brushed his lips over every part of her too. He inhaled the scent of her skin so deeply that it became a part of him. He kissed her breasts and felt their weight in his hands. He ran his fingers over her belly, a distant part of him awed at what lay inside it but only a distant part because this moment was not about their child, this moment was for her, for him, for them.
When he inhaled the musky heat between her legs, he almost lost himself entirely.
How had he blocked it out so well before and for so long?
It was a scent he would remember for the rest of his life.
If he could love any woman it would be this one, he thought dimly, pressing a kiss to her hip before pushing himself back up to stare into the pale blue eyes once more.
Sophie gazed into the eyes staring at her with such hunger and felt every part of her expand and contract.
She pressed a hand to his face. He rubbed his cheek against it and kissed her palm. And then he kissed her mouth with such possessiveness that her heart bloomed.
Every part of her bloomed.
Her skin was alive from the flames of his touch, everything heated, scorched, her veins lava...and that was lava reflecting back at her in the depth of his stare and she realised that for the first time she was staring right into the heart of this man she loved so much.
The sense of detachment that had always been there...gone.
This was Javier as she had dreamed, touching her and making love to her as if she were the most revered thing in his life, holding her so close their skin could become one and their hearts unite.
His eyes stayed open, boring into her when he entered and...
Oh, the sensation that erupted within her...
This was everything. Everything.
Javier had no recall of entering her; found himself buried deep inside Sophie with her arms locked around him and his hands resting against her cheeks.
The expression reflecting back at him as he made love to her, the wonder, the tenderness...
The void he’d fought against for so long welcomed him into its depths.
He submitted to it.
* * *
Javier woke with a start, opening his eyes to the darkness.
Sophie was draped over him, the delicious weight of her thigh hooked over his, her arm locked around his waist.
His heart pounded, his guts felt as if he’d been punched and for a moment it was as if he’d forgotten how to breathe.
What the hell had he done?
He’d lost all control of himself.
With Sophie.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and fought to inhale.
His movement must have disturbed her for she shifted, pressing herself closer to him; as if it was even possible for her to get any closer.
She could. She did.
He didn’t know if she was fully awake when her lips brushed against his neck and she rolled on top of him, her cheek pressed to his, her silky hair falling softly onto his face, or if she was in the midst of a dream.
It felt as if he were in a dream of his own when she sank onto his hardness, a dream that had him holding her tightly, possessively, while deep in the back of his mind came the thought that if anything happened to this woman he would want to die.
* * *
Sophie stretched a leg out and smiled before she’d even opened her eyes.
This was the start of a new day that would mark the beginning of her new life.
This was the day that marked the true start of her marriage.
The breakthrough she had so longed for had finally been reached. Javier had opened himself up to her and then he had made love to her. Truly made love to her, with his heart and his mind as well as his body.
She still wasn’t foolish enough to believe it would be plain sailing from here on in, but what they had found together under these sheets and the connection that embraced them tightly together...
She opened her eyes and her heart sank as if it had a weight attached to it to find the empty space between them.
Javier had moved to the edge of the bed, his back to her.
It wasn’t his mesmerising face she was greeted with after the best night of her life but his cold shoulder.
She blew a puff of air out and told herself to put a curb on her imagination.
He’d rolled over? He’d probably been uncomfortable. He probably hadn’t even done it consciously.
But that was a huge distance. To reach him she would have to stretch a hand out...
Before she had the chance to do so, he suddenly pushed the sheets off and climbed out of bed.
He strolled to the bathroom and shut the door without looking at her.
Disturbed but telling herself she was being silly, trying her hardest not to make a big deal out of something she didn’t even know what, Sophie hurried to the dressing room and threw on an oversized T-shirt and a pair of leggings.
She needed to act normal.
Before she could leave the bedroom, he appeared from the bathroom, a towel around his waist.
‘Good morning,’ she said brightly.
She was answered with a grunt.
‘I’m going to check on Frodo. Do you want a coffee?’
‘I’ll get one when I come down.’
‘Okay... Is everything all right?’
He cast her a quick glance. ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’
She shrugged, not knowing how to answer, and backed out of the room.
Frodo was asleep at the bottom of the stairs. He woke up at her footsteps and wagged his tail excitedly to see her.
At least someone was happy to see her, she thought unhappily, scooping him up.
Javier was being...well, he was being exactly how he always was first thing in the morning: moody and distant.
He wasn’t a morning person.
She’d try to add an extra sugar to his coffee to sweeten him up, she decided, brushing away the anxiety now gnawing in her belly.
She found Marsela laying out the breakfast stuff in the dining room and thanked her for looking after Frodo. ‘I’ll sort
