At the Spaniard's Pleasure by Jacqueline Baird Page A

not absolutely convinced she was innocent in the other matter either.
    â€˜Good morning. Is that it?’ Black brows rose in sardonic amusement. ‘And here I was, hoping for a kiss at least,’ his dark eyes roamed with knowing sensuality over her luscious body, ‘after all we have shared,’ he concluded silkily and, putting the tray down on the table, he sat on the edge of the bed and reached for her hand.
    Liza snatched her hand away, and fixed all her attention on the tray, unwilling to acknowledge the blatant sensuality in his look. There was a silver coffee-pot, a jug of cream, a bowl of sugar and two cups and saucers and a plate of pastries. ‘You’re joining me for breakfast; how nice,’ she said politely, and unwillingly her gaze was drawn back to meet Nick’s.
    â€˜That was the idea. I did not think you would object.’ He noted her small hands clench in the coverlet and realised she was nervous. ‘I thought a woman of your incredible sexual aptitude would naturally share all my appetites,’ Nick teased, a slow, intimate smile curving his firm lips.
    â€˜No—yes…of course not,’ Liza said in confusion, not sure if she should be flattered or furious he had found her satisfactory! Not sure he should even be here in her room,she thought, panic rising in her breast. ‘What about Manuel…? Your mother…?’ Liza heard her voice rising but was unable to control it as the full import of what she had allowed to happen hit her, and she turned red with embarrassment.
    â€˜Take it easy, Liza.’ Nick chuckled. ‘Manuel and Marta always have Sunday morning free to attend church. As for mother, she is at church in Granada, and won’t be back for a while yet. She need never know that you are sharing a coffee with me.’ And with a wicked grin he added, ‘Stark naked beneath that sheet.’
    The reminder of her nakedness made Liza blush even more, but his smile surprised her. Nick could amuse her and make her feel wanton at one and the same time. It was a lethal combination that made her even more wary. ‘Oh, just shut up and pour the coffee,’ she snapped.
    â€˜I do adore a woman who can take charge occasionally,’ Nick drawled with a sardonic arch of one ebony brow. ‘Especially in the bedroom.’
    â€˜Just pour the damn coffee,’ she reiterated, her temper rising. ‘I can do without sexual innuendoes first thing in the morning.’
    â€˜Pity,’ Nick opined, but leant forward and filled the two cups from the jug and passed one to her. ‘I guess you’re not a morning person.’
    Liza took hers and swallowed it down with unseemly haste, clattering the cup down on the tray with a less than steady hand. ‘Well, you’re wrong. I am once I have my caffeine fix.’ She strove for normality, but it was difficult with Nick sitting so close. She picked up a pastry and took a bite, but she had never felt less like eating, and it was such a struggle to get the food down she didn’t risk another bite, and dropped it back on the plate.
    Nick chuckled, a deep, throaty sound, and reached out a long, elegant hand to sweep the tangled mass of her hair from her face. Then settled his arm around her shoulders,trapping her in the arc of his muscular chest. ‘Prove it, Liza.’
    His stunningly handsome face was much too close; she could see the curling length of his lashes sweep his high cheekbones, and lift to reveal eyes glinting with amusement, the firm mouth also quirking at the corners with humour.
    â€˜Prove what?’ She stared up at him with a mixture of fear and anticipation.
    â€˜This.’ And he covered her mouth with his own.
    Her startled cry was silenced in her throat; she struggled wildly, lashing out at his great torso with curled fists. She was no man’s push-over…whatever Nick Menendez thought… With a husky laugh he tipped her back against the