“Si,very lucky. Another week of hard riding with Fletcher Austin would hardly suit my purpose.”
“Not when you would rather be here with the girl.”
Ramon shrugged off the notion. “I owe her a debt. I cannot let her leave, but there are other things I can do to repay her.”
“Like taking her to bed?”
Ramon bristled. “Do not be a fool, Pedro. I will do nothing to dishonor her. I have hurt her enough already.”
“As time goes on, I hope you remember that.”
Ramon said nothing. He wanted the girl, yes. But she was an innocent, and marriage was out of the question. When the time came, he would wed with a woman of pure Spanish blood just as he had vowed for the past ten years.
He owed it to his people, to his family. He owed it to himself.
Ramon sighed. He wished he knew what to do with Caralee McConnell, but until he made a decision, he would do as he had said and try to make up for the pain he had caused her. With that thought in mind, he started toward his small adobe house.
***
Weary from her sleepless night, Carly climbed out of bed just as Florentia came bustling in. “Don Ramon has come. He wishes you to join him for a ride. He says that you should hurry.”
“Tell him to go away.”
Florentia made the sign of the cross. “Dios mio,no! You cannot say that to the don!”
Carly’s chin went up. “Maybe you can’t but I can. I’ll be dressed in a moment.”
Ramon waited patiently in thesala.A few minutes later, Carly came striding in wearing her yellow skirt and white peasant blouse, her hair pulled back and secured with tortoiseshell combs.
“Buenas dias,senorita,” he said, coming to his feet. “You are looking quite lovely this morning.”
“I’m looking exactly the way I looked yesterday morning. The way I’ll look every day I’m here if these are to be my only clothes.”
He felt the pull of a smile. “I will see what I can do. In the meantime, since you are obviously feeling strong enough, I thought you might like to visit the Indian village.”
“I think, Don Ramon, that perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. Yesterday, I agreed to a walk with you around the compound. Outside of that, I don’t intend to suffer your company any more than I absolutely have to.”
Ramon shrugged, though he felt a hint of amusement. He liked her spirit, her fire. He would like to be the man to see her gentled and brought in hand. “That is too bad. It is quite an interesting place. And the woman, Lena, deserves your thanks. She is the one who came when you were ill.”
She pondered that, studying his face with eyes the color of new spring grasses. “Senor Sanchez has been kind. Perhaps he will take me.”
“I am afraid Pedro is busy. That leaves only me. There is much to learn in the village, things that would help you understand this country. But… if you are afraid to go with me, you can always stay here.”
Her chin went up a notch higher. Spots of color tinged her pretty cheeks. “I am not afraid of you.”
“No?”
“If I refuse it is only because I want nothing to do with a man like you.”
She would go. She wouldn’t let him best her. He would be willing to bet his last goldreal.He simply stood there waiting.
“Why are you doing this? The night you took me from my uncle’s hacienda, you had no thought of being kind to me. Why now? What is it you want from me?”
His eyes ran the length of her body then returned to settle on her lush ruby lips. In an instant he knew what he wanted, what he had desired all along. “I would like nothing more,querida,than to see you settled in my bed. But I promise you that will not happen. As I told you before—with me you will be safe.”
Her big green eyes went wide. She wet her soft full lips. “I-I don’t know what to think of you. One day you are cruel, the next you are gallant. Today you act the rogue. Perhaps I am afraid of you after all.”
“I do not think so,” he said softly. “A little afraid of yourself, perhaps, but no longer afraid of me.”