Pulling the covers back, she eased down as gently as possible and lay on her back. On the edge. As stiff as a board. And the ache for him only grew as his masculine scent surrounded her and his body heat warmed the minuscule space between them.
The bed dipped as Luc rolled toward her. “Are you okay?”
His body fitted perfectly against hers. Just the brush of the coarse hair on his legs against her smooth ones had her senses on alert...as if they needed to be heightened.
Was she okay? Not really. On one hand she was terrified. On the other she was completely intrigued...and spiraling headfirst into arousal. And arousal was taking the lead over so many emotions. With his breath tickling her skin, she was fully consumed by the one man she’d wanted for so long. It would be so easy, yet so wrong, to roll over and take what she wanted.
“I’m fine,” she assured him.
With the darkness surrounding them, the intimacy level seemed to soar. She should’ve insisted on a small light or something. But then she would see his face. Honestly, she had no clue what was more torturous.
“You’re tense.”
Understatement of the year.
Luc’s hand trailed up her arm, moving to rest on her stomach. If he thought she was tense before, he should just keep touching her. She was about to turn to stone.
She needed to regain control of her body, her hormones. Unfortunately, her mind and her girlie parts were not corresponding very well right now, because she was getting hot, restless, as if she needed to shift toward him for more of that delicate touching he was offering.
No. This was wrong. Her even thinking of wanting more was wrong. Just because he’d kissed her earlier didn’t mean a thing. He’d done so to shut her up, to prove a point and to take charge as he always did.
Yet given the way he’d masterfully taken over and kissed her with such force and passion, there was no way he’d been unmoved. And she would’ve called him on it, but now she was dealing with a new set of issues surrounding her desires.
“If you’re worried about me, I’m fine,” he assured her. “I just want to lie here and hold you. Scoot over against me. I feel like you’re about ready to fall out of the bed.”
Just as she started to shift, her knee brushed against him. His unmistakable arousal had her stopping short.
“Ignore it,” he said with a laugh. “I’m trying like hell.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Kate sighed. “I can’t do this.”
Five
Luc grabbed Kate around the waist just as she started to get up. Pulling her flush against him, her back against his chest, he held on tight. Her silky gown slid over his bare chest, adding fuel to the already out-of-control fire.
“Don’t,” he whispered in her ear, clutching the silk material around her stomach, keeping her body taut against his own. “Just relax.”
“You need to be sleeping.”
Her body was still so stiff, so rigid beneath him. Something had seriously freaked her out and she wasn’t telling him what it was. Damn it, was it something he already knew but couldn’t recall? Or was this not about her at all, but something to do with his fall?
A sliver of fear slid through him.
“Did the doctor say something you’re not telling me?” he asked.
“What? No.”
She shifted, relaxing just a touch as she laid her hand over his on her stomach. The first contact she’d initiated since climbing into bed.
“He didn’t say much when I walked him out,” she went on. “Just that he felt it necessary for you to remember on your own.”
“The only thing I want to do right now is to get you to relax.”
Luc slid his hand out from beneath hers, to the lacy edge of her silk gown. Her body stiffened briefly, then arched as if she was fighting her own arousal. When she sucked in a breath, Luc knew he had her.
“Luc, you need to rest.”
Her shaky voice betrayed her, indicating she was just as achy and excited as he was. He pushed one of her legs back, easing his fingers beneath the silk until he found the delicate elastic edge on her panties.
“What I need to do is pleasure my woman,” he whispered in her ear, pleased when she trembled.
Kate’s back arched again and her head fell against his shoulder. “Luc, you don’t have to—”
He nipped at the tender flesh of her earlobe as he eased his hand inside her panties to stroke her. “I want to.”
Her soft moans, her cry when he found just the right spot, left his mouth dry. It didn’t take long for her body to give in and shudder beneath his touch. She gasped, trembled all the while Luc trailed kisses along her shoulder, her neck when she’d turn just so and the soft spot below her ear.
Yet nothing triggered any memories.
All the same, he didn’t regret giving her pleasure. Everything about this private moment only made him want her, yearn for her more.
“Are you always this responsive?” he whispered.
Slowly, she rolled toward him, rested a palm on his chest. With the pale glow from the moon, he didn’t miss the shimmer in Kate’s eyes.
“Baby, don’t cry.”
She blinked, causing more tears to slide down her flushed cheeks. “You didn’t remember, though, did you?”
He smoothed her damp hair away from her face. “No.”
When her hand started down his abdomen, toward the top of his boxer briefs, he gripped her wrist.
Kate had been through a rough time, and even though he was the one suffering the medical concern, he wasn’t about to let her think he’d given her pleasure only to get his own. This moment was all about her, reassuring her that he—no, that they—would be okay.
“We both need to rest right now,” he told her, dropping a kiss to her forehead. “You’re exhausted, I’m recovering. We’ll make love tomorrow and I’ll make this up to you, Kate. Our trip won’t be ruined. I promise.”
* * *
So stupid. Foolish, careless and flat-out irresponsible.
First she’d let him touch her, then she’d cried. The tears came instantly after she’d crashed back into reality after the most amazing climax she’d ever had.
The moment had been so consuming, so mind-blowing. That’s when she knew Luc hadn’t remembered anything, or he would’ve been angry to be in that position with her.
So when the tears fell, she’d had no way to stop them.
What should’ve been a beautiful moment was tarnished by the situation. She hadn’t expected Luc to be so powerful in bed. She truly had no idea how she’d hold him off from becoming intimate now that they’d shared such passion.
Kate had eased from the bed early this morning. Her vow to leave and sleep on the couch as soon as he fell asleep had gone out the window. After his mission to relax her had been a success, she’d been dead to the world.
How had this bizarre scenario spiraled so far out of control? She’d just spent the night in her boss’s arms, a boss who was a prince, a boss who thought she was his fiancée. He was a man who prided himself on control and keeping his professional and personal lives separate. The rule was very clear at the palace.
Everything that had happened in the past eighteen hours was a colossal mess.
Kate had hurried back to her cottage early this morning while Luc slept. She’d managed to smuggle a couple sundresses and her swimsuit over. That should get her through the next few days, though she prayed she wouldn’t be here that long.
Her cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her short dress. Pulling it out, she was thankful the service seemed to be holding up. The doctor’s name lit up her screen.
“Good morning, Dr. Couchot,” she said, as if she hadn’t had the most life-altering night she’d ever experienced.
“Kate, how is Luc this morning?”
Glancing over her shoulder toward the open patio doors, she saw him still sprawled out on the bed, asleep. She kept checking on him, but he’d grumble and roll back over. She had to assume he was fine, since he was resting so well.
“He’s sleeping in today,” she told the doctor, turning back to watch the gentle waves ebb and flow against the shoreline. “He was exhausted last night.”
“I imagine so. Still nothing new to report? No change in the memory or new symptoms?”
Kate leaned against the wrought-iron railing and wondered if the toe-curling intimacy was worth reporting. Probably best to leave that out of the conversation.
“No. He’s the same.”
The same sexy, determined, controlling man he always was, just with a sweeter side he was willing to share. And he was oh so giving between the sheets...
Dr. Couchot reiterated how Kate was to just let Luc think on his own, let the memories return as slowly or as fast as his mind needed them to. As if she needed reminding. Nearly all she could focus on was keeping this colossal secret.
Once she hung up, she turned, leaning her back against the rail. Watching him sleep was probably wrong, too, but why stop now? She hadn’t done anything right since she’d gotten here. In the span of three days she’d fought with him, kissed him, come undone in his bed and played the part of the doting fiancée. How could she make things any worse?
Kate just prayed he’d get his memory back so they could move on. The lies were eating at her and she didn’t know how she could keep up this charade.