Passionate Protection

'Going somewhere?' he asked sardonically.

'Er… my clothes, I…'

'You will find them in one of the cupboards.

The maids will have attended to it during the day.' He watched her lazily. 'Why so nervous? It cannot be the first time you have been in such a situation.'

'It's the first time I've been married, though,' Jessica managed tartly, almost instantly wishing she had been less aggressive when she saw the way his eyes darkened.

'Rafael has left us some chilled champagne. I shall go and pour some out, although I doubt that it will be consumed in the spirit he anticipates. He probably left it thinking that to drink it would help allay your maidenly qualms,' Sebastian explained succinctly when she glanced hesitantly at him.

At last he was gone, and Jessica searched feverishly through her clothes, finding clean underwear and a fresh dress. Luckily some of her clothes had arrived, and although there was nothing remotely bridal among them they brought a nostalgic touch of home.

The bathroom was luxuriously masculine; a deep dark red and cream, the bath enormous. After one brief glance at it, she opted for the shower, wishing fervently that the bathroom door had a lock, and then chiding herself for her lurid fears. She was behaving like a swooning Victorian heroine faced with her would-be ravisher. She loved Sebastian, she reminded herself.

But he didn't love her; and he didn't know that he would be her first lover.

The sting of the shower spray cooled her heated skin. Someone had placed her toiletries with Sebastian's and she used her perfumed shower gel to soap her body, enjoying the fragrance, but reminding herself that she mustn't linger. She was just about to turn on the water to wash off the soap when a deep voice murmured provocatively, 'You've missed a bit!'

Sebastian! She hadn't heard him enter the bathroom, and she turned quickly, reaching instinctively for a towel.

'Such modesty!' he mocked, twitching it away from her, 'and so unnecessary… mm?'

'Sebastian, please!' Her voice was curiously husky, a strange deep heat pervading her body, her head oddly light.

'There is no need to beg me, querida,' he drawled huskily, deliberately misunderstanding the nature of her plea. 'You are a very desirable woman, a little slender perhaps,' he mocked, and Jessica wondered if he was thinking of Pilar's lusher charms, 'but very tantalising for all that. I like your perfume,' he added softly, his finger moving along the ridge of her spine.

Panic clamoured inside her, her body tensing under the explorative caress, but Sebastian appeared not to notice. His fingers moved rhythmically over her skin, and as though he sensed that she was about to protest, he said softly, 'Like I said, you've missed a bit. What's the matter?' he asked, frowning as he sensed her tension.

'I… I'd like to get dressed,' she muttered huskily. 'As I said before, I'm hungry, and…"

'Like I said, so am I… I hope you're not getting any foolish ideas about reneging on our marriage. I want you, Jessica,' he told her coolly, 'and I want you now… Perhaps you're right,' he added softly, 'and now is not the time to play games in the shower. Later—er—when we have more leisure for playing. Right now, all I want is the scented warmth of your body in my arms, your heart beating against mine…'

'No!'

Jessica managed a husky protest, but it was lost, smothered as he lifted her out of the shower, careless of the dampness of her naked body against his clothes, carrying her effortlessly into the bedroom and depositing her on the bed.

'Beautiful,' he murmured with pleasure as his fingers drifted exploratively across her skin. 'So soft and pale.'

Jessica looked imploringly at the lamps revealing her body in its most intimate detail.

'You want us to make love in the darkness?' Strangely the idea seemed to displease him. 'Why?' he demanded. 'So that you can pretend I am someone else? Oh no, querida,' he told her tightly, 'I want you to know who it is who possesses you, and besides, your body is so beautiful I want to enjoy it with my eyes as well as my hands and lips. Just as I want you to enjoy mine,' he added seductively. 'A pity you had decided to shower before I could join you. I would have enjoyed undressing you.'

'I'm a woman, not a doll!' Jessica, protested fiercely, terrified by the images his words were conjuring, the pulsating sensations radiating to every part of his body.

'Tonight you are my wife, and no matter what has gone before, it shall be as it has been with no other man, so that by morning you will remember only the touch of my hands, my body…'

And Jessica remembered the Moorish blood in his veins, the blatant sensuality that would be part of his legacy from that blood, and every muscle in her body constricted in terrified dread. He expected her to be a sexually experienced woman, instead of which…

She shivered, and he frowned, moving away from the bed, and returning with a glass of frothing liquid.

'Drink this,' he commanded. 'You are cold.'

The champagne bubbled in her throat, tickling her nose. She coughed, spilling some and feeling it splash down on her skin.

'Dios, but I want you,' Sebastian murmured throatily, then he bent his head, his tongue touching the spot where the champagne had fallen in the valley between her breasts. Tension coiled through her, a cramping sensation stirring in her stomach, weakness invading her muscles as his fingers gripped her hips and his mouth continued its subtle exploration of her breasts, first one and then the other—light, delicate caresses, the mere brush of his lips against her skin, tormenting her with the ache of unappeasement they left.

Her fear was forgotten. All she wanted was right here within reach. She groaned a half protest as Sebastian's lips continued their teasing assault, her fingers locking into his hair as she tried to, silently co