Chapter 8
Natalie ended the call and tried to ignore the lance of pain in her chest. Every night, Javier called and spoke with Alejandro, read a story to him, causing him to giggle and they conversed about a variety of subjects. But as soon as Natalie got on the phone, he was stiff and formal, relating various business details, letting her know about financial arrangements he’d made or whatever other issue he thought was important.
All she wanted to hear was that he was coming back. But as the number of days increased, she knew that the possibility of him coming back to her and Alejandro were becoming slim.
When the doorbell rang, she was startled. Glancing at her watch, she was surprised to find it was eight thirty. Alejandro was asleep, so she hurried to the door so whoever was out there wouldn’t ring the bell again.
Juan Pablo was on the other side of her door, standing stiff and arrogantly on her broken, stained, front stoop.
“May I come in?” he asked, his tone formal and polite, carefully not abrasive.
Natalie thought about it for a long moment, and shook her head. “No. You may not.”
Fury entered his eyes before he carefully banked that emotion. “I understand,” and he bowed slightly. “I came to offer my apologies.”
Natalie waited, but he didn’t continue. Stepping out of her house, she pulled the door mostly closed and wrapped her arms around her waist. The night air had a bit of a bite to it, but since she wasn’t going to be out here very long, she figured she could endure. “For what are you apologizing, Juan Pablo?”
Years ago, she’d respectfully addressed him as sir, feeling obsequious and awkward. No longer. She was stronger now. And what’s more, he didn’t intimidate her anymore. In her mind, he was just an old man with an ancient, broken belief system. A man she would never allow to influence her self-esteem again.
“I have been informed that I owe you an apology for the way I treated you four years ago.”
Natalie watched and waited, but that was all he would say. She also realized that he wasn’t saying that he believed he owed her an apology, just that someone had told him to apologize. Not good enough.
“Well, when you believe it, then we can discuss it further. Until then, good night.”
She stepped back into her house and closed the door on the man’s shocked expression. It was still early, but she turned out the lights, exhausted and weary. She’d had trouble sleeping over the past four nights and she wanted Javier’s arms around her. After seeing his father, hearing the man’s words, hope was starting to form in her mind. Hope that Javier had said something to his father, reprimanded him in some way. It was so exciting that she couldn’t stop the kernel of hope that had been there all along from beginning to bloom and almost overwhelming her.
She waited tensely, wondering if Juan Pablo would demand entry, perhaps ring the doorbell repeatedly in order to get his way. But there was only silence. Natalie washed her face and brushed her teeth, then curled up in bed, wondering what Javier was doing at this moment. She drifted into a fitful sleep, wishing that he was here with her instead of an ocean away from her.
The doorbell woke her the following morning. Pushing the hair out of her eyes, she realized that Alejandro wasn’t anywhere around. Looking out the window, she realized it was much later than she’d expected. With a gasp of horror, she hurried into Alejandro’s bedroom, but he was already gone! His bed was empty!
Hurrying out of her bedroom, she reached for her phone, ready to call the police. She imagined Juan Pablo hiring goons to steal her son. “Alejandro?” she called out, her voice shrill and hoping against hope that he would simply pop up and yell, “Boo!”
But there was no sound. Nothing! A package was on the front stoop, so it must have been the mail carrier delivering her mail. But…where was her son?!
Really panicking now, she looked around, her eyes moving towards the stables and there he was. Not just Alejandro, but…she blinked, trying to see if her eyes deceived her. Javier? Was he really here?
With a sob, she ran to the doorway. Yes, sure enough, it was him!
The cold air hit her hard as she covered her mouth as relief surged through her. At that moment, Javier looked up and saw her. Even from this distance, she could see the heat in his eyes and her whole body reacted with equal intensity.
Hurrying back into the house, she grabbed a pair of jeans, stuffed her feet into a pair of sneakers and grabbed a sweatshirt, pulling it on over the tee shirt she’d slept in last night. Not even taking the time to put on a bra or run a brush through her hair, she was back out the door and running down the grassy slope.
And just as Alejandro did most mornings, she threw herself into Javier’s arms, sobbing when he caught her and held her close. Burying her face against his neck, she cried in relief that he’d returned. He was here! He’d come back to her!
“I missed you so much!” she sobbed, tightening her arms around his neck.
He laughed and the sound made her whole body quiver with awareness. “I wouldn’t have known from our conversations, mi amora,” he murmured, his lips so close to her ear.
She pulled back but he kept her flush against his body. “I didn’t think you’d come back. I thought you were gone for good.”
He shook his head. “No. I made the mistake of allowing you to get away from me once. I won’t do it again. You’re mine,” he said and his thumb reached up to rub against the diamond still on her finger. “You’re mine forever, Natalie.”
She laughed but leaned in to hug him again. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
A body slammed against her legs and she looked down at a gleefully beaming Alejandro. “And you!” she growled playfully as he squirmed, jumping up and down. She lifted him into her arms. “You didn’t wake me up this morning! I thought…” she couldn’t finish that sentence, too overwhelmed by what she’d thought. She kissed his chubby cheek, smiling when he giggled and hugged her tightly.
“He was safe,” Javier promised, touching her back as he moved in closer. “I had my men watching out for both of you, remember?”
She looked up at him and thought about the guards she’d seen walking the perimeter of her property. She’d been too distracted over the past several days, but she should have stopped and introduced herself. Natalie realized that she had no excuse other than she’d been feeling sorry for herself with Javier gone and her preoccupation with how she was going to go on without him.
“I’ve seen them. I should have had more faith in you. I’m sorry,” she told him.
Javier kissed her gently, both of them aware of Alejandro watching them. “Breakfast?” he suggested.
She laughed and nodded her head. “No oatmeal though. I’m tired of oatmeal.”
He winked even as Alejandro threw up his arms in excitement and yelled, “Donuts!”
Javier took their son into his arms, wrapping his arm around her waist as the three of them walked up the slope towards her house. “I have an architect coming by later this morning. If you don’t mind, I’d like to build a bigger house.”
She stared up at him, blinking in surprise at that announcement. “But you have houses all over Europe! Javier, you live in a castle! Why would you want to build a house here?”
He pulled her to a stop and looked down at her. “Because you and Alejandro are here.” He squeezed her fingers, silently telling her that he would discuss it more later. “Let’s have breakfast and Ms. Hathaway is coming to watch over Alejandro for the day. Would you mind? I’d like to talk to you.” He looked at his son. “Would you mind going to the zoo today?”
His eyes widened and he threw his arms around his father’s neck joyfully. “Can I see the tigers?”
“Of course!” Javier laughed.
Natalie watched both of them, seeing so much of them in each other. It was almost painful, the love she felt for these two. She didn’t want to love Javier, but she knew that he’d never left her heart. She might have smothered it with her hurt and anger, but it had never died.
Now it was so overwhelming, it almost choked her.
They ate a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast while Alejandro bemoaned the lack of donuts, but he was happy to be eating something “decadent” and non-oatmeal-ish. When Ms. Hathaway knocked on the door, he was already dressed and eager for his zoo excursion.
“Thank you for working on a Saturday,” Natalie said to the kind woman.
“It is my pleasure,” she replied, wearing jeans and a warm coat. “Besides, Alejandro is a delight. So eager for information.”
“Papa said I could see the tigers!” Alejandro announced as Natalie zipped up his coat.
Ms. Hathaway laughed but nodded her head. “Yes! And the cheetahs as well. Did you know that they can sprint faster than any other animal? Almost as fast as a car!”
Alejandro’s mouth fell open. “Woah!” he whispered in awe as he took his tutor’s hand, following her out to the car. Natalie watched, relieved when two of the bodyguards stepped into the vehicle as well. He would be well supervised, she knew.
Natalie watched as they drove off, worried now that they were alone. Alejandro had been a cheerful little buffer against the tension between herself and Javier.
Turning around, she looked at him. He was leaning against the door frame between the kitchen and den area, his muscular arms crossed over his chest and her mouth went dry as she took in his tall, muscular form. He was so incredibly virile. What did she have to offer this man? What could she possibly give him that he couldn’t find for himself?
“Come here, Natalie,” he purred, his voice low and husky.
She hesitated for only a fraction of a moment before moving towards him. Slowly at first, but as the heat increased in his eyes, so did her speed until she was in his arms, her own wrapped around his neck as she lifted her mouth for his kiss.
Javier had meant only to kiss her. But feeling her soft breasts pressing against his chest, he couldn’t resist. He needed her. Conversation could wait. He had to have her. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her down the short hallway to her room and laid her down on the bed. Within moments, he’d stripped off her clothes until she was completely naked.
“Hurry!” she gasped when he went to work on his own clothes.
He laughed, reciprocating the urgency. “Too long,” he groaned.
She lifted up and helped him, her fingers fumbling with the buckle on his belt. He stripped off his shirt, then took over the task, tossing his clothes away before coming down over her, pressing between her knees until his erection was snuggled up against her hips.
“I missed you,” she whispered as her hands moved up his chest, rediscovering all of his muscles and textures that were so different from her own.
“I missed you too,” he told her even as his mouth moved lower, his lips tickling her neck. “You wouldn’t talk to me at night,” he growled, biting her skin, causing her to gasp.
She smiled, wiggling but she couldn’t get away. Not with the way his body was pinning her down. “I know. I couldn’t.”
His lips soothed the spot and found another that caused her to wiggle deliciously. “Why is that?” he asked, moving down her neck, enjoying her gasps and the shifting of her body. Every time she moved, it stimulated his own desire further. But if she moved too much…he wasn’t sure how much he could take. “I think you need to start talking, love,” he groaned, pulling her hands up over her head. “It has been too long since I’ve been inside of you and I’m having trouble controlling myself.”
She smiled, feeling extra feminine with his words. Moving against him, she yelped when his teeth bit down on her nipple gently. But he soothed the sensitive peak with his lips and tongue, making it all better.
“I couldn’t talk to you because…” she wanted to say the words, wanted to be honest with him. He’d followed through on his promise. His presence here told her that she could count on him.
She pulled her hands free of his grip, her fingers diving into his hair to pull his head away. Looking into his eyes, she debated how much she could tell him. How much could he take? The dark eyes staring back at her looked heated, but confident.
“I couldn’t talk to you on the phone because I missed you too much. I couldn’t let you get back into my heart, Javier.” She bit her lip for a moment before she admitted, “I failed though.”
He went perfectly still as he looked down at her, his heart pounding so hard, she could feel it against every inch of her body. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked, his voice rougher now.
“Yes. I love you. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to be hurt again.”
He lowered his head, kissing her so tenderly, it brought tears to her eyes. “I love you too. I promise, my father won’t interfere ever again. I’ve renounced my title, and my staff is in the process of extricating all of the business assets from the Vasquez side, so that I can run my businesses and he can find someone else to run his own.”
Her fingers curled with surprise and he kissed them gently. “He banished you, Natalie. And then lied to me about it. He lied about your motives and where you were, why you’d left. There’s no excuse, I should have come after you, but I didn’t understand what was happening. I was looking for an excuse to get away from you because…what I felt for you was too intense. I was a coward.”
She heard his words but shook her head. “You’re never a coward, Javier.”
“Yes. I was. I didn’t want to be so dependent on you. I needed you too much.”
“That feeling was mutual.”
He groaned with those words, his head falling forward. “If that’s true, then you were going through the same hell that I experienced four years ago, and I’m sorry.”
She smiled, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Well, don’t do it again,” she teased.
He laughed and shook his head, standing up to sheath himself in a condom before coming back to her. His body pressed into hers, sinking deeper and deeper. “I won’t ever be fooled again. You’re mine and I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving how much I love you,” he vowed.
She arched her back, taking him deeper into her body. “Well, why don’t you dedicate your considerable powers of concentration to proving that to me right now?”
He laughed, grabbing her hands once again, pushing them over his shoulders. “If you insist,” he teased and lifted her hips, pressing into her deeper, harder. And when he increased the pace, she was right there with him, lifting her hips to meet every thrust. Her body spiraled closer and closer to that amazingly wonderful edge but when he twisted to the right ever so slightly, she couldn’t hold back the climax that hit her hard and strong. Screaming out, she arched against him, feeling his body expand, fill her up and he came right behind her.
The intensity of that orgasm was so strong, so powerful, that it left her trembling. She wanted to tell him, but she couldn’t find the energy to form the words. Instead, she pressed her nose against the warm skin of his chest, her body pressed against his and showed him, breathing in the wonderful, male scent of Javier.
In return, she felt his arms tighten around her shoulders, hugging her close. “Your father came by,” she told him, surprised herself that she’d mentioned his father’s visit.
That roused him. Pushing up onto his forearms, he looked down at her. “My father? He was here?”
“Yes. He wanted to apologize.”
His dark eyebrows went up with that announcement. “He apologized?”
Natalie sighed, shaking her head. “No. He didn’t actually apologize to me. He only admitted that he has been told that he owes me an apology. But when I asked him why he would be apologizing, he only became angrier.”
The doorbell rang at that moment and Javier instinctively knew that it would be his father. “Speak of the devil,” he groaned.
Natalie’s whole body tightened with dread. This was a confrontation that she didn’t want. It was a test of what might happen in the future. This would show her what their future would look like.
With increasing dread, Natalie watched as Javier pushed out of bed and grabbed his slacks, pulling them up his long legs even as the doorbell rang again.
Natalie hurried to pull on a pair of leggings and a shirt as well, not wanting to feel vulnerable around that man. Well…not wanting to feel vulnerable if Javier was going to side with his father either. This was a true test and she felt sick at the possible outcomes.
Javier took her hand as they walked into the den. He pulled open the door to reveal a surprised Juan Pablo. Immediately, he recognized the signs of what they’d been doing moments ago and his features turned into a scowl. “About time you answered the door!” he grumbled. He started to step into the house but Natalie quickly blocked him.
“As I told you last time, you are not welcome in my home, Juan Pablo,” she reminded, using his first name again. He noticed her lack of respect this time and his lips compressed.
Ignoring Natalie, he looked over her shoulder to his son. “You’re not going to let her treat me this way, are you son?”
Javier felt Natalie stiffen in his arms and hugged her gently, silently letting her know that he supported her before he responded with, “You are trying to enter my fiancée’s house without permission. She’s in charge. But I’ll warn you, Father, she doesn’t want you in our future home, and I fully support her. You’ve done enough damage to my family.”
“I’m your family!” he roared furiously at the unprecedented way he was being treated. No one treated him in this manner! “Not this brazen hussy who has you under her witch’s spell!”
Javier tightened his arms around her waist. “She’s not brazen. She’s beautiful. And she’s not a witch, she’s a kind, gentle woman who has done nothing except fall in love with me. A gift I will treasure forever and will never stop trying to be worthy of.”
“Fine! Love her! But I will not allow you to give up your birthright! You are the next Duque d’Astrana! Don’t give that up. Your people need you.”
Natalie heard the words and spun around, her mind reeling with that information. “What have you done?” she gasped.
Javier cupped her head gently with both hands. “I relinquished my title, mi amora. My father will never interfere in our relationship. Ever!” he vowed.
“But…” she started to argue, but he silenced her with a gentle kiss, bringing tears to her eyes. When he lifted his head, he brushed a thumb against her cheek, smoothing away the sadness.
“But nothing. You and Alejandro are more important than a title, Natalie. You bring me more happiness just by seeing your smile when I walk in the door. And I won’t ever allow Alejandro to worry about where his father is.” He kissed her forehead. “The title of Marque isn’t nearly as important as the title of Papa.”
Natalie shuddered, thrilled to hear him say those words, but still worried about what he might have given up in order to be here with her. “Javier…”
“It is done!” he whispered.
“It is not done!” Juan Pablo asserted and Natalie turned around, reaching for Javier’s hands in the face of such fury. “You are my son! You will inherit the title,” he announced, his chest expanding as if that could give his words more power. Instead, it only made him look like a puffer fish – sad and silly.
“You will use only respectful tones around my future wife, Father,” Javier replied firmly, but with no heat in his voice. He was completely in control. “If you speak to her in any tone that she finds offensive, for any reason, then you will be evicted from her presence.”
Juan Pablo was furious and disgusted with that pronouncement. “You’re going to let a woman dictate to me?”
Javier chuckled. “Absolutely! Get used to it. Natalie is completely in charge. If you ever want to see me or your grandson and…” he looked down at Natalie, his hand covering her still-flat stomach, “any future children that we have, you will treat her as if she is your queen.”
Juan Pablo’s face looked almost apoplectic at that decree. His dark eyes moved from Natalie to Javier, then back again. He couldn’t even speak, too angry at what he was hearing. Finally, he straightened his shoulders and shook his head. “I can’t believe this is you, Javier. We’ve had our differences in the past, but you’ve never allowed outsiders to interfere with what is right. And family is right.”
Javier pulled his eyes away from Natalie and looked at his father. “Natalie and Alejandro are my family. Until you are civil to my wife and my son, I do not consider you my family.”
A long stare followed those words. Finally, he buttoned his coat, his lips pressing together as he said, “You and I will discuss this in private the next time you are home.” With that, he turned around and walked to his waiting limousine. His driver already had the door open so the older man could easily step into the vehicle. The door was slammed closed and the driver literally ran around the car to the driver’s seat, smoothly pulling away from the house.
When he was gone, Natalie turned to look up at Javier. “What did you do?” she demanded, pressing a hand to the middle of his chest to move both of them back into the middle of the house. Slamming the door, she glared up at him.
“I told him that I am marrying you,” he explained firmly, taking her hand, his thumb moving gently over the diamond still on her finger, “that I love you and that I denounce my title.”
“You can’t do that,” she gasped.
“It is done.”
She looked up at him for a long moment, shock hitting her as she absorbed what he’d given up in order to be with her and Alejandro. She couldn’t let him do that though. His title was so much a part of who he was. She also knew that Javier felt a deep sense of responsibility for his people. He couldn’t simply shake that off like snow on one’s shoulders. Nor would she let him. Natalie was confident that they could work something out where she didn’t put herself or Alejandro into a position to be insulted by Juan Pablo, and yet, Javier could still retain his title and his responsibilities. With that objective in mind, her shock dissipated and she smiled seductively. Moving towards him, all the love she felt for this man was now shining in her eyes. “I bet I can get you to undo it,” she teased.
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Think so? I’m eager to learn your methods of convincing me, mi cara.”
She laughed softly, her arms sliding around his neck. “Oh, you’re going to like my methods. A lot!” she whispered as she turned her face up to receive his kiss.
“I hope so, but I’m warning you,” he growled huskily as he carried her over to the sofa, “I’m very stubborn. You’re going to have to work very hard to convince me.”
Natalie laughed, feeling liberated as he took her back to the place that they’d made love their first time. Their first time this time, she mentally corrected.
“I love you,” she whispered as his hands slid under her sweatshirt. “But I’m not allowing you to give up your birthright.”
He chuckled. “I love you too, but I’m still not convinced.”
She smiled, interlacing her fingers behind his neck. “I’ve always loved a challenge,” she teased, bending down to kiss him.