“Now that is a difficult decision if I have ever had one!” Camilla said with all the friendliness in the world. “The pearls are lovely and go so well against your dark hair. But those sapphires bring out your eyes like nothing else.”
Camilla settled down beside Elena on the ornate little couch and smiled at the younger woman. Gently, she took the sapphire necklace from Elena’s hands and gestured for her to turn a bit. She did, putting the pearls back into the jewelry box as she shifted on the couch.
“Do you think Ignacio will like them?” The younger woman asked with such hope and desperation in her voice, Camilla was almost sorry for what she was up to. Almost.
“He would be a fool, otherwise! You are the definition of beauty, Elena.” Camilla said as she slipped the sapphires around Elena’s neck and fastened the clasp for her. “You don’t need to worry one bit about that other woman.”
Camilla could tell she had once again hit her mark. Her words were such weapons, and she loved it. Elena’s shoulders tensed a bit and immediately that spark of hope and joy was snuffed right out of her. She turned, glancing over her shoulder towards Camilla.
“Who is she, Camilla?” Elena asked in nearly a whisper. Pain in her voice. “Why on earth would he have brought another woman back home with him? Do you think…”
“No. Not at all,” Camilla answered quickly, brushing a bit of nothing off of her lap. “A fling, perhaps. But nothing more.”
“But why did he bring her here? He wouldn’t have brought her here if he…” Elena couldn’t get the rest of her words out, her eyes dropping to the floor as her hands clasped together in her lap.
“Oh, Hunny, it’s alright,” Camilla said, hiding her dark smile as she inched close and put an arm around the younger woman. “Chances are good she convinced him of it, somehow. After all, if you were her and you found out about this family…”
Camilla trailed off intentionally, hoping that Elena would take the bait without her having to say it outright. It seemed to work, because Elena brought her head up a bit and turned to look at Camilla. A certain look passed across the younger woman’s face as she worked out the thought that Camilla had planted for her.
“Do… do you think she just wants money from him?” Elena asked, her brow furrowing together a bit as if she was having trouble believing it.
“Well now, I don’t know such a thing for sure, Elena. But it’s a possibility,” Camilla said with a bit of a shrug. “The DeLeon family is a rather prominent family. These are things we need to be wary of with strangers like her.”
Elena only nodded softly along with what Camilla was saying. Part of her wasn’t totally convinced of it for some reason, Camilla could tell, but she took Camilla’s word as gold. Why wouldn’t she? A little over five years ago, shortly after Elena had first arrived at the estate and Ignacio had run off, Camilla had taken the young woman under her wing and helped her navigate the strange life she had just been thrown into. What with her new fiancé having run off, the reason for which she didn’t come to learn for some time, not to mention the whole dragon thing.
From the very beginning, Elena had seen Camilla as the perfect DeLeon wife and had stove to emulate her, every chance she got. Of course, Elena had no idea that she was actually being groomed into a handmaiden all of this time. But so long as the girl was happy, complacent and still eager to please… Camilla was fine to let her have her delusions.
“Regardless…” Camilla continued, her tone a bit sharper now as if giving warning. “Ignacio needs to be reminded of who, exactly, he is engaged to. Shall we make him remember?”
Elena brightened right up at that suggestion and nodded her head, a bright smile blossoming across her face. The girl was gorgeous, really. So much so that Camilla had immediately considered her a threat. That was, of course, until she spoke to the girl the first time. Elena was sweet, innocent and naive in ways Camilla thought only existed in fairy tales. The girl just seemed to automatically assume the best in people right off the bat.
Camilla gestured, and Elena popped right up off of the couch. Camilla stood with her, but made a point to do so with grace knowing that Elena would notice. She did, and she seemed a smidge humbled and embarrassed for hopping about like a child.
“Come along, then. We have a bit of work to do.” Camilla knew the words would cut, even as she said them with a smile. But Elena nodded, her smile a bit faded, and followed along as Camilla lead her out of the room and across the house to her and Rafael’s personal wing of the house. If she was going to craft Elena into a show-stealer for the night, Camilla wanted to pull from her own stock, and no one else’s. Besides, most of what Elena had in her closet was far too subdued for what Camilla had in mind.
By the time she was done, Ignacio wouldn’t know what had hit him… and Camilla was counting on that. She had decided that Ignacio was going to be her plaything, but before she took him for her own, she planned on throwing him to the wolves to soften him up. Basically, she would get the other two women squabbling over him and then, when he didn’t know where to turn, Camilla would be there with open arms… and an open bed.
Chapter Four
It took Ignacio a few minutes to shake off the strange feeling he had gotten from Camilla. She had been way too nice… and had she been flirting with him? Honestly, if he thought about it he really wouldn’t have been so surprised. But he shook all thoughts of it from his head and instead went back to focusing on his search for Maia. He didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone in this house any longer than he had to.
When he finally found her, it was in the kitchen and he knew he should have just started there to begin with. Not only was she starving, but Ignacio knew for a fact that it was the only place in the house that actually felt like a home. Probably because you would be hard-pressed to find a DeLeon anywhere in there. He also should have gone there first because it was the only place that really made sense. Rafael had told Manuel and Lucia to keep Maia busy… and the easiest way for them to do that was to keep her with them as they worked.
He was a dozen or so steps from the doorway when he heard Maia’s laughter ring out like the bright, vibrant bell that it was. He paused, a smile taking over his face as he just listened to her laugh for a moment. A wave of relief washed over him as he listened to her, her laugh a balm to soothe his soul every single time. That relief was short-lived, though, when he heard Lucia saying his name. Oh God, they were talking about him.
He cringed, took a breath, and pushed through the door so he could walk into the kitchen. What he saw was something that brought him more joy than he honestly expected. So much so that he had to stop and just take it all in for a moment, a silly little smile on his face all the while.
Manuel and Lucia stood on one side of the island table in the middle of the room. Lucia was chopping up something, carrots it looked like, as Manuel prepared a snack tray of cheese, meats, and olives. Maia, a sight he had ached to see, was a vision in white as she sat opposite the other two, picking playfully at the snack plate that Manuel was preparing. She looked freshly showered and like she was feeling far better than when they had first arrived. It was difficult for him to keep from taking her into his arms right then and there to kiss her. Instead, he broke his trance and crossed the room to join them.
“Alright, alright,” he said, interrupting Lucia as she was about to continue whatever story she was telling about him. “Enough of the Ignacio history lesson.”
“Aww. But it was such a fun story!” Maia said with a broad smile as he approached her. “Lucia was just telling me about when you were nine…”
She popped an olive into her mouth and quirked an eyebrow at him for emphasis. The way she said it made it very clear to him exactly what story Lucia was telling, and he groaned, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling.
“Yes! When he was trying to hide the family of bunny rabbits in his room…” Lucia said.
“Annnd… Father found out and demanded I toss them i
nto the woods but instead, you let me hide them in the mudroom and helped me take care of them until they were big enough,” Ignacio interrupted and finished off the story for her. By the smug look on Maia’s face, he was pretty sure she had already been told that story and quite a few more.
“You were such a little softy, huh?” Maia asked, sliding from her seat to stand and step towards him. “Saving baby bunnies and stuff. Too cute.”
He smirked and took the opportunity to slip his arms around her waist in a long overdue embrace. He loved the way she poked fun at him because he could tell she really found it all charming. He leaned in and gave her a small kiss, keeping it fairly chaste considering their company at the moment. She smiled at him in response.
“Manuel is making us some snacks if you are hungry. I guess there is some big dinner planned for later, so we aren’t allowed to fill up just yet,” Maia said. “But at least they are being nice enough to not totally starve us until then…”
Maia glanced back towards Lucia and Manuel, flashing them a playful smile and a bit of a wink. It was refreshing for Ignacio to hear Maia acting like her old self again. It bothered him and told him something was wrong if she wasn’t needling the people around her.
“Starving,” he said, though the look he gave Maia made it clear he wasn’t hungry for food.
“Well, then, why don’t we take them somewhere else and leave Manuel and Lucia alone for a while?” Maia suggested, getting the hint. “I’ve annoyed them enough for one afternoon.”
“Oh, Cariño, you could never annoy us!” Lucia chirped happily as she continued to cut up carrots.
Maia smiled and winked at Lucia as she slipped out of Ignacio’s arms and went to pick up the plate Manuel had just finished putting together. She murmured a soft thank you to the older man before returning to Ignacio’s side.
“Shall we, then?” She asked with a playful smile.
“We shall,” he answered, turning to look at Lucia and Manuel. “Thank you, both of you.”
“Go eat, Mijo. Enjoy,” Manuel said, with a soft smile.
The young couple left with a load of smiles to go along with their plate of snacks. Ignacio finally felt a sense of ease since before they had set foot in this house and Maia had just spent the early afternoon with the two people who were really responsible for raising Ignacio. It made sense to her, now, why Ignacio just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of his family (even if she had only met them for a brief second). He was far too kind and sweet to have been raised by the same people who raised Rafael. After her conversation with Lucia and Manuel, it was clear to Maia why Ignacio was the way he was.
Ignacio lead the way upstairs to the small suite of rooms that had been his, growing up, and still were, so that he and Maia could have a little bit of peace and quiet together. They got settled together on his couch in the little lounge room and started to pick and nibble at their snacks, though it wasn’t long before Maia started to badger him with questions.
“So, Lucia sort of explained what the hell happened this morning with that other woman, Elena,” Maia started, her words causing Ignacio’s heart to seize. “You two are engaged?”
He sat there a moment, thankful for the fact that he had just put food into his mouth and could stall time by chewing. He had dreaded this moment from the instant Elena burst through the front doors and threw herself around him upon their arrival. His fight with Rafael, and then his following conversation with Camilla, had caused him to forget about this inevitable explanation she wanted out of him and his heart started pounding at the question. He swallowed it down, however, and answered.
“We were, yes. But I refused it and that’s why I wound up leaving five years ago and went to live in the desert where we met,” he said, starting to ramble right out of the gate. “I figured that would be the end of it and I never expected her to still be here. Rafael insists that the engagement is still on and that I should just give in and marry her… but I would never do that. I refuse to become like my brother and just… marry for money or status. He is just like our parents…. which is a big reason why I spent so much time with Lucia and Manuel. They…”
“Ignacio, stop,” Maia said, interrupting him. “What do you mean the engagement is still on? Are you telling me that you actually do have a fiancée who has been waiting these past five years for you to show back up and marry her? That’s insane!”
He could tell by her voice that she wasn’t happy about any of this, the way it seemed to tighten and get higher in pitch with every word she spoke. He drew in a breath, holding it a moment as his eyes closed and he tried to explain things as best he could.
“She waited for me, yes. But I am NOT going to marry her, Maia,” he said, opening his eyes to look at her once more. “Rafael must have lied to get her to stay and wait all of this time. It’s the only thing I can think of to explain it. I mean, her and I only ever met once before I left.”
Maia shook her head, folding her arms as she leaned back into the couch. He could tell she wasn’t happy but he couldn’t understand exactly why. He had just told her, repeatedly, that he had no intentions of ever marrying Elena and that he was just as unhappy as she was that Elena was still here. What else could it be?
“Ignacio. This woman has spent the past five years waiting for you,” Maia said, not looking at him as she spoke. “Five years. She has been clinging to the hope that you and her will be getting married… and now that you are back? Do you really think she is going to take no for an answer? Tsk… I sure as hell wouldn’t…”
“Maia… it doesn’t matter! I never agreed to this marriage and I never will. She could stay here for the rest of her life and it wouldn’t make any difference to me.” He felt callous saying it, but it was true.
“This is ridiculous, Ignacio, and you know it,” she snapped, finally looking at him. “For shit’s sake… I feel like we’ve gone from the frying pan and into the fire here. No matter what we do, something is always in our way trying to fuck things up. Maybe we just aren’t supposed to be together and this is all pointless.”
He could hear the strain in her voice as she said it and he knew she didn’t believe a word she was saying. The fact that she said it, though, upset him more than anything and he reached out for her, pulling her closer against him. He was relieved when she didn’t fight him on it.
“Maia…” He murmured into her thick, dark curls. “Elena was and never will be the future that I want for myself. You are. Please believe me when I say it… you are all I have ever wanted. From the first moment I saw you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with a hint of tears even as she smiled. He didn’t want her to say anything… so he just leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Softly at first, but then deeper as his one had rose up to brush against her cheek. They both fell into that kiss head-first, filling up on one another for the first time in what felt like ages, and when they finally broke free of one another, they were both at a loss for breath.
Ignacio moved, scooping his lover into his arms as he stood from the couch and took her up with him. He spoke not a word and just carried her into the bedroom where he placed her gently on the bed. Again, he pressed his lips against hers as he climbed onto the bed with her, his knee gently pushing her legs apart, so he could nestle himself between them. With his weight propped on one elbow, he let his other hand roam freely across the woman he loved, feeling the downy-soft fabric of her white dress as he pulled it up along her body.
Maia broke their kiss, gasped, and sighed softly with pleasure against his ear. It was a sound that sent a thrill down his spine and led him to kissing the sensitive curve of her neck. His hand abandoned her dress, leaving it bunched up around her hips, and traveled south along the length of her hip and thigh. The warmth of her skin against his hand caused a pleasant little rumble to bubble up in his throat and he slid his hand up to her hip to grip it tightly.
“I love you Maia…” He murmured against her ne
ck, drawing in a deep breath of her sweet scent.
“I love you too, Ignacio,” she answered, just as softly.
He smiled, lifting his head so his eyes might find hers for a moment before he pressed his lips down against hers once more. He could never seem to get enough of her, though for the first time he felt like there was no reason to hold himself back. After all they had been through, everything they had survived and all the distance they had traveled… even in this house… he felt that they were finally safe.
That feeling of security gave him the freedom to enjoy every inch of Maia just as she was. The rest of the world faded away into a blur around them. All he cared about and all he could focus on, was her. Their kiss deepened and seemed to go on for forever and yet not long enough all at the same time. His hand at her hip began to creep its way northbound along her body as their lips danced. His fingertips teased with a gentle touch across the line of her hipbone, taking note that she wore nothing under her dress.
Knowing this gave him goosebumps and he moaned softly into their kiss. He shifted his position, reluctantly breaking that delicious kiss, and let his lips flutter down across her neck. He felt her squirm gently in his grasp and he smiled, both of his hands now at her hips. They didn’t remain there long, however, and instead began to move up along her sides… taking her dress up further in the process.
He sat up from her, just a bit, so he could enjoy the sight of her the way she was. Dark curls splashed across the pillow under her head, simple white dress pushed up passed her hips leaving her bare and beautiful before him. She wore a smile that both warmed his heart and sent a throbbing need between his legs, a smile that begged him for whatever it was he had in mind. He couldn’t help himself as he licked his lips, sitting up enough to pull his shirt free and toss it aside before he leaned down towards her once again.
Mistakenly Married The Dragon Page 3
