Untamed Fire

by Donna Fletcher

  Gaby wasn’t surprised by the protective tenderness Rafael showed toward his mother. It was easy to see how very much he loved her and was only doing what he felt was best for her.

  Rafael guided the chair beneath the table as Dona Maria sat down. He kissed her gently on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mother. Gaby, I wish to speak with you when you are finished attending my mother.”

  “Si, Don Rafael,” she said, wondering how long she’d be able to avoid him. She busied herself with her duties, trying to ignore the image of Rafael that persisted to haunt her. He was sinfully handsome. His dark hair appeared rumpled and unkempt. It marked him with an air of danger, as though he had just fought a wild animal or perhaps tamed one.

  “Sometimes he appears a tyrant, but he is a fair man,” Dona Maria said patting Gaby’s hand.

  “I think stubborn is more accurate,” she said.

  Dona Maria carefully placed a linen napkin over her lap. “His tyranny or stubbornness has cause. It isn’t easy running a ranch this size. There are over one thousand acres to look after and several hundred workers. Rafael takes his responsibilities seriously as well he should.”

  Gaby remained silent, having learned the first day she had met the woman that Rafael was everything to her. It was almost as if she had transferred her love and dependency from her late husband to her son.

  “Rafael has suffered much heartache. It is time for him to find happiness.” Dona Maria lowered her voice. “He needs someone. Everyone needs someone.”

  Gaby heard the sorrow in her voice. Sorrow for her son and for her own loneliness.

  “I want to see my son happy and married, with children to fill this place with laughter and love. Many children,” she said quietly.

  Gaby smiled at the thought of a pint-sized Rafael running around the hacienda dictating orders. He would be handsome just like his padre.

  “Your smile is contagious, Gaby,” Dona Maria said. “I have smiled more in the last few days than the last two years.”

  “Padre Jose told me that when I was a little girl my smile was touched by the angels. He claims that is what attracts people to me and forces them to respond in kind.”

  Dona Maria nodded. “He is right. But it isn’t only your smile. Your beauty intoxicates and draws people to you like a bee to the flower’s nectar.

  Gaby laughed. “You are too gracious with your compliments, Dona Maria. I am but a simple woman with simple looks.”

  The woman stood, shaking her head. “You are stubborn, but you will learn. Now help me dress and then go to Rafael’s study and get the writing paper from his top left drawer. “I have no paper left and I wish to send an invitation.”

  Gaby did as directed, hoping Rafael wasn’t about. She entered his study hesitantly and with cautious steps until she was sure it was empty. She hurried over to the large desk sitting in the middle of the room like a king’s throne, and for a moment feared the thought of touching it.

  She had been directed to collect the paper, had the right to be here, but still she felt as if she was trespassing. Her hand reached out and slowly opened the drawer. There were several sheets of paper with writing on them. She picked some up and placed them on the desk, thinking the blank sheets were beneath. They weren’t. She was about to return the other papers when her attention was drawn to several words.

  Dear Rafael... death of your wife and son... tragedy... shame... you couldn’t have saved them...

  She searched her memory, trying to recall if she had ever heard of Rafael having a wife and child. It could have been years ago when she was only a child. The rancheros had a way of burying certain gossip and secrets if they wished. She wondered what painful secret Rafael had locked away.

  A noise outside the door startled her and she quickly shoved the papers in the drawer and closed it.

  Rafael appeared in the doorway and glared at her. “There is nothing of value in there to steal.”

  Gaby didn’t smile or make light of his accusation as she would normally do. She was tired of being referred to as a thief. “Your mother sent me for writing paper.”

  He walked slowly into the room. “She keeps her writing paper in her own desk.”

  “She has none left.”

  She had answered so quickly that it gave him pause to wonder what she was up to. Was she spying on him for the padre? He dismissed the unlikely thought immediately since the padre feared him more than the devil himself. Perhaps it was money. She was poor and was receiving no wages.

  Gaby didn’t like the way he examined her and her intentions. He actually believed her a thief. A common thief. She was emphatic when she said, “I don’t steal.”

  “And you also don’t follow orders, which leads me to believe you aren’t here under my mother’s direction.” He sat on the arm of the solid wood chair near the desk and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

  He reminded her of a ruler who judged and was ready to punish. But if he thought she would stand by silently and not defend herself... he was wrong. “So, now I’m a liar besides a thief?”

  “The two are a matching pair, are they not?”

  “I see. A thief lies and a liar thieves.”

  “It does seem logical.”

  “Only to a judgmental person.”

  The muscles in Rafael’s chest tensed, the tautness stretching the seams of his white linen shirt. “You feel I judge harshly?”

  “Unwisely.”

  The word stung him like a hornet. He jumped and marched over to Gaby, placing his palms flat upon the desk and leaning much too close to her. “The only unwise judgment I’ve made concerns you.”

  Gaby chided herself for noticing the intense blue of his eyes and the clean smell of sweet grapes that drifted off him. “I can leave whenever you wish.”

  Rafael stood straight. “No, you will serve out your punishment for stealing Bella. And if I find you stealing again, I will extend the punishment another six months.”

  Gaby opened her mouth ready to defend her innocence,

  “Quiet!” he commanded.

  She snapped her mouth shut and fought to hold her tongue.

  He smiled. “It would do well for you to obey as I’ve repeatedly warned. You’ll find in the end that I always get my way.”

  Gaby attempted to speak, but his hand went up. “When I give permission, you may speak.”

  This time she bit her tongue to keep from saying something that more than likely would get her into even more trouble than she was already in.

  Rafael realized that training a servant was not much different from training a horse. Keep a firm hand and soon she will obey without question, although he wondered if he’d miss Gaby’s quick wit and challenging nature once she was tamed.

  “Come here, Gaby,” he said and stepped away from the desk.

  She hesitated, though the stormy glint in his eyes was enough to warn her yet again that she better obey.

  He waited until she stood in front of him. Then his glance traveled slowly down along her and settled...

  Gaby wiggled her bare toes and smiled.

  Her smile didn’t fade fast enough. When he raised his head he caught traces of it slipping away. It wasn’t so much the smile that irritated him. It was her small toes wiggling defiantly in his face.

  “Put your sandals on.”

  “Or what?” she asked.

  He stepped closer, his body faintly brushing hers. “Or I will.”

  He made the simple act of putting on her sandals sound sinful. She thought of his long, lean fingers taking hold of her foot, slipping on the soft leather, sliding the strap around her ankle; innocent, yet intimate. She acquiesced with a quick nod. “May I leave now?”

  “Yes,” he said and stepped aside to allow her to pass.

  She was halfway down the hall when she heard his voice call her name. She returned reluctantly.

  Rafael held sheets of writing paper in his hand.

  Without a word, she took them from him, the cynical glint in hi
s eyes still accusing her of being a thief.

  ~~~

  Padre Jose was busy replacing the candles before the statue of the Holy Mother. Many women prayed to her daily and the supply candles dwindled faster than those of the other holy statues. He didn’t hear the man enter the church, so when the stranger spoke it startled him, and he turned quickly.

  His eyes widened, surprised not only by the man’s gaunt appearance, but by the two silver guns in his double holster. “Can I help you?”

  “I’m looking for Padre Manuel,” the man said.

  Padre Jose wasn’t one to judge people immediately, but something about this man frightened him. “I’ll take you to him.”

  The man followed close behind. The smell of his horse combined with days on the trail clung to him and drifted around the padre, causing him to hold the sleeve of his robe under his nose so the stench wouldn’t choke him.

  “Padre Manuel,” Padre Jose cried out as they approached the garden that was the older man’s pride and joy.

  The old priest was bent over picking off dead buds and leaves. He straightened, but not much, since his old frame was stuck in a perpetual stooped position.

  “Jose, the lilies are blooming beautifully,” Padre Manuel said and looked up. His eyes locked with those of the stranger and he quickly motioned Jose to leave.

  He obeyed reluctantly, entering the church once again and staying close to the door in case he was needed. Moments later he was summoned away by a young girl who insisted her grandmother needed the padre, pronto.

  Two hours later he returned, having spent the time consoling the elderly woman who was ill. He hurried to the garden calling out the padre’s name. There was no answer. He quickened his pace. He came to an abrupt stop when he caught sight of Padre Manuel lying face up in his flower bed, his stomach sliced and a white lily clutched in his hand.

  ~~~

  The hacienda was quiet. Dona Maria had retired to her room directly after supper and Rafael was busy in his study. Lupe was occupied in the kitchen making fruit pies for the next day.

  Gaby didn’t want to go to her room. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her quarters. It was a small room, neat and clean, and with a single bed and chest for her belongings. It was nice, but lonely. She was used to a chorus of voices, laughter, talk, and storytelling. There were also hugs and kisses and emotions openly displayed in her home. Something she found lacking in the Cabrillo household.

  She took her thoughts and homesickness out to the courtyard. The air was warm and fragrant from the multitude of flowers that graced the surrounding area.

  She sat on the lower ledge of the adobe wall, removed her sandals and began to undo her braid. Her fingers worked quickly having grown accustomed to the nightly ritual. She shook her head when the dark strands were free, then ran her fingers through the thick mass. Her long hair fell straight passed her shoulders coming to rest just above her waist.

  “Must I carry out my threat and put your sandals on your feet as if you were a child and did not know how to handle the task?

  Rafael was prepared for a militant response, certainly not for the engaging smile she turned on him. It struck him in the heart with the force of a flying arrow.

  “Forgive me, Don Rafael,” she said softly apologetic. “My feet are not used to such confinement and begged for relief. I could not refuse them.” She swung her feet out in front of him and wiggled her toes. “See how happy they are. Would you deprive them of such joy?”

  Rafael couldn’t stop a smile from surfacing. “I suppose they’ve earned their freedom after a hard day of work.”

  She wiggled her toes again. “See, they thank you for your generosity.”

  “But how will they feel toward me in the morning when they must return to their confinement?”

  “They will try to understand and not hold it against you.”

  Rafael walked closer to Gaby and sat on the lower wall opposite her. “Is it so hard for them to understand?”

  Gaby placed her feet on the ground. She knew they were no longer speaking of her toes. “At times, it is.”

  “Why?” he whispered.

  Gaby shivered, realizing for the first time what the women of the town meant when they had insisted Rafael could excite a woman with his voice. His deep timbre captured and mesmerized and at times stroked and seduced whether one word or many.

  “Why?” he repeated in a soft demand.

  She felt it then the soft stroke of his word and it caused her flesh to tingle. “Because restraints can sometimes do more harm than good.”

  “Some people need restraints because they don’t know any better.”

  “Is it that they don’t know any better, or that they don’t agree with your opinion?”

  Rafael flashed a quick smile, reached down, grabbed Gaby’s one ankle and brought her bare foot to rest in his lap. “Let’s begin with your feet.”

  Uncomfortable or perhaps intrigued by his intimate action, Gaby tried to pull her foot away, but he held her ankle firm. “My feet have nothing—”

  “They have everything to do with what we’re discussing,” he finished and slowly ran one finger beneath her toes.

  A tingle rippled up her leg to the pit of her stomach and she caught the shudder that almost surfaced, forcing her to remain silent.

  “Now, as I was saying. Your feet may love their freedom but I am responsible for their safety and well-being. Therefore, I must consider the consequences if they wander about unprotected and accidentally suffer an injury.”

  He no doubt thought nothing of toying with her toes to impress his point upon her but his actions were much too intimate and her body responded much too fast to her surprise. “I take responsibility for myself, Don Rafael. If I suffered an injury, it would be my own fault, not yours.” She yanked her foot off his lap.

  “No, Gaby, it would be mine, for not properly attending to my responsibilities.”

  “Perhaps you take your responsibilities too seriously.”

  “One can never be too serious in his duties.”

  “But don’t you ever do anything just because you feel like doing it?”

  I feel like kissing you, tasting those tempting lips of yours, though I wonder if I would then thirst for more, he wanted to say but kept the crazy thought to himself. Instead he said, “There is a time and place for things, Gaby.”

  “Life is meant to be lived each and every moment of the day and sometimes that means doing things one ordinarily wouldn’t do.”

  “Where do you get these strange ideas? Everyone has duties in life. Yours is to marry, obey your husband, and have children.”

  She stood and began twirling around, filling the warm air with her light laughter.

  Rafael watched her plain brown skirt swirl around her and her dark hair whip across her face as she twirled like a top. Before he realized her intentions, she reached down, grabbed his hands clamping them tightly in hers, as if she had no intentions of letting him escape and forced her to join him in her playful madness.

  He hung on to her not knowing what else to do and crazy as it was wanting at that moment not to let go.

  She dropped her head back while continuing to hold him firm and gazed up with wide eyes at the swirling night sky. “Look, Rafael, look.” She laughed. “See the night sky above that calls out to you.”

  He did as she did, dropped his head back and gazed on the dark sky. The stars spun by on a bed of black velvet, winking and sparkling like tiny diamonds. He was mesmerized by their beauty.

  “Life, Rafael.” Laughter mingled with her words. “Seize it while you can and enjoy.”

  He stopped and yanked her toward him and they reeled from the force of his sudden action. He steadied them in seconds, his arm going around her and bracing her against him. He could feel the rapid beat of her heart, heard her uneven breathing and he wondered if this was how she would feel beneath him while making love.

  Gaby pressed her face against his white shirt. His muscles were taut an
d hard. He was made to protect, but also to love and live, and this sadly, she knew he had not done in some time.

  She stepped away from him reluctantly, though took hold of his arms as she went, her hands running down them until she slipped her hands in his. “There is more to life than your duties, Don Rafael. Learn to enjoy.”

  His intense blue eyes searched her face, centering on her lips as he pulled her toward him.

  She saw the heat in their scorching color, felt his intentions in his taut body and watched his lips open slightly to take hers.

  It was her fault Rafael reasoned as he eased her closer. She encouraged him, urged him to take and that was exactly what he intended to do. Take her.

  “Don Rafael!” The urgent voice jolted him to a stop, but he didn’t release Gaby. He didn’t want to. He held her firm only inches away from him.

  “What is it, Carlos?” he asked, turning an annoyed expression on his head vaquero.

  Gaby tried to slip away. He wouldn’t allow it and his grip tightened even further when Carlos spoke.

  “Padre Manuel has been murdered!”

  Chapter Four

  “I can’t believe anyone would want to kill such a pious man,” Dona Maria sighed, wiping her tearful eyes with her lace handkerchief.

  “Don’t upset yourself, Mother,” Rafael ordered with a tender sternness. “Several of the rancheros are assisting me in investigating the matter. We shall find the evil man who did this and make certain he is punished.”

  “But to kill a priest...” Dona Maria allowed her words to trail off as she blessed herself.

  Rafael knelt in front of her wheelchair and took her hands in his. “Mother you will not dwell on this matter. It will be resolved soon enough. Say a prayer for Padre Manuel and put the dreadful ordeal from your mind”

  Dona Maria sighed, then nodded slowly.

  He gently patted her hands. “Now what are your plans for today?”

  Dona Maria smiled. “Gaby packed a picnic lunch and we’re taking it down by the river.

  “Are you certain you feel up to such a strenuous activity,” Rafael asked. “And who will accompany you?”