Valaquez Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

and she knew its fast pace was not a
result of the little effort it had taken for him to subdue her. His
response to her foolish show of bravado was wholly masculine and
suddenly she was scared. She had never seen him like this before, with
a relentless glittering in his eyes. The hard inflexible contours of
his body conveyed the same relentless message and when he lowered his
dark head, her breath caught. "All right, all right," she whispered
haltingly, straining back against the muscular arm around her slender
waist. "I'll go put on a dress. Just let me go. Now, please."
    A grim yet triumphant smile tugged at the corners of his
sensuously carved mouth as he released her, saying mockingly, "A very
wise decision, Juliet."
    She couldn't even think of a retort to utter. Unable to
bear being close to him a second longer, she turned and walked out of
the
sala
with as much dignity as she could
muster. As she trudged up the stairs a moment later, she massaged her
throbbing temples with shaky fingers. Tears of sheer frustration burned
threateningly behind her eyes. She was shocked at the depth of Raul's
resentment. Why should he care that she hadn't wanted to marry Pablo?
Keen as he was about arranged marriages, he should have logically
planned a more suitable marriage for his brother, a marriage to some
aristocratic girl instead of a mere commoner like her.
    Thoroughly confused, Juliet walked into her old bedroom
without even noticing the gleaming hardwood floors, the simple, yet
elegant, mahogany furniture or the cool aquamarine draperies and bed
coverlet that provided bright accents to the room's decor. Chewing her
lower lip, she stared blindly out one wide window, gaining no pleasure
from the panoramic vista of the snow-tipped Sierra Nevadas rising
majestically in the distance. A soft sigh escaped her. This
confrontation with Raul had been the worst possible way to begin this
visit. Maybe he saw her lack of interest in Pablo as an affront to the
precious Valaquez family honor. And if he did, he would undoubtedly
make her stay in Granada as unpleasant as possible.
    Grimacing, she shed her jeans and T-shirt to slip into a
sleeveless linen dress of periwinkle blue that enhanced her fair
complexion and the fiery highlights of her auburn hair. But after
stepping into cream-colored espadrilles and going to stand before the
cheval glass, she hardly noticed her reflection. Her mind was occupied
with matters far more important than mere appearance.
    She had never realized Raul could be the way he had been
tonight—mocking and deliberately hurtful. Last year, he had
actually seemed very fond of her and her only complaint had been that
he didn't see her as a desirable young woman rather than a child. It
was difficult to believe that same man was now so mercilessly taunting.
And he had actually tried to lay the blame for last year's marriage
fiasco at her feet! She had once foolishly assumed he was a fair-minded
man but now it was apparent that she hadn't known the real Raul
Valaquez very well at all. She couldn't have known him because the man
awaiting her downstairs seemed a total stranger, a dangerous stranger
she knew intuitively she would be extremely foolhardy to antagonize any
more than she already had.
    Dread dragged at her stomach and with a muttered
imprecation, she went to the vanity across the room. Sitting down
before the oval mirror, she brushed her thick russet hair with long
thorough strokes, postponing going downstairs again as long as she
possibly could. But with the sudden realization that Raul might tire of
waiting and come up to get her, she hastily put down her brush and
hurried out her door.
    The ride to the hospital in Raul's elegant cream BMW was
silent and excruciatingly tense. Juliet sat as close as possible to the
far edge of the brown leather passenger seat and clutched her straw
purse in her lap. Staring out her window at the black velvet,
star-studded sky, she tried not to think about the man beside . her