“You’d be surprised what can be ignored in a long-time family friend. Especially one who should have married you by now.”
He winced. “I’m doing everything—”
“Papa has commanded me to seduce you.”
He gaped at her, sure that he had misheard. Her father was more conservative than his own.
“That cannot be true.”
“I assure you it is. Mama suggested I wait until we are sure to conceive a child.”
He blinked. “You can determine that?”
She shrugged. “She mentioned several old wives tales that will guarantee conception.”
He had no idea what to say to that. And then, while he was still gathering his wits, she straightened off the chair. Some women coil out of their seat. Some women seemed to flow upwards. Kimberly simply thrust out her feet until she stood squarely before him. And then she set her hands to her bodice.
“What are you doing?” he gasped, shocked that she would be so bold.
She pulled apart the ribbon. “Haven’t I just told you?”
Good lord, where was his valet? “Don’t be daft. Moore could come in any moment!”
“I have bribed him to stay away.” She smiled. “He believes you have treated me poorly and promised to scream like a stuck pig when he discovers us in the morning.”
The bloody traitor. “Kim, we cannot begin like this.
“I don’t care how we begin, Max, so long as we do.”
What was he to say to that? She was right. She wasalwaysright. But the truth was, he had no lust for her. No desire beyond duty. Especially since she usually acted as an older sister rather than a future wife.
Worse, having come from Yihui’s room, Kimberly suddenly seemed overly large with blunt features and no artifice. It was unfair. She was a lovely Englishwoman of statuesque proportions. Unfortunately, his imagination was caught by an injured Chinese woman with soft features and exotic eyes. It was nobody’s fault, but his erection had shrunk the moment he realized Kimberly was in his bedroom.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“That’s what I’m here to find out.” She stepped forward, facing him squarely. “Kiss me,” she said.
“What?”
“A single kiss. You owe me that much. Surely that’s not a hardship.”
“Of course not, but—”
“Make it a good one. I want passion in my marriage. I want to be swept away, and I want you to do it.”
“Since when?” She’d never said such a thing before.
“Since now, I suppose,” she said, apparently as surprised as him by the statement.
Then she spread her arms wide. She offered him her plump breasts, her bodice already loosened for his ease. And she looked at him with a kind of desperation he didn’t know how to refuse.
He still tried.
“Listen, Kim, I have a plan.”
“So do I.” She put her hand around his neck and pulled him forward. He could have stopped her, but she was right. She was the woman he planned to marry.
But he couldn’t do it.
