Free Surrender to Her Spanish Husband by Maggie Cox Page B

have to have a bath. In fact I insist. Just leave me alone for a while, would you? I’m quite capable of sorting it out for myself.’
    But he’d already stalked into the bathroom and turned on the taps. Stepping back into the bedroom, he dropped his hands to his hips, grinning with a distinct air of amused defiance at her disbelieving look. ‘Which bubble bath shall I pour in? You have several.’
    ‘I—I…’ Flustered, she bit heavily down on her lip again. It might appear ridiculous to Rodrigo to quibble about such an innocuous thing, but somehow pouring in her bath fragrance seemed like the ultimate in intimate acts when she was already feeling disconcertingly fragile. ‘I’ll do that.’
    Moving into the already steam-filled bathroom on legs that felt like cotton-wool, Jenny shouldn’t have been a bit surprised to find Rodrigo right behind her, but she was.
    ‘This is no time to be petulant,’ he told her, sternvoiced. He stepped in front of her, his black eyes roving her face as if he would know the secrets of her very soul. ‘Which fragrance shall I use? If you won’t tell me then I will put in the rose…especially since you reminded me of one from the moment I saw you in the reception area of the Savoy Hotel.’
    Stoically resisting a huge urge to cry, Jenny scanned the array of prettily shaped bottles on the shelf above the bath and sniffed. ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.’
    Rodrigo took hold of her elbows and impelled her towards him, so that she had no choice but to make him the sole focus of her attention. ‘You didn’t always throw my compliments back in my face, Jenny…No,’ he added lazily, ‘sometimes they could make you blush, and other times make you extremely affectionate as I recall.’
    Now, as heat cascaded through her like a rampaging river, Jenny’s legs really did feel as if they might not hold her up for very much longer. There was a heaviness and a heat between her thighs she couldn’t deny.
    ‘That was when I trusted and loved you,’ she burst out irritably, pulling free of Rodrigo’s loose hold on her—suddenly terrified of the need that made her want to surrender to his arms and give him everything. ‘And I don’t any more. Now I’m much more careful about who I give my affection to.’
    ‘Is that your way of telling me you’ve found someone else?’
    ‘Are you joking?’ she answered scathingly. ‘After the way my brother behaved as well, I don’t think I’ll ever trust another man again.’
    ‘Not now, perhaps…But when enough time has passed you might learn that not all men are so despicable.’ Tenderly Rodrigo smoothed back her hair, standing his ground as Jenny’s body stiffened with tension
    ‘If I ever make the mistake of trusting a man again, then I deserve everything I get!’
    ‘Yet you did trust me again.’ His tone was gentle but firm. ‘You trusted me to take care of you while you were ill.’
    ‘I didn’t have much choice, did I?’
    ‘Do you want to vent your anger at me Jenny? Is that it?’
    ‘All I want is my bath,’ she said weakly. Frighteningly, she sensed that the full flood of grief and pain over what had happened between them hovered dangerously close now that she’d opened the lid on it again. It must be because she was sick she reasoned. Usually she managed to contain her hurt and rage much better.
    ‘Then that’s exactly what you shall have.’ Reaching up to the shelf for the crystal bottle labelled ‘English Rose,’ Rodrigo gave her an unperturbed smile. After liberally applying it to the splashing hot water, he returned the bottle to the shelf. ‘I’ll leave you to get into the tub by yourself, but if you need me I’ll be just outside the door,’ he told her.
    ‘Thanks,’ she murmured. And as soon as the closed door was a barrier between them she dropped down onto the loo seat and allowed herself to listen to the sound of her heart breaking again…
    That was when I trusted and loved