Indiscretion (50 page)

And now she held nothing back, expressing everything that stormed through her, grasping the back of his neck, her nails digging
into him, wanting to take this man she loved and hold him forever. She whispered and moaned all the words she craved to say, telling him of her love, her need, her passion as she relished the caresses he was showering over her.

Caught up in the avalanche of their love, they were overcome by fierce yearning, carried away in the maelstrom of desire that had been kept pent-up for so many weeks and was now unleashed by the shock of their sudden meeting. This was not a gentle coming together but the desperate relief of two people who had been starved of each other for too long and had finally reached their haven.

It was nearly nightfall now: a clear summer night, so clear the twinkling stars could almost be counted in the velvety sky above. The moon hung like an iridescent pink chalice, watching over the lovers.

The world around them disappeared into oblivion. They touched each other more and more avidly, lips merging in famished exploration, senses communciating without words. Salvador pressed her against him, not gently but in a way that spoke of his violent desire for her. Alexandra arched her body, her arms tightening around his neck, yielding to him and to her own overwhelming need. The tremors pulsing through her limbs obliterated any of his remaining reserve. As her breasts strained against the fabric of her bodice, he shifted his burning mouth to her throat, burying his face in the warmth of her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair as his hands sought the trembling flesh of her silky shoulders. Intensifying his grip, he bent her back so she felt his hardness pushing against that part of her that was begging for release. His lips moved down, finding her cleavage, his tongue exploring hungrily the confines of her dress, lingering sensually between the satiny curves of her taut breasts, breathing in their heady fragrance; and she clung to him, her love for him racing free and unfettered, generous in the surrender of her heart, her body and her soul.

Finally Salvador found his voice, whispering: ‘
Querida
,
mi querida
,' against her lips. He lifted his head, his eyes glazed. ‘I cannot live with
this any longer.
Me vuelves loco
, you drive me crazy!' Alexandra moaned softly while he slowly scattered kisses all over her face.

‘Salvador … I can't believe you're here.'

She felt his lips gliding over her skin and returning to her mouth with deep but gentle eroticism. He murmured against her lips: ‘
Mi querida
, I thought you'd gone for good. We're together now, it doesn't matter, nothing else matters. Oh
mi amor
, how I've missed you, how I've yearned for you.'

His voice moved across her senses; Alexandra couldn't believe he was saying such things to her or how much it was enflaming her body.

Salvador slid the palms of his hands around her back and down her spine until they cupped her silk-covered bottom, bringing her forcefully up against his hips. Alexandra whimpered at the intimate contact, burning to belong to him as his mouth found hers again and she felt him rock against her.

For them time had stopped. They remained thus, in dizzy ecstasy; breath suspended, drunk in a flood of exquisite anticipation, as though remembering a once-forgotten but rediscovered dream. In the uncertain light of a fading dusk, with the moon stealing between the cypress trees, their young bodies were clasped together tenderly, reflecting the total communion of two souls who, after a long quest, had finally found each other.

Lifting his head and looking into Alexandra's eyes, Salvador opened his mouth to say something, but she would never hear the words.

A malevolent voice cut in harshly. ‘So this is your pure and innocent Alexandra! She promises herself to one man, while abandoning herself to another.' Tearing themselves apart, they turned towards the intruder. Doña Isabel was standing a few yards away, lantern in hand, smiling triumphantly.

‘What do you mean?' Salvador's jaw clenched, as he turned first to the
Marquesa
, then to Alexandra.

Doña Isabel lifted her lantern. It shone on Alexandra's face, which had gone quite white. Alexandra opened her mouth to say something, but quick as lightning, her rival beat her to it.

Eyes flashing daggers of hatred, she made no attempt to spare Salvador. ‘Your beloved has been living in Granada for more than a month. And I bet you didn't know that this magnificent reception is being thrown to celebrate her and Felipe's engagement,' she rasped venomously.

Alexandra felt as if she had just been propelled into a nightmare. A shiver of dread rippled up her spine.
Of course, that was why Salvador was there. Don Felipe would like nothing more than to have his rival witness the announcement. Oh, dear God, and Salvador didn't know …
Dazzled by the brightness of the lantern's light, she lifted an arm to hide her face. She shook her head repeatedly and took a step towards Salvador.

‘But it's not true!' she cried, her heart in her mouth, choking as she did her best to hold back the tears. ‘It's all a misunderstanding, a terrible misunderstanding! Salvador,' she begged, catching his arm as he was turning away, ‘
please
, let me explain.' But he wasn't hearing her words.

‘I'm sure my brother will thank me for sparing him the most appalling public humiliation,' said Doña Isabel icily, and with that parting shot, she gave Alexandra one final withering glance of victory and swept off back to the house.

She had expected his fury to surface with a stream of angry words and reproaches. Instead Salvador simply looked at Alexandra, his features now rigid. His hard, metallic stare bore down on her, barely hiding the world of hurt behind it. He raised an arm. For a moment, she wondered if he was going to strike her or was simply warding her off, but he lowered it wearily. For a fleeting second, silence vibrated in the air while he contemplated her with the stunned expression of a man stabbed in the back.

‘Salvador, please, I can explain everything,' Alexandra whispered, her eyes pleading, staring into that soul-stealing gaze and trembling with fear that she had lost him. Then, as if he could no longer bear the sight of her, he pushed her aside, turned away contemptuously, and disappeared into the night.

‘Salvador, please listen to me … please don't do this!' she called out, starting after him. ‘Don't be cruel!' Her broken cry cut through the darkness, startling the bats and other night creatures.

Alexandra was dazed; she would have preferred him to reproach her, shout at her … strike her even. At least she would have been given a chance to defend herself. She would have put up with anything, anything except the look of infinite pain he gave her before marching off into the shadows.

Alexandra buried her face in her hands as she sunk slowly to the ground. For some time she lay on the grass, weeping quietly, humiliated, conscious of how powerless she was. When she finally looked up, she realized she was not alone.

She was there, the gypsy from Triana, gazing at Alexandra in silence, her big, piercing eyes both searching and evasive. ‘If you'd heeded my call, if you had come to see me, I could have spared you all this trouble,' croaked the old fortune-teller.

In that moment, reason fell away and Alexandra was left with a cold, desperate fear that went straight to her soul. Her rationality crumbled. Finally the power of the gypsies and the enigmatic hand of
maktoub
had caught up with her and claimed her.

‘How could you do such a wicked thing, you evil witch!' she cried out, as she struggled to her feet, sobbing.

‘Paquita can tell the future,' the
gitana
went on, ignoring the young woman's accusation, ‘and the great book says that your destiny is with your lover.' She spoke as if she had pronounced some immutable law.

‘What do you mean? Explain yourself!' Alexandra demanded, straightening up and wiping away her tears, suddenly regaining her self-control.

‘Beautiful lady from beyond the seas, you have won,' declared the gypsy woman. ‘You should rejoice and thank Paquita, instead of crying.'

‘What on earth have I won?' Surely she had lost everything now? If this was destiny speaking, she had no idea how to listen to its message
or how to find a way through the darkness that now engulfed her. This was a new world to her — perhaps the fortune-teller was her only hope of understanding it.

‘Enough of your riddles and tell me what's going on. Please, I beg you!'

The Romany gave her a hooded look. ‘First, give me a token of your good faith,' she replied, slyly catching hold of the young woman's arm.

‘I don't have any money with me,' Alexandra said, trying to free herself from the clasp of those rough claws.

‘Paquita never asks for money,' declared the other disdainfully. Then, pointing a crooked finger to the jewel hanging like a pearly tear from Alexandra's neck, her tone became more threatening. ‘Give me that, it should be enough.'

The moon swam timidly between the branches, its milky, pale rays briefly lighting the angular features of the witch. She rolled her gleaming black eyes, which in the semi-darkness resembled two big marbles of shiny glass, and extended a gnarled finger towards Alexandra, who instinctively backed away. Standing among the cypresses, the two figures resembled an illustration from a dark fairytale.

‘Here,' breathed Alexandra, as she hastily unclasped the pendant and handed it to the gypsy. Paquita avidly clutched the coveted object, hid it among her rags and then turned away.

‘Your fine Count loves you,' she chanted, moving off into the night. She carried on in her characteristic babble, her hoarse, cavernous voice rising in the darkness, as if from the grave. ‘By the force of the great and pure love that binds you, the spell that bewitched him and held him prisoner of another's charms is henceforth broken. Go, beautiful lady, go in peace, for it is written in heaven you will share his destiny.' Then, abruptly, she halted and looked round. ‘But beware the storm and the horned beast, they will seek you out.'

‘For goodness sake, what are you talking about?' Alexandra called out after her. ‘What storm? What beast? Whose destiny will I share?
Didn't you see what happened? I'll probably never see him again … What shall I do? It's all a terrible misunderstanding!' She stumbled towards the old hag. ‘I've given you what you wanted. Now, please, can't you help me? Can't you
do
something?' she implored, tears of despair running down her cheeks. But Paquita was no longer listening; she had disappeared into the shadows beyond the trees, chanting an incantation of strange words.

In the blackness of night, the scarcely visible yet menacing outline of the Sierras towered above the sleeping valley, bare slopes and fissured rocks now sinister, death-like in their silence. It was late but the bullfighter's party was still in full swing. Alexandra slipped through the lighted garden, trying to find a way out without being seen. She could hear the band and the distant clamour of Don Felipe's merry guests but, to her, the night seemed empty and lonely. She hoped that Doña Inés wasn't too alarmed by her absence and wondered whether the
duenna
had gone home or if she had stayed on, waiting for her charge to come back.

Trying to keep out of sight, Alexandra made a detour to avoid passing the crowded terrace, desperate to get back to Doña Inés' hacienda as quickly as possible. She followed a gravel path that led to the rear of the house. From there she'd be able to go through the orchard to reach the road.

It was pitch-dark. The temperature had fallen. An owl hooted somewhere, startling her. A dog barked, and then there was nothing save the night. She was nearly at the north side of the hacienda now. A light breeze started up, enveloping her in its chilly embrace, and she shivered. Her footsteps crunched on the stones, sounding loud to her ears, almost blocking out the ghostly rustling of the leaves in the orchard beyond. The hollow croaking of a toad made her jump again.

Suddenly, a pair of powerful arms grasped her from behind and spun her around, pressing her hard against an unyielding torso. A shaft of moonlight cut across the man's face, illuminating the knife-like planes. It was the
torero
.

‘Felipe,' Alexandra gasped, breathing heavily as his hands dug into her upper arms.

‘Yes,
Felipe
,' he sneered, his handsome features contorted into a savage mask. ‘Were you hoping it was your Count come to claim you? I've heard about your sordid little display earlier. So, you'd rather be with that whoring so-called
hidalgo
than with me.'

Alexandra looked around but the grounds on this side of the house were deserted. She pushed against his chest.

‘Please, Felipe, you're hurting me!'

But he ignored her, his breath hot on her face. ‘The first time I set eyes on you, I wanted you,
querida
. You could have been the wife of one of the richest, most powerful, most respected men in Spain. I would have given you everything you desired.'

Blood rushed to Alexandra's temples and she stared at him, wide-eyed. ‘I would never have had everything I desired, Felipe. I'm sorry.'

‘Did you think you could get away with humiliating me?' He delivered the words through clenched teeth. ‘
Yo, el más grande matador después de Manolete
, the greatest matador after Manolete?'

‘No, Felipe, you don't understand. I tried—'

‘Tried
what
? Tried to make a fool of me? Did you think I wouldn't hunt you down?' His eyes shone with a mad and savage glitter. ‘You've been playing your little games with me but now who has won,
querida
, eh?' The
torero
tightened his grip on Alexandra, oblivious to her distress, and began dragging her towards the terrace at the back of the house. Beyond it, she could see the dimly lit dining room and, inside, the dull gleam of armour and the dark shapes of the instruments on the back wall.