Harvest Moon (16 page)

It was impossible to ignore his dark, burning gaze as she slipped into a pair of dark brown, lace bikini panties with a matching demi-bra. She thought she heard Aaron’s intake of breath when she leaned over to pick up a loose-fitting dress made of an airy voile fabric in a soft, eggshell-white. She had just slipped her arms into the sleeveless garment that ended mid-calf when he rose to his feet and crossed the room.

Standing in front of her, he gently brushed her hands away and fastened the tiny pearl buttons lining the front. The heat of his freshly showered body caused her to sway gently, and he caught her shoulders to steady her. He was as casually dressed as she was. He had elected to wear a taupe-colored, short-sleeved cotton shirt with a pair of black linen slacks and loafers.

He smiled, exhibiting his straight, white teeth under his neatly barbered moustache when he glanced down at her narrow feet. “Are you going to take the phrase barefoot and pregnant literally?”

She wiggled her professionally groomed toes. “My shoes are in the smaller bag.” She pointed to her luggage in the corner.

“I’ll have Magda unpack your clothes and put them away.” Walking over to her luggage, he recognized the superior quality of the kidskin leather. “Which pair do you want?”

“Any sandal.”

He withdrew a pair of black, patent leather mules with a two-inch heel. Easing her down to the loveseat, he bent down and slipped them on her feet. Staring up at her, he smiled. “Do you need help with your hair?”

Regina wrinkled her delicate nose. “I think I can manage, thank you.” Returning to the bathroom, she brushed her hair off her face, then outlined her mouth with a soft orange color. Turning, she saw Aaron standing several feet away, watching her every move. “I’m ready,” she replied breathlessly.

He held out his hand, and she caught his fingers. Pulling her to his side, he examined her features intently. “If anyone asks about our relationship I’ll tell them that you are my wife.” He ignored her sharp intake of breath. “It will save a lot of explaining once your pregnancy becomes apparent.” He did not say that if they lived the lie long enough perhaps it would become a reality.

She nodded, acquiescing. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t a Mrs. Spencer. She just wasn’t Mrs. Aaron Spencer.

Regina and Aaron dined alfresco on a terrace garden under an allée of areca palms, which gave the appearance of an encroaching jungle in a civilized oasis. A cooling ocean breeze made eating under the sky possible once the sun traveled overhead in a westward direction.

The outdoor wooden furniture had acquired a natural patina, with a quartet of chairs covered with rush seats. A nearby bench was flanked by large clay urns overflowing with ferns indigenous to the region.

Aaron watched with amusement when Regina’s gaze lingered
on overgrown sections of the untamed land. He cleared his throat, recapturing her attention.

“What do you think?”

Arching a sweeping eyebrow, she angled her head. “About what?”

“The garden.”

“It has a lot of potential. How long has it been neglected?”

“Too long,” he replied. “This garden was my aunt’s pride and joy.”

Regina took a long sip of chilled bottled water, meeting his gaze over the rim of her glass. “Would you mind if I suggested a few renovations?”

“I was hoping you’d ask. Every acre of this land is yours,
Princesa
. Make any change you want.”

Placing her glass on the table, she laughed, her low, husky voice floating and lingering sensuously in the warm air. “I don’t believe you would actually trust me with your precious coffee plantation.”

I would trust you with my life
, he said silently. “And why wouldn’t I?” he queried aloud. “It’s a known fact that ColeDiz International owns and manages several coffee plantations throughout the Caribbean, and I’m willing to bet you know as much about the plant as I do.”

“The only thing I’ll concede at this time is that I’ve given up drinking it for the next year.”

Aaron was right. She was very knowledgeable about the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of coffee.

His gaze went from her face to her chest. “Do you plan to breast-feed?”

“I would like to.”

His eyes crinkled in a smile. “Good.”

She picked up her fork and concentrated on finishing her meal, which consisted of a salad,
arroz, feijãao
, and
carne
—white rice, black beans, and steak—grilled with peppers and spices.

“How many acres do you use for your coffee fields?” she asked after a comfortable silence.

“Eight thousand out of a possible twelve.”

“It didn’t realize it was that large.”

“It’s the largest in Bahia. Leonardo da Costa’s family was one of the largest landowners in Bahia for several centuries. They controlled the country’s sugar industry from the time Salvador was the capital of colonial Brazil until the eighteenth century. After the decline in international sugar prices they lost most of their wealth. My aunt married the last surviving da Costa, and when she failed to produce an heir the bloodline ended with Leonardo.”

Regina touched her lips with a cloth napkin. “May I have a brief tour of the garden before it gets too dark to see anything?”

Aaron rose to his feet and came around the table to pull back her chair. “I’ll show you the coffee fields at another time. But if you’re willing to get up at five, you can come with me when I drive down to meet with the foreman.”

“I don’t think so, Aaron.”

He shrugged a shoulder in the elegant gesture she hadn’t seen in a long time. “Just asking.”

Holding her hand firmly, he guided her over a slate path to a world of overgrown trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Ivy and ferns were growing in riotous disarray, spilling over stone walls and benches.

Regina stopped, pointing to a marble figure obscured by a tangle of climbing vines. “There’s a fountain.”

Releasing her hand, Aaron reached through the vines, trying to pull them away from the figure, which held a pitcher from which water had poured into a small pool many years ago.

He shook his head, sighing heavily. “They are going to have to be cut away. The vines are probably choking an underground pool. Look,” he said, pointing to a damp area on the flagstone path. “The pool was over here.”

Regina felt her pulses racing. Instead of designing a garden, she would undertake restoring this one to its former magnificence. Working on the garden would give her something to do while Aaron was away from the house during the day.

“Tomorrow I’ll begin identifying flowers, vines, trees, and ferns,” she said excitedly.

“You’re going to have to postpone your project for a day. Remember, you’re coming to the hospital with me tomorrow for a checkup with Nicolas Benedetti.”

She nodded. “Can you hire an assistant for me?”

His hands slipped up her bare arms, bringing her closer and molding her soft curves to the contours of his body. “What else do you want,
Princesa?
”

Tilting her chin, she gave him a dazzling smile. “That’s all for now.”

He lowered his head until their lips were only inches apart. “Are you sure?”

She inhaled his moist breath, closing her eyes. “Yes.”

“The assistant is yours,” he whispered seconds before he claimed the sweetness of her lush mouth. He tightened his hold on her body, moaning slightly when she looped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss. Both were breathing heavily when the kiss ended.

Aaron smiled down at the dreamy expression on her face. “One of these days I’m going to make love to you in your garden paradise, because I want to experience what Adam felt when he made love to Eve.”

“But theirs was the Garden of Eden,” she argued softly.

“And ours will be the
Jardim da Costa
.”

“I have to see if I can find some fig leaves.”

Shaking his head, he laughed deep in his throat. “Forget the fig leaves, Darling. The only concession I’m willing to make is a blanket to protect your delicate little behind.”

“You’re a wicked man, Senhor Spencer.”

“Not as wicked as I’d like to be, Senhora Spencer.”

“You have to remember I’m carrying a child.”

“That is something I’ll never forget.”

Regina felt the invisible thread drawing them closer, closer than she wanted to be. What she would not think about was the time when she would be forced to leave Aaron, taking the fruit of their love and passion with her.

A
aron led Regina out of the garden, experiencing a gentle peace he had not felt in years. For the first time in his life everything he had ever wanted was his: a medical profession, his direct involvement in medical research, the promise of harvesting the da Costa plantation’s best coffee crop in more than a decade, and the realization that the woman he had fallen in love with was carrying his unborn child.

“Who lives in those buildings?”

Regina’s query shattered his pleasant musings. “The larger one belongs to the foreman and his family, and Magda lives in the smaller one.”

She glanced up at his distinctive profile, studying the set of his firm jaw. “Why doesn’t she live in the main house?”

“After my aunt died I decided I didn’t want to share the house with any of the employees. I value my privacy too much to have them lurking about.”

“Have you caught them lurking about?”

He shook his head. “No. But I don’t want to give them the opportunity, either. Magda comes at seven in the morning and is usually gone before ten at night.” He tightened his grip on her fingers. “Come, I’ll show you the rest of the house.”

Regina followed Aaron in and out of rooms which were added to the original building erected by the first European da Costas, who had sailed across the Atlantic to the New World more than three-hundred-fifty years ago. Terra-cotta, stone, wood, and plaster were the basic ingredients of the traditional sixteenth and seventeenth-country structures. Even with the addition of indoor plumbing and electricity, the magnificent house had lost none of its exquisite beauty, as it claimed terra-cotta-tiled roofs and chimneys, rustic stone walls, vaulted ceilings, and stained glass windows.

Staring out a window on the upper level, she was enchanted by the panorama unfolding before her eyes. Countless numbers of shrubs bearing the fruit which would blossom with cherries containing coffee beans swayed gently in the cooling ocean breeze. She noticed that acre upon acre of trees were planted nearby to shade the coffee trees and developing fruit from the hottest sun.

She felt the heat from Aaron’s body as he moved behind her. He curved an arm around her waist and pulled her back to lean against his chest.

“What blend do you grow?” she asked.

“Coffee arabica.”

Smiling, she nodded. “My family has perfected a variety of an arabica that is known as San Ramon.”

“If they’re cultivating a dwarf strain, then they must harvest the Jamaican Blue Mountain.”

“They do.”

Turning her around in his embrace, he cradled her face between his hands, giving her a questioning look. “All you know about coffee is drinking it?”

She flashed a saucy grin. “I suppose you can say I know a little about the plant.” Her grin faded when his expressive face changed, becoming almost somber, and an inexplicable look of withdrawal hardened his gaze. Her hands moved up and curved around his strong wrists.

“Aaron?”

He blinked, seemingly coming out of a trance. “Yes?”

“I’m going back to my room to lie down.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m just a little tired,” she admitted truthfully.

His hands dropped. “Do you want anything before you retire for bed?”

“Just water, please.”

Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her parted lips. “I’ll bring you the water.”

She turned and walked down the hallway to the bedroom Aaron had assigned her, leaving him to stare at her back. She retreated to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. By the time Aaron walked into the bedroom she had slipped into a nightgown and was in bed with a pile of pillows cradling her back. Light from an exquisite Tiffany table lamp lit up the space with a soft, golden glow.

He placed a carafe of water on the table beside the lamp. Removing the top, he filled it with water. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he smiled at her.

“I’ve told Magda to prepare meals for you using only bottled water. Brazil’s water can be unkind to those who aren’t used to it.”

She gave him a dazzling, dimpled smile. “Thank you, Aaron.”

“Are you going to be all right sleeping here alone?”

Her lids lowered as her smile slipped away. “I think so.”

“If you need me I’ll be in the bedroom on the other side of
the dressing room. I’m going to leave the doors open, just in case…”

She placed her fingertips over his lips, stopping his words and savoring the feel of hair covering his upper lip. “Stop worrying about me,” she chided softly. “I’ll be okay.”

His fingers curled around her wrist and he pressed a kiss against the silken flesh of her inner arm. “Good night,
Princesa
.”

“Boa noite,”
she whispered softly.

Her gaze followed him as he opened the door to the dressing room. “Remember, I’ll be less than fifty feet away if you need me.”

She nodded, then sank down to the pillows and stared up at the unusual ceiling, not seeing Aaron as he lingered in the doorway. Closing her eyes, she placed a hand over her belly. Her breathing deepened and within minutes she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Sleep wasn’t as kind to Aaron as he lay in bed hours later, staring at the half-moon suspended in the nighttime sky. The day had been one of surprises—Regina’s arrival, and the news that she was carrying his child.

When she fled Mexico he had thought he would never see her again, despite her written promise that she would come to him. Now she had come, but not alone.

A wide smile split his face. He was going to be a father. It was after he had made love to Regina the first time that he realized it was the only time that he had slept with a woman and had not protected her. It had taken only that one time to get Regina pregnant.

When he offered to marry her she had spurned him. She was willing to share the next six months of her life with him, but would not commit to sharing her future or his child with him.

His fingers curled into tight fists. What was there about her
that made him so vulnerable? Why had he permitted her to challenge him over and over? What power did she hold over him so that he thought of her first and himself second?

What he felt for her went beyond love. She had become his obsession.

Regina woke two hours before dawn with a gnawing hunger gripping her stomach. The glowing red numbers on the clock were clearly displayed in the darkness. Her pulse quickened. The room was dark, but she had not remembered turning off the lamp.

Closing her eyes, she counted backward slowly, hoping to quell the rising panic in her chest. She had nothing to fear; she was safe. Aaron was not far away. His words came rushing back, stemming her trepidation.
If you need me I’ll be in the bedroom on the other side of the dressing room
.

She did not want to need him, even though she did. Somehow she forced herself to sit up and reach for the lamp. Her fingers grazed the base, moving slowly upward until she pulled the delicate chain. Within seconds the room was flooded with warm, comforting, protective, golden light.

The door to the dressing room stood open, and she smiled. All she had to do was leave her bed, walk across the room, and walk through the dressing room to find Aaron.

Instead of going to Aaron, she made her way to the bathroom to splash water on her face and brush her teeth. The pangs of hunger grew stronger, and she knew she had to put something into her stomach.

Opening her bedroom door, she glanced out into the hallway. A lighted wall sconce at the head of the staircase provided enough illumination for her to navigate the stairs safely. Her bare feet were silent as she went in search of her pre-dawn snack.

She hadn’t stepped off the last stair when she noticed the silhouette of someone closing the front door, and she wondered
if Aaron had left the house to meet with his foreman. It was only a little after four o’clock, and he said he usually met the foreman at five.

Shrugging a bare shoulder under her revealing silk nightgown, she made her way into the dimly lit kitchen, flicking a wall switch for the overhead lights. Three minutes later she sat at a large oaken table, drinking a glass of chilled milk and eating a banana.

A low whistle punctuated the silence, and she turned and stared at Aaron as he leaned against the arched entrance to the kitchen, his arms crossed over his T-shirt-covered chest. He was casually dressed in a pair of jeans and work boots.

She flashed a shy smile. “Good morning.”

He shifted an eyebrow, his lips parting in a mysterious smile. “Good morning back to you. I take it you’re hungry?”

“Starved,” she confirmed, wrinkling her delicate nose.

He pushed away from the wall and closed the distance between them. Leaning over her, he curved his fingers around her neck and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll fix you something to eat.”

She inhaled the warmth of his clean, masculine body. “Are you going to join me?”

He stared down at her, and she stared up at him with an expectant look in her dark eyes. He usually ate breakfast after he returned from the fields, but that practice would change, along with everything else in his life, now that Regina lived under his roof.

He ran a finger down the length of her nose. “Yes.” His mouth replaced his finger.

“Do you need help?”

Hunkering down in front of her, he held her hands loosely in his warm, strong grip. “I want you to sit and relax. I’ll take care of you while offering you everything you’ll ever need.”

Regina studied the lean, dark face with the high cheekbones,
slanting eyes, and the strong masculine mouth beneath the neat, clipped moustache. Placing her fingertips over his lips, she leaned over and pressed a kiss at the corner of his mouth, unable to believe she loved him as much as she did.

There was a time she had thought she was captivated by Aaron because he had come into her life when she had been most vulnerable, that he had filled a void no man, including his father, had been able to fill. Closing her eyes, she realized she wanted him to take care of her. In Mexico he had promised to protect her, and she came to a realization that for the next six months she would permit him to do that.

Opening her eyes, she met his penetrating gaze. “I think I could get used to that.”

He smiled, but the warmth of the expression did not quite reach his eyes. “Whether you get used to it doesn’t matter much, because you don’t have a choice.”

She inhaled sharply, frowning. “I can’t believe your arrogance.”

“It has nothing to do with arrogance or what you believe, Regina.”

“Then what do you call it?”

Releasing her hands, he stood up and stared at her upturned face. “I
will
do whatever I have to do to take care of you. And whenever you doubt that, I’ll be the first to remind you of it.”

A sudden anger lit her eyes at the same time she bit back the acerbic words poised on the tip of her tongue. What was it about Aaron Spencer that set her on edge the way a scrape of a fingernail across a chalkboard sent chills down her spine? Within a span of seconds he could ignite her desire until she vibrated with passion, then without warning douse the flames until she found herself spewing virulent words like a shrew.

It would not happen this morning. He had goaded her for the last time. She schooled her expression to one of complacency. “I’ll make certain you don’t have to remind me,
Dr. Spencer
.”

His forehead furrowed in an angry scowl. “You just have to have the last word, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve warned you about using my professional title.”

“Are you or aren’t you a doctor?”

“At the hospital, or at the institute. But never in my home.”

She lowered her gaze in a demure gesture. “I’m sorry, Aaron.”

Reaching down, he pulled her gently to her feet. “Are you really sorry?” His angry gaze softened, moving from her eyes to her shoulders and still lower, to the soft swell of breasts rising above the lace of her nightgown.

Rising on tiptoe, she moved closer, pressing her breasts to his chest. “No,” she whispered inches from his mouth.

“I thought not,” he murmured softly. His right hand moved slowly down her back until his fingers were splayed over a hip. “Why don’t you go upstairs and put on something less enticing while I prepare something to eat, because if you continue to tempt me in that nightgown I’m afraid I’m going to be the only one eating this morning.”

“You wouldn’t take advantage of me like that.” There was no mistaking the thread of disbelief in her incredulous tone.

He released her, his hands going to the waistband of his jeans. His fingers were poised on the zipper when Regina turned and rushed out of the kitchen, his unrestrained, ribald laughter following her departing figure.

She was right. He would never take advantage of her. Yet the lingering image of her slender, swaying hips stayed with him as he opened the refrigerator. The image was not of an erotic nature. Seeing Regina completely nude the day before had sent a warning signal to his brain when she revealed that she was pregnant. Her hips were narrow—much too narrow to allow for an easy delivery if she carried a large baby to term.

Aaron went completely still, his hand reaching for a bottle of
milk and halting in midair. He was thinking as a doctor, not as a man who loved Regina and hoped to marry her, but she wasn’t his patient. She would be Nicolas Benedetti’s patient for the duration of her stay in Bahia. He had to inform his colleague of his concerns for the mother of his unborn child.

Half an hour later he looked up to find Regina striding into the kitchen with a
“Don’t mess with me”
mien radiating from her face and carriage. His admiring gaze swept from her damp curly hair to a straight, slender, cotton skirt and matching blouse in a flattering melon-orange down to her well-groomed feet in a pair of leather sandals in the same melon shade.

“You look beautiful.” The adoration in his eyes mirrored his statement.

She folded her hands on her hips, flashing a saucy grin. “Beautiful enough to
eat
?”