Raul's Revenge Read online

'I didn't realise. I simply assumed you had always been disgustingly wealthy,' Penny interrupted teasingly.

  'So did I,' he said with dry irony. 'Until I found out different. It is only in the past ten years I have actually been solvent. And this desalination plant in Dubai was to be my crowning achievement.

  'I designed it. It is an innovative and slightly contro­versial design. Unfortunately one small part needs to be rethought. I have to stay here and solve the problem, because the rewards if I succeed are astronomical—not solely in monetary terms but in human terms. Think of the millions that die each year in Africa alone because of drought, and yet in some countries the sea is there to be used but is ignored.

  'I can foresee the design being used not just in the Middle Eastern countries but any coastal area in the world where a shortage of water is a major problem-including my own country.'

  Penny was stunned. This was a new Raul, talking about his life and work as he never had to her before, and she was enormously impressed at the depth of his commitment and flattered that he had confided in her. She felt as though it marked a new phase in their re­lationship, increasing her belief in him and his love for her.

  'So you see, Penny, much as I want to keep you with me, to be honest, I cannot afford the distraction.'

  He stretched a hand across her chest to cup the underside of her breast, and she shivered in reaction, the nipple peaking blatantly beneath the soft cotton of her top. She glanced sideways at his rugged face and caught his wry smile.

  'And you, querida, are a major distraction,' he husked throatily. 'At least if I know you are at home waiting for me I will have the incentive to work all the harder, simply to get back to you.'

  It was her turn to move and press her lips to his. 'I do understand, Raul, and I will be counting the days.'

  He hauled her into his arms, local laws forgotten, and kissed her thoroughly. Then he murmured against her softly parted lips, 'And I will be counting the nights. Dios, Penny, you must know you can ask anything of me—anything in the world—and I would move heaven and earth to get it for you.'

  As an avowal of love, Penny couldn't have asked for more, and, with his words warming her heart as his kiss still lingered on her lips, fifteen minutes later she boarded the waiting aircraft. Her confidence in their love was at an all-time high... And she never imagined for a second that two weeks later the reverse would be true...

  Penny slowly opened her eyes and groaned. Her sleep had been haunted by dreams; her body burning and aching with need, as she had spent a restless night in the huge four-poster bed. She glanced down at the fine cotton sheet tangled around her naked body and sighed. So this was what sexual frustration did to one, she thought grimly, and wished for the hundredth time that Raul was back.

  She yawned and stretched; then, slowly untangling herself from the sheet, she swung her long legs to the floor. Raul's 'a few days' had lengthened into two weeks, and, much as she loved the hacienda, if she was honest with herself, after months of doing absolutely nothing she was beginning to get bored. She was slowly reaching the conclusion that she hadn't been cut out to be a lady of leisure.

  A deep sigh escaped her and she sat for a moment on the side of the bed. She pushed the unruly mass of her long hair back from her face and glanced idly out of the window. Another scorching hot day, but her flesh was burning with a different heat—the heat of arousal unfulfilled.

  Still, she told herself bracingly, breakfast and down to the stables for a long gallop on her own small Arab mare, Daisy—a present from Raul the first time she had stayed with him in Spain. Followed by lunch, a swim... Who was she trying to fool? She had done the same thing every day for weeks, and was fed up.

  What would her mother have said, she mused, if she could have seen her precious daughter now, a wealthy man's mistress? Her blue eyes hazed with tears. Deep in her innermost being Penny knew the answer, and it gave her no joy. Her parents had been a wonderful loving couple; they might have tolerated her lifestyle because she was their beloved daughter, but they would never have approved in a million years.

  Her thoughts went back to the past. As the much loved only child of the local doctor in a small town in West Sussex, she had had an idyllic upbringing until her father had been killed in a car crash when on a night call to an elderly patient. Even after his death she had still been relatively content; she had grown even closer to her mother and life had gone on.

  It had been when she was seventeen that the final dis­aster had struck: her mother had been diagnosed as having cancer. A braver woman never lived, Penny thought with some pride. Her mother had insisted that Penny stay at school and take her final exams. She had been destined to follow in her father's footsteps and had been accepted for medical school.

  Whether it was the worry over her mother or simply that she was not quite clever enough, she didn't know, but her exam results had not been good enough for her to take up her place. With hindsight she could see that it had been a blessing in disguise.

  The local pharmacy where she had worked every Saturday since the age of fifteen had allowed her to work part-time, twenty hours a week, and she had devoted the next year to looking after her mother. Then, when the end had come and her mother died, the same firm had agreed to sponsor her through pharmaceutical college. Reluctantly she had sold the family house, bought a small apartment in London and started college.

  A reminiscent smile curved her full lips. The very first day she'd met Amy, an orphan like herself, but looking for accommodation. They had shared Penny's apartment ever since. In fact Amy was still living there. Which re­minded her...

  She stood up and walked across to the en suite bathroom. She owed Amy a phone call; apart from ringing when she had first arrived back in Spain, to apologise for not keeping her appointment in London with her, she had not spoken to her friend at all.

  Raul, on the other hand, had called Penny every night, but as she stepped into the shower and turned on the cold spray she seriously questioned the effect of his calls. Invariably she put the phone down in a state of sexual arousal, and she was getting heartily sick of cold showers. In fact she would have loved to know what idiot had actually decided they worked as a cure for frustration, because they did not seem to be doing her much good.

  Half an hour later, after a quick cup of coffee—she could not face Ava the housekeeper’s idea of a breakfast-Penny was astride Daisy, cantering along the dusty track that led to her favourite spot—a wild grove of orange and lemon trees, gnarled and old, planted decades ago by whoever had once lived in the tumbledown adobe building at the edge of the orchard. A small stream trickled by only twenty feet from the ruined home. The stream was almost dried up in the mid-summer heat, but still Penny found it soothing.

  Eventually, reluctantly, she returned to the hacienda, groomed and fed her horse, and then made her way back to the house.

  'I won't be five minutes,' she called to Ava in her rapidly improving Spanish before lightly running up the wide marble staircase. One positive thing to come out of her relationship with Raul, she thought smugly, was that, having studied Spanish as a second language at school, she had finally got a chance to use it, and had discovered that she had a remarkable aptitude for the melodious tongue.

  Nipping into the shower, she had a quick wash, then dried herself and dressed equally quickly in a pair of brief white cotton shorts and a plain white shirt, which she didn't bother fastening, simply tying the ends together under her breasts before slipping on a pair of soft leather mules and leaving the bedroom.

  The sound of the doorbell ringing made her hesitate for a second on the top step of the wide staircase. In the many times she had stayed here, there had been few visi­tors. The ones that did call when Raul was around Penny rarely met. The thought made her pause, and she frowned, wondering who it could be.

  Penny heard the voice before she saw the unexpected guest. And she knew enough Spanish to stiffen in outrage.

  'My God, I thought Raul would have got rid of
you and that useless husband of yours by now, Ava. Tell your master I'm here and fetch me a drink. I'll be in the salon.'

  Penny ran down the stairs, taking in the scene before her at a glance. Ava was standing by the open front door, her face a picture of hurt surprise and disgust, her kindly old eyes fixed in horror on the girl marching past her.

  The young woman was small, dark and looked as though she had just stepped out of Vogue. From her perfectly coiffured black hair piled on top of her head to the elegant high-heeled shoes that tapped out a staccato tune across the mosaic floor she looked like a woman who owned all she surveyed.

  'Excuse me; can I help you?' Penny said frostily, stepping in front of the stranger. Close up, it was ob­vious that the woman was older than Penny had first thought—mid-thirties, maybe.

  'I very much doubt it. It is Raul I have come to visit. Now get out of my way and tell that stupid old woman to fetch me a white wine.'

  Anger turned Penny's cool face to bright scarlet ii seconds. She had never in her life met such an ill mannered, arrogant woman and she acted without thought of the consequences.

  'Raul is not here, nor is he likely to be for some time. In his absence I am in charge and I suggest you leave immediately. Ava is the housekeeper here and she is no employed to put up with insults from uninvited guests.

  'How dare you talk to me like that? I am Dulciania Maria Costas; my father is a government minister.'

  'Well, he should have taught you some manners. Now if you don't mind, Ava will show you out.'

  The perfectly made-up face twisted with rage. 'Rau will hear of this, you little English whore. I have heard all about you—Raul's latest bed-mate. If you have an} sense you will pack up and leave now. Once Raul know! I am back he will have no further use for you. That I can promise.'

  Penny went from red to white to red again, with a mixture of fury and not a little embarrassment. 'Get out, she spluttered.

  'I will leave—but I will be back. And if you have any sense you will take my advice. Do yourself a favour and save yourself total humiliation.' And, spinning on her heel, the arrogant Dulciana Maria Costas marched back out of the front door.

  Penny sat down on the bottom step of the stairs, her trembling legs refusing to support her. 'Who on earth was that witch of woman, Ava?' she asked, glancing across at the older lady.

  'Dulciana Costas; her father is in the government, but he also happens to own the adjoining ranch.'

  Penny got to her feet. 'So I have just insulted our nearest neighbour.' She grimaced and caught an unex­pected flash of sympathy in Ava's dark eyes.

  'I am honoured you came to my defence, Penny, but I wish you hadn't for your sake. Dulcie Costas is a bad lady to cross.'

  'She can't harm me.' Penny shrugged with more non­chalance than she actually felt.

  'I'm not so sure,' Ava responded, with a worried shake of her grey head. 'Come.' Gesturing with one hand for Penny to follow her, she walked through an open door at one side of the hall, through the splendid dining room and out into the central courtyard.

  'I have set lunch in the courtyard, and while you eat I will explain.'

  'Explain what?' Penny asked, sinking down on the wrought-iron chair at the beautifully set small table. The selection of attractively displayed cold meats and salads suddenly made her realise how hungry she was. She loaded her plate with chicken, ham and a lot of crisp green salad. 'Do sit down, Ava, instead of hovering; I've told you before I don't need you to wait on me.'

  Ava sighed and murmured, 'Perhaps this once.' And, pulling out the opposite chair, she sat down primly on the edge.

  'So who is this Dulcie? Why all the mystery and heavy sighs?' Penny demanded, swallowing a mouthful of chicken.

  'First, I wish to apologise that when you first arrived with Master Raul I was disapproving. Never had Raul brought a lady to this house to sleep in his bed. I am old; the modern times have passed me by. But very soon I realised he is in love with you, and you with him. I think you will marry and the hacienda will once again echo to the sound of laughter and children's voices.'

  'I sincerely hope so,' Penny said, blushing scarlet but delighted that Ava was confirming her own heartfelt belief.

  'I have never seen Raul so happy. I have known him all his life—as a baby, a young boy and as a man. I know him better than he knows himself. If he has one fault it is that he is fearful of committing himself to a woman. I do not usually gossip but I think you are en-tided to know what makes him the way he is.'

  Penny stopped eating and, picking up the carafe of white wine from the centre of the table, filled her glass, and, lifting it to her mouth, took a sip, her eyes fixed in fascination on Ava.

  'Go on,' she prompted eagerly.

  'Raul was eight years old when his mother ran off with an American serviceman stationed in Spain. His father was devastated—never really recovered. Poor Raul did not understand what had happened or why his mother never came to see him again. I tried my best to take his mother's place, but by the time he was a teenager he was very bitter. His father didn't help by repeatedly cursing young women, and his mother in particular.'

  'How awful.' Penny sighed, her tender heart full of sympathy for Raul as a lonely young boy.

  'True, but worse was to follow. You have met Dulcie; you have seen what she is like. Well, with the families being neighbours it was inevitable that Dulcie became Raul's "friend", for want of a better word. Raul went off to university in America, but they corresponded and eventually became betrothed.

  'It suited both parents, and Raul was used to looking after the girl. But I had my doubts. Dulcie was totally spoilt by an over-indulgent father, and when Raul was studying Dulcie was off to Paris, Rome—anywhere there were men and money. The rumours were rife and true, but Raul never suspected.'

  Penny's mind reeled. Raul had been engaged to the woman she had thrown out of his home. She couldn't believe it. He had once loved that witch of a woman and yet had never mentioned it to her. Did she know him at all? She listened with mounting disquiet as Ava went on.

  ‘The wedding date had already been fixed when Raul's father died and everything changed. Dulcie discovered that Raul's father had died in debt and that there was no money to support her extravagant lifestyle, and a month before the wedding she took off with a Colombian rattle baron—though some said his business was more chemical than cattle...

  'Apparently the Colombian traded her in for a younger, more fertile model, and she returned to Spain two days ago. I am telling you all this, Penny, so you are warned. The master loves you and, given time, he will marry you—of this I am sure. But beware of Dulcie; she is an evil but clever woman. Around the master she was always sweet and innocent, but you have seen how he treats people when he is not around.'

  For some reason all Penny could think of was Raul and that horrid woman together. She was eaten alive with jealousy at the thought of Raul making love to Dulcie, touching the other woman as he now touched her. It was ridiculous; it had all been over years ago but she could lot help feeling a certain dread. She tried a smile.

  'Don't worry, Ava. Raul is much older and wiser; he would never allow himself to be fooled twice, and—'

  'So this is how my two favourite women spend their time when I am not around.' A deep laughing voice cut across Penny's. 'Drinking wine and gossiping.'

  Penny spun around in her chair. It was Raul... He was leaning carelessly against the wood frame of the dining-room door, his jacket casually hooked on a long finger and draped over one broad shoulder. A snowy white shirt open at the neck revealed the strong column of his tanned throat, and his eyes glinted with humour and something more. He looked all male and incredibly sexy. Penny jumped to her feet and in seconds had thrown herself at him.

  His arms opened to enfold her. 'You never said last night.' She reached up and raked her fingers through his dark hair, cradling his head with her small hands. Her head tilted back to gaze up into his handsome face.

  'I decided to surprise you
, querida,' he murmured as his mouth fastened on hers.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Raul's kiss was so overpowering that Penny was lost in it in seconds; she forgot where they were and that they had an audience; she hungered for him with a desper­ation she had not thought possible. Once more in his arms, her tongue twining with his, she clawed uncons­ciously at the fine silk of his shirt, popping his buttons in her haste to feel the satin skin beneath, while Raul's hands roamed freely down her back, cupping her but­tocks, hauling her into the hard cradle of his hips, making her intimately aware of his aroused state.

  'Dios,' he groaned against her mouth, and when he lifted his head, his dark gaze burned down into the blue depths of her passion-glazed eyes. 'That was some welcome, Penny. Can I take it you missed me, hmm?'

  'Yes, every minute,' she agreed, an ecstatic smile lighting her lovely face.

  'Did you miss anything else?' he demanded hardly, straightening to his full height and stepping back.

  'Only you.' She moved and, standing on tiptoe, nipped it his square jaw. It was as high as she could reach. His strong hands curved around her shoulders, holding her firmly away from him, and through the euphoric haze it seeing him again it slowly dawned on Penny that he vas deliberately keeping her at a distance.

  'Raul?' she husked tentatively as his dark eyes slid down the length of her body with a possessive arro­gance, then back to her flushed face, a silent demand in heir black depths. Wide, puzzled blue eyes met his narrowed, predatory gaze and a tremor of something very like fear slithered down her spine. Raul exuded a raw, animal magnetism, an aura of power and vitality that suddenly seemed oddly threatening. And what on earth did he mean? Who else could she have missed? It didn't make sense.

  'You're sure about that?' he queried, the corner of his mouth twisting in a cynical smile.

  'Of course,' she said emphatically. Surely he knew how much she'd missed him, loved him...? 'What is it, Raul? What's wrong?' She twisted her hand in his shirt in agi­tation and another button popped.