A REASON FOR MARRIAGE

He barely took in the full bottle of wine and the glass, the empty mug of something. He came close, but didn’t want to break the spell. Had she dressed like this on purpose for him? He shrugged off his jacket and undid his tie, barely aware of what he was doing. He felt constricted, and his body was so hard and so hot that time seemed to stand still.

She was temptation incarnate. Her lips were soft, inviting him to just bend down and press a kiss. It would be so easy to do that-to kneel here beside her, to slip his tongue between those lips, have her wake and take his tongue deeper into her mouth, mimicking the way she would take another part of him deep inside her.

Simon fought the most intense battle as he stood there. The memory of undressing her as clinically as he could the other night was still fresh and painful in his memory. But his resolve was strong. He could exert it again even if he felt like it would kill him. With his face set in rigid lines of ultimate control, a control he hadn’t had to call on before, he bent down and slipped his arms underneath her pliant, sleep-relaxed body. She made a small sound, a mere breath, and her body automatically curved into him as he lifted her up effortlessly. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Simon had to stop for a moment and grit his jaw so hard that it hurt. He was so aroused that he didn’t think he’d make it to her bedroom. But he had to. He was doing this for them.

Sara knew she was fighting her way through layers of sleep for a reason. She felt so safe and so secure that she wanted to stay there forever. And yet, another feeling was making her wake up, something within her, an urgency that was starting down low in her abdomen and spreading outwards, making everything tingle deliciously. She finally started to wake as she became aware of being carried in strong arms against a hard, muscled chest. Simon. And at that moment he was putting her down, letting her go. Every part of her screamed rejection at that.

“Wait, what are you doing?” she asked, still feeling drowsy.

His voice rumbled low and near her ear, setting off another chain reaction of sensations, waking her more. “You’re half-asleep. You should go back to sleep, Sara,”

“But…” Sara struggled through the waves that wanted to suck her back down. “I stayed up to seduce you.” She knew somewhere rational that it was only because it was dark and she was still half-asleep that she was being so honest.

Simon’s body tensed, she could feel it as he rested momentarily over her on his hands after depositing her on her bed. Finally, after a long moment, he just said enigmatically, “You only have to look at me and I’m seduced. Go to sleep, Sara,”

He stood and swiftly left the room, and suddenly Sara was wide-awake and alert. She sat up in the bed, in the dark. You only have to look at me and I’m seduced. Had she dreamt that? She didn’t think so, she’d felt the tension in his body; it was the same tension running through her right now.

She threw back the covers and got out of the bed. With her heart thumping, she went back out to the sitting room, where she instinctively knew he’d be. She stopped at the door. He was standing at the window, one hand deep in the pocket of his trousers, pulling the material taut over one buttock, and she could see the wineglass was gone. Just then his head tipped back and she saw him drink deeply from the claret liquid.

She saw the lines of tension come into his body before he turned round, and a part of her hated that tension. Sara crossed her arms. His eyes were narrowed, his face had that stern expression, but she couldn’t let that stop her.

“What’s that supposed to mean-you only have to look at me to be seduced? So if that’s the case, then why…?” She couldn’t say it, even now, even after waiting up to seduce him.

“Why don’t I make love to you?” he asked harshly.

Sara nodded jerkily. He put down his glass and now both hands were deep in his pockets, his frame huge and powerful, awe-inducing. Sara felt that ever-present quiver in her belly.

“Because I was attempting to show you that what we can have is more than just…lust, desire, sex.”

Sara shook her head and walked a little closer. “I don’t understand.”

Simon took out a hand and raked it through his hair, mussing it up, making him look even more rakishly attractive.

“From the moment we’ve met it’s been about physical attraction, unprecedented physical attraction, for the both of us.”

She flushed.

“But now that you’re pregnant, we’re having a baby and I just wanted to try and elevate things to another level. The way you make me feel…That evening in the restaurant, I had no intention of allowing things to get that far, but within seconds we couldn’t turn back.” That lack of control still stung him.

Sara’s flush deepened. She saw Simon’s eyes narrow even more on her face, and a stain of color washed his cheeks too. The air around them was saturated with their desire. Sara didn’t know how she was still standing. She felt weak and trembly. And a little angry.

“What are you talking about, Simon-elevating things to another level? We’re just…We were lovers. I’m only here until the baby is born. Nothing’s changed.”

He crossed his arms at that, and his face got even sterner. “Why do you keep saying that? I’ve told you, we’re together now. I’m not going to be apart from you or this baby.”

Bitterness and something else indefinable washed up through Sara. “And yet you’ve spent the day showing me places where you’ll happily shelve me and our child.” She shook her head. “I won’t have that, Simon. I’d prefer to go home than become just your responsibility.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

He came towards her, stopping her words, a look of exasperation crossing his face. “What are you talking about? The places we looked at today are for the three of us, not just you and the baby. What made you think that?”