Australian Outback Kings / The Cattle King's Mistress / The Playboy King's Wife / The Pleasure King's Bride (55 page)
Authors: Emma Darcy
“If it makes her happy⦔
“Look at her. She's glowing.”
“Fatherhood definitely suits you,” Tommy declared, his eyes dancing in amusement at the sight of the itty-bitty baby snuggled in the crook of his brother's arm. Nathan's towering height and big frame made him look like a giant compared to the smallness of his newborn son, yet he was a very gentle giant with Matthew, and Tommy was actually moved by the love so clearly emanating from his older brother.
“It's great, Tommy.” Nathan grinned. “And it's great you're having a daughter. Got any names picked yet?”
“Sarah heads the list at the moment.”
“It's been quite a year, hasn't it? Three weddings, a son for me and a daughter for you on the way.”
“Plus an adopted daughter for Jared.”
Nathan laughed. “Miranda heard her practising her new name as they were getting ready for the wedding. She was reciting Alicia King in front of the mirror and looking very smug about it.”
“What do you think will happen when she gets to eighteen?”
“Best thing would be to give that inheritance away. Have Rafael administer it for charities. Alicia won't need any of it with Jared as her dad.”
“And Christabel doesn't want a bar of it. I'd guess her influence will soak in over the years.”
“Sure to. She's one very strong lady.”
Tommy shook his head over the traumatic train of events that had eventually landed Christabel in Broome. “Hell of a thingâwhat she went through.”
Nathan looked over the milling crowd of guests to where his youngest brother stood with his brideâthe woman he'd fought for and won. “She's got Jared now,” he said quietly. “I think for Christabel, he more than makes up for everything she suffered in the past.” His vivid blue eyes twinkled at Tommy. “I'd have to say our kid brother wins the white knight award.”
“Oh, I don't know. We did pretty good for Miranda, don't forget. Saved her from a king rat.”
“True. And I'm glad Rafael Santiso didn't turn out to be another king rat. I suspect he's going to sweep our mother off with him.”
They both turned to assess what was happening on that front.
“You know, Nathan, for an older guy, he's certainly got a pouncing panther air about him.”
“Mmmâ¦not unlike Dad in many ways.”
Rafael Santiso felt he had been very patient. It was time for Elizabeth to decide.
“So,” he said, eyeing her with mocking challenge. “We had Tommy's wedding four months ago. Nathan's son has been safely born. Miranda is handling motherhood without any panic whatsoever. The planning for Jared's wedding has reached its culmination and is currently being perfectly executed. Your youngest son is now married. Samantha's baby is not due for another five months and I shall point out that unlike Miranda, Samantha has a mother of her own to see her through to the birth.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Is there any reason you cannot leave the Kimberly and fly to Greece with me?”
She affected surprise. “I thought you were returning to Europe.”
He shrugged. “Athens is on the way. I hold a small Greek island in trust. Very private. Very beautiful. It is the perfect place for relaxation after such a busy six months.”
“It has been busy.”
“And frustrating,” he said darkly.
Her magnificent eyes twinkled seductively. “I've never been to a Greek island.”
His heart swelled with hope. “You have only to say yes.”
I can, with a free conscience, put myself first now, Elizabeth decided. How it would be with Rafael, she didn't really knowâsuch a different kind of lifeâbut she wanted to try it, wanted to explore the feelings he stirred in her. It wasn't too late to take a new path, she thought. It was never too late. She had been static for too long. Life was to be lived.
She smiled at Rafael, thinking how exhilarating it was for a woman to feel desired by such a fascinating and desirable man. “I can't think of any family need to keep me here, so yes, I will go with you.”
“You will?” His handsome Latin face broke into a triumphant grin.
Nothing to lose and everything to gain, Elizabeth told herself, and made the decision firm. “I will.”
Jared curved his arm around Christabel's waist as they stood at the fence edging the grounds of the hotel, facing out to where the full moon was rising, a glowing red ball pushing slowly up from the horizon beyond Roebuck Bay.
“Happy?” he murmured.
She smiled. “You know I am. Though I do wonder how your mother feels about us living in Picard house. It's been hers for so long.”
“Now that I have you, she's passing it to us, Christabel. She'll be gone by the time we come back from our honeymoon.”
It surprised her. “Where is she going?”
“With Rafael.”
“She'll really leave all her family to be with him?” A flash of concern in her eyes. “It's such a high-intensity life he lives, Jared.”
He smiled, his confidence in his mother's ability to rise to any challenge stronger than ever. “Invigorating, Vikki says. And she predicts he'll treat her like a queen.”
Christabel released a long contented sigh. “I have to admit he's been good to me. Amazing in taking care of the problems with Alicia.”
“You don't mind giving up your family in Rio?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head. “They want the money. When I went to them for help, they thought I was mad to leave. It was Rafael's hand behind the scenes that made them give the help I needed. It was the same when Laurens proposed marriage. They thought only of the money.”
The eyes she lifted to his held no regrets. “My life is here with you. So is Alicia's. She loves
your
family, Jared. And so do I.”
The last little niggle about all the decisions they'd made in the past few months was erased. He nodded towards the bay. “It's starting.”
Christabel swiftly turned her attention to the unique phenomenon that was special to Broome. It was most spectacular during the equinoctial tides of March and September when the sea could rise and fall ten metres. At such an extreme low tide, and if the sky was clear as it was this evening, the pools of water stretching across the exposed mudflats reflected the light of the moon, providing the illusion of a staircaseâa magical staircase opening up from the huge glowing sphere as it rose above the horizon.
The first red bars were appearing now.
A night to remember, Christabel thought, for so many wonderful reasons, and thisâ¦what she was watching nowâ¦seemed like a reflection of what Jared had done, hauling her out of darkness and setting her feet on a path with him, a path where every step was a magical experience, glowing with his love for her.
The moon turned to gold as it lifted higher, creating a flight of golden steps coming closer and closer to them. They're for us, Christabel thoughtâthe staircase to a golden future together. And she rested her head on Jared's shoulder, and knew she didn't need anything else. She had everything she wanted in the man who held her.
“I love you so much, Jared,” she whispered. “Thank you for rescuing me and making this happen. All of it. You, me, Alicia⦔
“Oh, I was only thinking of my pleasure,” he teased. “After all, it is my pleasure to love you.”
She smiled, her heart singing at the thought of going to bed with her
husband
tonight. Her true husband in every sense. The staircase to the moon was wonderful, but nothingâher mind flitted through the exquisite memories Jared had already given her, her body instantly zinging with anticipation of so much more to comeâabsolutely nothing, she thought blissfully, could be more wonderful than being
the pleasure King's bride
!
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IMPRINT: Mills & Boon
ISBN: 9781488705359
TITLE: Australian Outback Kings
First Australian Publication 2014
Copyright © 2014 Emma Darcy
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher, Harlequin Mills & Boon®, Level 4, 132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, N.S.W., Australia 2060.
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.
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