The Acostas Box Set. Susan Stephens

and it was torture holding back. She had no idea how much he wanted her or how deeply he had come to care for her. He hadn’t realised that himself until he’d seen her here in Argentina. He had hoped she would accept his invitation, but he’d played it cool, played it down, because he had wanted this to be Holly’s decision. He’d left airline tickets—a long shot based on nothing more than his belief that Holly had the same gut feeling he did that there was more ahead of them. The proof that he had been right to bring her to Argentina had blazed from her eyes the moment he’d seen her after the polo match.

      Something vital had changed between them, Holly thought as Ruiz caressed her face. She hadn’t been imagining things before; they were bound on more than a purely physical level. Breath shivered out of her in a soft moan as he cupped her buttocks in his warm, strong hands. ‘You can’t help yourself, can you?’ she murmured, gratefully positioning herself.

      ‘Maybe not, but I can help you.’

      She drew back her knees to encourage him as he eased inside her. ‘You’re always so gentle with me,’ she said.

      ‘Until you tell me otherwise,’ Ruiz agreed, ‘and even then I’ll be gentle with you.’

      ‘Not even a little bit rough?’ she said, provoking him as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist.

      ‘Fast and deep and hard is as rough as I’m prepared to get with you—’

      ‘Get rough, then,’ she said, smiling wickedly as she egged him on.

      They made love for hours. Whenever Holly was briefly sated Ruiz coaxed her back into a state of arousal until she clung to him, rocked with him, moaning rhythmically as he coaxed her on to yet another welcome release. Not that she needed much coaxing. And when at last she did fall asleep for any length of time he kissed her and lay watching over her, knowing that he had never felt like this before. His feelings for her beat against his brain. They had never been in doubt, but what exercised his mind was how to make it possible for them to be together. Because they were going to be together. He was going to make it happen.

      Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling to think about his dual life in Argentina and London. And then there was his loyalty to the Band of Brothers. The London house he so badly wanted to make into a family home, the family estancia and the pampas he loved. And that was before he even got started on his horses and the polo—his whole crazy life. How could he ask Holly to share that when she was so gifted and career-oriented? He couldn’t expect her to trot along meekly at his heels.

       Like Bouncer?

      He couldn’t even be in the right place at the right time for the dog, let alone Holly. Come and live with me and fit in? Was that what he was saying? Try to shoehorn your life into mine—or into whatever small space I can spare for you? He had nothing to offer Holly. Throwing himself back on the pillows, he knew he would never ask so much of someone he loved. So what then? How could he keep her? And he must. They belonged together.

      By giving her all the freedom she could want. By letting her go. By allowing Holly to make her own decisions.

      Dios! That wasn’t satisfactory. He was accustomed to being in control.

       He was accustomed to being alone. Did he want her or not?

      He had to wake her.

      ‘What?’ she murmured groggily as he kissed her awake. Reaching for him she was trusting like a child. She touched him tenderly, her fingers trailing down his arm, her eyes seeking reassurance in his. He wanted this. He wanted it for ever and not just for now. He wanted this closeness, this tenderness, this caring for each other, for ever and for always.

      She smiled slowly. ‘So you’re still here,’ she said.

      ‘Of course I’m still here,’ he confirmed, frowning as if anything else were inconceivable to him. And it was. It already was. It was unthinkable that he should be anywhere other than with Holly. The French called it a coup de foudre—a thunderbolt to the heart. He just knew it as love.

      * * *

      Ruiz introduced her to his brothers. They were dangerously good fun and ridiculously good-looking. Only Nacho remained a little reserved, but Holly felt his approval. ‘You’re good for my brother,’ Nacho told her after supper that evening. ‘I’ve never seen him so relaxed.’ Holly glanced at Ruiz, exchanging a look with him that told her how pleased he was she fitted in and liked his family.

      Fitted in for now, Holly mused the next morning after another spectacular night of love-making with Ruiz. Soon she would have to go back to London and return to work. Before then she had an article to write, but, though she sat and stared at the screen in the room Ruiz had set aside for her, the page remained resolutely blank. She turned with surprise when Ruiz walked in, managing to look sexier than ever in his knee-length riding boots, form-hugging breeches and tight-fitting top. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be training?’ she queried.

      ‘I changed my mind,’ he said. ‘It’s no fun on my own.’ Walking up to the computer, he typed in: FUN. ‘That’s what you need more of, Holly.’

      ‘Didn’t I have enough fun last night?’ She rested her chin on her hand to stare up at him.

      ‘That was then and this is now,’ Ruiz argued. ‘When I first met you Holly Valiant, you embraced fun. You couldn’t get enough of it.’ Putting his arm around her shoulders, Ruiz emphasised this comment with a kiss that made it hard to remember work. Holly stared down at the powerful forearm currently resting against her chest, all deliciously nut brown and muscular, and shaded with just the right amount of dark hair …

      ‘Holly,’ Ruiz warned softly, swinging her chair round so she had to look at him. ‘You have to stop doubting me.’

      ‘How do you always know what I’m thinking?’

      ‘I just know you,’ he said.

      ‘So, why are you with me, Ruiz?’ She searched his eyes.

      ‘Let me think,’ Ruiz murmured dryly. ‘Could it be because I love you? Have you thought of that? Or are you just too frightened to put love in the frame in case you get hurt again?’

      ‘Frightened? No.’ She certainly wasn’t frightened of Ruiz. She trusted him. ‘You love me?’ she said as if her brain had only just computed it.

      ‘I love you, Holly Valiant,’ Ruiz said, staring into her eyes.

      ‘You can’t say that just because we had good sex.’

      ‘Surely you mean amazing sex?’

      ‘Naturally, that’s what I meant to say,’ Holly agreed, adopting the same teasing tone. ‘But that doesn’t mean you love me,’ she said, turning serious again. ‘How can you be so sure of your feelings?’

      ‘We’ve got plenty of time on our hands if you want me to prove it to you now.’

      ‘Ruiz, please be serious—’

      ‘I have never been more serious in my life,’ he said, losing the smile. Taking both her hands in his, he stared into her eyes and then he kissed each of her hands in turn. ‘I know you’ve been hurt in the past, but I will never hurt you, Holly. I want to be with you and to care for you always. If you’ll have me …?’

      For that split second she thought Ruiz looked as vulnerable as she felt. ‘Who wouldn’t want you?’ she said. ‘Not that I’m giving you licence to find out.’

      ‘The only licence I want is one with both our names on it,’ Ruiz assured her.

      ‘Cheesy, but it might just work,’ Holly said, starting to smile. This was happening. This was really happening. Holly Valiant had a boyfriend. And he loved her.

      ‘It will work,’ Ruiz said with confidence. Drawing her into his arms, he stroked Holly’s hair back from her face. ‘When will you go public with this?’

      ‘In