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Lucas turned and looked at her. His eyes were very dark; the bones in his cheeks seemed more pronounced than usual. She could see that he was hurting…
Alyssa broke eye contact.
Three days. A second more was to court disaster.
In midafternoon, the jet began a smooth descent through a bright blue sky, touched down on a long ribbon of concrete and finally braked to a gentle stop.
Green meadows bracketed the landing strip; on a distant rise, a herd of horses stood silhouetted against a lush backdrop of leafy trees.
A black Rolls-Royce sped along a parallel road and stopped; two men in coveralls began wheeling a mobile staircase to the plane as the steward entered the cabin and opened the outside door.
“Welcome home, Your Highness,” he said pleasantly.
&nbs
p; Alyssa rose to her feet. So did Lucas, who clasped her shoulder as she started past him.
“Wait.”
An imperial command. Did he think she was one of his subjects? She shrugged off his hand, brushed past the steward…
And almost tumbled into the yawning gap between the plane and the mobile stairs.
A strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
“Madre de Dios,” Lucas said sharply, “what in hell were you doing?”
“I thought—the door—I thought—”
She was shaking like a leaf. So was he. Another step and…
Lucas cursed, turned Alyssa to him and gathered her tightly in his arms. He half expected her to resist but she collapsed against him, heart pounding against his, breath quick and shallow.
“Lyssa.” He shut his eyes, buried his face in her hair. “It’s my fault. The stairs—”
Alyssa shuddered. “There were no stairs.”
“Si. I know.”
“It was my fault entirely, sir,” the steward said in a shaken whisper. “If I hadn’t opened the door—”
“No, it’s not your doing, Emilio.” Lucas cupped Alyssa’s face and lifted it so he could look into her eyes. “Emilio knows I always want the door opened as soon as possible. I like the smell of home. The grass. The sea beyond the hills. The horses.” Dios, her face was so pale! “Now you will think I am a crazy man, admitting I love the smell of horses.”
His attempt at calming her seemed to work. A hint of color rose in her cheeks and she gave a choked laugh.
“The only crazy person here is me, trying to walk on air.”
The steps locked into place with a metallic thud.
“We can toss a coin to decide the winner later.” Lucas’s smile faded. “Are you all right, chica?”
“Yes. I’m—I’m fine.”
Not true. He could feel her heart doing the paso doble and she was still trembling. Letting go of her was out of the question, and he swung her up into his arms.
“Lucas. Really. I can walk.”
“Si. So can I. Humor me, amada. Put your arms around my neck and let me carry you to the car.”
