The only problem with his current plan was that he’d have to use great care not find himself ending up the wooed party.
Was it just this afternoon she’d been wishing she’d taken more physics classes in pursuit of her degree? She’d been way off on that call. It was definitely more biology classes she should have taken.
Specifically, she desperately needed one that covered how to control her raging hormonal impulses in the presence of this certifiable Holy-Shit-Hot-Guy.
Abby pushed open the door of their bedchamber and entered, all too aware of Colin so close behind her. When the door clicked shut, she nearly jumped.
Skittish much? Oh yeah. Skittish very much.
“I don’t suppose you’d consider waiting in the hall while I change into my nightgown?” The smirk he wore answered before he did.
“No, wife, I dinna think I’ll be doing that. But I will turn my back if you like.”
“Yes, I’d like that. And you don’t have to keep calling me your. . .”
The words died in her mouth as he turned his back, pulling his shirt up and over his head as he did so.
A noise escaped from her, something primal rising up out of her throat. Something between a whimper and a squeak over which she had no more control than Colin had had over his erection out in the bathhouse.
A pretty impressive erection, too, now that she thought about it. Easily as impressive as the muscular back he was now presenting to her.
The man’s body clearly belonged on a piece of Michelangelo’s marble. It was, without a doubt, the best she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen a lot so up close and personal. But of the ones she had seen, his was definitely the best.
Letting out a shaky breath, she grabbed up her nightdress and dropped it down over her head, letting the drying towel drop only after the gown had fallen into place. For the first time since she’d seen the clothing selection Ellie had presented, she was actually grateful there was so much material in what she’d be wearing through the night.
“Okay. I’m done.”
“Then it’s time for bed,” he announced, crossing the room to poke at the fire until the flames died down.
One look at Colin’s expression as he approached and Abby knew it was time for immediate action. She pulled the coverlet from the top of the bed and quickly wadded it into a roll, plopping it on top of the nearest pillow and pushing the entire bundle toward him.
“There. Do you think that will be enough bedding for you? I mean, you are planning on sleeping on the floor, right?” Because he wasn’t sleeping in the bed. Not with her. She remembered all too well how she’d behaved the last time she’d been horizontal next to Colin.
“I’ve enough of the hard ground in my future. It’s my own bed I’ll be sleeping in this night.”
“Okay.” She pulled the bundle back toward her and picked it up in her arms. “You’re right. It is your bed. I’ll take the floor.”
The hearth looked a likely spot. There was already a rug there to soften the stone floor a bit. She skirted around the bed, but made it only a few steps before Colin’s big hand clamped down on her arm.
“No.” He pulled her to him until their faces were mere inches apart. “You’ll have yer own fill of the hard ground in a day’s time.”
And then he was kissing her.
She somehow missed the start of it. One minute she was staring into the deep pools of his Caribbean blue eyes and the next thing she knew, her tongue was buried in his mouth, her fingers tangled in his hair, and her body thrumming with need.
He broke the kiss, his warm lips trailing across her cheek and to her neck as she fought to catch her breath in quick, desperate little huffs.
Damn, but he was dangerous. And not just because of the way he looked. Or the way he kissed. It was the soft-guy interior packaged in a tough-guy wrapper. It was the kind and gentle way he touched her, the sweet things he did for her.
It was everything about him.
“A shame it is. Hard, rocky ground under yer lovely soft body,” he whispered. “Every night, stones and twigs digging into yer flesh. Unless you’ll but agree to stay here and wait for me to return to you.”
Okay. Not everything about him. His unrelenting stubbornness wasn’t all that attractive.
“No.”
He buried his face in her neck, holding her so close she could feel his heartbeat pounding against her breast.
