Page 21 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

She was giving in to her body and so was he to his, because he began to thrust faster and faster, and her small sobs turned to moans of treacle-thick desire.

‘Yes!’ she said again, but to what she didn’t know.

His breathing was ragged, in time with their movements, and then he thrust one final time—hard and fast—and stilled. His shout was the most welcome sound. It was as if her body recognised it...as if her energy raced to meet his, hurtled towards an intimate centre where she was locked with him, pulsing around him, so that they were released together.

‘Dios...’he said, as if he were dizzy.

For a moment perhaps he was dizzy, because he did not want to pull out. He wanted to rock them slowly back to a second pleasure. But he was too careful for that and instead slowly withdrew.

‘You okay?’ he asked as they lay in the soft glow of twinkling lights and he pulled her against him.

‘Very.’ Anna nodded. ‘Though I don’t want anyone—’

‘Anna,’ he interrupted. ‘I don’t discuss my life with anyone.’

Not withanyone.

And yet he was aware that he had spoken rather too freely with her already.

This had been an impossible day, made better by Anna. It was rare that he dropped his guard, and he never dropped it as much as he had with the intoxicating woman in his arms. He had told her more about his family than he usually would. More about himself.

Sebastián knew he needed to halt this now.

‘Anna...’

He stopped, because he didn’t know what he was going to say. She didn’t answer anyway, and he realised she was asleep.

He started to remove his arm, because he did not do the ‘lying together afterwards’ thing—he could not, would not, allow himself to do that. And yet he left his arm there, and thought he would close his eyes just for a moment...

It was a couple of hours later when he finally removed his arm, then climbed out of bed and headed to the shower, knowing he had got too close, knowing she had affected him too much...

But why?

Anna woke—but only because the real world was waking too.

She heard the buzz of her phone and saw there were several missed calls from Willow.

‘Darling,’ she said. ‘How are you this morning?’

‘We’re going to church,’ Willow said. ‘Fortwoservices.’

‘Ooh!’ Anna smiled, remembering it well. ‘Well, I’m going for breakfast and then heading to the airport. I’ll be in the air and on my way back to you by the time you’re leaving church.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes.’

They chatted about the wedding for a bit longer, and then she heard her mother calling for Willow.

‘I’ll be home before you know it,’ Anna said, and then listened to another minute of excited chatter before Willow said she had to go. ‘I love you, my darling,’ Anna said.

Unfortunately it was just as Sebastián came out of the shower, and she saw a look flash across his face.

‘Sebastián...’ She ran a hand through her hair. ‘That’s not... That wasn’t—’

‘It’s fine.’ He shrugged. ‘You don’t have to explain. We both know it’s one night...’

‘No!’ She didn’t want to leave things like that. ‘That was my daughter—Willow.’

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