Stand-In Bride's Seduction

She blinked and slowly peeled her fingers from the basin. He’d be waiting to use the bathroom by now. She forced herself to turn and pick up her clothes from the tiled floor and open the door.

In the bedroom Reynard sat quietly on the edge of the bed, a small, black leather toilet bag between his hands. He looked up as she entered.

“Are you sure you’re all right with this?” he asked.

“Of course I am,” Rina breezed, with what she hoped was the right amount of savoir faire.

“I won’t be long,” he replied, rising from the bed and heading for the bathroom. “I can sleep on the sofa if you’d rather.”

“As if you’d fit.” Rina forced a smile. “Don’t be silly. It’s fine, really.”

Rey gave a short nod and went through to the bathroom and closed the door. Rina scuttled under the crisp white sheets on the bed and inhaled the faint scent of lavender. Maybe he’d take his time. Maybe she’d even be asleep before he got into bed with her.

She lay facing the edge of the bed, closed her eyes and tried to let her head sink into the pillow, but every tense muscle in her body had other ideas and she felt as if she was rigidly surfing on top of the scented cotton. By the time she heard Reynard come back into the bedroom, switch off the bedside lamp and felt the mattress depress under the weight of his body, she could barely breathe again.

“This isn’t how I imagined we’d spend our first night together,” Reynard’s voice murmured from close behind her. Their first night together? It was true in more ways than he knew. Rina mumbled something indistinct in response. Beneath the sheets she could already feel the heat of his body only inches from hers. He shifted and she felt the weight of his arm over the top of the sheets and the thin bed cover as it draped across her body. The muscles in his arm bunched as he drew her up against his length. His bare chest seared through the thin cotton of her shirt and she felt his warm breath against the exposed skin of her shoulder.

“Sleep well,” he said softly. “And thank you. It’s good not to be alone with my fears tonight.”

Rina remained silent. Sleep well? It was ironic. The last thing she wanted right now was sleep. His body, curled around hers, felt so right, yet everything about this was so very wrong. She listened carefully, her eyes burning in the darkened room. Soon his breathing settled into a deeper rhythm. His body relaxed against hers.

In the distance she could hear the sea. It was as if each breath from Rey’s lungs matched the slow susurration of the waves as they caressed the coastline. Inch by slow inch she felt her body begin to relax, felt her own breathing slide into the gentle flow of the tide and the man behind her.

Rey knew the exact instant Sara accepted his presence behind her and slid into sleep. Her soft curves nestled against the planes of his body. It felt good to hold her, too good, he acknowledged as a certain part of his body showed no immediate signs of wanting to rest. He reminded himself why he was here—of the circumstances that had led to him being in Sara’s bed tonight. It was as effective as a bucket of ice in his lap.

The memory of Benedict in that hospital bed, tubes and pipes snaking out from his body to various machines and apparatus—the knowledge that without them he wouldn’t even be breathing on his own—was almost more than he could bear.

Rey’s arm tightened around Sara’s sleeping form and she instinctively snuggled closer against him, her neatly curved buttocks firm against his groin.

Dios, under any other circumstances he’d delight in waking her again. In losing himself, and the events of today, in the softness of her feminine curves. In spite of his plans to keep their relationship platonic to ease the sting when it ended, there was no denying that for the time being, they were engaged, even if it was mostly just for show. They were still a pair of normal healthy adults with normal healthy appetites.

But a del Castillo had more honor than that, he reminded himself. He’d been relieved at Sara’s old-fashioned attitudes—allowing no more than a few kisses, a little light petting—because they’d given him the comfort of knowing that when they went their separate ways, there would be no serious heartbreak or recriminations. Tonight, however, he’d needed to hold her in his arms, and the realization shocked him on a new level. He hadn’t expected to need her.