Free Society Weddings by Sharon Kendrick, Kate Walker Page B

his face was hard and impenetrable, with a certain edge to it, and there was nothing of the appearance of the eager groom about him.
    Her hand flew to her heart, feeling its wild fluttering as he continued to walk towards the bed. ‘Rashid,’ she said breathlessly, ‘you are up very early.’
    He made a small murmur of dissent. ‘It is almost ten, Jenna—and soon the sun will be high in the sky. We must make haste for the lodge before that happens.’
    She had to know. She had to. ‘Where did you…where did you—?’
    ‘Sleep?’ he interrupted, his dark eyes flashing with cruel humour. ‘Why, I slept on the divan beneath the window, Jenna—for fear of disturbing your sleep.’
    Beneath the silk coverlet her body trembled, her other hand moving towards her breasts. She was still wearing her fancybridal underwear, she realised, her cheeks growing pink. She must have fallen asleep without remembering to take it off.
    And Rashid had not removed it either—in fact he had not wanted even to share a bed with her. What she had been half-dreading and half-longing for had failed to materialise, and yet the fact gave her not one moment of pleasure. Better that he should have ravished her than treat her this morning with such insulting indifference!
    She forced herself to meet the mocking black light of his eyes. ‘There was room for two, Rashid,’ she said quietly. ‘You didn’t have to sleep over there and be uncomfortable all night.’
    ‘On the contrary,’ he responded coolly. ‘It was not in the least bit uncomfortable.’ He hadn’t achieved much sleep, all the same—but he suspected that it was more than he would have gained if he had subjected himself to the torture of lying beside her sleeping body without touching her.
    ‘Oh. Well, I’m glad you had a good night’s sleep,’ she said, rather woodenly.
    He allowed the faint drift of a smile to glimmer at the corners of his mouth. ‘That wasn’t what I said at all,’ he offered obliquely. ‘But you certainly did, didn’t you?’
    She nodded. ‘Yes. I was very tired.’
    Or just eager to lose herself in the safety net of sleep? His mouth tightened. ‘Now get dressed, Jenna, and we will leave as soon as you are ready.’
    She waited until he had left the room and then distractedly showered and put on silk trousers and a slim-fitting matching tunic, which were more suited to travelling along the bumpy roads to the lodge than one of the more formal and elaborate outfits which comprised her trousseau.
    When she went downstairs to where he was breakfasting a sudden dark gleam of approval softened the hard eyes and he motioned for her to come and sit beside him.
    He poured her coffee and handed her a dish of fruit, and his hand suddenly reached out to trace the skin beneath her eyes.
    ‘All those dark shadows gone,’ he observed quietly.
    ‘Yes.’ The shadows beneath her eyes were only being replaced by the shadows in her heart. But the tender gesture disarmed her, and Jenna found herself smiling in response before tucking into the exotic fruits with something approaching her normal appetite.
    He refilled her coffee cup and she found herself relaxing. Yet his consideration and his restraint both charmed and alarmed her. This Rashid was more like the Rashid of old, she thought—and that was dangerous. For he was not the same man at all. The Rashid she had loved had been the ideal fantasy man of her dreams. The perfect man and the perfect lover—forsaking all others and loyal only to her.
    But the true man had been as much of an illusion as her own hard-fought-for independence. And if a man like Rashid had known many pleasures of the flesh—then how long before he was tempted into tasting them again?
    Especially a man who had not even spent his wedding night in the same bed as his wife…
    She pushed her cup away and looked up to find him watching her.
    ‘Shall we leave immediately?’ he questioned softly.
    Jenna nodded. ‘As you wish.’
    Outside