Page 39 of Out of Office Nights
A muscle twitched in his cheek as his gaze moved from the swimming pool to the dark expanse of the sea a hundred yards away.
‘Firstly, she mistakenly thought it would sway my father into changing his mind about his choice of bride. Then it was so she could shame him over what she deemed his promiscuity. Flaunt his misdeeds to the world just before he married someone else.’ He settled deeper into his seat, but the indolence he’d displayed all day was markedly missing.
The tension riding him was familiar now, similar to his tension that evening of the wedding. Notably reappearing over these last few days. Today.
And it led directly to his parents.
‘Why would she want to do that?’
A mask of bitterness etched his face in mesmerising marble. Even his eyes were pools of bleakness as he stared into the middle distance. Then rousing, he exhaled long and slow. ‘Because my father committed the crime of choosing another woman over her. He chose to marry the mother of his firstborn son. A choice she, who had birthed twins and nearly died in the process, therefore believing herself to be saint-adjacent, took great exception to.’
‘But… I read that he hadn’t planned to marry at all. That he was…’ She drifted to a stop, reminded by his comment about rumours.
He didn’t rebuke her this time. ‘Sí, he believed himself to be infertile from contracting an illness in his late teens. It turned out he was wrong.’ Again bitterness flashed hard. ‘For the sake of the throne and royal protocol he had to marry one of the mothers of his children.’ He twirled his glass without sipping. ‘But it didn’t matter to her what his initial plans were. She only cared that she wasn’t the one chosen. And in true melodramatic fashion, everyone had to suffer the consequences of her thwarted destiny.’
She sucked in a breath, knowing she was catching a glimpse of just what made his depths run so deep.
‘What did she—?’
He halted her with a wry head shake. ‘You’ve strutted well past your mile now, Sabeen. And I’d rather not spoil the meal with indigestion.’
She examined his set profile, the unbending steel in his eyes just as a memory shimmered across her senses: a video she’d seen of him giving a toast at one of his birthday parties. Something about mummy issues.
Pieces fell into place, but he’d shut the door on her curiosity, so she curbed her questions and ate the sublime food until she couldn’t eat another morsel.
And when a mobile phone rang nearby, she was almost relieved when he excused himself to take the call. She rose and padded to the edge of the pool, almost tempted to dip her feet in it to cool herself down.
Large swathes of today had been relatively uneventful. Yet somehow she’d kissed Teo again…and liked it.Had confirmed his past wasn’t as uncluttered with issues as his Playboy Prince persona indicated. And she’d uncovered a different sort of craving. The need to delve beneath his surface. Venture closer to the flame she now wasn’t so sure would decimate her.
Was she insane?
She bent her knee and dipped one foot in the pool. Then switching over, she started to dip the other.
‘You shouldn’t—’
‘Argh!’ The unladylike yelp at the sound of his deep voice, so close, triggered a sideways tumble and a loud splash before the water swallowed her whole. Chlorinated water went down the wrong way, sending her spluttering as she broke the surface. Only to be submerged again when Teo dropped into the water next to her.
Arms seized her, yanking her flailing body upright.
One hand dragged wet strands of hair off her face before he frowned down at her. ‘Madre de Dios, you could’ve hurt yourself.’
Planting her hand on his chest, she shoved him away. He remained immovable. ‘Whose fault would it have been? You sneaked up on me.’
Jaw clenched, his hands wrapping tighter around her, he kicked towards the edge. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Other than ruining a good meal with an unwanted nightcap of chlorinated water? Sure, I’m peachy.’
His eyes glinted. ‘Your fire,tesoro. It’s remarkable,’ he rasped.
Fire morphed from combative…to something else. No, not something else. A replay of what had happened in the art room. But more potent now.
He drew another wet strand off her cheek to tuck it behind her ear. His touch lingered on her earlobe, sending shivers dancing through her bloodstream, her breath strangling in her lungs. Under the terrace lights, she watched droplets of water trickle over his chiselled cheekbones, into the divot above his upper lip, down his strong jaw.
The craziest urge seized her. To lick one of those drops. Maybe more. Wash away the chlorinated embarrassment with the storm of his kiss.
When her gaze flicked up from staring so damn longingly at his mouth, he was waiting for her. Molten silver cut into her, exposing her cravings to the moonlight. And again…daringher.
A sound born from frustration, from this insane yearning she couldn’t excise from her soul rippled over the water, circled and returned stronger, probably because he’d also made a similar sound.
