“Go downstairs and find some candles,” she ordered every bit as imperiously as her daughter might have.
“It’s still daylight.”
“Twilight,” she corrected. “It’ll be dark soon and I want candles.”
He sighed. “Anything else?”
“Bring back the wine, too.”
“Got it,” he said, heading out the door.
“And some flowers,” she called after him. “Lots and lots of flowers.”
He poked his head back into the room. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“What?” she inquired with a look somewhere between pure innocence and very feminine satisfaction.
“Tormenting me.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Yes, dammit,” he shot back, but there was little venom in his voice.
He actually found her playfulness another delicious surprise. The delay was tantalizing. As if he didn’t already want her badly enough, his body was practically throbbing with need now. There was no way she could possibly have any doubts at all, after this, about how hungry he was for her. Torment was a small price to pay for reassuring her on that point.
To even the score just a little, though, he took his own sweet time to gather up the candles, flowers and wine she’d requested. Let her stew a little, too, he thought as he finally made his way back upstairs. If the sexual tension mounted another notch or two, they would probably burst into flames on contact.
Back upstairs, at the doorway to the room, he came to a screeching halt for the second time that evening, stunned by the sight in front of him.
She had used the time very efficiently. Not only was the mess cleared away, but she had somehow managed to shed her wedding gown and exchange it for a filmy white negligee that skimmed over her curves, revealing details about her body he’d only imagined before. Her back was to him, the fading light from outside just enough to enhance the intriguing vision before him.
“Dear heaven,” he murmured, stunned into immobility. His throat went dry.
Turning to look at him over her shoulder, she gave him the kind of soft, knowing smile women had been bestowing on infatuated men for eons. It sent a shudder of pure desire sweeping through him.
“I thought you were beautiful before, but I was wrong,” he said in a strangled voice. “You are magnificent.”
Surprisingly, the comment drew a look of uncertainty. “You don’t have to say that.”
“I do,” he insisted, hastily setting flowers, wine and candles on the nightstand beside the bed and reaching for her. “You are magnificent.”
She came into his arms without hesitation, fitting her body to his with an eagerness that turned his breathing ragged. Her anxious fingers worked at the studs on his shirt. As it came open, she pressed hot, quick kisses against his bared chest. The touch of velvet soft lips and warm breath sent his pulse spinning wildly.
“Whoa,” he murmured. “Slow down, sweetheart. We have all night.”
He glanced into her eyes then and read more than desire there. He detected once again that uncertainty and realized that until he claimed her in a rush of uncensored passion, she would be filled with doubts. About him. About whatever seeds of uncertainty Paul had planted in her brain with his shabby treatment of her.
There would be time enough later for long, slow, deliberately sensual seduction, for discovery. There were years ahead of them for lazy caresses and deep, passionate kisses. Thousands of nights lay before them, nights of sultry breezes and whispered exchanges as they learned intimate secrets about each other’s body.
When her trembling fingers reached for the button on his pants, he helped her, shucking them off along with his briefs, after kicking aside his shoes.
Pulling her tightly against his hard, anxious body, he tumbled carefully onto the bed with her. He rolled her on top of him as they fell, exulting in the natural fit of soft curves and hard angles.
He never took his eyes from hers, not when his hands skimmed over her full, sensitive breasts, not when her hands reached for his aroused manhood. He saw the moment when her eyes darkened with passion, saw the instant of surprise when he fit his body to hers, entering her with a hard, fast stroke that had her gasping and her hips lifting to meet each thrust.
And he witnessed in the depths of her eyes the precise second when her body shattered in a climax that rocked them both. The satisfaction that streaked through him then, the wonder of giving her pleasure, was like a miracle. He’d had no idea that making love could be like this.
She was still panting, still exhilarated when he took her on another, slower climb that had her eyes widening with astonishment and then pure delight as they reached the pinnacle together and dove off into yet another whirlwind of sensation more magnificent than anything Jordan had ever experienced before.
He wasn’t sure which was more heady, watching Kelly reach the heights of joy or sharing it with her. Together, they brought him immense gratification.
Eventually, exhausted and satiated, he settled Kelly more tightly against his body, his arms around her waist, her head resting on his chest.
She was certainly full of surprises, this woman he’d married. Once again, he indulged in a moment of smug satisfaction with his decision making. Obviously it was possible to use cool logic when choosing a bride. The passion they’d just shared reinforced his confidence.
Kelly propped herself up on her elbow and stared down at him. Her fingers tangled in the hair on his chest, then skimmed over bare, still damp skin.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“About us,” he replied without hesitation.
She appeared instantly fascinated. “What about us?”
“How well suited we are. In bed and out. It just goes to prove my point.”
A shadow crossed her eyes. “What point would that be?”
“That people should use their brains more often when choosing a mate.”
“As opposed to what?”
He heard the edginess in her tone too late. By the time he met her gaze,
