In Pursuit of His Wife(22)

       
           



       

She closed the menu, laid it aside on the desk and then turned, which  placed her in extremely close proximity to him. So close she could  barely catch her breath. "Actually, I would prefer to order for myself."

"My apologies. I've already forgotten one important lesson-let Sira make her own culinary decisions."

In light of the sexy gleam in his eye, she would forgive him this  slight slipup. "Apology accepted. And I would like the sampler that  includes several choices."

He frowned. "Are you certain you can handle that much food?"

"I can because I am suddenly starving."

Oddly, her appetite had increased over the past two days. In fact, the last time she had been this hungry...

That was not possible, not after only one time. Not so soon. She was  being silly. Optimism over resolving their issues was simply driving her  cravings. That had to be the case.

* * *

Seated at the small table on the hotel's veranda, Sebastian watched his  wife eat with total abandon and couldn't quite believe his eyes. "In  all our years together, I have never seen you entirely clean your  plate."

Nasira dabbed at her mouth with the napkin and set it aside. "It was very tasty."

"Apparently. Should I order you more?"

That earned him a frown. "I could not eat another bite. I believe the country air is making me very hungry."

"Sira, we're in the city."

"True." She shifted in the chair and studied the horizon. "I had no idea Dallas would be so metropolitan."

"Did you believe you'd find people riding around the city streets on horseback?"

"Of course not. However, I did see a horse-drawn carriage downstairs."

"Perhaps we should make use of one."

She brought her attention back to him. "It is rather late."

"Not too late to enjoy the sights."

"I thought you wanted to stay in."

Sebastian was so restless, he wasn't certain what he wanted, except to  be close to his wife. "It will be a nice diversion," he said as he  pushed back from the table and stood.

"All right." Nasira came to her feet and pointed at him. "No funny business."

Damn. "I only wish to have the honor of your company." And that was a colossal lie, though he vowed to respect her wishes.

By the time they reached the hotel lobby and walked out the revolving  doors, the sidewalks weren't as crowded as Sebastian had expected.  Fortunately he spotted a carriage stopped near the curb only a few  meters away. He approached the gentleman dressed in Western garb  positioned in the driver's seat. "Good evening, sir. Are you currently  for hire?"

The man stared down at him. "Actually, I was just about to head to the house."

Sebastian withdrew his wallet and offered the man two hundred-dollar bills. "Will this make it worth your while?"

The driver eyed the money for a moment. "My wife's got dinner waiting."

He pulled out another hundred. "Now you can buy your wife dinner."

"I s'pose I could take you a few blocks."

Greedy scoundrel. "I would think that amount would buy us a few kilometers."

Nasira elbowed him in the side. "Darling, the poor man wants to go home to his wife."

Her compassion had him looking like a pitiless cad. "Of course. My  apologies. I only want to show my brand-new bride a memorable evening."

The driver grabbed the reins and sneered. "Then let's get this show on  the road so you can get on with the honeymoon. Just don't get it on in  my carriage."

"For three hundred dollars, I should be allowed to prance naked in a  parade," Sebastian muttered as he helped Nasira up into the seat.

After they settled in, he draped an arm around her shoulder. "Was that jab to my ribs necessary?"

"Were your derisive comments necessary?"

"The reprobate seemed determined to stiff me."

"He clearly holds his wife above work. And what compelled you to claim we've recently married?"

His faults had been laid bare. "Well, in a way I feel as if we are  newlyweds. We've discovered quite a bit about each other over the past  few weeks."                       
       
           



       

She mulled that over for a moment. "It is odd to think that two people  who have spent so many years together would still have the capacity to  learn more about each other."

He had told her things he had never uttered to another soul. Details he  had planned to take to his grave. Yet he did feel less burdened knowing  she now understood why he did not want her risking carrying his child  after her previous miscarriage. "Let's promise that we'll continue this  unusual pattern in the upcoming weeks."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "A stellar plan."

As they rode through the streets of Dallas, serenaded by the clip-clop  of horse hooves, Sebastian tugged Nasira closer to him. Without a  blanket to conceal them, she was not in danger of any funny business, as  she had so aptly put it. That did little to quash his desire for her.  That did not stop him from rubbing her shoulder with one hand and  tracing slow circles on her thigh. She responded by making small sounds  that served to heighten his need for her, and drove him to kiss her  thoroughly. And she kissed him back with enough passion to make him want  to say to hell with propriety, pull her panties down and take right  there in front of the entire town...

The sound of applause forced them apart. There was a crowd gathered at  the corner where they had stopped for a traffic light. Sebastian did  what any good Brit would do-stood, executed a bow and gave them a royal  wave.

When he settled back in the seat, Nasira began to laugh and he followed  suit. Once they recovered, he leaned and nuzzled her neck. "You smell  like lavender. Is it a new perfume?"

"You gave it to me for my birthday."

Unfortunately that purchase had been made three months ago by Stella when he had forgotten. "Ah yes. Now I remember."

She swatted his arm. "You do not, but you are forgiven."

"For everything?"

"For now."

He refused to ruin the mood by asking her to elaborate. Instead, he  decided to put all his cards on the table at the risk of rejection.  "Would you mind if I take you back to the room and ravish you?"

"Not in the least."

That had been much too easy, in his opinion. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Should I perhaps define ravish?"

"I assume you mean you wish to remove my clothes, take me to bed and have your wicked way with me."

"Precisely."

"My answer is still yes."

Shifting against the building pressure in his groin, Sebastian tapped  the driver on the shoulder to garner his attention. "Kind sir, please  return us to the hotel as quickly as possible and you will earn a  sizeable tip."

The man glanced over his shoulder. "We've barely been three blocks."

Sebastian had no desire to argue the point. "Unless you want your bloody carriage serving as a boudoir, you will do as I say."

The jerk had the gall to grin. "You got it."

Sebastian settled back against the seat and smiled. "Let the faux honeymoon commence."

* * *

Nasira worried they might not make it past the elevator before clothes  began to come off. Her resolute husband somehow maintained enough  control to refrain from disrobing until they reached the suite. On the  way to the bedroom, they began shedding attire and shoes and by the time  they fell back on the mattress, they were entirely naked and completely  entangled.

Sebastian suddenly stilled and rose up. "I want to slow this down. I  want this to last and if we keep going, it will be over in a matter of  minutes."

She pushed a wayward lock of hair from his forehead. "You will receive no objections from me."

He rolled her onto her side so that she was facing the glass doors and moved against her back.

"Do you recall our first night?" he asked as he ran his palm over the curve of her hip.

"How could I forget? I was so very nervous, and you were so gentle."

"You were also a virgin, something you didn't tell me until right before that pivotal moment."

"I wanted to seem worldly. I did not want you to know I was so inexperienced."

"You also didn't want me to know you'd never had an orgasm. You told me  the morning after. I've always been curious why you had never pleasured  yourself."                       
       
           



       

"That would have been considered forbidden."

"And have you experimented since we've been married?"

"Never."

"Not even over the past few months?"