Surrender to Her Spanish Husband (7 page)

True to his word, he was, bringing with him the ceramic bowl refilled with fresh tepid water and a newly rinsed washcloth. Without words he began to apply the cloth to Jenny’s face, neck and shoulders, tugging down the thin straps of her nightgown to do so, smiling directly into her eyes when her gaze dazedly fell into his.

After a while he said, ‘You were screaming, “Fire!”’ Neither his expression nor the tone of his voice changed as he stated this. Calmly and methodically he continued to cool her heated skin with the gently wrung-out cloth.

‘I haven’t had that nightmare in ages.’ A violent shiver bounced up Jenny’s spine like tumbleweed tossed around by strong winds. Desperately she tried to push away the cloying dark remnants of the stark cold horror that had visited her. She felt so weak and ill. But even more than the longing to be free of her sickness she craved the comfort and reassurance of someone who cared about her.

What did it say about her life that in her time of need she had to depend on the man who had left her? Was she destined to pay the price of the poor choices she had made for the rest of her days? She was so tired of being afraid, so weary of waiting for some new disaster to yet again destroy everything she’d once depended upon, leaving her with the sense that she was nervously walking a precipice that at any second she might plunge off.

‘So…what makes you have such disturbing night-mares? Do you know?’

As Rodrigo touched the cool washcloth to the area just below her throat, Jenny shivered again. ‘The house burned down. I—I lost everything…my parents’ photos, the mementoes of mine and Tim’s childhood, all our furniture and belongings…everything.’

‘You were not there at the time? You didn’t get hurt?’

‘No. I was away when it happened, thank God. But every time I dream about it somehow I’m there in the middle of it all and I can’t get out.’

‘Why did you not let me know about this?’ Her ex-husband’s voice sounded fierce for a moment.

‘We’d parted. We were no longer together and it was up to me to handle it.’

Rodrigo breathed in deeply. ‘So what caused this fire?’

‘The police investigation concluded it was an electrical fault.’

‘That was the most incredible bad luck. But we won’t talk about such distressing matters right now. It won’t help. I’m going to give you some more medication to help lower your temperature and then you will sleep again.’

Letting the cloth drop back into the bowl, Rodrigo moved the items onto the nightstand then turned back to Jenny to lightly curl his hand round her delicately made wrist. Adjusting his palm, he thoughtfully stroked the pad of his thumb across the finer skin at the base of her fingers.

‘And this time it will be a healing, dreamless sleep, I am certain…no more nightmares.’

‘You sound so sure.’

‘I
am
sure.’

‘Why?’

‘Because my intuition tells me so.’

‘You believe in that?’

‘I do.’

After swallowing down the two capsules that Rodrigo gave her with a few sips of water, Jenny smiled shakily. ‘You should have been a doctor.’

‘What? And deprive the hotel business of my incredible flair and superb know-how?’

‘You’d be superb at whatever career you chose, Rodrigo. You would have made the best carpenter too.’

Unable to ignore the weariness that was like a powerful warm wave taking her under, Jenny slid back down into the bed, her eyelids closing even before her head touched the pillow. She’d happily accept the idea of a dreamless sleep, she silently admitted. But she’d equally welcome another dream of a man with sable eyes deep enough to swim in and a gentle sure touch that was far more healing than any medicine…

For a long time after Jenny had returned to the land of sleep Rodrigo sat in the rattan chair, listening to the rain lash furiously against the windows, soberly mulling over what she’d told him about her family home burning down and losing everything.

He had been drifting off himself when her anguished cry had rent the air and sent him bolting out of his seat as if an explosion had just ripped through the room. But even though his heartbeat had thundered in alarm, he’d still had the presence of mind to stay calm, so that when she emerged more fully from whatever nighttime horrors had visited her he could reassure her that it was only a dream. Those incandescent blue eyes of hers definitely didn’t lack courage, but he’d sensed early on in their acquaintance that there was some fragility in her make-up too.

It had made it all the harder for him to end a marriage that should never have happened in the first place. But Rodrigo had been so head over heels in love with Jenny from the instant he’d seen her chatting to a friend, one of the receptionists at the hotel he’d been staying at in London, that for a while he hadn’t been thinking straight.

Now, after witnessing the distress caused by her nightmare, Rodrigo willingly resigned himself to the fact that he would be getting no sleep for the rest of the night. How could he risk even dozing if that fever of hers got worse? It was vital to stay alert in case he had to make an emergency dash in his car to the nearest hospital. But even the idea of negotiating a safe path through this hostile storm in the pitch-dark, in an area he wasn’t even familiar with, keeping one eye on his possibly dangerously ill passenger as he drove, filled him with dread. Yet there was no question that he would do what had to be done and deliver Jenny safely into the competent medical hands she deserved…

Grimly firming his mouth, he beat his fingers in a soft, restless tattoo on the arms of his chair. It was best not to concentrate on the worst-case scenario, he decided. If Jenny woke suddenly he would not want her to sense that he was rattled by the situation in any way.

Needing a distraction, he reached for the sheaf of papers he had brought from his room, resolving to concentrate.

Two hours later the thunder and lightning was at last a spent force, the storm having subsided to the ghostly sound of the wind rushing pell-mell through the trees and faintly rattling the windows. Judging by the hushed rhythmic breaths that had softly accompanied the reading of his documents Jenny was still sleeping peacefully, and a welcome atmosphere of calm had descended on the room.

His eyes feeling as if he’d rinsed them out with gravel, Rodrigo laid down his papers and stood up. Yawning and stretching, he moved barefoot to Jenny’s bedside. Glancing down at her angelic profile—at the curling dark blonde lashes brushing the tip of her velvet cheekbone, the slim, elegant nose and lips as serene as those of the blessed Madonna herself—he felt a rush of forceful commanding need rock him to his soul.

After helping her change her gown during the night and seeing her naked once again it was hard to get the arresting image of her bewitching perfection to leave his mind.
She was so lovely that Rodrigo had to force away the idea of her being with someone else.
It made him feel jealous and suddenly possessive. If he had a second chance with her then he would definitely
not
spend all his time at work. Even
he
must learn from the lessons of the past.

Suddenly realizing the road his hypnotized thoughts were taking him down, Rodrigo shook his head. For heaven’s sake, was he going mad? His marriage to Jenny was finished—over. He’d made his choice and he was destined to live by it. Dedication and hard work had helped him become the owner and head of one of the most successful luxury spa hotel empires in the world, and he wasn’t about to ease off the gas for anything—least of all a precarious rekindling of a relationship that he’d really known from the first could never work. The only real solace and satisfaction to be had in life was in his work. No woman, no matter how soft, feminine and lovely, could bring him more happiness and fulfilment than that. He might indulge his need for sex and companionship from time to time, but that was all.

Moving away from where Jenny lay peacefully sleeping, in case he was tempted to meander into the realms of such pointless fantasy again, he rubbed his palm round his unshaven jaw with a scowl. Reaching the window, he swept the curtain aside to see the faint pink and gold light of dawn edging the horizon. Hovering over the smooth glass of the sea, it was a sublime sight.
A sight surely worth missing out on a night’s sleep for…
It didn’t happen very often that he did that. The strict routine he adhered to didn’t factor in long, soulful glances at charming scenery.

‘Rodrigo?’

‘Sí?’

He spun round with a jolt to find Jenny throwing back the covers and lifting her legs out of the bed.

‘What time is it?’

‘Just after seven a.m. Where do you think you’re going?’

Reaching her side, Rodrigo frowned deeply. To his surprise she kept her head bowed and he sensed she was embarrassed.

‘I—I need the bathroom.’

‘Let me help you.’

‘I can manage.’

But even as she strove to rise to her feet he saw that she was trembling like some fragile birch leaf in the wind. It was clear she was still feverish, and far from recovered.

‘I disagree.’ His tone strongly disapproving, Rodrigo had no hesitation in scooping her up into his arms and marching into the bathroom. Through the paper-thin cotton of her nightgown her body heat all but scorched him. There was no way on earth that she’d be fit enough to run her friend’s guesethouse for a good few days yet. He also knew he wouldn’t or
couldn’t
leave her stranded. His scheduled business meeting would just have to be postponed again. No doubt his contractors would be relieved to have the extra time to get things ready for the boss’s inspection.

Switching on the light, Rodrigo carefully stood Jenny down in the middle of the floor. And, because he couldn’t resist, he gently moved a few tousled strands of corn-gold silk back from her face. ‘I will be waiting right outside the door to help you back to bed,’ he told her. The unsullied crystal of her huge blue eyes reminded him of an Andalucian mountain lake, caressed by sunlight. His stomach rolled over at the sight.

‘Okay…’

When she emerged from the room a few minutes later Rodrigo once again swept her up into his arms to carry her back to bed. As she settled back under the covers Jenny’s expression was forlorn. ‘I’m so embarrassed that I’ve let you do all this for me that I almost don’t know what to say to you.’

‘Were you well last night?’

‘No, but—’

‘Are you feeling any better today?’

‘No…But I still—’

‘Is there someone—some friend, family member or even a neighbour I can ring—who will come and take care of you for the next few days?’

Rodrigo didn’t miss the flash of despair in her eyes. ‘Not that I can think of…no…’

‘Then there is nothing else for you to do but go back to sleep. I am here, and will remain so until such time as you are able to get back on your feet and go about your business as normal. If anyone rings to make a reservation then I’ll simply tell them we are closed until you are better.’

‘But what about your work? You came down here for a meeting, didn’t you?’

‘It is easy enough to delay for another day or two.’

‘You would do that for me?’

‘I know you find that hard to believe but, yes, Jenny…I
would.
’

‘Even so, I can’t let you, Rodrigo.’

‘You have no say in the matter. It’s my own decision. No one is forcing me to do anything I don’t want to do—least of all you.’

‘I feel so useless.’ Her pretty mouth struggling with emotion, she looked as if she might cry.

Still feeling appalled that there was no one Jenny could ask to help but him—his own past neglect of her not withstanding—Rodrigo gave her a gentle shove so that her spun-gold head fell back onto the creamy white pillows.

‘Since I have already complimented you on your ability to make guests feel more than at home here, and have seen how dedicated you are to running things for Lily in her absence, that’s clearly not true. Go back to sleep. When you wake I’ll make you a cup of tea, if that’s your preference. But I warn you that my tea-making skills would hardly earn me a job working here.’

Chuckling, he reached out to lay his palm flat against Jenny’s forehead. She was still unnaturally warm, but thankfully not as dangerously hot as last night. Cautiously, he prayed that meant her fever had broken and she was over the worst.

‘You’re a long way from recovered,
querida
, but hopefully you are on the mend. Right now I need a shower and a shave—then I’ll see what has to be done downstairs. Do as I say and get some more rest…I’ll return in a while to make sure everything is okay.’

Settling back against the bank of pillows she’d just about mustered the strength to arrange behind her, Jenny swept her gaze round the sunlit bedroom with frustrated resignation and felt a little jab of fear piercing her. It was perfectly true that she felt weaker than a newborn foal, and twice as vulnerable, but to have allowed Rodrigo, her work-obsessed ex-husband, to postpone his business meeting to help take care of her…Well, it hadn’t featured in even her
wildest
dreams.
And why had she trusted him so easily when his past record of considering her needs was so abysmal?
It was inexplicable.

She’d had similar issues with Tim. Jenny knew her brother wasn’t the type of man who could take care of anything much. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to even look after their home if she should have fallen ill. In truth, he would have simply gone out and left her. His attitude to any sort of responsibility was casual, to say the least. When she’d returned to live in her old home after she and Rodrigo had split up, the beautiful Victorian semi she’d grown up in had been an absolute
tip.
It had taken several weeks of diligent home-making application on Jenny’s part to restore it to anywhere near its former beauty and comfort.

Then, after months of growing suspicion of her brother’s irresponsible behaviour, she’d discovered the real reason he was inclined to let things slide—and that included work. It was because he despised any demands that came between him and his increasing dependence on drugs.