Hot Blooded

break his grip,
knew he could snap her neck in an instant if he chose. A shiver of apprehension
raced down her spine. She stilled beneath his hand, her gaze jumping to his
face. His black eyes were suddenly hungry, a dark intense hunger that robbed her
of her breath while he stared almost fascinated at her pulse.
    Why had she thought his eyes flat and hard and icy cold? Now they were
burning with so much emotion, alive with need and hunger and an intensity that
scorched her all the way to her very soul.
    You are not going to get away from me, pequeña. No matter how far you
run, no matter how much you fight, none of it will matter.
    The words shimmered in her mind, shimmered between them, yet Colby had no
idea whether they were real or not. He hadn't spoken, he was only looking at her
with his smoldering black eyes.
    She paled visibly, suddenly very, very afraid. Of herself. Of him. Of the
dark promise of passion in his eloquent eyes.
    "You aren't welcome here, De La Cruz," Paul burst out, his face bright red
beneath his tan. He took a step toward the larger man, his fist clenched, but
Ginny caught at his arm and held onto him like a pit bull. "Let go of my sister
right now."
    Rafael swung his head slowly around, his gaze reluctantly leaving Colby's
face so that he could look at Paul. The boy noticed at once that Rafael's black
eyes never blinked.
    Not once. For a moment Paul couldn't think or move. He stood frozen in place,
his heart pounding. Rafael smiled at him then, no humor, just a flash of white
teeth and then he was striding for his pickup truck.
    They watched him move, mesmerized by his fluid grace. No one spoke until the
truck had been swallowed up in a cloud of dust, then Paul flung himself onto the
grass. "I must have been out of mind! Why didn't you gag me? He could have
killed me with his little finger."
    Ginny laughed nervously. "Fortunately I saved your life by holding you back."
    "For which I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Paul said, staring up at
the night sky.
    Colby flung herself on the ground beside her brother, dragging Ginny down
beside her. They clung together laughing at their audacity, slightly hysterical
with relief. Colby was the first to sober up. "Pride is going to cost us big
bucks this time. With Daniels pressing us on the balloon payment for the
mortgage, I'm afraid this is a serious setback. I've only got two months to come
up with the payment and he's told me in no uncertain terms he won't give me an
extension."
    "He didn't say we have to give the horses back," Ginny pointed out
pragmatically. "Just keep them and bill him for the work."
    "We'll sue if he doesn't pay," Paul burst out indignantly. "You've worked
hard on those horses and they've been eating our supplies. De La Cruz couldn't
find anyone better here in the States, or Brazil for that matter. He can't
expect to get your services for nothing."
    "That's probably how they got rich in the first place," Colby said snidely,
then was immediately ashamed of herself. She thankfully accepted a piece of
fried chicken from practical Ginny. "Blast that man for coming over here!
Although, to be strictly honest, I never would have accepted those horses had I
known they were his."
    Paul grinned at her. "That's why I didn't tell you," he looked unrepentant.
    Colby turned the full power of her emerald gaze on her brother. "That's not
something you should be admitting to me. Rafael De La Cruz is worse than his
brother and I never thought that was possible." She touched the nape of her neck
where the warmth of his touch seemed to linger.
    "I wish they'd all leave," Ginny stated clearly. She looked at Colby with
frightened eyes. "Can they really take me away from you, to another country? I
don't want to go with them." She sounded young and forlorn.
    Colby immediately circled Ginny's shoulders with her arm. "Why would you ask
such a thing, Ginny?" She glanced at Paul with a slight frown. "Did you hear
that somewhere?"
    "It wasn't me," Paul defended, "it was Clinton Daniels. We saw him at the
grocery store and he told Ginny the Chavez family was going to take the two of
us to Brazil and you couldn't stop them. He said you'd never win custody in a
court of law and the De La Cruz family had political pull and too much money to
fight. With the De La Cruz family backing the Chavez family you didn't have a
prayer of keeping us."
    Colby counted silently to ten, listened to her heart pound out a