“I’m sorry for my distraction.” He kissed the back of her fingers before confessing, “I’m not ignoring you. I was thinking about Dervil.”
“I know, and you shouldn’t,” she said. “He means nothing to us.”
“Clarissa—”
“No. Mars, you give the man too much power.”
“You don’t realize that staring in that manner was an insult.”
“Not if I don’t take it as such. You are going to vote against him and prevent him from getting something he wants. Please, don’t ruin this evening. It has been amazing.”
Shewas amazing.
They had reached the bedroom. The sheets had been turned down. The candlelight gave the room a welcoming glow. He shut the door behind them.
Their separate dressing rooms were on opposite sides of the bedroom. Mars started inthe direction of his when he heard Clarissa softly say his name. He stopped. “Yes.”
She had pulled her gloves off. She stood next to the bedpost, a petite, regal figure. The candlelight played off the gold threads shot through her dress—and he realized he would always remember her exactly like this. No artist could capture her beauty in this moment.
Clarissa was precious to him.She mattered.
If Dervil did anything to harm her, Mars would kill the man with his bare hands—
She started as if reacting to the dark direction of his thoughts. “My lord, please. He isn’t worth your anger. Not when we are alone.”
Mars nodded mutely. She didn’t understand his need for justice. He went into his dressing room, removing his clothes and preparing for bed. He gave her time to don her heavy nightdress and be in bed first. But it was damn trying.
His wife was more than just some delectable bit of muslin. She’d easily fit in with his friends, although he’d not doubted she would. Clarissa was intelligent, insightful, and caring.
And he was very much waiting for the day when she decided her rule against intimacy was no longer important, and, please, God, make it soon.
Yes, he wanted to make love to her, to see if she was as passionate and clever in bed as she was about everything else. Other women could not compare.
He opened the dressing room. Clarissa was in bed. Because of the warmth of the day, the windows were open. What was left of themoon fell across the covers—and that was when Mars realized there was no pillow wall.
Perhaps his good behavior last night had convinced her it wasn’t necessary to be so cautious.
Could he lure her across the imaginary line in the bed? She’d crossed it in her sleep last night.
He dearly wanted to make love to her... and yet, he was practicing discipline. He wanted to prove to her that he could behave, even though he was already hard. Hopefully she couldn’t see that in the moonlight.
Mars hopped into bed, pulling the covers up to hide his excitement—and then froze.
Clarissa had pushed up on the bed as if to welcome him. Her hair formed a curling curtain around her, but he could see that she, too, was in the buff.
“Mars,” she said, “I think I want to change our terms.”
He didn’t trust himself to speak. Had he been hard a moment ago? It had been nothing compared to what he felt now.
Mars opened his mouth to speak but his blood was thrumming through his veins and he found it hard to form words.
Then she moved closer to him and said, “If you don’t kiss me right now, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
He reached for his wife.
Chapter Fifteen
It will be harder to leave Clarissa than I had ever imagined.
