She sighed heavily as she remembered the time in her life she would much rather forget. ‘A few weeks before the wedding I went to his flat—it was a surprise visit, and I was going to tell him that I loved him too much to wait any longer. I knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and I wanted us to become lovers. Instead, the surprise was on me,’ she said bitterly. ‘I had my own key and I let myself in—to find him in bed with his housekeeper.’
‘And so you broke off your engagement?’ Javier queried.
‘Of course I did. I believe marriage should be a lifelong commitment, as my parents’ marriage was.’ She thought of the vows she had made to Javier earlier in the day and bit her lip. ‘I thought that the love I shared with Richard would last for ever, but it was all a sham, just like our marriage is a sham. Richard only wanted to marry me because my pathetic infatuation with him boosted his ego. I must have been the answer to his prayers, so stupidly in love with him with him that I never questioned the times he had to work late or suddenly disappeared for several days on a business conference.’
She took a deep breath and stared at Javier, her heart in her eyes. ‘Despite all the pain Richard caused me, I still believe in love—the kind of deep, enduring love that my parents shared. One day I hope I’ll meet a man who I will love for ever and who will love me, and he’s the man I want to honour with my body.’
Javier stared back at her, his amber eyes glittering with frustration. ‘Dios!’ He spat savagely as he suddenly rolled off the bed and dragged on his underwear. ‘It’s just my luck to find myself saddled with a wife who has the tongue of a viper, the face and body of a siren and the innocence of a vestal virgin.’ He flung the pink nightdress at her, his temper sizzling. ‘You’d better put this on before I come back.’
‘Where are you going?’ Grace mumbled as she clutched the negligee to her breasts.
‘To take a long, cold shower.’
‘I’ll sleep in my old room,’ she said quickly. ‘If you could just unlock your bedroom door.’
‘This is our bedroom, and from now on we will both sleep in it,’ Javier snapped imperiously. ‘I told you, I don’t want anyone, even the staff, to suspect that our marriage is anything other than a love match.’
‘But I can’t stay here. I’ll never get to sleep.’
‘Well I suggest you try very hard, querida, because if you’re still awake when I climb in next to you I can’t promise to spare you from my primitive male urges that you say you find so offensive.’ And with that he strode into the bathroom and slammed the door with such force that it groaned on its hinges.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GRACE stirred sleepily and rolled over in bed, her eyelids flying open when a familiar voice catapulted her into wakefulness.
‘You’re finally awake. I’ve never known a woman sleep as deeply as you,’ Javier greeted her dourly.
‘It’s because I have a clear conscience,’ she told him sweetly, feeling her pulse rate accelerate as she absorbed the sight of him, lean and dark and toe-curlingly sexy in black jeans and a matching fine-knit jumper. ‘I take it you didn’t enjoy such a restful night?’
‘True, but it was not my conscience, or lack of it, that prevented me from sleeping, querida,’ he said silkily as he strolled over to the bed. ‘My disturbed night had more to do with your delectable body curled so temptingly against mine, which fuelled my fantasies.’
‘I did not curl up against you,’ Grace protested, unable to meet his mocking gaze. Having stated that she wouldn’t sleep a wink, she was startled to realise that she didn’t remember a thing about the previous night, other than feeling warm and relaxed and strangely secure in Javier’s huge bed. She hadn’t really spent the night snuggled up to him, had she? She glanced at him warily, her suspicions aroused by his bland expression. ‘Is it too much to hope that you were a gentleman?’
‘I behaved impeccably,’ he assured her with a grin. ‘Trust me, you would remember if I had given in to the urge to explore your tantalising curves that your nightgown does little to hide.’
Before she could move, he leaned over her and took her mouth in a brief, hard kiss that left her lips tingling and wanting more. Her cheeks grew pink when he straightened and glanced down at her, his eyes focused on her dusky pink nipples clearly visible beneath the sheer lace of her negligee. ‘When I make love to you, you will be wide awake and fully aware of the numerous ways I pleasure you, querida.’