Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

new husband wasn’t exactly the best way to start an annulment. And they were getting this annulled or stopped from processing, whichever one applied. Whatever had to happen once they got to Seville. But there were still a lot of hours between now and tomorrow.
    Fernando reached the upstairs hall and pulled her up and off the last step and into his arms. “You know,” he said in a sexy whisper, “my mother never would have condoned this if she’d known all the paperwork hadn’t gone through.”
    “You said we were married in the eyes of the church.”
    His mouth hovered over hers as he backed her up against the wall. “It feels real enough to me.”
    Fire raged through her as he captured her mouth with his and kissed her deeply, his touch tracing the line of her throat, then trailing to her cleavage. Jess gasped involuntarily, her knees threatening to give way. That was some silly cliché from the movies. A woman didn’t actually swoon in a man’s arms. Then again, most men weren’t built like Fernando. She’d certainly never met anyone of his…aptitude, the most pressing part of which pushed rock-hard against her thigh.
    He brought his mouth to the side of her neck, then nibbled slightly as he squeezed one breast and then the other. “So good,” he breathed. “I want to taste more.”
    Jess felt her panties moisten and knew she was doomed. All she wanted to do now was step out of them. Fernando’s hand slid up her thigh and under her dress, making her want to rip it off completely.
    “Fernando,” she moaned, grappling with the words, “we’re still in the hall.”
    He pulled back in a heated flush, a savage passion in his eyes. “I can fix that.” Then, in one deft movement, he unlatched the door and kicked it open. The next thing Jess knew, she was airborne, swept into his arms and cradled to his sturdy chest. He spoke as he carried her over the threshold, his voice husky with desire. “If you don’t mind,” he said with a sultry gaze, “I’d like to make love to my new wife…for as long as she can stand.”
    That might be quite a while, Jess reasoned. But she didn’t have to say so. He’d already laid her on the bed and was stripping away her panties. Jess knew she might regret this later, but it certainly seemed the right thing to do now. She gasped as he entered her, feeling as though she’d found the place in the world where she’d always belonged.
    “I do love you, Jessica,” he whispered between kisses. “I’m praying that someday soon you’ll believe it.”
    She believed it now, oh yes, she did, and she wanted this feeling to go on forever. Jess wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, hoping this wasn’t an illusion. Even if it was, she didn’t care to stop it. She’d never experienced anyone like Fernando in her life, and this morning he was all hers.

    “Are you newlyweds going to want dinner?” It was Ana María’s voice outside the door.
    Jess opened her eyes to find herself wrapped in Fernando’s arms, the sheets twisted around them.
    “We’ll be down in a minute, Mamá!” Fernando called, snuggling Jess closer. “You are hungry?” he asked Jess in a whisper.
    “Starved,” she answered truthfully.
    “Good,” he said with a firm kiss on her lips. “That means I did my husbandly duty.”
    He’d more than done his husbandly duty. Given the various kinds of attention he’d administered, Jess feared it would be weeks before she’d ever walk again.
    “I’ll say,” she said, smiling. “I’m honestly not sure how well my knees will hold up after that.”
    He shot her a sexy grin. “I can carry you, if you’d like.”
    “Your carrying me is what landed us in bed.”
    “So it did,” he replied, lightly caressing her cheek as he kissed her again.
    “What time do you think it is?” she asked.
    “It must be around two o’clock.”
    “In the afternoon? We’ve been here half the day?”
    “I wouldn’t say it was a waste, would you?”
    “No, it was…marvelous.”
    “Marvelous?” he asked, with an amused grin. “That makes me feel pretty special.”
    “You are special,” she said, meaning it absolutely. In an utterly confounding way, he was the most marvelous man she’d ever met.

    Fernando’s heart lit up at the sound. Was that hope springing from his new bride’s lips? Was she actually starting to fall for him?
    “You’re not sorry, then?” he asked, holding her gaze.
    Her beautiful blue eyes softened. “I’m not