She didn’t answer.
“Well?” he said sharply.
“I’m thinking!”
He exhaled, setting his jaw. “I’m not going to seduce you. Surely you know that by now. What more can I do to prove it to you?”
“You don’t have to do anything,” she said in a small voice. “I believe you.”
“Then what are you so afraid of?”
She looked at him in the dim light of the flickering lantern as they stood alone together in his tent.
“But what if I touch you?” she whispered.
Kasimir’s whole body went hard so fast he nearly staggered back from the intensity of his desire. He held his breath, staring down at her as he choked out, “You—”
“Just accidentally, I mean,” she said, her cheeks red. “I might roll over in bed in the middle of the night and put my arms around you while I’m sleeping. Or something. You might wake up and, well, get the wrong idea...”
The wrong idea? Kasimir’s mind was filled with dozens of ideas, and all of them seemed exactly right. He looked at the way she was chewing her full, pink lower lip. A habit of hers. He wanted to lean forward and taste its sweetness for himself. To part her mouth with his own and stroke deep inside with his tongue. To push her back against the blue cushions of the bed, to feel her naked skin against his, and bury himself deep inside her.
“Well, would you?” she said awkwardly. “Or would you know it was all...an innocent mistake?”
Kasimir cleared his throat, forcing the seductive images of her from his mind. “You don’t need to worry,” he said, hoping she didn’t notice the hoarseness of his voice. “I do not make a habit of pouncing on virgins in the middle of the night.”
She stared at him, then gave him a sudden, irrepressible smile that caused a dimple in her cheek. “Why? Is there some other time you prefer to do it?”
She was teasing him! His lips parted in surprise, then he gave a low laugh, shaking his head. “For your information, I’ve never been anyone’s first lover.”
Josie blinked. “Ever?”
“No,” he said softly. “You were my first ‘first’ kiss.”
“I was?”
“And I’ve changed my mind,” Kasimir said in a low voice. “I’m not sorry about kissing you. Because I’ll never forget how it felt.”
For an instant, they looked at each other in the flickering light.
“Nor will I,” she whispered.
The night wind shook noisily against the canvas of the tent, and he forced himself to turn away. “Change for bed.”
“Change clothes in the same tent? Forget it!”
“You can change behind the screen. I won’t look.”
“Can’t you please wait outside?”
“And give you the chance to run off in the dark? No.”
“But I don’t have a nightgown.” She choked out a nervous laugh. “Am I supposed to sleep naked?”
Naked. He squeezed his eyes shut, imagining the full, bare curves of her naked body, hot and smooth beneath his hands. He shuddered, his body aching. He realized he had clenched his hands again. His fists were as hard as the rest of him.
Stop it, he ordered his body, which ignored him. He exhaled.
“Look in that trunk.” He waved his hand behind him without looking towards her. “Over there. They should fit.”
“Really? Thanks.” He heard her go to the trunk and dig through it before she went towards the wooden screen painted with designs of flowers. “I guess I owe you.”
“You can pay me back by not getting yourself killed,” he growled, still not turning around. “What was your plan of escape, anyway?”
“My plan?” When he heard her voice muffled behind the screen, he knew it was safe to turn around. He saw her arms lifting over the top of the painted wooden panels as she pulled off her shirt. She tossed it over the screen, followed by the white lacy bra he’d given her. He swallowed, feeling hot. She gave a low laugh. “You’re right, it was completely stupid. I hadn’t figured out the exact details, but I was going to steal a horse from your pen, fling myself on it and ride bareback into the sunset.”
“Do you have experience with horses?”
“Absolutely none.” She tossed her pants over the top of the screen with a merry laugh. “Now that I’m considering my plan in a more rational light, I’m kind of relieved you figured it out.”
Josie was naked behind the screen—or nearly so, just wearing the lacy white panties he’d had purchased for her in Marrakech. He tried not to think about it. Because in a moment, they’d be lying beside each other in his big bed.