‘Given my son’s response, I’m glad to hear there’ll be more opportunities to meet you again, señorita,’ said Andrés.
Luna had also registered the meaning behind Ruy’s remark and didn’t know whether to feel happy or anxious at the thought. She watched the interaction between father and son, sensing a mutual respect and warmth. Yet there was something Ruy held back with his father; he was more restrained in his attitude than he had been with Salvador.
Andrés gave a debonair smile. ‘Now I must leave the two of you to have fun. I only came out here for some air before getting more champagne for your mother, and she’ll be wondering what happened to me. I left her with far too many men crowding round, and I mean to steal her away for another dance before one of them beats me to it. I’ll see you both after midnight, no doubt.’ He turned to Luna. ‘Delighted to meet you, señorita.’ With that, Andrés disappeared back into the ballroom.
Luna looked at Ruy and was aware of the atmosphere between them springing back to one of watchful intensity now that they were alone again, despite the other guests milling about on the terrace, talking and laughing buoyantly.
‘I’ll bring us some champagne, then show you around the grounds,’ Ruy suggested. ‘The moon is particularly bright tonight so the gardens will look stunning.’ His voice was low and vibrant and there was a blatant sensuality in the gaze that held hers. The unmistakable message she read in them kindled a slow, warm glow that spread through her veins like quicksilver, causing any vestiges of the embarrassment she had felt a few minutes ago to flee. She stood still as a statue, her senses bemused before the passion in that look. Heady scents came from the garden below. It was a night to dream and love, and Luna felt herself surrendering to the magic of the evening, almost forgetting who she was.
Ruy did not need to go far. A waiter had just stepped on to the terrace offering flutes of iced champagne. Ruy gave Luna a glass and lifted his own, ‘Días felices! Happy days!’ Then touching her elbow gently, he led her into the garden.
Here, El Pavón slumbered peacefully, set among flowers, all white now in diaphanous moonlight. Its pearly beams had turned the grounds into a poem of silver and dark velvet shadows, dappling the earth with patterns beneath the trees. The atmosphere was still warm and a little humid, thick with strange, exotic fragrances released by a late watering and the cooler night air. Only the crescendo in the sound of crickets and the sporadic soft croak of a frog chorus disturbed the tranquillity.
They walked through the darkness in silence without touching, aware of each other’s nearness. Luna’s mind, which had seemed in such a state of turmoil earlier, was calm again, except for those odd sweet moments of excitement that stirred her pulse, when occasionally Ruy’s fingers accidentally brushed against hers.
It occurred to her to ask Ruy about his father but she sensed this was the wrong moment. Instead, as she surreptitiously stole a look at him, still wearing his mask over his princely turban, another thought made her break the silence.
‘You promised to tell me the legend from A Thousand and One Nights.’
‘Indeed, I did,’ he said, smiling at her.
‘Do you think now is a good time?’
‘Yes, it’s as good a time as ever.’
And so Ruy told her the tale of the handsome Prince Kamar and the beautiful Princess Budur, who lived on opposite sides of the world, refusing any match their respective fathers presented them for marriage. Brought together in their sleep on a magic carpet by Maimouna and Dahnash, two mischievous and meddling genies, they fell in love and consummated their passion in dreams, only to find when they awoke that they lived far apart, in distant cities and palaces.
‘Each knew that the other existed because they had swapped rings,’ Ruy explained. ‘They pined away in dungeons, where they were to be kept prisoners until they listened to reason and married the family’s choice.
‘Taking pity on Princess Budur, Marzavan, her brother, decided to go on a journey around the world to find his sister’s lover. By a stroke of fate,’ Ruy said, quirking an eyebrow at Luna, who smiled back with amusement, ‘there was a big storm and his ship ran aground next to Prince Kamar’s palace. Having heard in the market about the lovesick prince, Marzavan presented himself at the palace, claiming he was a doctor and would be able to cure Prince Kamar from his ailment. As he laid eyes on the prince and saw his sister’s ring, he knew this was the man he was looking for.
‘When Kamar Al-Zaman learned who Marzavan was, his heart filled with joy and he decided to go back with him to the other end of the world. On the way, they met with many obstacles, fighting dragons and giants, until they reached their destination. So the shock of seeing him again would not be too great, Prince Kamar wrote a love letter to Princess Budur telling her of the adventures he’d had in the City of All Magicians and in the Ebony Islands in his quest to find her. He enclosed his ring in the envelope and asked the servants to deliver it to the dungeon where his beloved was kept prisoner.
‘When Princess Budur read the letter and saw the ring, her heart filled with hope and she was allowed to receive him. As their eyes met, the lovers fell into each other’s arms. There was a great celebration and all the sultans of the world were invited to their wedding. Naturally, Prince Kamar Al-Zaman and Princess Budur lived happily ever after.’
Luna frowned slightly. ‘It seems slightly illogical that suddenly the lovers were allowed to marry when previously their fathers had insisted on making a match themselves.’
‘Stop being so logical, Luna. It’s a legend. The romance and symbolism is what’s important.’
She looked sheepishly back at him. ‘Fine. So what happened to the genies, Maimouna and Dahnash?’ she asked.
‘Oh, they were never heard of again but I’m sure they’re still up to mischief, prowling around at night, meddling in people’s lives and generally making things happen.’ He winked at her and grinned, and it seemed to her that those mischievous little devils had taken up residence in his twinkling eyes, still expressive even behind his narrow mask, and she knew exactly to what he was alluding. ‘The legend says that whoever dresses in Kamar Al-Zaman’s or Princess Budur’s costume will meet the love of their life the first time they wear it.
‘Do you believe in legends, my beautiful Queen of the Night?’ He was not looking at Luna now but straight ahead, his profile carved like a cameo in the shadows.
Unwillingly, her gaze glided to his powerful, masculine frame and slid away almost immediately. Blood pounded in her head; she felt dizzy with yearning, her soul exposed and vulnerable. She disliked the intoxicating effect he had on her. This eruption of novel sensations was alarming because she knew how easy it would be to succumb to their seductive temptation. He was playing a game, at which he was master and she was a novice.
‘I try to keep my feet solidly fixed on the ground. Losing sight of reality can often come at a price.’
‘Indulge me tonight … just for one night. The legend may come true and we’ll live happily ever after. Would that be so terrible?’ He looked at her with a boyish grin. ‘Fate has a strange way of making things happen. Sometimes suddenly … unexpectedly.’
She looked at him sceptically. ‘You know I don’t believe in fate. Have you ever known legends to come true?’
‘This one has already worked twice in our family. My grandfather was wearing the Sultan’s costume on the night he met my grandmother, and my mother wore the Sultana’s the night she met my father.’
They were walking in an orchard among lemon trees in bloom and fruit. The flowers were very like orange blossom and the fruit, hanging from glossy leaves, a mixture of large and small, ripe and unripe. Up ahead, the orange trees in the grove were in the process of being harvested. Tall ladders stood among the trees and handcarts were laden with oranges waiting to be moved. Behind the orchard, the moonlight skilfully climbed the big eucalyptus trees, giving their sage-coloured leaves a plated, lustrous look. Luna gazed at the scene, breathing in the beauty of it.<
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‘What are you thinking?’ Ruy asked.
‘What a perfect night.’
‘On such a night as this––’ he began, and then broke off.
She looked up at him questioningly.
A moonbeam fell on his face. Behind his mask, his eyes appeared to sparkle with blue fire. ‘… Anything could happen.’ His tone was teasing.
‘Anything?’ she echoed.
He lifted his gaze and pointed to the dark canopy above. ‘Yes, the stars create the circumstances. It’s for the individual to seize the opportunity. Sometimes the individual is blind, he lets the chance pass and his destiny is altered for ever.’
It was her turn now to flash him a teasing look. ‘That’s a little drastic, don’t you think?’
‘Maybe but, as you know, I’m a great believer in destiny.’
‘But you’re a scientist.’
‘You think all scientists reject the possibility of mysterious forces in the universe? Tell that to Carl Sagan or Einstein. There are plenty more who attest to the incomprehensibility of the universe. God, fate, destiny …’
‘Yes,’ nodded Luna, ‘and their point was that it’s all about uncertainty.’
‘Precisely. There’s no evidence to prove these things either way, so the possibility therefore exists that they are true.’ He shrugged. ‘I choose to believe. Perhaps it’s the gypsy blood that runs in my veins, all those inherited beliefs. More often than not I feel I’m more Caló than gajo.’
‘You mean that you actually feel more of an affinity with gypsies?’
‘Yes,’ he agreed quietly. ‘It’s a great mystery to my grandmother,’ he laughed, a little derisively.
‘Why is that? Because of the scandal you told me about in the car, involving your grandfather and the gypsies?’
‘Yes. Grandmother has never really been comfortable with the gitanos as a result. The de Fallas and the de Ruedas have always been bound to them in some way, however. Our family has a long history with the gypsies. They live on this land, here at El Pavón; they’re never very far away. So whether I’m in Cádiz or here, I’m bound to them too.’
‘It explains why you were in the gypsy taverna in Barcelona and how you seem to have a foot in both worlds,’ said Luna, her hand trailing along the top of a clump of soft-petalled carnations in the flowerbeds adjoining the path. ‘One minute you’re a gypsy in jeans and T-shirt playing the guitar in an offbeat nightclub, the next you’re an eminent doctor appearing at a conference in a five-star hotel.’
Ruy chuckled. ‘Yes, I suppose it is confusing. Most of my closest friends are gypsies, many of them knowledgeable herbalists and healers. They’ve helped me a lot in my work. A wonderful people, greatly misunderstood. They’re the wild flowers of the world, blowing free in the wind with nothing to control or constrain them.’ He smiled broadly. ‘I’ll introduce them to you one day. You’ll like them, I’m sure.’
They had reached the summerhouse at the end of the garden. It looked like a fairy palace, surrounded by roses, creepers, nasturtiums and graceful convolvulus, falling around it in rich profusion.
In the dim light, Luna lost her footing and stumbled on the steps. Ruy caught her under the arm, strong fingers supporting her and, as he did so, the back of his hand brushed against the curve of her breast. She shivered at the intimate contact and felt them swelling from nothing more than the thought of his touch on them.
His eyes, alight with emotion, flickered to her face; he seemed transfixed by her nearness and his longing to express himself. He wanted her. She knew it, and she wanted him too.
Ruy made a sudden move towards her. She took a step back as the old feeling of panic abruptly invaded her. This time it had a different edge. Her own desire made it far more dangerous. She could not let herself give in to that terrifying lack of control again. Mid-stride, Ruy stopped, reading the hunted deer expression in her honey-brown eyes. She knew they were wide with fear, not as concealed as she would have liked by her mask.
He frowned. His whole body was tense with the strain of self-control. ‘Why?’ he murmured. ‘You want this as much as I do. Every curve, every nerve in your body is crying out for me … You proved it tonight when you were in my arms. Have you forgotten the way you trembled against me, the eloquent way your body spoke to me? The memory of that dance will remain forever etched on my mind. I’ve never met someone as sensual as you are. I’m irresistibly drawn to you …’ He hesitated. ‘… Bewitched.’
He took another step closer, his eyes dark pools of indigo blue. She had never seen them that colour before.
‘You’re attracted to me, too. Why don’t you admit it? You can’t help yourself when I’m near. I read it in your eyes … in your body.’ He was standing just inches away now and his gaze dropped, hungrily taking her in. ‘I don’t even need to touch you, I can feel your urge to surrender to me.’
With alarm, Luna registered that he knew full well the power he had over her. Perhaps that was why she always had to try to resist him, she told herself. Because if she didn’t …
She raised her chin defiantly. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh yes, I do! You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder ever since we set eyes on each other because you’re afraid of me, afraid that we’re alike and that I’ll discover underneath this calm, cool and aloof front you put up, there’s a really hot-blooded, passionate seductress.’
Desperately, Luna hit back with the only weapon within her grasp. ‘You seem very sure of yourself,’ she said, forcing her voice to be steady. ‘You must be so used to every female you meet wanting to fall into your arms that you can’t accept it when a woman doesn’t.’
It was a blatant lie and they both knew it.
Ruy’s expression darkened and she could hardly blame him. He looked as if he were gritting his teeth and he had paled under his golden tan. Shaking his head, he gave a short, mirthless laugh.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you do something we both know you want. I know how to behave honourably with a woman.’ A bitter smile twisted his sensitive mouth. ‘You’ve got the most beautiful amber eyes, Luna, yet you seem to be blind. You’ve also a good brain, but it doesn’t tell you everything.’
He was still only inches away from her, radiating frustrated desire. Seeing the look in his eyes, Luna’s heart hammered uncontrollably in her chest.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Don’t you?’ He caught her gaze and held it. ‘When a man is hungry and thirsty, he needs food and drink, yet you don’t seem to notice these human cravings. Or at least you pretend not to, though I wish I knew why. They’re normal and natural. After all, this is the twenty-first century, not the Middle Ages.’
Luna stiffened. He had hit a raw nerve and she summoned as much self-control as she could muster. ‘Who are you to judge me? You said it yourself. I’ve been discouraging you from the start but you’ve pursued me as if I’m just another of your easy conquests.’
Ruy arched an eyebrow. His eyes sparked with rough amusement but his voice was quiet with intensity. ‘Believe me, Luna, there is nothing easy about anything where you’re concerned.’
‘Please don’t stand so close,’ she rasped, the danger of his proximity making her breathing more laboured by the second.
‘Why, Luna? Because then I might kiss you and you want that so badly it’s like a fire in your veins.’
‘You know nothing about me, so don’t presume to tell me what I want.’
‘I don’t presume, I know.’ His gaze fell to her breasts, then her hips, right down to her feet, sliding back up to her mouth. ‘Your body is as alive with hunger as mine is. Why do you keep denying it? Lie to anyone you like but don’t lie to me.’ He paused and his blue stare fixed on her beautiful face. ‘Or perhaps it gives you a kick to arouse a man’s appetite and then starve him,’ he added scathingly.
Luna’s eyes flamed. Suddenly the mortification of her wanton response to him on the dancefloor retu
rned with renewed force. ‘How dare you!’ she hissed as she lifted a hand and slapped him across the face.
Ruy didn’t flinch or blink an eyelid, only his eyes turned steel grey behind his mask.
Before she knew it, he had taken her in his arms, his mouth closing over hers with all the pent-up fire that had burnt them both since they had first met. Unable to resist, she responded with equal fever. He pushed his body against her until she was backed up against the wall of the summerhouse. Flames erupted between them as their lips, hands and bodies tried to satiate the craving that had tortured their days and nights. The hard pressure of his arousal pushed against the curve of her thigh and pleasure surged through her like white, liquid heat. His tongue found hers, plunging into her mouth and retreating over and over again in such a wildly suggestive rhythm that she thought she would go mad. In that moment, with the whole of the world shut out, only the two of them existed.
‘Tell me you want me, Luna.’ His mouth went to her ear. ‘Tell me you’re not a dream from which one day I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone.’ His hand slid into the bodice of her dress, searching for the curvy softness of her breasts. The feel of his warm palms on her quivering skin was so sweet she cried out with pleasure.
The sound of it echoed in her head, bringing her down to earth with a bump. She gave a horrified gasp and, panic-stricken, wrenched herself from his embrace.
‘Please, Ruy,’ she whimpered. With a muffled sob she flung herself away.
‘What is it?’ he asked. He was breathing heavily, his eyes scanning her face, trying to understand.
Luna flushed under his dark and fathomless gaze and bit her lower lip hard. She looked at him through glittering eyes, willing herself not to cry.
‘Nothing,’ she whispered, evading his eyes so he could not read in them a different message. She was on fire; she wanted him inside her, that was the simple truth, and what he had said about her had been right, every word of it. Yet, paradoxically, a strong feeling of fear, almost repugnance, was urging her to reject him. She knew she was going to bitterly regret it, but she didn’t have any choice. The shame inside her had won again. She was flawed, she admitted chillingly … It was the only explanation for her perverse behaviour. She was some sort of emotional freak.
Legacy Page 18
