Claiming His Wedding Night by Lee Wilkinson Read Free Book Online Page A

absolutely shattered.’
    ‘I didn’t get a great deal of sleep last night,’ she told him stiffly.
    ‘I would judge that to be an understatement. But, if you’d like to stretch out, there’s a perfectly good bedroom along there.’
    ‘A bedroom?’ she echoed.
    ‘Come and take a look.’
    He led her to the far end of the lounge area, where anotherdoor opened into a small but nicely fitted bedroom with an en suite shower-room.
    Indicating a comfortable-looking bed with built-in cabinets either side, he said, ‘As we’ve still got a long journey ahead of us, I suggest that you get a couple of hours’ sleep before lunch.’
    The sight of the bed brought back memories of another bed in Las Vegas. A bed where Jared’s tanned and muscular body had looked so devastatingly male against the pink silk sheets and frilled pillowcases.
    She took an involuntary step backwards and heard his soft chuckle.
    Proving how well he could read her mind, he said, ‘Don’t worry, I wasn’t thinking of joining you.’
    Though he spoke with light mockery, she saw his silvery eyes darken almost to charcoal and a little lick of flame flicker in their depths.
    She remembered that look well, and though in the past she had welcomed it, seeing it now made her blood run cold with apprehension.
    ‘Unless you want me to, that is?’
    ‘No, I don’t want you to!’ she choked.
    He sighed. ‘Pity…Ah, well, I’ll go and get some work done and leave you to it.’
    Sketching an ironic salute, he closed the door.
    When she had hung her suit over a chair and taken off her shoes, Perdita pushed the lightweight duvet aside and stretched out on the bed. She felt weary, body and soul, but so uptight that she had no hope of actually sleeping.
    She had gone along with Jared’s suggestion merely to buy herself some time alone. Some time to think. To try and decide just what he had in mind. What he hoped to gain.
    The sudden hunger she had glimpsed in his eyes had frightened her half to death. At that moment she had realized that, though he might hate her, he still wanted her.
    But everything else had changed. She no longer loved him, and she was about to marry someone else.
    But would that be enough to keep her safe?
    Yes, surely it would.
    Jared wasn’t a man who would dream of using force…As the thought went through her mind, her heavy eyelids closed…
     
    She was awakened by a discreet knock at the door.
    Sitting bolt upright in alarm, momentarily confused and unsure of just where she was, she asked hoarsely, ‘Who is it?’
    ‘It’s Henry, miss. Mr Dangerfield thought you might like a cup of coffee…’
    Feeling more than a little dazed, she answered, ‘Oh, yes…Yes, thank you,’ and pulled the duvet up around her.
    The steward came in with a tray of coffee and put it down carefully on the bedside cabinet before continuing, ‘He asked me to say that we’ll be landing at Logan Airport in about twenty minutes to refuel.’
    She thanked him and, with a slight inclination of his gleaming head, the steward departed, closing the door quietly behind him.
    Her hair was coming down and, after a fruitless attempt to repair the damage, Perdita reached to pour the coffee.
    With so much on her mind, so many worries about Jared’s motives and intentions she hadn’t expected to sleep. But, if they were almost at Boston, she must have slept for several hours.
    Refreshed by the drink, she washed her face and hands in the shower-room and took the pins from what remained of her chignon, only to realize that her comb and make-up were still in her bag, which she had left in the lounge.
    At the same instant there was a knock at the bedroom door and Jared’s voice called, ‘Sorry to rush you, but in a minute or so we’ll need to take our positions for landing.’
    ‘Coming,’ she answered in a muffled voice and, twisting her long corn-coloured hair into a knot, secured it as best she could.
    Then, quickly, she pulled on her skirt and jacket and,