Stand-In Bride's Seduction

Safe? In his arms, with his lips on hers and her heart racing at a pace that no longer had anything to do with fear and everything to do with the man who held her? She ought to push him away, to send him back out into the dark velvet night as far from her as possible. Instead, she slid her arms under his jacket and around his waist and aligned her body against his.

Rey lifted both hands and cupped her jaw gently, tilting her face to his.

“Tell me to leave now, before I become incapable of doing so.”

His voice was thick with desire, his accent stronger than usual. Rina parted her lips to say what she needed to say, to send him out the door and potentially out of her life forever, but the words dried on her tongue even as the heat flaring through her body rose and spread. In her head, she knew it was wrong to be doing this, and yet to the soles of her feet it felt so right. For the first time in her life, she stopped listening to the voice of reason and gave over to her heart.

With a groan, Rey kissed her again, drawing her lower lip into his mouth and gently scraping his teeth and tongue across the full soft skin.

“Last chance,” he murmured.

Thirteen

And it was her last chance, she realized. Her last chance to give herself over to sensation—to what she wanted right here, right now.

In answer she dragged his head down to hers and kissed him with every ounce of unrequited love she had in her. Rey didn’t waste another second on talking. Strong arms hooked behind her shoulders and her knees and he swept her off her feet and carried her to the bedroom. Once there, he reverently set her back on her feet, trapping her with the heat and intensity in his gaze as he yanked away his jacket and kicked off his shoes before reaching for her again.

The shimmer of candlelight reflected from the small mirror perched on top of the tall chest of drawers that passed for a dressing table. Aromatic scents of patchouli and sandalwood blended with the richness of fragrant rose wove their own sensual spell around them.

Rey traced the outline of her lips with one finger, then trailed the featherlight touch along her jaw and to the hollow at the base of her ear before coasting over her rapidly beating pulse and down her throat. Her heart hammered in her chest, no longer with fear, but with anticipation.

Rey’s fingers gently brushed her collarbone before coasting, ever so softly, lower until they grazed the swell of her breasts. Every muscle in her body clenched. The hot tide of desire that clouded her mind sent a jolt of need from her core and forced a soft moan of longing from her lips.

“This gown is very beautiful on you, querida, but I’m sure what it conceals is even more so.”

He reached around her back for the tab on the zip, and slowly eased it down. The boned fabric of her bodice peeled away from her like a giant petal on a flower, exposing her naked breasts to sight. Her nipples puckered under his gaze, her breasts became full, heavy.

She stood there proudly as he eased her gown over her hips and allowed it to drop in a dark pool of satin at her feet. Rina stepped out of the discarded gown. All she wore now was the sheer scrap of ruby-colored lace panties.

“Ah, I knew I was right,” he sighed, his eyes roaming over her form. “You are truly beautiful.”

He lifted his hands to slide her earrings from her lobes, tossing the glittering chandeliers to the top of the dressing table with scant care as to where they landed, then slowly and painstakingly removed the tiny clips from her hair. Once each tress was freed, he gently ran his fingers through the weight of her hair, letting it spill across her shoulders in a wave of rippling fire.

Feeling beautiful, feeling incredibly bold in that beauty, Rina reached out and, one by one, slid the buttons loose from his silk shirt. She tugged the tails loose from his trousers before skimming her hands up and over his chest and out to his shoulders, peeling away the finely woven fabric from his body before tugging it down his arms and pulling it away completely.

His chest was smooth and tanned, the cords of muscle finely delineated—his nipples now taut discs punctuating his skin. She lightly brushed her fingertips over them, felt the tight nubs harden even further under her touch. How would he taste? How would his skin feel beneath her lips, her tongue?