By Request Collection Part 3. Robyn Donald

as he took her weight against him, dragging her slowly but inexorably to safety.

      There was heat behind her. Searing heat that branded her back as he held her to him. His breath feathered her nape and his hands gripped so hard she wondered if she’d have bruises. But they’d be nothing to the bruises on her ribs from the stones. Or to her injuries if she’d fallen.

      A shudder racked her and she squeezed her eyes even tighter, trying to block the pictures her mind conjured.

      ‘Shh. It’s all right. You’re safe. I promise.’ Yet the tremors wouldn’t subside. Her teeth began to chatter.

      Desperately she sought for composure. ‘I n-never did l-like heights.’

      ‘Open your eyes.’ He held her away and the shaking worsened. Her eyes snapped open in protest but he was already lowering her to sit on the floor.

      Luisa slumped like a rag doll, her bones water. Even now the view down to the distant flagstones was emblazoned on her brain.

      ‘Here, lean forward.’ She did as she was told and heat enveloped her as Raul draped his jacket around her quaking shoulders. A subtle spicy scent surrounded her. The scent of Raul’s aftershave. Or perhaps the scent of him. Luisa breathed deep, letting the fragrance fill her lungs.

      She lifted her head. He stood before her, hands on hips, brow pleated and mouth a stark line.

      Luisa had seen him without a jacket only once, briefly, in the limo. Always he was impeccably dressed. It shocked her that beneath that tailored elegance was a broad chest of considerable power.

      Her eyes trailed over his heaving torso, noting the way his stance drew the fine cotton of his shirt taut, moulding to a body that wasn’t that of an effete clothes horse but a strong, very masculine man. Luisa’s heart skittered to a new rhythm as she remembered that solid muscle pressed against her on the boat in Paris. No wonder he’d felt so good!

      ‘We need to get you inside where it’s warm.’ Yet he didn’t move to help her rise. Did he see how weak she was?

      Shakily she nodded, drawing his jacket close. ‘Soon. I need to get my b-breath.’ She had to pull herself together but she couldn’t quite manage it.

      ‘Here.’ With a quick stride, Raul moved behind her. Next thing she knew, those capable hands were on her again. He pulled her up and across his lap as he sat leaning against the wall opposite the gap.

      Luisa should protest. She didn’t want to be this close to him. But she didn’t have the energy to resist and had to be content holding herself as stiff as she could in his arms. As if she could ignore the heat of those solid, muscular thighs or his arms around her!

      ‘I hope that wall’s safe!’

      ‘It’s fine. Don’t worry. It’s only the other side that’s a problem.’ He hauled her closer so her shoulder was tucked into his chest. ‘Didn’t you see the warning sign?’

      She recalled a neat sign at the base of the tower but she’d barely glanced at it.

      ‘The door was unlocked.’

      ‘It won’t be in future.’ His voice was grim. ‘Not until it’s safe.’ He tugged her closer but she resisted. Any nearer and her head would be on his shoulder. The idea both attracted and horrified her.

      ‘Why did you come up here? You get finer views from the other side of the castle.’

      She shrugged jerkily. ‘I wanted to see the parterre garden. Gregor showed it to me, but you don’t get the effect from the ground.’

      ‘Gregor?’ A steely note in his voice made her turn and meet his eyes head-on. They had darkened to a shade of rich forest-green. This close she was surprised to find a glimmer of scintillating gold sprinkled there too.

      ‘Yes.’ She found she was leaning towards him and drew back abruptly. ‘One of your gardeners. He showed me around.’

      The frown returned to Raul’s face and his mouth flattened. But, instead of marring his features, it made him look like a sulky angel.

      A quiver began low in her stomach that had nothing to do with her recent scare.

      ‘He didn’t encourage you to come up here, did he?’

      ‘Of course not.’ It was only now she realised Gregor’s gestures had been to warn her away from the unsafe structure.

      ‘Thank you for saving me.’ She should have thanked Raul immediately but her brain was too frazzled.

      ‘I’m just glad I saw you when I did.’ His hold firmed and his frown became a scowl, as if he’d like to blame someone.

      Luisa looked at his concerned expression and tried to remember how callous he was. That he’d forced her hand.

      ‘Just think. If you hadn’t reached me, you mightn’t have had a princess to marry. Then you’d never inherit.’

      A large firm hand cupped her jaw and cheek. His gaze snared hers and her breath caught. The gold in his eyes seemed to flare brighter. Or was that because he was nearer?

      He shook his head slowly. ‘If there was no princess, the contract would no longer bind me.’ His thumb slid under her chin and Luisa’s eyelashes fluttered as a strange lethargic heat stole through her. ‘I’d have been free to marry whomever I want.’

      ‘Is there someone you want to marry?’ The notion clawed Luisa back from the brink of surrendering to his caress.

      ‘Don’t worry, Luisa.’ His face loomed closer. ‘You’re not coming between me and the love of my life.’

      ‘So there’s no one special?’ It confirmed his cold-blooded approach to marriage. But right now, dazzled by his brilliant stare, lulled by his rhythmic caress and the encompassing heat of his body, Luisa couldn’t scrape the energy to be outraged. She felt … distanced from pain. Who’d have thought she’d find solace in Raul’s embrace? There was unexpected pleasure in the sense that, for this moment at least, they could be frank.

      ‘No one who matters.’ His warm breath caressed her face and she struggled to find the anger that had burned within her before. Surely she shouldn’t enjoy being here, with him.

      ‘You really are ruthless, aren’t you?’ Her tone was conversational, curious, rather than accusing.

      It was as if, after the shock of her accident, she floated on another plane where all that mattered was that she was safe in Raul’s strong arms.

      He shifted and she found her head lolling against his shoulder, his body cradling hers. She almost sighed at how good that felt. She felt boneless, like a cat being stroked in the sun.

      ‘If you mean that I plan to get what I want, then yes.’ His lips curved in a smile that held something other than humour. His intense focus reminded her of the way he’d watched her in Paris. Heat filled her.

      ‘Have you always managed to get your own way?’ She should protest about how he held her but it felt so good and Luisa liked this new, unreal world where she and Raul weren’t at daggers drawn. Where that fragile connection shimmered in the still air.

      He shook his head. ‘Far from it. I was anything but spoiled. My mother died in childbirth and my father was impatient with children.’

      Her heart clenched. No wonder Raul was so self-sufficient. She stared up at his perfectly sculpted mouth, just made for reducing women to mindless adoration.

      ‘But as an adult. With women, I bet you’ve always—’

      ‘Luisa.’ The hand at her jaw slid round to thread through her hair and hold the back of her head. His eyes gleamed with an inner fire. ‘You’re talking too much.’

      She watched those lips descend in slow motion. As if he gave her a chance to pull free. Or to savour their impending kiss. Excitement raced through her.

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