Page 86 of Raul
Hope flickered in his eyes and then faded. “Your offer is both kind and generous, but I cannot accept it.”
“Why not?” She slid her hand away and straightened, hanging on to her pride.
“I do not want kindness from you.” His lips twisted in an unhappy grimace, and heat flared in his eyes. “As we sit here, it is taking every ounce of my self-control not to pull you into my arms and kiss every inch of bare skin I can find. And then strip off that uniform that looks so sexy on you and kiss the rest of you. And then…”
He stopped with a groan.
Carajo!Each word felt like a kiss, but not on her mouth. No, she felt them much lower, so her nipples tightened, and she pressed her thighs together as arousal coiled there.
“I see.” Her voice hitched on a breath.
“Do you?” He locked his eyes on her face as they blazed. “I want all of you, not just your body, not just your friendship, but everything you have to give. Your heart, your soul. And I want to give you mine.”
He shoved off the sofa and paced away to stand behind a chair, his fingers digging into the back cushion as he stared downward and ground out, “But my duty denies me that.”
She wanted to shout that the new queen was an American commoner. That Quinn was an American too. But she understood. His father’s first marriage had been to a Calevan noblewoman. Luis had done his duty first and then been free to love wherever he found it.
Her heart felt like it was being torn apart. To know that Raul wanted her that badly was both heaven and hell.
“We could just…” She reached toward him, not caring if he had to discard her when he chose a bride. Her pride was powerless against her feelings for this man.
He made a slicing motion with his hand. “No! I will not use you that way. Please don’t tempt me.”
She let her arm drop as everything in her screamed that she should break his will by throwing herself into his arms and kissing him. “I guess I should go.”
He lifted his head to show her a face so miserable that she nearly cried out. Instead, she stood, picked up her cap, and grabbed the handles of her flight bag. Giving him a small curtsy, she managed to push out,“Su Alteza Real,”before she strode out the door.
Chapter 20
“Yes, I have the rings.” Raul patted the side pocket of his ceremonial uniform jacket that held the two gold wedding bands.
“I don’t know why I asked,” Gabriel said with a flash of a smile. “You would never forget something so important. You aremuy responsable.”
And didn’t that suck. He wanted to throw responsibility to the winds and run away with Erica.
Nope. Focus on Gabriel’s happiness today.
A haunting melody of intertwining voices drifted into the small chapel where they waited.
“Ah, that’s the Victoria motet,” Gabriel murmured. “So beautiful.”
Being a musician, Gabriel had carefully chosen all the music for the ceremony.
“Are you nervous, or is this like performing onstage?” Raul asked, scanning Gabriel’s red jacket, resplendent with medals, a Calevan green sash, and loops of gold braid, worn over green trousers embellished with red stripes down the sides. Gabriel had even smoothed his long dark hair back into a neat queue tied with a black ribbon.
Raul wore a green jacket with less gold braid and fewer medals, so as not to pull attention away from the groom. He was glad to fade into the background today. For many reasons.
Gabriel flexed his fingers. “When I play the guitar, I let the music speak to my audience. This”—he swept his hand toward the door that led out to the grand altar of the Catedral Real de San Ignacio—“is an entirely different kind of performance. I want to tell the world how much I love Quinn, but I would prefer to do it with more passion and less protocol.”
Raul felt a stab of envy as Gabriel spoke, his cousin’s voice vibrating with the depth of emotion he felt for his bride. Gabriel deserved this joy more than anyone, so Raul gave his cousin a wry smile.
“When have we been able to do anything significant without protocol? This is just another brass-and-mass,” Raul said, using the term they had invented as bored teenagers. It described the array of medals clanking on their uniforms as they were so often required to attend tediously solemn ceremonies. “Think of poor Quinn. She wasn’t raised with all this as we were.”
“She has handled it with amazing fortitude.” Pleasure gleamed in Gabriel’s gray eyes. “She even admits that the months of preparation have given her an opportunity to get to know my family better. Your father’s offer to walk her down the aisle was a gesture of incredible generosity.”
Pride in his father warmed Raul’s chest. The king’s escort would give Quinn a seal of legitimacy that would go far to minimize her troublesome past.
“Pater loves Quinn,” Raul said. For many reasons, but most of all because she had saved Gabriel from despair. “He still makes her nervous, though.”
