Raul's Revenge Read online

  Feeling like kicking him, she tore herself out of his hold and shot across the room, tears stinging her eyes. She was furious and so hurt... Now she knew what he really thought of her.

  Spinning on her heel, she looked back at him. He was standing, all outraged masculine aggression. Her blue eyes ran over his tall, fit body. She loved him, but the Sheikh was obviously an astute man. He had seen what Penny had refused to acknowledge...

  'Perhaps if you had not hesitated over introducing me as your companion—' she drawled the word scathingly '—he would not have considered me concubine material in the first place. The Sheikh is a man of the world, with a good grasp of English. Companion. Concubine. Where is the difference?' she demanded bitterly, and almost laughed at the look of outrage on Raul's dark face.

  'Is that what you truly think? Is that how you truly imagine I see our relationship?' Raul asked, slightly in­credulous, but with an icy authority that demanded an answer.

  She stared back at him. 'I think—' She stopped. She didn't know what she thought any more.

  When she had first met Raul it had all seemed so perfect—like fate, destiny. She had been working the late shift in the Kensington branch of a national drugs company that had employed her as a pharmacist.

  It had been a black, blustery night at the end of January when Raul had dashed into the shop with a pre­scription which he'd said was for his housekeeper Mrs. Grimble's angina. The old lady had forgotten to have it filled and he had not liked the idea of her being without tier medication. Penny had thought what a caring man he was and her admiration had risen another notch when he'd declared that it was very dangerous for a lovely young girl like herself to be alone in a pharmacy at night.

  They had got talking and Penny had remarked on his slight accent. He'd told her that he was Spanish and she remembered her response with a sad smile.

  'But you're too tall to be Spanish.'

  Raul had laughed out loud and gently mocked her. A commonly held prejudice of northern Europeans, but nay I point out Prince Felipe of Spain is well in excess of six feet? Your Prince Charles is around five-nine, no?'

  Admitting her mistake, they had laughed together. But she had sensibly refused his offer to come back at closing time, to give her a lift home. The company had provided taxis for the late staff. But the following afternoon Raul lad appeared again and persuaded her to have dinner with him.

  That had been the start of their relationship. For the next two months, whenever he'd been in London, he'd called her, wined and dined her, taken her to the theatre, the opera, and opened up a world of wealth and sophistication that she had never thought to aspire to, and finally he had taken her to his bed.

  How naive she had been! Penny thought, closing her yes for an instant as the memory washed over her. Raul lad made love to her with all the tender passion and expertise he possessed. Her passage from virgin to woman had been a revelation, a feast of the senses, an explosion of emotions that she had never imagined possible.

  It had been the most perfect night of her life, and the morning after, lying curled up against the hard heat of his male body, she had foolishly asked when they were getting married.

  Raul had quickly dismissed the suggestion, declaring that because he was so much older, more experienced than she it would not be fair to rush her into marriage She might change her mind. Most girls after their first time confused love with sex.

  Instead he had suggested that she give up her job and move in with him. He had made it all sound very sensible, as if he was doing her a favour.

  She shook her head, her pale hair floating around her shoulders, an unfamiliar cynical smile curving her lovely mouth. Ripe for the plucking, sprang to mind.

  ‘You bitch.'

  Her head shot back, Raul's snarling comment shocking her out of her reverie. His dark eyes glittered with rage and in one lithe stride he was in front of her, his strong hands grasping her shoulders. 'I—' she began

  ‘Don't bother to lie; your silence is answer enough, he growled, just before his mouth crashed down on hen in a brutal parody of a lover's kiss.

  Penny lifted her hands to the hard wall of his chest trying to push him away. But he was too big, too strong and, sensing her resistance, he swept one arm around her tiny waist, hauling her off her feet, while his other hand twisted the length of her hair around his fingers, pulling her face back, the better to ravish her mouth.

  'No, Raul,' she gasped as his mouth left hers to savage her throat with hot, burning kisses.

  He raised his head, his black eyes implacable in their intent. 'No? You dare to say no?' he grated harshly. 'You have a lot to learn for a woman who thinks she is a con­cubine. They are not allowed to say no.'

  Penny began to struggle in earnest, kicking out wildly with her feet, her small hands pushing at his massive shoulders, but with no effect. Raul simply hoisted her over his shoulder and stalked into the bedroom while she pummelled his back with her clenched fists in vain.

  'Put me down, you great, hulking brute!' she screamed. She would not allow him to treat her like this, she vowed.

  Suddenly she was falling backwards onto the bed, all the breath leaving her body with the force of the impact. She gazed up at the man standing over her. It was a Raul she had never seen before. He was out of control, his lips pulled back in the travesty of a smile, his dark eyes flashing fire.

  His hand reached down and tore the halter-neck of her dress to her waist, revealing her braless state. She put her hands to cover herself and he tore them away, spreading them either side of her head as he bent to kneel over her, straddling her lower body with his long legs.

  His fiery gaze skimmed her bare breasts. 'No wonder the Sheikh was so charmed; you virtually displayed yourself naked in that dress.'

  'Please, Raul,' Penny murmured, suddenly beginning to feel frightened of him for the first time in their re­lationship, even as her breasts hardened under his searching gaze.

  'You think I treat you like a concubine? You think I keep you as a slave? It is time you knew the difference, my sweet Penny—my sweet, innocent, flirtatious Penny,' he snarled with savage mockery. Then, bending his head, he deliberately bit down lightly on one rose-tipped breast and then the other.

  Penny jerked beneath him and felt the familiar heat of instant arousal in her loins. Raul at his worst could still excite her, even as she hated herself for it. His mouth found hers and his teeth nipped at her lips until she gave him access. His tongue plunged deep into her mouth, stroking, arousing, demanding her response, and she could not deny him.

  Passion ignited between them like a forest fire run wild. Raul reared back, his hand ripping her dress and panties down and off her feet, and, within seconds of discarding his trousers, he was once more over her.

  His lips found hers and she was ready for him. The heat, the aroused male scent, the hard-packed muscle were her own particular aphrodisiac. She could no more resist him than stop the ocean tide. The blood pounded through her veins; she could feel the rapid pounding of his mighty heart as she pulled at his shirt, tearing off the buttons in her haste to feel his naked flesh against her breasts. Instead his mouth found her hardened peaks and suckled each in turn as one long leg parted her thighs and he slammed into her with savage ease.

  It was over in a minute—a rapacious coupling that neither could resist. Raul's full weight collapsed on top of her and he buried his head on the pillow over her shoulder.

  Penny, fighting for breath, was appalled at her own lack of control. But that Raul had so completely lost control that he had forgotten protection she found incredible.

  'Raul,' she murmured, slipping her arm around his shoulders, her slender fingers tracing up the back of his neck and into his sweat-damp, curling hair.

  He turned his head away from her; his eyes caught the flash of diamonds on the bedside table and he groaned. Moving onto his back and sweeping Penny into his arms, he said huskily, 'Dios, I'm sorry, Penny.' His voice was deep with remorse. 'It s your birthday
, and I lost it completely. Did I hurt you?'

  'No. Surprised me, shocked me a little, but hurt me? Never,' Penny reassured him softly, her blue eyes gazing up into his darkly handsome face which was dazed with the aftermath of violent passion.

  ‘I shocked myself,' Raul said with wry mockery. 'I did not believe I could feel such jealousy. Seeing that Arab kiss your hand, I suddenly wanted to hit him.'

  'Hardly good business practice,' Penny teased, luxur­iating in the comfort of her lover's arms and secretly delighted that Raul had been jealous. It must mean that he loved her!

  'I know, and then to introduce you as my com­panion ... I'm not surprised you were angry. I should have said partner.' And, tilting her head back, he brushed her lips with a gentle kiss.

  'Partner. Yes, I like that,' she murmured, stroking her hand over his hairy chest. 'If it is true.' She glanced up through her thick lashes at his beloved face, needing all the reassurance she could get.

  'Of course it is true. Now and for ever,' Raul declared throatily, his hand capturing hers on his broad chest.

  Penny sighed her contentment. Raul was hers. All of him. And, glancing down at the muscular length of his magnificent body, she began to giggle.

  'What's so funny?'

  'Oh, Raul, the business tycoon, still wearing his jacket and shirt, admittedly torn open, then naked from the waist down except for his socks.'

  •

  Raul pulled himself up the bed and looked down. His lips twitched; he glanced at Penny and lifted a socked foot, and they both burst out laughing, the happy sound echoing in the still night air.

  CHAPTER TWO

  'Come on, sleepyhead; you have ten minutes to get ready.'

  Penny opened her eyes and looked up at Raul standing by the side of the bed. She stretched and smiled—a slow, sensuous curve of her full lips. She lifted out a hand towards him. Then, frowning, she let it drop to the coverlet. He was already dressed in a navy silk suit...

  'Not this morning, honey,' he drawled with a mocking grin, accurately reading her mind. Usually they started the day in a much more enjoyable fashion.

  Penny murmured, 'Spoilsport!' and snuggled back under the cover. 'You work if you must, but I feel like another hour in bed.'

  'Sorry, but there has been a change of plan.'

  'What?' she asked fuzzily, reluctant to leave the warmth of the wide bed.

  'Come on, Penny; move it. The honeymoon can't last for ever. You're booked on a flight back to Spain leaving in seventy minutes.'

  'We're leaving?' She hauled herself up into a sitting position, her eyes flicking enquiringly to his hard face.

  'Not exactly. I have to stay a few days to sort out a couple of problems with the design of the desalination plant. But you are going back to the hacienda; you will be safer there. I should never have brought you with me in the first place. Too many men around here would pay a fortune for a girl like you, and I cannot be around to protect you all day.'

  He crossed the room and pulled back the curtains, allowing the blistering brilliance of the morning sun to illuminate the room. Penny blinked at the harsh light, and the even harsher expression on Raul's dark face.

  'Really, Raul, aren't you overreacting a bit?' she res­ponded drily. 'I can't see myself being kidnapped out of the Hyatt Regency, somehow.' And, sliding out of bed, dragging the sheet around her naked body, she crossed to where he stood lounging against the window-frame. 'And you did promise to take me to England,' she reminded him peevishly. 'I've arranged—'

  'Not now, Penny; I haven't the time to argue.' He cut her off in mid-sentence. 'I don't want you here. I want you back in Spain, where Ava and Carlos can look after you.' Pushing away from the window, he swatted her bottom as he brushed past her. 'Do as you're told and hurry. You now have only eight minutes.'

  The master has spoken, Penny thought angrily, but still she did as she was told. Packing took a matter of minutes, and after a lightning-fast shower she pulled on her briefs, a pair of white cotton trousers and a blue halter-top, slipped white espadrilles on her feet and she was ready. But silently simmering with resentment.

  She marched into the sitting room, ready to demand an explanation. Raul knew perfectly well that she had arranged to meet her friend Amy in London at the weekend. Now he was suggesting that she stay in Spain and wait for him like a dutiful little wife. Except she wasn't his wife! And what had he said earlier? 'The honeymoon can't last for ever.'

  She paused. Was that how Raul viewed the past few idyllic months that they had been together—a honeymoon for him, without the complication of having to marry the girl in the first place?

  'Dios, Penny, are you determined to make a spectacle of yourself?' Raul's angry voice sliced the air.

  'Spectacle?' She glanced up at his frowning face. What had she done wrong now?

  'No bra, bare arms, bare back—is there no end to your stupidity?'

  Penny looked down at her neat blue halter-top and back up at her lover's grim face. 'Apparently not,' she muttered, and she wasn't just referring to her clothes.

  'No matter; you haven't time to change.' And, grabbing her arm, he bustled her out of the suite and into the waiting elevator.

  'Even if I had, I wouldn't,' she snapped defiantly. 'In case you hadn't noticed, it is the middle of June, the temperature is over a hundred degrees, and it will not be much different in Andalusia. I couldn't give a fig if the women here go around covered from head to foot. I am Christian and British and will wear what I please.'

  She almost added, So there. Much as she loved Raul, he could be the most arrogant, chauvinistic man in the world sometimes.

  'Happy you got that off your chest?' Raul drawled mockingly, with a cynical, sensual glance at that par­ticular part of her anatomy.

  Penny felt the colour surge in her face but wasn't sure whether it was anger or arousal that was making her blush. 'Yes,' she snapped back, and turned her head away as he slipped one arm around her waist, his head lowering towards hers. She wasn't in the mood to kiss and make up. She was angry, confused and bitterly disappointed.

  Perhaps it was just as well that they were parting for a while. The events of the last twelve hours had left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. She had glimpsed herself through a stranger's eyes—those of an Arab prince— and she did not like what she saw. Plus, Raul's attitude did not help one bit.

  It was as if coming to an Arab country had heightened in him the characteristics of his Moorish forefathers. The Moors had once dominated southern Spain for nearly eight hundred years, and, watching Raul now, she could quite imagine him locking her away in purdah, given half a chance.

  His home, situated west of Granada, was built in the Moorish style—all graceful arches and elegant balconies but with iron grilles at the windows. A central courtyard, sheltered from the burning heat of the summer by ancient olive and lemon trees, also effectively blocked off the outside world.

  The land had been in Raul's family for generations— a huge estate with vast expanses of olive groves stretching across the gently waving plains and higher up into the hills where roamed cattle and the horses which Raul kept as a hobby. She loved the place, but it was isolated...

  She glanced up at him, her disturbing thoughts clearly reflected in her blue eyes. But at that moment the el­evator doors swished open and Raul straightened to his full height, his dark face impassive as he ushered her across the elegant foyer and out into the scorching heat of the morning sun.

  A chauffeur opened the door of a waiting limousine and, without a word being spoken, Penny found herself in the back seat with Raul beside her.

  'I suppose I should be honoured you can actually spare the time to take me to the airport,' Penny sniped, still hurting at his high-handed action in shipping her back to Spain. A long arm curved around her slender shoulder and Raul's other hand caught her chin and turned her face towards his.

  'Penny. My darling girl. Please don't be angry.' One long finger traced the outline of her mouth and a soft sigh
escaped her. Why was she fighting with him? She loved him; one touch, a tender word and she ached for him.

  'I'm not angry.' She smiled slightly. 'Only sad. It's just hit me that we have never spent a night apart from the day I moved in with you. I will miss you,' she con­fessed with blunt honesty.

  Raul hugged her to him as his dark eyes caught and held hers. 'I hate for us to be apart even for one night. You must know that, honey. But I wasn't totally honest with you last night. I was furious that you met the Sheikh but it wasn't just that. The trouble at the plant was a contributing factor for my appallingly bad temper.'

  'Oh, Raul, you should have confided in me. That's what partners do, you know,' she chided him gently, adding, 'I'm not dumb; you can discuss your work with me.'

  'I should not have called you dumb,' he admitted, planting a brief kiss on her nose. 'Naive, maybe, but I had no right to insult your intelligence. Only, it is hard for me, this relationship thing! I have been too many years on my own. But I will try and do better, I promise.'

  His dark head bent and his mouth gently covered hers. A long, satisfying kiss followed, Raul finally ending it by easing her head back against the seat and groaning, 'I have a suspicion that kissing in public, even in a car, is against the law here.'

  Penny snuggled into the curve of his broad shoulder. Once more at ease, she prompted, 'So tell me about the plant. It sometimes helps to talk out a problem with a third party, I find.' And it might stop her thinking about the hardness of his thigh against her own, and what she would really like to be doing.

  'Such wisdom from one so young,' he mocked, but continued in a more serious vein. 'I was your age— twenty-three—fresh out of university with a degree in engineering specialising in design. I thought I would work at a large firm in Granada and live happily at the hacienda, helping out on the estate for the rest of my days. Unfortunately my father died. I discovered the ranch was mortgaged to the hilt, and that a salary, however good, would not allow me to redeem the mortgage in one lifetime. That is why I started my own business—'