“I can handle myself in a fight.” His lips twitched as if he was amused.
Amused…when his life was at stake!
“That’s not the point,” she insisted. “Why take unnecessary risks?”
“I thought you wanted me to help your friends.”
“Not at the expense of your own well-being!”
He raised his brows. “Why are you so concerned, my dear?”
“Because I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt.” Her throat swelled with the power of her feelings. “Because I love you. You’re everything to me.”
In the next instant, he was on his feet, stalking toward her with thrilling purpose. That was another wonderful quality of Adam’s: although he didn’t take stock in romantic love, he didn’t seem to mind ifsheprofessed her feelings. Which happened frequently because she simply couldn’t hold them back. Nor did she want to.
Her breath whooshed from her lungs as he lifted her, as effortlessly as if she were made of thistledown. Her hands landed on his shoulders, his bunched power quivering through her fingertips. His scent—expensive spice mingled with his own clean male musk—entered her nose, an elixir that amplified her craving for him. Her indelicate hunger for her husband.
Because she couldn’t help herself, she asked, “What are you doing?”
His eyes gleamed. “Since words don’t seem to be enough, I’m providing husbandly reassurance through other means.”
“But it’s not Wednesday,” she blurted.
“We’ll make an exception.”
She had an instant to catch his wolfish smile before his mouth claimed hers.
5
She was drowningin Adam’s kiss, and shelovedit. Her worries and insecurities faded as a wave of passion swept her up. As she surrendered to her husband’s masterful touch.
He set her down by her tester bed, her spine fitting against one of the posters. His hands framed her jaw, holding her still for his kiss. His mouth possessed hers with firm, arousing authority. She parted her lips for his tongue, moaning as he plundered her softness. As he licked inside, saturating her senses with his masculine flavor. As he took of her…because she was his.
Beneath the demanding flame of his kiss, she melted into pure sensation. Her back molded against the hard poster and her front against her even harder husband. Good Lord, but he was potent. His hands began moving down her spine, undoing her with devastating efficiency. He stripped her layer by layer, the weight falling from her, pooling at her stockinged feet.
He lifted his mouth from hers, and the loss of contact broke her reverie. Awareness jolted her: it wasdaytime. Only the under curtains were drawn, the afternoon light filtering through the filmy material, tinting the room with a golden glow. And she wore not a stitch—well, except for her white silk stockings and shirred garters adorned with satin rosebuds.
Which meant she was utterlyexposedto Adam.
Her chest heaved with growing panic as he took a step back, his fathomless gaze roving over her nudity. In the past, he’d always made love to her in the dark or by firelight, both of which were far more flattering to one’s figure. Of course, he could feel her excessive fleshiness…but feeling wasn’t the same asseeing.
Her hands flew to cover herself—only she didn’t even knowwhereto place them. Her breasts? Her hips? Her belly? Goodness, her hands weren’tbigenough to conceal all that needed to be concealed. She settled for crossing her arms and squeezing her thighs together.
“Oh,pleasedon’t look at me,” she pleaded.
His dark slashing brows drew together. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not bedtime…and you can see me,” she whispered.
“I assure you it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“Not like this.” Her cheeks flaming, she dropped her gaze. “It’s different…in the dark.”
He curled a finger under her chin, bringing her eyes back to his.
“The lighting has no impact on your beauty,” he murmured.
She swallowed, searching his austere features for any sign that he was humoring her. She saw none, yet her mind told her that he had to say such things because he was a kind and caring husband. A true gentleman. He wouldn’t lie to her…yet his words could be interpreted in more than one way, couldn’t they? Perhaps he meant that lighting couldn’t alter her looks for better or worse—because she was a lost cause.
