With an audible sigh Seth took her into his arms, and the look he gave her was intense. ‘It’s not just about pleasing me, Imogen. If and when we make love it will be a two-way street. Your pleasure is equally important—even more so in light of what you’ve just told me.’
His words filled her with elation. Maybe their proposed partnership would turn out to be a good thing. If she could learn to trust that he was sincere she might be able lower the protective barriers she’d erected round her heart and enjoy life once again...
‘I think that we need to get this marriage arranged sooner rather than later,’ he announced firmly. ‘Leave it to me. I have contacts who can help us. In the meantime, I want you to organise to take next week off. I’m going to take you away somewhere for a little holiday, so that we can really start to get to know one another without distraction.’
His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, as they were apt to do whenever he smiled that knee-buckling smile of his, and Imogen’s limbs turned as weak as marshmallow.
‘Just one more kiss,’ he said. ‘Then I have to go and you can get to bed.’
As soon as the hot, sultry kiss began she knew she didn’t want it to end. As his hands moved down over her body Seth made her feel things that she’d never felt before—even at the height of her ultimately disastrous romance with Greg. His touch stoked a fire in her that flamed hotter as each moment passed.
He cupped her breast through the flimsy material of her dress and teased the nipple into burgeoning life, then he nipped at her mouth with his teeth, making her gasp. But suddenly, with a groan, he fastened his hands round her slim upper arms and called a halt to the proceedings. Both of them were breathing hard.
‘As much as I’d like to stay, I think we need to rein things in,’ he told her huskily. ‘When we do finally make love I want it to be in surroundings more conducive to relaxation—somewhere beautiful. I’ll ring you in a couple of days and let you know about the arrangements for our trip. Now I’ll go and get your passport and birth certificate from the car, and I’ll also get the copy of the marriage agreement that I had drawn up.’
He left her for a while to do just that, and Imogen hugged her arms over her chest in a bid to try to stay calm. Even when Seth left her for the shortest time she felt as if something vital was missing.
He quickly returned and left the documents on the coffee table. With a slow smile he clasped her to him and kissed her cheek. ‘Remember that you’re going to need to take the whole week off.’
‘I know. I won’t forget.’
‘Good.’
True to his word, but with clear reluctance, Seth left her then, and Imogen sank down onto the couch, hardly knowing what to make of her growing feelings for this man. Her lips were aching and contused after their hungry caresses, and her body was frustrated beyond belief that she hadn’t been able to attain fulfilment.
She couldn’t believe how much she craved his touch. He had made her feel more alive than she’d felt in years, and her blood was infused with dizzying heat when she thought about their getting to know one another more intimately in the week that would follow...
* * *
Hardly a moment went by over the next couple of days when Seth didn’t find himself thinking about Imogen.
His surprise that she could have such a profound effect on him was genuine. Usually he made a point of never letting a woman get into his blood to such a disturbing degree, but just one glance from her lovely brown eyes had the power to make him forget that vow and long to know her intimately. Especially since he had tasted the sweetly drugging nectar of her lips and experienced the delightful curves of her body beneath his hands...
Learning that she was a virgin had explained why she had that beguiling air of untouched innocence about her, and his heart had raced when she’d told him that she wanted to stay pure for her wedding night. This so-called ‘convenient’ arrangement he was contemplating now had the potential to turn into something far more serious if he didn’t take things more slowly.
That was why he didn’t trust emotions. They were apt to make people fall into making rash decisions that could adversely impact on them for the rest of their lives. Whilst he couldn’t ever regret falling for Louisa all those years ago, the way her father had made him feel so small and unworthy was a stain on his soul that wouldn’t easily be removed.
But Imogen was a real rarity in this day and age, that was for sure. And because her innocence wasn’t something he took at all lightly, it would be up to him to make her experience of making love for the very first time satisfyingly memorable and one she wouldn’t regret...