The Gold Collection. Maggie Cox

all been part of an illusion, created by Ramon to fool everyone into believing that the Duque de Velaquez and his new bride were blissfully happy. But she knew the truth, and with trembling hands she tore off the dream dress and the fragile lacy bra she had worn beneath it. Searching through a drawer she dug out an oversized cotton tee shirt that had been among her things sent over from England.

      She was standing in front of the dressing table, brushing her hair, when Ramon walked in.

      ‘Not quite what I had envisaged,’ he drawled, as his eyes skimmed the baggy tee shirt that had faded to an unbecoming shade of sludge in the wash. ‘Your choice of nightwear leaves much to be desired, querida. Although even that shapeless garment does not dampen my desire for you,’ he added self-derisively, when she spun round to face him and he noted the faint outline of her nipples beneath her thin shirt.

      He had discarded his tie and unfastened the top buttons of his shirt, and Lauren glimpsed his bronzed skin beneath. Leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, his dark hair falling across his brow and his eyes gleaming with sensual heat, he was so sexy that she felt weak with longing—and she despised herself for it.

      ‘What did you envisage?’ she asked sharply. ‘That you would stroll in here and demand your marital rights?’

      His eyes narrowed on her tense face. His instincts had been right, he brooded. Something had upset her during the wedding party, and now she was as prickly and on edge as she had been when he had first seen her again in London.

      ‘Not demand,’ he countered quietly. ‘I did not think I would need to. You are my wife, and I admit I had assumed we would spend our wedding night rediscovering the passion that has always burned between us.’

      ‘I’m only your wife because you’ve decided that you want Matty to be your heir,’ Lauren said stubbornly.

      Ramon’s jaw hardened. ‘He is my son, and by definition also my heir. I would always have wanted him, but you did not give me the opportunity to be his father.’

      ‘You had made it clear that I could only ever be your mistress. In your eyes I wasn’t good enough for the grand Duque de Velaquez, and I believed you would feel the same way about my child.’

      And that was the root of her resentment, Lauren acknowledged. She was only good enough for Ramon now because she had given him a son. Without Matty he would only have wanted her as his mistress. She was not a sophisticated Spanish aristocrat like Pilar Fernandez, but she was certainly not going to reveal her jealousy of the beautiful model to Ramon.

      ‘I do not think of Mateo in terms of your child or my child. He is part of you and part of me, and we have married so that we can both care for our son, who we created together,’ Ramon said, his accent suddenly very strong, and his words tugging on Lauren’s emotions. ‘I thought that for him we were going to do our best to build a relationship.’

      ‘By having sex?’ Lauren muttered scathingly.

      He did not deny it. ‘Sex is a start. It is where everything began, after all. I saw you across a crowded nightclub and I wanted you more than I had ever wanted any woman.’ He paused, and then added softly, ‘I still do. And I think, Lauren, although you seem determined to deny it, that you want me too.’

      She could not meet his gaze, and stared at the floor through blurred eyes. Maybe he was right. Sex was a start. It had bound them together for the six months of their affair, and if she had not fallen pregnant who could say how long they would have stayed together? Ramon’s desire for her had shown no sign of lessening. And it hadn’t just been a physical act. There had been closeness, companionship—and for her, of course, love.

      Was it fair to hold it against Ramon because he hadn’t fallen in love with her? And was it fair to push him away and deny them what they both wanted because she was afraid that he would be a serial adulterer like her father? He had asked her to trust him, she remembered. He had no idea how hard that was for her, but if she wanted their marriage to stand a chance she was going to have to try.

      ‘I’m not a beautiful blue-blooded aristocrat,’ she mumbled, unable to forget Pilar.

      ‘You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me,’ Ramon said intently. ‘And your blood could be bright green for all I care. You are the mother of my son.’ He gave a rueful grimace. ‘And the reason I have taken enough cold showers in the past few weeks to last me a lifetime.’

      Her hair streamed down her back like a river of gold. There was wariness in her eyes, but something else too, that made him ache with his need to possess her.

      ‘I have made a commitment to you, Lauren, and I want to put our differences aside and make our marriage work,’ he said steadily. ‘But you have to want that too—because it takes two to make a marriage.’ He trapped her gaze, and she swallowed at the latent warmth in his golden eyes. ‘Do you want to make our marriage a proper one?’

      She could deny it and keep her pride, or she could accept a marriage that was not perfect, but which over time might grow and develop into a deeper relationship. It was her choice.

      ‘Yes,’ she whispered. A shiver of excitement ran down her spine at the hard glitter in his eyes.

      ‘Then come here.’

      The first step was the hardest, the second a little easier. And then he moved too, and met her halfway across the room, breathing hard as he snatched her into his arms. ‘You looked so beautiful today, querida. But I have to admit that my main thought when I saw you in your wedding dress was how soon I could rip it off you.’

      His sensual smile stole her breath. ‘It gives me even greater pleasure to remove this monstrosity,’ he growled, tugging the shirt over her head in one deft movement to reveal her firm breasts and slender waist, the tiny wisp of the lace thong hiding her femininity from him.

      With a groan of need he swept her up and strode into the master bedroom, where he placed her on the bed and lowered his body onto the softness of hers, crushing her breasts against his chest as he claimed her mouth in a devastatingly sensual kiss. When he lifted his head, streaks of dull colour highlighted his magnificent cheekbones, and his hand was unsteady as he smoothed her hair back from her face.

      ‘This was always how we communicated best,’ he said roughly.

      She did not reply, for really it was true. When they made love there was no need for words. They were perfect together. And that was why, in the heady days of their affair, she had fooled herself into believing that he was starting to care for her. She would not make the same mistake again, but she could not deny her need for him, and she tugged impatiently at his shirt buttons.

      ‘Then make love to me,’ she invited softly.

      Their eyes locked and held for infinitesimal seconds, before he made a feral sound in his throat and captured her mouth again in a kiss that plundered her soul. She loved the way he kissed her, Lauren thought dazedly. Loved the hungry pressure of his lips on hers and the bold thrust of his tongue that erotically mimicked the act of making love to her. And then her mind ceased functioning as instinct took over, and she curled her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly to her that she could feel the erratic thud of his heart beating in unison with her own.

      She shivered with anticipation when he cupped her breasts in his palms. ‘Gorgeous—and all mine,’ he growled with intense satisfaction as he lifted his head to stare at the creamy mounds. He stroked his thumbs over her rose-pink nipples so that they swelled and pouted provocatively at him, and smiled at her soft whimpers of delight. ‘You will find me a very possessive husband, querida,’ he warned her, before he closed his mouth around one taut peak, and then its twin, and suckled her until she writhed beneath him and begged him never, ever to stop.

      Ramon loved the way his cool English rose discarded all her inhibitions and became a wanton creature in his arms. Sex with Lauren had blown his mind from the start. No other woman had ever made him lose control the way he did with her, and he was already dangerously close to the edge. The long, leisurely seduction he had planned would have