our son?' Alejandro cupped her face between his hands. ‘
Querida
, you have no idea how proud I felt when you told me you were carrying our child. And watching him grow inside you…' He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. ‘That was—indescribable.'

The baby's cry could be heard again, and although the nursemaid was doing her best Abby knew that he would not settle until she had fed him.

‘I won't be long,' she promised, escaping from her husband's arms with real regret. ‘And afterwards—'

‘Afterwards I will make up for lost time,' Alejandro assured her huskily. He stepped nearer. ‘I suckled at your breasts long before he did,' he added, his hands straying irresistibly to the fullness outlined beneath the towelling. Then, restraining him
self, ‘Now I will see our cousin off the premises before she dies of embarrassment.'

Abby's laugh was soft and intimate. ‘Don't be long,' she said. ‘Oh, and by the way, she told me that Edward has finally finished paying off his debts. Whatever you say about Luis, he is not as soft as he appears. I think he and Edward are going to be good for one another.'

‘Let us hope so.' Alejandro cupped her cheek. ‘But I have to tell you, right now it does not interest me greatly.' Antonio's cry was becoming a little more urgent and he scowled. ‘I have other matters to contend with,' he observed, glancing into the hall, where the stairs rose to the upper floor. ‘Go and feed our son,
cara
. He sounds almost as impatient as I am.'

Abby started towards the door, but his voice caused her to glance round once more. ‘I love you,' he said simply, and Abby's heart turned over.

‘I love you, too,' she whispered. ‘
Te quiero, Alejandro. Tu eres mi vida.
You are my life.'