Emerald Mistress (32 page)
Authors: Lynne Graham
‘You love me?’ His charismatic smile flashed out and he pulled her close and held her so tight she could hardly breathe. ‘I was planning to propose on the flight home. I had the champagne all ready, and the ring, and you fell asleep…how
could
you?’
‘You were going to propose? My goodness, Rafael, you should’ve woken me up!’ she told him in reproach.
He laughed with rich appreciation. ‘I am crazily in love with you,
a mhilis
.’
‘But you said you didn’t
do
love…’
‘Then you ran across the lawn in those funky pyjamas and I went into hot pursuit. I’ve never felt like that in my life before. Everything with you was special…and Italy was magical. I didn’t want to leave.’ He looked down at her with tender intensity. ‘But I didn’t understand that I was in love with you until I thought I couldn’t have you any more.’
‘Eva’s lie…the brother-sister thing…’
‘I thought I would go insane. I never felt emptiness like that. I couldn’t even trust myself near you at first. That’s when I realised I loved you.’
‘So you hit the brandy. Don’t you ever do that again.’
‘Is there anything you don’t know about my flaws?’
‘I know you love me, and I know I love you, and…show me that ring!’
It was a glorious diamond. While she was admiring it on her finger from all angles, Rafael suggested a wedding at Flynn Court.
‘Before the point-to-point season kicks off? Good timing,’ she agreed approvingly. ‘Una will be over the moon. By the way, if she does start attending a local school, her sister might find it hard having a teenager around that small house twenty-four-seven.’
‘I was concerned about that aspect.’
‘Do you think Una might like to come and live with us instead?’ Harriet asked.
His lean, strong face taut, Rafael gazed down at her. ‘Wouldn’t you mind?’
‘No, I’m very attached to her.’
‘How can I land you with a teenager when we’re just married?’
‘My choice.’
‘I picked you good.’ Rafael studied her with intense appreciation and a wicked smile curved his mouth. ‘I picked you
very
good. Does this mean that I’m going to be getting my shirts picked up on a regular basis?’
She stretched up to him, bright blue eyes full of mischief, and whispered, ‘Don’t hold your breath!’
* * *
Feeling like a princess in her wedding gown, Harriet twirled in front of the full length mirror. Her strapless dress had a flattering basque waist, and the silk was overlaid with tulle embroidered with delicate crystal beadwork that caught the light. The emerald and diamond horseshoe brooch was clasped to the gold circlet that held her flirty short veil back, where it looked wonderfully appropriate.
‘I’m so proud of you I’m walking on air,’ Tolly confided as he escorted his granddaughter into the flower-bedecked church.
Her bridesmaids, Alice and Una, and her little flower girl, Will and Nicola Carmichael’s daughter Emily, swarmed round her. Harriet skimmed an anxious glance over the rather tight expression on Alice’s lovely face and gave her sister’s hand a bracing squeeze. She did appreciate the effort it had taken for Alice to rise above her broken heart and act as her bridesmaid.
‘You’ve really put my nose out of joint by bagging a billionaire,’ Alice had admitted with a tearful giggle when the wedding was being arranged. ‘No wonder you said you didn’t want Luke back.’
Warm affection in her satisfied gaze, Una carefully
removed a piece of straw from the train of Harriet’s dress and twitched it straight with a proprietary hand. Clearly aware of Alice’s sulky mood, she had taken charge. Little Emily stood by, sucking her thumb and clutching Harriet’s hand.
On Harriet’s passage down the aisle on Tolly’s arm, Will and Nicola smiled at the bride and Boyce gave her an outrageous wink. Eva, her slim hand resting on Gustav’s sleeve, watched her daughter with brimming satisfaction. For no less an event than the wedding of her daughter to the billionaire owner of Flynn Court her mother had been prepared to make a return visit to Ballyflynn. Harriet, however, only had eyes for the male awaiting her at the altar. An exquisite shrine to St Jude, patron saint of impossible causes, now embellished the chapel.
‘You look like every dream I ever had,’ Rafael swore huskily, and her heart sang.
By the time the photographs were being taken outside the church, Alice could be seen to have made a startling recovery from her earlier low spirits. Rafael’s best man, Stephanos, the handsome heir to a Greek shipping empire, was making a great effort to make himself agreeable to her sister. Never had a broken heart been ditched with more sparkle, Harriet reflected with amusement. And Boyce, who was in
the process of renovating his house at Slieveross, was talking to Fergal.
Two white horses pulled the fancy carriage that was whisking Rafael and Harriet from the church to the estate. A host of cameras clicked and whirred to record the event. The reception, to be held at Flynn Court, promised to be the biggest party Ballyflynn had ever known. The following day the bridal couple would depart for a honeymoon in the Caribbean. Harriet returned her emerald and diamond engagement ring to its position next to her new wedding ring and remembered when she had absently thought of imprisoning Rafael in a locked room in chains. She had never dreamt that it would not be chains but rings that bound him to her, of his own free will, and tender amusement filled her.
‘Where are we going?’ Harriet had finally noticed that the carriage had deviated from the direct route back to the house.
‘You’ll see.’
The driver brought the horses to a halt where the rough track narrowed down into the bridle path that led through the oak woods. Rafael sprang out and scooped Harriet from the carriage. She stared in amazement at the rich red carpet that had been laid to cover the trail.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Smiling, Rafael drew her into the heart of the wood, where the oak, the ash and the hawthorn trees all grew together. Her fingers were secure in the firm hold of his. It was a moment when happiness took over and overflowed inside her, for the very beauty of their surroundings made her eyes prickle with tears.
‘This is the place where I always remember being with you,’ Rafael confessed. ‘It’s special…’
‘Yes,’ she agreed a little gruffly. ‘Very special.’
Dark eyes held hers with gravity, and her heart started beating very fast. ‘I brought you here to tell you that I love you as I never believed I could love any woman,
a mhilis
. That I intend to be a great husband, and the best father I can be…’
‘Father?’ Harriet repeated in surprise.
The faintest colour demarcated his proud cheekbones. ‘Eventually—I hope.’
Harriet looked up at him, her face alight with unalloyed happiness. ‘I didn’t think you were ready for the pitter-patter of tiny feet yet.’
‘Neither did I.’ Rafael sighed, pulling her close. ‘The fairies have had the last laugh. You’re killing my womanising image.’
The teasing light in his beautiful eyes made her believe in magic. ‘I love you to bits,’ she told him
softly, and then he kissed her. There was silence—until they recalled the vast number of guests awaiting their arrival at their future home…
Get ready for Lynne Graham’s explosive tale of flaring passions in
Emerald Mistress
!
When Harriet Carmichael’s world comes crashing down she’s determined to start afresh. But her new neighbour is Rafael Cavaliere, the very man who cost Harriet her job! When passion ensnares them both, deep secrets are revealed that could change their lives forever.
Tensions soar when husband and wife are reunited in Lynne Graham’s
The Veranchetti Marriage
!
It’s taken four years for Kerry to harden her heart against her arrogant,
absent
husband, Alex Veranchetti. But when he returns demanding marriage, again, she knows she has little choice. Will Kerry finally be able to prove her innocence…or risk her heart once more?
A convenient marriage becomes anything but in Lynne Graham’s
An Arabian Courtship
!
Polly Barrington must uncover the true nature of her new husband because Prince Raschid is breaking through the barriers around her heart. Passion-filled nights leave Polly wondering if she should resist the intense attraction between them or trust her husband and give herself to him completely.
In Lynne Graham’s
An Insatiable Passion
the past crashes into the present with passion and power!
Kitty Colgan returns home for her grandmother’s funeral determined to lay the ghosts of her past to rest. She’s no longer the innocently naive young girl whose heart was broken by Jake Tarrant. But seeing him once more proves that Jake is still incredibly attractive…and infinitely more dangerous!
And look out in January 2015 for Lynne Graham’s
The Secret His Mistress Carried
Hiding from the Greek…
Billie Smith fought hard to heal her broken heart after Giorgios Letsos chose to marry someone else. So when—newly divorced—he storms back into her life, she’s determined not to fall for his seduction again. Especially now that she has a secret to protect…
their son
.
But she hadn’t counted on just how badly he wants her back in his bed!
eISBN-13: 978-1-4603-4914-4
Emerald Mistress
Copyright © 2005 by Lynne Graham
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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