Passionate Protection

'You were very unfair to Lisa this afternoon,' she told him angrily, able to defend his daughter if she couldn't defend herself. 'It was an unfortunate accident, but she was in no way to blame. Pilar always contrives to upset her. She adores you, Sebastian, and you were viciously cruel to her. I can't understand why you turned on her like that.'

'You can't? Perhaps it's because a wounded animal does claw at other things in its agony; perhaps it's because I'm going out of my mind with frustration,' he told her bluntly. 'When I married you it was not with the intention that our marriage should be platonic'

'I should have told you the truth,' Jessica admitted huskily. 'I wanted to, but…'

'But you preferred to let me find out the hard way—for us both—and then you turn to my brother for solace. Well, you may not find solace in my arms, Jessica,' he told her brutally, 'but I'm no saint to burn in the fires of hell when the means of quenching them is at hand. You were prepared to give yourself to my brother, now you can give yourself to me!'

Her panicky protest was lost against his mouth, storming her defences, sending waves of heat pulsating through her body. Instantly everything was forgotten but the wild clamouring in her blood, the need for his possession which had been aching inside her ever since their wedding night, although never fully acknowledged.

'I want you,' Sebastian muttered thickly against her mouth, 'and when I take you, you will think only of me, not my brother, not anyone but me. It will be my name you cry out in the fiery midst of passion; my body that gives yours the ultimate sweet pleasure.'

A shaft of moonlight illuminated his face, drawn and shadowed, so that Jessica could almost deceive herself that it was pain she saw in his eyes. Was he thinking of Manuela when he spoke to her? A sharp stabbing pain shot through her, her small moan of protest igniting a ferocity within him that shocked and excited as he stripped her swiftly, his face a mask of concentration, his hands only stilling when he had removed everything but her minute briefs.

The knowledge that he wanted her trembled though her on an exultant wave, and slowly she reached towards him, unfastening the buttons of his shirt, sliding her hands across the breadth of his chest and feeling it lift and tense with the sudden urgency of his breathing. Her marauding fingers were trapped and held against his heart as it pounded into her palm, and a curious sensation of timelessness gripped her.

This time she felt no shyness at the sight of his naked body, rather a desire to touch and know it, but his smothered groan as her fingertips stroked lightly against his thigh warned her of the intensity of his need. His hands cupped her breasts, his mouth following the line of her throat and shoulders, before returning to fasten hungrily on hers. His body burned and trembled against her, sweat beading his forehead and dampening his skin.

On a swiftly rising spiral of excitement Jessica explored the maleness of his body, feeling the increasing urgency within him; the blind hunger that made him shudder under her touch, and she knew beyond any doubt that this time nothing would appease the ache inside her but the hard, demanding pressure she could feel building up inside him.

She wanted his possession of her body with a need that went beyond anything she had ever experienced. Her hips writhed and arched, and Sebastian groaned against her throat, holding her, shaping her until she was formless and malleable, her only purpose in life to fulfil the explosive ache that possessed her every conscious thought and action.

'Sebastian…' She moaned his name under his caressing hands, trying to communicate her need, but instead of fulfilling her, he stilled. She opened desire-drugged eyes and stared at him uncomprehendingly, a tiny protest leaving her lips.

'Sebastian, please!' Her fingers curled into the smooth muscles of his back, her mind still shying away from actually telling him how much she needed him, while her body ached wantonly for her to do so, no matter what the cost.

'You want me.'

It was a statement rather than a question, but something forced her to respond to it, her nervous, husky, 'Very much,' making his eyes darken until they were almost black, his breathing suddenly altered and uneven. 'Dios, Jessica,' he told her rawly, 'I want you, even though I know…'

She didn't want him to say more, to spoil what was between them with any words that might make her face up to the truth. Now lying in his arms, the full weight of his body pressed against hers, she could almost convince herself that he could love her, but if he spoke, if he said that word 'want' again when she wanted to hear him say 'love', it would burst her protective bubble, and that was something she didn't want. So in desperation she pressed her finger to his lips and then clasped her hands behind his neck drawing him down towards her, running her tongue softly over his lips, tracing the firm outline of them, until, suddenly, he muttered a husky protest, capturing her face with his hands and holding it still while his mouth moved hungrily over hers and the heated pressure of his thighs ignited a heat that spread swiftly through her body until it welcomed his shuddering thrust, rejoicing in the bittersweet mingling of pain and pleasure, knowing with some prescient knowledge that this time he was tempering his need so that she could share fully the pleasure of their entwined bodies. And then all thought was superseded as swiftly urgent pleasure contracted through her body and she was free-soaring into realms of delight she had never dreamed existed.

When she woke up she was alone; there was a dent in the pillow where Sebastian's head had lain, but no other traces of his presence. Jessica swung her legs out of the bed, surprised to discover how lethargic and weak she felt. She steadied herself as the room spun round, and faintness overwhelmed her. Just for a moment she wished Sebastian was there, to take her in his arms, and kiss her with the tenderness a man might reserve for the woman he had just made wholly his, if he loved her, but then she banished the thought. Perhaps last night would lead to other improvements in their marriage. Perhaps his desire for her might lead Sebastian to treat her with tenderness and affection.

She had forgotten that he had said he was going to Seville and was disappointed to get downstairs and find him gone. Jorge was at the breakfast table, trying to cheer up a tearful Lisa.

Jessica had started going with Tia Sofia when she discussed the day's menus and work plans with the staff. The hacienda was enormous, with so many valuable antiques and works of art that cleaning it had to be organised with almost military precision. Many of the staff had inherited their jobs from their mothers and fathers, and all were devoted to the family. Jessica had found that they treated her with respect and affection, and when she murmured to Sofia that she was sure she would never be able to cope as admirably as she did, the older woman had laughed.

'You will,' she had told her, 'and before very long as well. You have a natural flair with people.'

If she did, it didn't extend to include her husband, Jessica thought ruefully.

Lisa was so unhappy that Jessica spent a large part of the morning with her. Her part of the designing work was now almost complete until Sebastian came to a final decision. She had received a delighted letter from her aunt and uncle, full of exclamations and wishes that they had been able to attend her wedding.

'Isabel gets married in three months' time,' her aunt had written, 'and of course you must be there. She was going to ask you to be bridesmaid, but now it will have to be matron of honour. John's parents are holding the reception at their house— there's to be a marquee in the garden, and John's mother is a splendid organiser, so I won't have anything to worry about other than finding an outfit.' As she folded the letter Jessica sighed. Would Isabel be any happier than she was? She certainly hoped so.

In an effort to try and cheer Lisa up, she taught her to play Snap with an old pack of cards she had found, and although she played dutifully, her eyes kept straying to the door. How could Sebastian have been so cruel to her? Jessica fumed. His own child, even if he did refuse to acknowledge her. This cruel streak in a man who was so otherwise so strong was a weakness that caused her concern. His pride she could understand and even forgive, but his refusal to tell Lisa her true parentage was something that worried her.

'Will Tio Sebastian really send me away to a convent?' Lisa asked her at one point, her chin wobbling slightly.

'I'm sure he won't,' Jessica told her, trying to comfort her.

'But when you have babies, he won't want me,' Lisa appalled her by confiding. 'Pilar told me so.'

'Of course we'll still want you,' Jessica assured her, inwardly wondering how Pilar could be so deliberately malicious. 'What shall we do this afternoon?' she asked her, trying to redirect her thoughts. But Lisa refused to respond.

Jorge returned with the visitors from South America just after lunch. Senor Alvarez, Sebastian's godfather, turned out to be a genial, plump South American, who kissed both Jessica and Sofia enthusiastically, his eyes twinkling as he told Sofia that she didn't look a day older.

'Then you must need new glasses,' Sebastian's aunt told him practically, 'for it is over twenty years since we last met.'