The black invader (24 page)

i think we'll straighten out that question next,' said Miguel, and drew her into the shade of a magnificent oleander. His hands were tight about her arms and there was a gleaming blackness in his eyes that sent the fam-iHar sensations shivering along her spine. 'First and foremost, the idea of my marrying you was mine, not Don Jose's, as I would have told you, if only you'd given me the opportunity.'

Kirstie was staring at him wide-eyed, and her mouth was partly open, her lips soft and rounded in disbelief.

'But ' she began, and Miguel once more silenced her

with a kiss.

'Your grandfather complained about the way Luis was behaving and that was what made me so angry; that and the fact that you seemed not to be able to make up your own mind whether you objected to his behaviour or not.' His eyes burned between their thick lashes and she no longer looked away from them but met them steadily as if they hypnotised her. 'You seemed so often to be deliberately taunting me that I could have broken your lovely neck, because I was never sure enough of you to take a definite step and you were— you still are so very young. From the very beginning you got under my skin. Why do you think I let you have the run of the estate, and let you have the mare? I wanted you where I could see you, dote on you, and in the beginning you were so violently against me that I saw no chance of you ever changing.'

A flush warmed her cheeks and there was an incredibly yielding feeling in her legs as she stood not quite touching him. 'Abuelo always liked you/ she reminded him in a whisper, and Miguel took her face between his hands and breathed his words close to her Hps.

'But I wasn't faUing in love with your grandfather,' he told her softly, and the words stirred a wild exultation in her heart. 'I think my uncle thought I was losing my wits, I was so wrapped up in you, but he didn't laugh at me as he could so easily have done.'

'Laughed at you?'

She looked at him in sudden startlement, and Miguel shook his head, moving his thumbs lightly over her lips as he talked. 'You're not yet twenty-one, my lovely,' he reminded her, 'and at thirty-four I've had more than my share of loving. I took a chance in throwing you and Luis together, but somehow I knew in my heart that you weren't going to be swept off your feet by him, no matter if you did claim to prefer romantics.'

'I was never in love with Luis.'

She could say that because it was true, and she had never thought it was otherwise. She had come much closer to loving Miguel than ever she had to loving Luis, and she knew now that she would never love anyone as much as she did him. Miguel's black eyes gazed down hungrily at her mouth and she yearned for the feel of his arms about her and the touch of the strong, virile body with its demanding masculinity taking possession of her senses and her will-power.

He stroked her cheeks with his hands, then slid them down to her shoulders and pressed the long fingers into her flesh. 'I was wildly jealous of him, my darling, however often I assured myself you wouldn't fall in love with him.'

'You had no need to be—ever.'

Her voice was so light and husky that it was barely more than a whisper, and when he slid his arms around her and drew her close at last she lifted her arms to put

them around his neck. *So often you've caused me to doubt myself, my love,' Miguel murmured. 'When you responded so warmly to my kiss that evening I came down to the cottage, I thought you knew how I felt about you; I was stunned when you turned away and seemed so—disturbed because I'd tried to tell you I wanted to marry you.'

'Because I thought Abuelo had talked you into it.'

'No one talked me into anything,' Miguel told her, and his voice had the warning harshness of passion. 'I asked Don Jose's permission to speak to you because you were so young, that was all, although I met with no opposition at all.'

Kirstie swept the black fringe of her lashes upward and gazed at him with bright shimmering eyes. 'Ask me,'' she whispered, her mouth parted and half-smiling. 'I can answer for myself, my love, I don't need anyone to speak for me.'

Miguel folded his arms about her so hard it was almost impossible to breathe, but she revelled in his strength and looked up at him with her blue eyes gleaming as brightly as his. 'I love you,' he whispered hoarsely, and the hard virility of him fired her senses as always. 'I love you, my little pigeon, and I want you desperately! Marry me; in the name of all that's holy say you'll marry me and put an end to this torture!'

It was like a cry of pain when he pleaded with her, and Kirstie felt she had no resistance at all. She loved him, and she had loved him for far longer than she realised; her need was as urgent as his and she parted her lips in surrender, her words only a murmur against that possessive mouth.

'I love you, I want to marry you—oh, so much I want to marry you, my darHng!'

His mouth was at her throat, her neck and fiercely hard and passionate on her lips, every muscle of his body straining her to him as if he wanted to make her part of him, and if anyone could see them from the house it didn't matter at all. Not at all.

Harlequin \Tlus

A WORD ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"When one happens to be an unmarried woman of forty-five and apparently fixed for the rest of her working life in a safe and settled job," Rebecca Stratton says of herself, "it is apt to be regarded as bordering on the insane to suddenly give it all up and become a full-time writer."

But that is precisely what British-bom and -bred Rebecca did one August day in 1967. Writing had always been her ultimate aim, and she felt that if she didn't make the move right then and there she'd end her days as "one more elderly lady sitting and sighing for what might have been."

When Rebecca Stratton's first attempt at a romance novel was accepted, she didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. So she did both, and celebrated with friends and relatives. Then she sat down to the job of writing more books—and reveled in it!

Thrill to romantic, aristocratic Istanbul, and the tender love story of a giri who built a barrier around her emotions in ANNE HAMPSON'S "Beyond the Sweet Waters" ... a Caribbean island is the scene setting for love and conflict in ANNE MATHER'S "The Arrogant Duke". .. exciting, sun-drenched California is the locale for romance and deception in VIOLET WINSPEAR'S "Cap Flamingo" ... and an island near the coast of East Africa spells drama and romance for the heroine in NERINA MILLIARD'S "Teachers Must Learn."

Hariequin Romances ... 6 exciting novels

published each month! Each month you will get

to know interesting, appealing, true-to-life people ...

You'll be swept to distant lands you've dreamed of visiting .

Intrigue, adventure, romance, and the destiny of many lives

will thrill you through each Hariequin Romance novel.

Get all the latest books before they're sold out!

As a Harlequin subscriber you actually receive your personal copies of the latest Romances immediately after they come off the press, so you're sure of getting all 6 each month.

Cancel your subscription whenever you Wish!

You don't have to buy any minimum number of books. Whenever you decide to stop your subscription just let us know and we'll cancel all further shipments.

Anne Hampson — Beyond the Sweet Waters Anne Mather — The Arrogant Duke

1^ F jpS * ^"f^ Mather — The Arrogant Du Y^]J inC'^ • ^'otef WInspear —Cap Flamingo

gl" — -. ^ -.

• Nerlna HllHard — Teachers Must Learn

{MB

GIFT CERTIFICATE

and Subscription Reservation Mail this coupon today!

In the U.S.A. In Canada

1440 South Priest Drive 649 Ontario Street

Tempe.AZ 85281 Stratford, Ontario N5A6W2

Harlequin Reader Service,

Please send me my 4 Hariequin Romance novels FREE. Also, reserve a subscription to the 6 NEW Hariequin Romance novels published each month. Each month I will receive 6 NEW Romance novels at the low price of $1.50 each {Total-$9.00 a month). There are no shipping and handling or any other hidden charges. I may cancel this arrangemerH at any time, but even if I do, these first 4 books are still mkie to keep.

NAME (PLEASE PRINT)

ADDRESS

CITY STATE/PROV. ZIP/POSTAL CODE

OfFer not valid to present subscribers

Offer expires July 31, 1982 S2452

harlequin Salutes...

. .. with these beautiful reissues of 6 of her best-selling love stories!

Available NOW at your favorite store.

No one touches the heart of a woman quite likeTiarlequin.