“Fine, but there will be partitions.” She grinned. “And will youpleaselet go of my hand?”
Her gaze flickered down to where they were joined. “Why? Does it excite you?” Emily’s tongue poked into the side of her cheek coyly.
His brain imagined something else in its place.
For Christ’s sake…
Nicolas broke their contact himself, removing his hand, but he felt it flexing afterward.
20
In the next few minutes, they lay side by side in the bedroom. Emily’s shifting was the only thing heard. The bed was wide, but not wide enough to erase the awareness of each other’s presence. She could feel the heat of him, just inches away, and hear every breath he took.
Neither of them spoke.
The tension hung in the air. She’d turned her back to avoid glancing over, but her mind was still drawn to him. Maybe it was delusion plus knowing Nicolas had had a crush on her, but she swore his restraint was palpable. It was in the way he held himself still, as if any movement might betray him.
As if to prove her wrong, Nicolas shifted, the mattress dipping beneath his weight. She felt it. She felthim. Yet, neither of them moved closer. The cushions were a good idea now that she thought about it because if not for them, her hands would have already strayed because of his scent.
When she finally spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. “Thank you for agreeing.”
“Don’t thank me just yet.”
She smiled into the darkness. “I didn’t know you could be so…adorable.”
He moved again. “Please don’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
“No man wants his wife to call him adorable.”
Jolts raced through her body as she released a collected breath. He was right, she was his wife.
“And what does my husband want me to call him?”
His hand grasped the top of a cushion, pushing it down and revealing his dark eyes. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Emily asked innocently.
Her confidence was sparked again by that poster. He was looking at her like he knew it too. The game between them had changed, the dynamics rewritten.
Something that looked a lot like:
Emily – 1. Nicolas – 0.
She barely had time to react before Nicolas moved.
He maneuvered over the cushions and straddled her, pinning both wrists above her head against the mattress. His body hovered over hers, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off him.
Still, his chest didn’t touch hers.
But his eyes were the darkest she’d ever seen them.
“You don’t know the game you’re playing, Emily,” he warned. “If you’re serious about keeping that unwritten clause then you should shut that pretty little mouth of yours before it’s put to good use.”
Her breath caught and she licked her lips nervously.
His gaze flickered down.
