be spent in too-close quarters with a woman who lit up every nerve ending in his body like a flame set to dry tinder.
Yeah, the math wasn’t helping.
Everything they might need had been provided for by their families. Clothing, toiletries, a fully stocked kitchen for Seraphina. They would want for nothing from the outside world, and no one would interrupt their time together until the handfasting had ended.
They’d divvied up the place as soon as they’d been dropped off, negotiating territory and establishing boundaries where neither of them would cross. It only seemed right to give her the privacy of the massive bedroom. As for Jehan, he would inhabit the general living quarters, and use the big nest of cushions in the main room as his bed for the next week.
With Seraphina settling into the sole bedroom suite on her own, Jehan prowled the open space of the villa like a caged cat, taking stock of the unfamiliar surroundings. He strode across richly dyed rugs spread over terra cotta tiled floors. Above his head, the high, domed ceiling glowed with soft golden lights that glinted off a mosaic of gem-colored glass embedded into the white stucco plaster.
Down the wing of the hallway opposite the bedroom where Seraphina had sequestered herself was a traditional bathing room with a steaming, spring-fed pool surrounded by silk-draped columns and fat pillar candles.
In the adjacent, open-concept chamber, more beds of cushions and pillows were arranged around the room, some steeped in shadows, others strategically placed in front of tall, ornately framed mirrors. Erotic statuary and tables holding bottles of perfumed oils and incense jars completed the pleasure den.
Jehan frowned, shaking his head. The handfast agreement may forbid a male from forcing himself on the Breedmate sent with him to this place, but every room in the villa was obviously designed with sex and seduction in mind.
And try as he might to resist imagining Seraphina reclined on those cushions or stepping naked out of the steam-clouded baths, his mind refused to obey.
Eight nights.
He would be lucky to make it through this first one without losing his mind or tearing down the bedroom door she was currently hiding behind on the other side of the villa.
He needed fresh air. What he really needed was a hundred-foot wall between him and his unwanted roommate. A length of sturdy chain wouldn’t hurt either.
Jehan walked back out to the main living area and headed for the French doors leading out to an oasis patio in back. As he crossed the room, he heard Seraphina hiss a curse from inside the bedroom.
He paused, listened. Told himself to keep walking in the opposite direction.
She swore again and he detoured for the passage leading to the bedroom.
“Are you all right in there?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine.” Her reply was quick, dismissively so.
He stood outside the closed door and heard her grumble in frustration. “I’m coming in.”
“No. Wait—”
She stood in the center of the big room, tangled in the complicated yards of red silk that comprised her dress from the celebration. When he chuckled, she glowered. “It’s not funny, you arrogant ass.”
“Really?” He didn’t even try to curb his grin. “Looks pretty funny from where I’m standing.”
She huffed, narrowing a glare on him. “If you’re going to stand there laughing at me, you might as well help.”
He held up his hands. “No touching, remember? How can I help without breaking that part of our deal?” Of course, they’d also said no kissing, but that rule was already shot all to hell, even before they’d arrived tonight. “Ask me nicely and maybe I’ll consider bending the rules.”
Her shoulders sagged in defeat, but the baring of her straight, white teeth hardly looked submissive. “Jehan, will you please help me?”
He didn’t want to admit how enticing his name sounded on her pretty lips. Especially when it involved asking him to assist in undressing her. His blood agreed, licking through his veins in eager anticipation as he stalked across the bedroom to where she stood.
She raised her right hand and gathered her long cascade of bead-strewn, soft brown curls off her neck as she presented her back to him. “There must be a dozen tiny knots holding this dress together. And I can’t figure out where the ends of the long wrappings begin either.”
Jehan stood behind her for a long moment, just looking. Just drinking in the sight of her graceful nape and elegant spine. She was blessed with hourglass curves and long, lean legs. The ceremonial dress hugged every