Читать книгу The Dreaming Of... Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 43

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

REYES WATCHED HER eyes widen in shock, before a flush of awareness reddened her cheeks. She glanced at the drink, then back to him.

‘No, she didn’t!’ Her voice had grown huskier. She blinked slowly as she passed her tongue over her plump lower lip.

Dios, had she even noticed the effects taking hold of her?

She’d been languidly caressing the lip of her glass for the last several minutes. And her nipples were hard and clearly outlined beneath her dress.

Reyes swallowed. ‘I think you’ve had enough,’ he rasped. He took the half-empty glass and handed it to the hovering waiter. Picking up two glasses of water, he thrust one into her hand.

‘Umm...thanks.’

He nodded tersely.

Walking onto the terrace, he’d been hit between the eyes again by her stunning beauty. So much so, he’d stood frozen while her conversation with Isabella had unravelled.

It wasn’t until his sister’s utterance that he’d shaken off the red haze of lust that seemed to enclose him when he was around Jasmine.

Watching her now, he recalled what she’d said to him before they’d landed in Santo Sierra.

And the resulting tailspin his emotions had been flung in. Once he’d been able to draw breath, he’d tried to analyse his reaction. Yes, the knowledge of Jasmine’s pregnancy had been the catalyst that had driven everything forward. But he could just as easily have maintained the initial date of his wedding. He was a modern enough man to admit the distance between his wedding day and his heir’s birthday didn’t bother him. And he was sure it didn’t bother Jasmine.

So why had he been intent on rushing her to the altar?

He’d tried and failed to convince himself it was because of his need to make his people happy. A week’s difference wouldn’t have mattered. Neither did it matter that Jasmine’s past would be an issue once it became public knowledge. Unlike his mother’s behaviour, Jasmine’s reasons for her unfortunate past were a result of trying to survive her horrific circumstances. He was sure his people would forgive once they knew.

Just as he’d forgiven her? Just as he suspected his reasons for marrying were more selfish than he wanted to admit to himself?

Reyes thrust his balled fists into his pocket, willed the confusing emotions away, but they returned stronger. More demanding.

He didn’t do feelings. Hadn’t let any in, except maybe for his father, since he’d thrown Anaïs out of his life, and then stood at his mother’s graveside mere months later.

But Jasmine was making him feel. Making him want...no, need. As for the thought that his child was growing in her belly...it pounded him with terrifyingly powerful emotions every time it blazed across his mind.

Would the mistakes that he’d made with his own father affect his child? Was failure emblazoned in his blood for ever?

More and more he’d found himself wanting to take Jasmine’s example. She had found a way out of the barren wasteland of not having anyone to lean on, anyone to trust. But she’d let herself trust, allowed her faith in the goodness of humanity to be restored. Despite the harrowing experience of juvenile detention and a mother who clearly wasn’t equipped for the job, she’d found herself back on a road Reyes himself was struggling to find.

He couldn’t deny it. She compelled him to be a better man. Would raising their child together make him a better father, too?

Swallowing his blind panic, he glanced at her.

Her eyes were on him, her fingers curled around the glass. ‘I feel funny.’

Unaccustomed laughter rumbled out of his chest. ‘You need fresh air. Dinner won’t be for another hour. Come, I’ll show you the grounds.’

She peered down at her feet. ‘I don’t think these shoes will go well with walking the grounds. They’re already pinching something fierce.’

‘You won’t need to walk further than the bottom of these steps.’ Golf buggies were housed at various points around the palace for ease of movement around the extensive grounds.

He guided her down and waited till she was seated on the buggy. Reyes wasn’t at all surprised when she kicked off her shoes and sighed with relief.

The sight of her dainty feet gripped his attention. Mesmerised, he watched her rub her big toe along her other instep. Heat flared through his gut and pooled in his groin. Pulling himself out of the daze, he reversed the buggy and stepped on the accelerator.

Floodlights illuminated their path as he drove towards the northernmost point of the palace. Beside him, Jasmine oohed and aahed at the elaborate fountain his great-grandfather had built for his children to splash in, the huge lake containing white majestic swans gliding serenely in the rising moonlight, and ruins of an amphitheatre set into a cliff.

Jasmine pointed to the spotlights strung along the outer edge of the theatre. ‘Do you still use it?’

He nodded. ‘Isabella holds a children’s Christmas concert every year.’

‘That’s so cool. Everything about Santo Sierra is so cool,’ she amended with a husky chuckle. Then she glanced at him. ‘But snapping at Isabella like that? Not cool.’

Reyes’s fingers tightened around the wheel, but his reaction was more to do with her laugh and less to do with his sister.

He brought the buggy to a stop on the grassy landscape and helped her out. She started to put on her shoes.

‘Leave them. You won’t need them where we’re going.’

With a happy smile, she dropped them.

Hiking up her dress to keep the hem off the grass, she stepped out.

Reyes tried not to stare at her feet. ‘We have a temperamental relationship, Bella and I. She’ll have calmed down by now.’

Jasmine frowned. ‘But you won’t apologise? I think you should.’

‘Sí, I will apologise. In the morning, when I’m convinced she won’t bite my head off.’

She laughed.

He stopped in his tracks as the intoxicating sound transfixed him.

When she realised he’d stopped moving, she froze. ‘What?’

He cleared his throat to dislodge the uncomfortable knot. ‘You should laugh more. It’s an entrancing sound.’

She blushed as her eyes rounded, then her expression turned gloomy. ‘I haven’t had much to laugh about. Not since...’ She stopped and bit her lip.

He held his breath. ‘Since?’

‘Since Rio,’ she muttered. ‘And especially since I found out what my actions caused.’

The sincerity in her voice shook the foundation of his armour. He searched her face. Her eyes met his with frank appraisal and in that moment he was sure she’d never been more sincere.

He held out his hand, his breath lodged in his chest.

She hesitated, and his hand wavered. Looking down, she indicated her dress. ‘I don’t want to let go in case I get grass stains on it.’

His breath punched out. ‘It’s just a dress, Jasmine. I’ll buy you a hundred more. Let go.’

She made a face. ‘Yes, Your Bossiness.’ She released her grip on the dress and slid her hand into his. Warm. Firm. Almost trusting...

A simple gesture. And yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it as he walked her twenty yards up the small hill.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked breathlessly.

He realised he’d been marching and slowed his pace. ‘Up there.’ He pointed.

She stopped and gazed at the stone monument planted in the earth. ‘What is it?’

‘You need to get closer to see it.’

She followed him. When she tried to free their linked fingers, he held on, unwilling to let her go. Smiling at him over her shoulder, she stepped closer to the stone and ran her fingers over the ancient markings set into the rough surface.

Still clinging to her fingers, Reyes walked her round the stone, then led her to the jagged crevice.

‘Oh, my God,’ she whispered. Reyes watched the wonder on her face as she peered into the black three-foot-wide crack scorched into the earth. ‘How deep is it?’

Stepping behind, he let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘No one knows. All past rulers of Santo Sierra have forbidden the site from being explored.’

She leaned back in his arms and stared up at him. ‘But how did it get here?’

He bent his head, and his lips brushed the top of her ear. ‘Legend has it that the original Crown Prince of Santo Sierra ran off with the betrothed of the Prince of Valderra the day before they were to be married. The jilted prince hunted them down and caught up with the lovers at this spot. They fought to the death and both lost their lives. The day after they were buried, the subjects woke up to find the fissure here. The two kingdoms have been separated ever since.’

Her arms folded over his and she rested her head on his shoulder. She rocked slowly from side to side in a silent dance. ‘That’s tragic, but I bet it can all be resolved with a good mediation.’

He laughed, found himself moving along with her, swaying to her inner music. ‘You believe you can succeed where countless others have failed?’

‘Mediation is about breaking things down to the basest level and routing out what each party needs the most. Once it’s clear, most people will settle for their innermost desires instead of what their greed dictates they need.’ Her voice had softened to an introspective murmur.

Reyes stared down at her sweet face, her perfect nose and gorgeous mouth. Something moved within him. Not his libido, even though it was awake and alert to any imminent action.

His innermost desire included kissing her, making her his. Permanently...

He realised she was growing drowsy from the drink and visibly forced his gaze away from temptation. ‘What are your innermost desires, Jasmine?’ he asked before he could stop himself.

‘World peace. Or barring that a magical carriage to whisk me back down this hill so I don’t have to walk.’ She giggled, and a smile cracked across his face again.

Dios, he was in danger of slipping deeper into her web. Maybe this trip hadn’t been such a good idea.

Or maybe he just needed to take a leaf out of his sister’s book and follow his heart rather than his head for once. He and Jasmine might have arrived at this arrangement unconventionally, but fate had gifted them a compatibility that he would be foolish to ignore.

Tomorrow morning, there would be a vote to elect a new council, after which he’d be named Prince Regent. The palace press had already announced his impending wedding. His father’s doctors had assured him that the King’s health was holding for the moment and he’d seen a slight improvement in his father’s condition when he’d visited him today.

As for Mendez, the Valderran prince knew something was up. He’d been putting out feelers as to Santo Sierra’s position on the old treaty. Reyes had ignored him so far. Let him stew for a while.

For now, Reyes intended to enjoy an evening free of guilt and anxiety. With the woman who would become his in less than forty-eight hours.

The woman who was carrying his child.

He paused as a bolt of satisfaction lanced through him. Reyes realised having Jasmine and their child in his life was a prospect that didn’t terrify him as much as it had this time yesterday. Yesterday, he’d convinced himself it was duty driving him.

Today, his feelings were more of...elation.

Bending, he swung Jasmine into his arms. She gave another giggle and curled her arms around his neck. Her nose brushed his jaw and his belly tightened.

Sí, a worry-free few hours were just what he needed.

‘We don’t have a carriage, but I have something in mind that might please you.’ He strode to the top of the hill, turned ninety degrees and nudged her with his chin. ‘There,’ he murmured in her ear.

* * *

Jasmine pried her gaze from Reyes’s breath-stoppingly gorgeous face and jawline and glanced where he’d indicated.

She was aware her mouth had dropped open. Again.

Could she help it when Santo Sierra had so far delivered one stunning surprise after another?

‘It looks like a giant, gorgeous wedding cake,’ she whispered.

‘Because it was designed as a present for a bride’s wedding day. But it’s actually a summer house.’

‘Set into the hillside so it looks like layers. It’s perfect.’

The smile that had flashed on and off for the last half hour curved back into sight. Again her heart beat wildly, sending her blood roaring in her ears.

Although she was thankful he wasn’t growling at her or walking away from her as if she didn’t exist, she was terrified at seeing this new, relaxed side of Reyes. This Reyes was too much for her senses. Too breathtaking. Too charming. Too...close.

But not too much that she wanted to get away. Or return to her lonely palace suite. She tightened her arms when he started towards the utterly splendid structure.

If she’d truly believed in fairy tales, this would’ve been her dream house. But she didn’t, so it was just as well that the effects of the punch had worn off enough for her to realise this was nothing but a short interlude in time for both of them.

He climbed the stairs to the surprisingly large square structure and the wooden shuttered doors slid back. Jasmine’s gaze slid from the love seat on the porch to the interior.

Bypassing the simple, lamplit living room furnished with more love seats and twin sofas festooned with cushions, Reyes walked her into the bathroom and set her down on a pedestal next to a wide porcelain sink.

He stepped back and turned on the tap in the extra-wide bath.

‘Umm...is one of us taking a bath?’

His mouth tilted. ‘I thought you might want to wash your feet since you’ve been walking in the grass.’

Jasmine looked down at her feet. ‘Oh, I guess that’s a good idea, what with the wall-to-wall white carpeting.’

She started to step down from her perch. He stayed her with a hand on her waist and leaned over to add bath salts to the warm water.

This close, his scent assailed her, claimed her senses. When he breathed his body moved against hers.

This was getting out of hand...

Despite the thought trailing through her head, she stayed where she was.

Once the water reached a quarter way, he turned to her. ‘Lift up your dress.’

She tugged the material up her hips. He picked her up and sat her on the edge of the tub. Expecting him to leave her to it, she gave a small gasp when he dropped to his knees beside her.

Grabbing a washcloth, Reyes dipped it in the scented water and started to clean her feet.

The punch of feeling through her chest made her jerk. He looked up, took her arm and slid it around his shoulders. ‘Hold on to me if you think you’re slipping.’

Nodding dumbly, she held on. Traced her fingers over the strands of hair at his nape. Her fingers brushed his skin. A rough sound escaped his throat. The soothing cloth cleansed her feet.

Jasmine looked from Reyes’s arresting profile to what he was doing. She, Jasmine Nichols, originally from one of the roughest neighbourhoods in London, had a bona fide prince washing her feet.

The moment couldn’t get more surreal than this. And yet she didn’t want it to end.

‘You have the most perfect feet,’ Reyes murmured.

‘Thank you.’ Her voice emerged as shaky as she felt inside.

He raised his head and pierced her with eyes wild with raw, predatory hunger. ‘The most perfect legs.’ His wet hands cupped her ankles, drifted up over her calves.

Jasmine forgot to breathe. Her hand gripped his nape, her only stability in a world careening out of control.

‘The most perfect thighs.’

‘Reyes...’

His gaze dropped to her lips. Her heartbeat spiked a second before his mouth claimed hers.

Groaning, she fell into the kiss, wrapped both arms around his neck when he lifted her out of the tub and out of the bathroom. He returned to the living room and lowered her in front of the fireplace.

Lowering his body on top of hers, he deepened the kiss, ravaged her mouth with an appetite that grew sharper, rougher by the minute. His hand trailed up her leg, her thigh, to close over her bottom.

They both groaned when he squeezed her flesh. ‘Dios, you’re perfect,’ he breathed into the side of her neck when he let her up for air.

But she didn’t want breathing room, didn’t want even the slightest doubt to mar this incredible moment.

Catching his jaw between her hands, she raised her mouth to his. ‘Kiss me, Reyes. Please.’

He swore again, the sound ragged. Scooping her against his chest, he rolled them over. Firm hands lowered her zip and tugged down her dress and flung it away. Then he reversed their position again. ‘Now I can kiss you properly. Everywhere.’

He devoured her lips, her throat, the tops of her breasts.

Her moans grew louder as he rolled her nipple in his mouth before sucking in a hot pull. Jasmine’s back arched, her fingers digging into his hair to keep him there, pleasuring her, torturing her. A sharp cry erupted from her lips when his teeth nipped her skin just above her panties. Rising up on her elbows, she stared down at him, drunk on the sight of what he was doing to her.

‘Reyes...’

He glanced up. The look on his face threatened to send her over the edge.

‘Do you want this, querida?’ he enquired thickly.

‘More than anything,’ she whispered.

She smothered the voice that cautioned her as to what she was doing. Her first time with this man had ended in disaster. Granted, it’d been one of her own making. But now she knew it was more than her body involved. Her heart was at risk, too.

She was in danger of falling in love with a man who would never love her.

‘I can hear you thinking.’ He paused in the line of kisses he was dotting along her pantyline. ‘Tell me what’s on your mind.’

‘I don’t want anything we do here today to...confuse issues.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Shouldn’t that be my line?’

Unwilling to help herself, she cupped his shadowed cheek. ‘You may be a crown prince, but I believe in equal opportunities when it comes to the bedroom.’

He turned his head, kissed her palm and raised both her hands above her head. ‘Well, this is my opportunity. You get your turn later.’

He took her mouth in a hard kiss, then raised his head. ‘In answer to your question, there is no issue to confuse. We already know we’re compatible in bed. Whether we say our vows tomorrow or the next day, we both want this, now. Sí?’ His eyes probed hers.

Her heart lurched. ‘Yes.’