A frisson of apprehension coupled with excitement, scythed through her.
Husband. Alexandre was her husband now!
“Do you need help with the dress?”
She jumped as her heart leapt into her throat. Quickly, she swiped at her face, brushing away the evidence of tears. “I can get one of the girls to help me,” she replied, not prepared to feel her husband’s touch on her body—at least not yet.
“Everyone left,” he informed her rather cheerfully as he stepped into the room, and she ripened with anticipation. He came to stand behind her, settling his hands proprietorially on her hips. “What are you doing in this room? Your place is with me—in my bedroom.”
His scent—strong and musky—permeated her senses, flooding her mind with lascivious thoughts. She wanted to turn around and bury her nose in his throat, inhale the musk of his skin and fill her nostrils with his scent. Her mouth yearned for a taste of his flesh and her fingers itched to touch every inch of him.
Did he feel the same heat in his belly like she did?
Her breath strangled in her throat when he lowered his head. She waited for a kiss on her nape but was disappointed when he simply began to unbutton her dress. Her heart thundered and sweat gathered between her breasts as he patiently undid each button. As her dress loosened, she clasped a hand against her breast to keep the dress from sliding down to the floor, baring her completely to his gaze.
She only had lace panties under the dress which, to her embarrassment, her husband noticed too, because his sharp intake of breath filled her ear. Hot fingers grazed the line of her spine and she failed to stifle a moan as she arched under his touch. Liquid heat pooled in her femininity as lust tightened in her belly. Hot breath fanned her nape as he continued to tease her flesh, his fingers leaving a trail of fire as he caressed her.
“Raquel...”
Suddenly, she pulled away from his touch. She couldn’t succumb to his practiced seduction—not now when she was highly emotional and not thinking straight.
“I... I’m tired. I think I’ll lie down for a bit.”
A dark expression flashed across his face and Raquel steeled herself for his admonition, but he surprised her when he said wryly, “Not married a day, and already denied my rights as a husband.”
“I...” Confounded, she shook her head.
“Very well, then.” He turned around, but as he was about to leave, he looked at her over his shoulder. “Rest well. We have a long night ahead of us tonight.”
****
It was dusk when sheopened her eyes. Frowning, she sat up when she didn’t see the familiar silhouette of palm trees outside the window. One look at the furniture in the room, and she knew instantly this wasn’t the room she had used since coming to Alexandre’s house.
This was a bigger room, with a larger bed, and two walls completely made of glass. Was that the sea outside?
Getting up, she walked over to the glass wall, and looked out, gasping when she found the sea shimmering in the waning light of the day. This was the master bedroom, she realized with a start. Surely, it belonged to the master of the house! But how had she ended up here?
“Like the view?”
She spun around and stared at Alexandre, her near-naked husband who watched her indolently from across the room. He’d freshly showered, that much was obvious from the water beading on his chest and the loosely knotted towel at his waist.
Her breasts swelled and pebbled beneath the flimsy nightie she wore, and saliva pooled in her mouth as her hungry eyes raked over his ripped body. Heat pooled low in her belly as lust blasted through her. She wanted him, and from the way his dark eyes gleamed, he knew it, too. But Raquel quickly snuffed the voracious hunger that reared its head. She couldn’t lose her head and make love with Alexandre—not when she was a terrible mix of puzzling emotions.
“How did I get here?” she asked, choosing not to respond to his question.
“I carried you,” he drawled, pushing away from the bathroom door. Sauntering across the room, he came to stand in front of her causing her to shrink back against the cold glass wall, the contact shocking her, festooning her skin with goosebumps.
His eyes fell to her breasts, heavy and pointed under the satin nightie which she had deemed as modest when she’d slipped it on. But the satin felt decadent against her heated skin as her body burgeoned under Alexandre’s heated gaze.
“You look beautiful.” The crack in his voice revealed the real state of his emotions as an unsteady hand lifted to cup one breast. Raquel gasped as her thighs trembled and moisture gushed from her core. He flicked the beaded tip with one finger, sending a hot rush of need coursing through her, tearing a moan out of her.
Dear God, the man was a sorcerer, knowing very well how to bend her to his will. And Raquel feared she had no defenses when it came to him. Was this what he’d meant when he mentioned earlier about having a long night ahead of them? Did he plan on making love to her the entire night?
One hand slammed on the cold glass wall next to her head as he leaned down and buried his face in the crook of her neck. Nerves across her body short-circuited as he rubbed his nose against her neck and her core clenched hungrily, making her shiver against his rock-hard body.
“God, the things I want to do to you!” His guttural confession unraveled her, and Raquel found herself leaning forward to brush her body against his. “I want to...” he whispered against her throat—things he desired to do to her, with her. Sexy, dirty things that turned her face beet red and had her toes curling with shameless delight. “You will love it all, I know,” he muttered, his tongue coming out to lick her skin.
Her hands clasped on his naked flesh, his towel slipping past his hips, but Alexandre was beyond caring. His hot length poked into her belly, and she mewled as she rubbed herself against his eager member.