And then, shockingly, his mouth was where his fingers had been, the eroticism of his touch sending tiny shivers of pleasure coursing through her body. Mindlessly Jessica allowed him to mould her body to his, her head falling back helplessly against his arm, his eyes darkening to obsidian as the neckline of her robe dipped, revealing the pale curves of her breasts.
'Like marble,' he murmured huskily, trailing his fingers seductively along the hollow between her breasts, ignoring her stifled gasp of shock, 'but unlike marble, your skin feels warm to my touch.' His fingers tightened ruthlessly on her hair, his voice hardening as he demanded savagely, 'Tell me now that someone walking in here would not immediately think that we were lovers!'
She shivered bitterly with reaction, hating herself for the way she had yielded so completely to his superior strength, hating her body's purely female response to his masculinity.
His sardonic, 'Perhaps you need further convincing,' made her stomach muscles coil tensely, her body stiffening as he grasped her chin, tilting it so that there was no way she could avoid the hard punishment of his lips, and yet even knowing that he was punishing her, something elemental and fierce sprang to life inside her the moment his mouth touched hers. Her robe was pushed aside, tanned fingers cupping the soft swell of one breast. Jessica shuddered uncontrollably and pushed frantically away, and by some miracle Sebastian released her, surveying her flushed cheeks and furious eyes with cynical amusement.
'What is wrong?' he drawled. 'Surely I took no liberties that have not been permitted to countless others?'
The truth of the matter was
that he had; but Jessica wasn't going to admit as much.
'As you've pointed out,' she responded icily, 'they were permitted them, you weren't.' Not even for Colin's sake could she agree to work with him now; she would never know a moment's peace, never be able to relax…
'I'm not going to work for you,' she told him quickly, huddling into the protection of her robe, and avoiding his eyes. 'I…'
'You are trying to tell me you won't work for me because of that?' He was openly incredulous and disbelieving. 'You are behaving like an affronted virgin; quite unnecessary, you cannot imagine you stand in any danger of receiving unwanted advances from me? If I haven't already made it clear, perhaps it's time I did,' he told her with deadly silky venom. 'I am not interested in other men's leavings—whether it is one man or a hundred. You are as safe with me as you would be locked up in a convent. Don't mistake a timely warning for any desire for you, and that was all that was—a warning. You will come with me,' he added softly, 'I promise you that. Be ready—I shall pick you up tomorrow morning at nine.'
If she had any pride, she would be on a plane back home right now, not sitting staring at her suitcases and wondering if she was doing the right thing, Jessica decided as she glanced round the impersonal hotel bedroom. A glance at her watch showed that it was half past eight. Colin had already left for the airport, full of praise and gratitude—they had talked all evening, and she had tried on several occasions to tell him that there was simply no way she could work for Sebastian de Calvadores, but every time her nerve failed her.
A knock on her door startled her. The porter entered and picked up her cases. Nervous dread fluttering through her stomach, Jessica followed him to the lift.
To try and calm herself a little she ordered herself a cup of coffee, but when it came she felt totally unable to drink it. She hadn't had any breakfast either. Why, oh, why hadn't she left Spain with Colin? He would have understood if she had explained. But she hadn't been able to disappoint him, to know that she was destroying everything he had come to Spain to achieve. She was a coward, she berated herself. She should have told him, and if she had, she wouldn't be here now, waiting… her heart leapt into her throat as she saw the familiar tall figure striding towards her.
'Come!'
It was the first time she had seen him wearing anything other than a formal suit; the dark, narrow-fitting pants clinging to the taut muscles of his thighs, the thin silk shirt hinting at the shadow of hair across his chest. Her stomach muscles tensed protestingly, and she was vividly reminded of how she had felt when he touched her. A fine linen jacket emphasised the breadth of his shoulders, and Jessica suddenly felt acutely nervous. What did she know of this man, apart from the fact that he had an almost obsessive pride in the good name of his family? Nothing!
'You may cease looking at me as though I had suddenly grown two heads. I assure you, you are quite safe,' he told her urbanely. 'Just as long as you behave yourself.'
'And if I don't, you'll do what?' Jessica demanded huskily. 'Punish me as you did yesterday, by forcing yourself on me?'
'Be careful, Senorita James,' he warned her softly. 'You challenge me so recklessly that I wonder if you find the "punishment" as unpalatable as you claim. You have a saying, do you not, "Any port in a storm", but I will not be the port for your frustrated desires, no matter how much you goad me.'
Jessica stared at him fulminatingly. Did he dare to suggest that she actually wanted him to touch her? To…
'You're quite wrong,' she told him bitterly. 'I would rather endure the worst tempest that can rage than seek a haven in your arms!'
Just for a moment she thought she had disconcerted him. There was a brief flash of surprise in his eyes, but then it was gone, and he was ushering her through the foyer to the main entrance of the hotel. Outside, he guided her towards a gleaming Mercedes, while a porter brought out her luggage.
Jessica glanced at the car and shivered slightly. Once she was inside it there would be no going back, no chance to change her mind. She hesitated, torn between a longing to escape no matter what the cost, and a feeling that she owed it to Colin to stay.
'Do not do it,' a dulcet voice murmured in her ear. 'Where would you run to? Come,' Sebastian added, 'get in the car, and stop regarding me as though I were a convicted felon. I assure you I am quite harmless when I am treated with respect.'
Blindly Jessica groped for the rear door handle, but to her surprise, he opened the front passenger door.
'What's the matter?' she asked him bitterly as she climbed in. 'Surely you aren't afraid I'll try and escape?'
'We are supposed to be lovers,' he told her succinctly. 'That being the case, you would not sit alone in the rear of the car.'
'Certainly not,' Jessica agreed sarcastically. 'That, from what I recall of Spanish life, is a privilege accorded only to wives!'
They drove for several kilometres in silence, Jessica's nerves tensing every time Sebastian glanced at her. He was a fast but careful driver. She looked surreptitiously at him, flushing when she discovered that he was watching her.
'I have already told you,' he said harshly, 'you have nothing of a sexual nature to fear from me.'
'I don't,' Jessica told him, surprised by the anger in his eyes and the rigid line of his mouth.