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As a maid and private butler unpacked their belongings, she stepped out onto the roof terrace, skirting the pool to enjoy the early evening breeze and take in the views and the water display at Fuente de Neptuno.
Ramon found her there ten minutes later, the call he’d needed to make finished. Strong arms planted on either side of her on the terrace wall, bracketing her in. When his mouth brushed the top of her head, her foolish heart soared.
‘We have the option of shower and dinner out or swim and dinner in.’
‘Hmm, option number two, please. I have the feeling jet lag is just waiting to pounce on me.’
‘Muy bien. I’ll organise it. Before that, you have another decision to make.’
His face remaining cryptic, he caught her hand in his and led her back inside. Two men waited in the living room, one a burly mountain of a man who was clearly a bodyguard. The other was less than half his size, holding a long, thin briefcase connected to his wrist by a chained handcuff.
Ramon exchanged a short conversation in Spanish then indicated the large coffee table in the middle of the room. Still holding her hand, he led her to the sofa and sat her down.
The briefcase was set before her. Opened. It took every ounce of control for her not to gasp.
Some of the biggest diamonds she’d ever seen sparkled from exquisite settings. Rows upon rows of them. Each one bigger than the last.
‘You can’t stare at them for ever, guapa,’ Ramon prompted dryly. ‘You need to pick one.’
She flashed him a glare. ‘Is that all I need to do?’
‘Sí, or you can pick more than one. Make a selection. Decide later which one you prefer.’
‘I can’t do that!’
He returned her outraged stare with a steady one of his own. ‘You can do whatever you want, Suki,’ he stated.
She swallowed hard, the implications of his response settling on her.
She was marrying Ramon Acosta. One of the most eligible men in the world. For whatever time she would enjoy at his side, she would be mixing in the big leagues.
Swallowing jangling nerves, she returned her gaze to the gems on the black velvet tray. Bypassing the more ostentatious stones, she settled on a simple oval four carat surrounded by a smaller ring of diamonds.
When Ramon nodded to the merchant, he stepped forward and made a note of her size. Placing her ring choice in a box, he silently left the room with his bodyguard. The near-silent transaction was surreal.
One she would probably have to get used to, she reminded herself as she slipped off her dress and replaced it with a cream and black striped bikini.
Ramon was already at the pool when she arrived. He watched her approach, gleaming eyes raking over her as she crossed to the lounger next to his. Suddenly self-conscious, she hesitated, then sucked in a breath before she shrugged off her filmy black silk kaftan.
The fevered hiss that left his throat made her breath catch. Jerking upright, he captured her hips, turned her fully to face him before he drew her between his splayed thighs.
‘You’re showing.’ His voice was a little shaken. A little awed. A lot powerful. One hand trailed over her hip to gently trace her belly, eliciting a charged shiver through her.
‘Barely,’ she whispered.
He shook his head. ‘No, I can tell. I can see,’ he muttered. ‘Asombroso.’
Amazing.
Drawing her slowly, inexorably closer, Ramon placed a soft, gentle kiss on her belly.
The power of it weakened her limbs, stung her eyes with emotions she blinked away hard, even as her heart wept with everything she couldn’t have.
Another kiss anointed her. Then another.
When her heart threatened to crack wide open there and then, she stepped back, turned away under the pretext of draping her kaftan on the lounger.
‘This baby is going to demand sustenance in T minus half an hour. So I’m hitting the pool now.’
