‘I could look at him all day,’ Mrs Hitchin said happily, adjusting her hearing aid. ‘I think he’s gorgeous.’
‘Actually he’s a sex-mad control freak,’ Faith muttered and Raul gave a twisted smile.
‘One wonders why, with that glowing opinion of my qualities, you were so grimly determined to drag me to the altar by any means at your disposal.’
Faith lifted her chin and her beautiful eyes flashed at him. ‘I did not drag you. Since when have you ever done anything that didn’t suit you? Your life is one long selfish, self-indulgent ego trip.’
‘You put me in an impossible position!’ His tone thickened, Raul felt his tension levels soar into the stratosphere. He hadn’t intended to tackle the issue here but even without spelling it out it was there in the room with them, hovering between them.
He saw that she was shaking and his eyes scanned the pale flesh of her smooth, slender arms, his treacherous mind turning to thoughts of sex. Those arms had been entwined round his neck, curved round his body as she’d urged him on. Those eyes that now flashed in anger had softened and tempted as she’d lured him on an erotic journey from which neither of them had emerged unscathed.
What they had shared was so powerful that even now he could taste it in the air. Even now, with all that lay between them, he knew that he could turn her from spitting hell-cat to purring kitten with one skilful touch of his mouth.
Only with supreme effort of will did Raul prevent himself from reaching out and flattening her against the bed.
And she knew.
She’d always known the effect she had on him. And she’d loved to tease and prolong the agony for both of them, using those jewel-bright green eyes of hers to raise the temperature from hot to raging inferno. With sideways glances, slow smiles and the sensuous swing of her hips she’d stoked the fire of his libido, pushing and pushing until his control had finally cracked. And when it had, she’d taken him into her soft, pulsing body, her desperation matching his.
In some ways their entire relationship had been a power struggle.
And for a while she’d won.
Only she was showing no signs of celebrating her victory.
‘Just get out, Raul,’ she said, and her voice held a quiver of vulnerability that he hadn’t expected. ‘It’s over. You wanted an escape, well, I’m giving you one. Get out.’
‘It would have been a great deal better for both of us had you realised that a few months ago. As it is, your timing is unfortunate. I’m your husband, cariño, although you could be forgiven for forgetting that fact, given that we were married for all of two hours before you ran away.’
‘I didn’t run away. I’m not a child or a convict. I left because I discovered what a monumental mistake I’d made about you. I wouldn’t have married you at all if I’d known what you were like.’
Remembering the circumstances of their wedding, Raul gave a bitter laugh. ‘I think we both know that isn’t the case. Anyway, you made your bed and fortunately for you it’s a great deal more comfortable than the one you’re lying in at the moment.’
‘I’m not going with you, Raul, and you can’t make me. I’m not one of your staff.’
‘If one of my staff had behaved the way you did,’ he snapped, ‘they would no longer be working for me. Unfortunately we are now legally bound, so firing you isn’t an optio
n. Believe me, I’ve considered it.’ His phone rang and he took the call, simmering with dark, deadly emotion, his eyes on hers as he listened and then broke the connection.
‘My plane has been refuelled, a medical team is now on board and we take off in an hour from now.’
She shrank away from him. ‘I’m not well enough to go with you. I haven’t fully recovered.’
‘Then you can complete your recovery in the sunshine by my pool,’ he returned in a cool tone and she flopped back against the pillows, looking drained and exhausted. Raul wondered grimly whether her pallor was a reflection of the effort the confrontation had required, or the fact that she was contemplating the reality of being back in a marriage that she never should have entered in the first place.
You wanted a war, my beauty, he thought bitterly, and you fired the first shot. Now live with the consequences.
CHAPTER FOUR
TWENTY-FOUR hours later, Faith was lying on a sun-lounger under the shade of a huge umbrella. In front of her lay the perfectly still waters of the most stunning pool she’d ever seen and all around her a profusion of exotic plants and trees gave her the impression of being deep in a lush rainforest.
Once they’d landed in Buenos Aires she’d expected him to take her straight back to the estancia, but instead he’d taken one look at her pale face and given instructions for them to be taken straight to the Vásquez building, his corporate headquarters in the smartest district of the vibrant South American city.
She’d swiftly discovered that his corporate headquarters was crowned by a breathtaking penthouse apartment, complete with a lush, exotic roof garden.
He’d taken her straight up to this outdoor paradise but she found herself wondering about the apartment. When did he use it? And what for?
Already aware of just how little she knew him, this further question gnawed away inside her but she forced herself not to think about it. She had other, more pressing issues demanding her attention: like the reason he’d brought her back to Argentina.