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The Spaniard's Passion
Jane Porter
Sophie knew she could never give in to her overwhelming attraction to South American millionaire Alonso Galv n. So she agreed to a loveless marriage to a man who left her with a pile of gambling debts.But Alonso has never renounced his vow that, one day, Sophie will be his! Now, finding her alone and widowed, it seems his prayers have been answered. At last he can show her what real passion is all about and that he means to make her his bride!
Jane Porter is a rising star of Harlequin Presents
. Her exciting stories are packed full of sizzling attraction and provocative passion! Jane’s feisty and courageous heroines are wonderfully matched with powerful and passionate heroes that are loved the world over!
Praise for Jane Porter:
“If you enjoy romances with alpha-heroes who’ll sweep you off your feet and set your pulse pounding, you’ll definitely want to read Jane Porter.”
—www.thebestreviews.com
“Jane Porter is definitely an author to watch!”
—www.heartratereviews.com
“Jane Porter offers an intense, compelling story that’s hard to put down!”
—Romantic Times
The Spaniard’s Passion
Jane Porter
For my mom, Marybeth Higuera,
who taught me to love travel and adventure. I love you!
Jane
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
PROLOGUE
THE blazing sun dazzled the eyes and the steady crash of waves on the long sandy beach lulled Sophie Johnson to sleep. She snuggled deeper into her towel on the warm sand. She’d had more fun in the last ten days than she’d had…well, than she’d had…ever.
Abruptly the sand shifted and a shadow stretched over her. Sophie’s stomach tensed: a knot of excitement and fear. Shading her eyes, she glanced up, knowing it was Alonso Huntsman. How could she adore someone so much when he made her this nervous?
Alonso was standing over her, dripping wet, his black hair slicked back from his face, the hard planes of his chest darkly tan from a summer spent in the sun. “You smell fantastic, Sophie. I think I’ll eat you.”
She tried to ignore the way her heart jumped. “It’s just lotion, Lon. I’d taste disgusting.”
He flashed her a wicked grin. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
Clive Wilkins, son of prominent banker Lord Wilkins, stirred restlessly on his towel next to Sophie. “Will you two kindly shut up?”
Alonso reached for his towel, his muscles rippling as he mopped his face dry. “Are we disturbing your sleep, old man?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, you are,” Clive retorted, burying his blond head deeper into the crook of his arm.
“Just one little taste,” Lon whispered to Sophie over Clive’s head, his light blue eyes glowing. He knew he was being wicked. He also knew it thrilled her.
“One taste?”
He nodded seriously. “Just one good lick.”
Squirming on the inside, trying not to laugh, she picked up her bottle of suntan lotion and tossed it to him. Lon caught it with one hand. “Here you go, big boy. Enjoy.”
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Clive swore, sitting up. “You’ve just ruined a brilliant nap.” He grabbed Sophie’s arm, pressed her wrist to his mouth and flicked his tongue across her warm skin.
“Disgusting,” Clive pronounced, tossing her arm away. He lay back down again, nestling his unshaven cheek to his arm, the blond bristles glinting gold. “She tastes like synthetics and plastic. You’d hate it, Lon. Now, will you two please shut up so I can sleep?”
“You just don’t want me to taste her,” Lon mocked, dropping down next to the two of them. “I think you’re jealous, old man.”
Clive didn’t even bother to open his eyes. “Jealous of you two pathetic human beings?” His aristocratic English had never been more precise. “Of course, you big Scottish meat-head. You and the princess are the two best friends a man could ask for.”
Meat-head. Princess. Sophie bit her lip, trying not to giggle, but she couldn’t hold the laughter in. Once she started to laugh Lon and Clive joined in, and suddenly her eyes were burning with tears she wouldn’t cry.
This was the best school holiday of her life. No, make it the best summer of her life. Clive and Lon were impossible. Incorrigible. Irredeemable. And she’d never loved anyone so much.
Nothing, she thought as she surreptitiously wiped a tear away, gazing out at the Pacific Ocean where the waves crashed against Buenaventura’s white sandy beach, nothing would ever top this. Nothing would ever be as sweet; nothing would ever be as innocent.
If only time would stop and the three of them could remain together, forever, like this.
CHAPTER ONE
“HOW much?” Lady Sophie Wilkins asked, holding her hand up, watching the ring catch the light. The marquis cut emerald surrounded by smaller diamonds glittered in the jewelry store’s bright fluorescent lighting, throwing off white sparks like fireworks exploding on New Year’s Eve.
“Ten thousand pounds,” the jeweler answered.
She turned her hand a little, mesmerized by the hot glow of the emerald and the brilliant blue and yellow streaks of fire in the white stones.
She heard the jewelry store door open but she couldn’t tear her gaze from the glittering stone on her finger. Ten thousand pounds, she silently repeated, ten thousand pounds, knowing she’d never have anything half so beautiful again. But she couldn’t keep it. She had to get to Brazil, and she still had so many bills to pay, and ten thousand pounds would settle a lot of debts.
Her silence troubled the jeweler. “I might possibly be able to do ten thousand five hundred,” he said as though she’d squeezed the offer from him, “but that’s my best price, Lady Wilkins. I couldn’t go higher.”
“Not even though you’ll get twice that much tomorrow?” a deep male voice asked mockingly.
Sophie felt a shadow cross her grave. It couldn’t be…
Slowly she looked up, and slowly her eyes focused. The air left her throat. She swayed a little on her feet. “Lon?”
“Sophie.”
She couldn’t look away, her hand balled into a fist and she kept staring at him as if she’d seen a ghost. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking care of some business.”
“Business?” she repeated numbly, as if it were a foreign concept, although she knew Alonso was one of the world’s leading emerald exporters.
The jeweler hurriedly put away his monocle and the black velvet pad on the counter. “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow, Mr. Huntsman. The stone’s not even cleaned yet.”
Sophie’s eyes searched his face even as her fingers curled around the wedding ring still on her fourth finger. “You’re buying a stone?”
“An emerald,” Lon answered.
He’d traveled halfway around the world to buy an emerald? “Must be valuable.”
His eyes never left hers. “It came from my mine, so I suppose you could say it has sentimental value.”
As he’d talked she’d gone hot, then cold, and now she tugged her wedding ring from her finger and handed it to the jeweler. “I accept your offer.”
The jeweler nodded his head, pocketing the ring Clive had given her nearly six years ago. “Will you take a check, Lady Wilkins?”
“Yes.” Her throat seemed to be squeezing closed. “Thank you.” The jeweler moved across the shop and chilled, Sophie began to button her long wool coat.
“You’re selling your wedding ring?” Lon asked, black lashes lowered, concealing his expression.
“It’s a reputable jeweler,” she answered, hating the defensive note that had crept into her voice.
“You’re short on cash?”
“I’m fine.” There was no way she’d ever tell Lon the truth. She didn’t want pity, and she didn’t want sympathy from him, either. She’d chosen Clive. End of story. “I didn’t realize you were back in the country.”
“I have a house in Knightsbridge.”
“You live here in London?”
“Part of the year.”
“I had no idea.”
Lon heard the pang in her voice, and he felt a shaft of hot emotion. He’d known from the start that her marriage had been rocky, maybe even downright unhappy, but she’d never said a word against Clive. “I travel back and forth between South America quite a bit. Depends on business.”
He hadn’t seen her in years and yet she was still beautiful. More beautiful. If anything, grief had etched her features finer, darkening her eyebrows, softening her mouth, creating deeper hollows beneath her cheekbones. Few women could achieve with plastic surgery what nature had given Sophie so freely.
The jeweler returned with a check which Sophie silently pocketed. Transaction completed, she murmured her thanks and Lon escorted Sophie outside. “What about your business?” she protested.
“The stone’s not ready. I’ll come back later.”
It was cold outside. The late afternoon temperatures dipped low. Sophie took a quick breath, trying to clear her head. Lon here. Impossible. Incredible. She’d never once bumped into him in all the years since they’d left Colombia.
She drew her coat closer as throngs of pedestrians pushed past them, and her gaze took in Harrod’s festive windows across the street. The ornate building’s majestic turrets were illuminated with countless white lights and windows were decked with wreaths.
“It’s almost Christmas,” Lon said, breaking the uneasy silence between them.
Which meant it’d been almost two years without Clive. Sophie bit her lower lip, fighting tears and the confusing emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
God, she’d missed Lon. He’d been her friend for years and then he’d just disappeared from her life. She struggled to think when she’d last seen him but she couldn’t even figure out how long it’d been.
“You still look like a savage,” she said huskily.
“And you don’t like savages.”
“I liked you.”
“Past tense?”
Sophie’s eyes stung all over again and the wind tugged at her coat, nipping at her skin. What lies they’d told themselves to make her decision all right.
“I have to go home,” she said, voice thickening. “The Countess is waiting.”
The first raindrop fell from the heavy dark clouds. “I’ll take you.”
“It’s too far. An hour and a half—”
“I’ll take you,” he repeated, and he practically tucked her beneath his arm, her head against his shoulder, her body pressed to his side.
He was still hard, solid, imposing and she shivered all through her feeling as if she’d been washed overboard and was close to drowning.
He’d only been back in her life twenty minutes and already nothing was the same. But that’s how Lon had always been. Huge. Imposing.
