Untamed Fire (6 page)

“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 and 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!”

“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?”

“Just me.” The carefree response came from
the doorway.

Rafael stood and for a moment his breath
locked in his throat. How could Gaby look more beautiful than when
he last saw her? And how could her simple peasant skirt and blouse
appeal more to him than if she was dressed in a silk gown. He
grumbled beneath his breath annoyed with his thoughts as he walked
toward her. “Did you request permission for this activity?”

Gaby had a basket hooked on her arm with a
bright colored blanket folded across it. “I didn’t think it was
necessary.”

“It is very necessary.” He stopped inches
from her. “You will not take my mother from the hacienda without my
permission. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Don Rafael,” she answered and added.
“I just thought your mother would enjoy something different, a
change in her mundane routine.”

His first instinct was to chastise her for
her impertinence, but on second thought perhaps she was right.
Perhaps his mother would benefit from the harmless excursion. It
would at least— if nothing else—turn her thoughts away from the
murder of Padre Manuel.

“I will have one of the vaqueros accompany
you.”

“Thank you.” Gaby smiled her
appreciation.

Rafael stiffened his already straight
posture. Her smile had the effect of an unexpected bee sting, only
it wasn’t a painful sting, it was a pleasurable one. It heightened
his senses and tugged at his emotions. He recalled the night before
when he had held her in his arms, drawing her near, intending to
taste those enticing lips and satisfy his curiosity. She had felt
good in his arms and her scent of fresh fruit ripe off the vine had
intoxicated him. She was tempting, deliciously tempting. He had so
wanted to taste her.

He drew in a deep breath, annoyed with his
musings. A mistake since her scent was even more vibrant this
morning. It was a blend of the sweetest and richest fruit in the
orchard. He took a step back. “Make certain mother doesn’t
tire.”

“
Si
,” she said, curious by the
strange look in his eyes. It was the same look he had last night.
And at that time she had thought he would kiss her. And for an
insane moment she had wanted him to, but later she had realized
what a mistake that would have been. He was a powerful
ranchero
and she would be his plaything to enjoy when the
moment struck. Gaby wanted no part of that. It always ended in
sorrow and not for the
ranchero
.

She waited by the door while Rafael finished
speaking with his mother. He wheeled her over to Gaby and placed an
affectionate kiss on the older woman’s cheek. “Enjoy your
picnic.”

“Yes, Rafael, I will. It has been so long
since I’ve been on one. The last time was with your...” Her voice
trailed off and her eyes pooled with tears.

Rafael was about to comfort her when Gaby
stepped forward.

“The day is hot, Dona Maria, and I have much
planned for us. I think you will be more comfortable in a lighter
colored dress.”

Dona Maria’s eyes widened. “But I am in
mourning—”

Gaby didn’t allow her to finish. “Your
mourning period is over. It is time for life to go on.”

Rafael was angry at her insensitivity to his
mother’s feelings. He was about to reprimand her, but before he
could, his mother spoke.

“The mourning period has passed,” she
repeated as if reaffirming the truth.

“Yes, it has.” Gaby smiled and placed the
basket on the woman’s lap. “And from what I’ve heard of your late
husband, he fully enjoyed life.”

Dona Maria chuckled. Yes, my Ramon loved
life.”

“Tell me about him,” Gaby encouraged and
pushed the wheelchair from the room as Dona Maria began with the
first time she had met the handsome Ramon Cabrillo.

Rafael watched from the doorway, amazed by
the exuberant chatter. He had always changed the subject when she
would speak of Father. Perhaps she needed to speak of him so that
she could heal the ache in her heart.

~~~

Gaby spread the colorful blanket on the
ground under the shade of the large tree, not far from the river
bank.

“I had forgotten how beautiful it was here,”
Dona Maria said. “Ramon and I would come here often.”

“He liked picnics too?” Gaby asked, slipping
the cloth off the top of the basket.

“He loved them. He was so romantic. He would
bring me here with a basket filled with fruit and a jug of wine. He
would tell me how much he loved me and he would carve our names in
the tree trunk, insisting our love would go on forever.”

Tears sprang to the old woman’s eyes and
Gaby quickly stood and held out her hand. “Show me your names.”

Dona Maria shook her head.

“Don Ramon would not want to see you like
this, mourning his loss. He would expect you to be strong and get
on with your life, making the most of it.”

Dona Maria stared at her for several
moments. Then she held her head erect and drew her shoulders back.
“You are right, Gaby. Help me stand.”

Gaby supported the woman with a firm arm. It
was easy to help her. She was petite but far from frail. And there
was a sudden spark of determination in her eyes that had Gaby
believing it wouldn’t be long before she was back to her old
self.

They walked to a large oak tree only a few
feet away. It looked as if the tree top touched the heavens and the
branches sprawled out providing a spot of shade beneath.

Dona Maria gently traced their names with
her thin fingers. They had been carved in several spots. “Such a
romantic,” she whispered.

“He was a rare man.”

“Rafael is much like his father. I could see
it in the way he treated his wife when she carried his child. He
was so caring and considerate.”

Gaby wished Dona Maria would continue. She
wanted to know more about Rafael’s wife, having heard gossip. It
wouldn’t be proper, though, or respectful to ask.

Gaby noticed Dona Maria’s attention had been
diverted and when she followed her glance she saw that a lone rider
approached at a slow gallop in the distance.

Enrico, the vaquero Rafael had sent along
with them, stepped in front of them, his rifle balanced on his hip
and his finger steady on the trigger. When the rider got closer,
Enrico withdrew his finger from the trigger and lowered his
rifle.

“Senor Serra approaches, Dona Maria.”

Dona Maria grew flustered. “Hurry and help
me to the blanket, Gaby. I refuse to be sitting in that confining
chair when a neighbor comes to visit.”

Gaby did as asked; assisting Dona Maria in
adjusting the folds of the pale blue dress she had changed into.
The woman also patted her dark hair to make sure that all strands
were secured in the chignon at the back of her head.

Don Joseph wasn’t a tall man, though he was
powerfully built. He had a pleasant smile and once his sparkling
blue eyes settled on Dona Maria they never left her. He dismounted
and handed the reins to Enrico before approaching the woman.

He bowed gallantly, knelt before her and
then took her hand in his and placed a kiss upon it. “It is so good
to see you looking so radiant once again.”

A blush rushed to stain her cheeks. “It is
good to see you again, Don Joseph.” She hesitated only a moment
then said, “I was just about to have a picnic with my companion
Gaby. Would you care to join us?”

The man’s face brightened. “I’d love to. It
has been too long since I’ve enjoyed one.”

Dona Maria patted the spot across from her.
“I’ve admitted the same to Gaby.”

Gaby finished arranging the food on the
plates. She was glad she had packed the linen napkins and the
crystal glasses. While she did, she noticed that Senor Serra
continued only to have eyes for Dona Maria. The attention he was
giving the woman was doing more good than all the tonic the doctor
had insisted she take for the last year.