tonight and go our separate ways in the morning?”
She brushed another kiss across his lips before saying, “No, I’m looking at something a little longer than a one-night stand. I’m suggesting we share a bed while you’re in Houston and when you leave for parts unknown you won’t look back and I won’t have any regrets. The time we’ll spend together will be a memory we’ll have forever. What do you think of that?” She brushed another kiss across his lips.
Ashton knew it was time he showed his future wife just what he thought.
This time when her mouth touched his, he cupped the back of her head with his hand. Parting her lips with his tongue he swept inside her mouth, stealing her next words—whatever they may have been. And when she moaned in a shuddering breath, he stole that, too. Hecontinued kissing her with more fire and more passion than he’d kissed her that night in her office.
That was only the beginning.
He broke off the kiss and took a step back from her and began tugging the tails of his shirt out of his jeans. He then began unbuttoning his shirt while she watched him.
The rate of Netherland’s breathing increased when he removed his shirt and tossed it aside. His chest and shoulders looked firm, muscled, strong, and she wanted to feel the naked strength of them beneath her fingertips. Her skin began to feel heated when she watched him slowly unzip his pants. Her eyes widened. She blinked when he tugged down his jeans and revealed…a loincloth?
Netherland blinked again. Her jaw dropped. Ashton’s underwear was styled as a loincloth. She inhaled deeply. She had seen men in boxers. Her father and brothers still preferred those kinds. Erik had preferred wearing briefs. But she had never seen a pair of loincloth underwear and hadn’t known such a thing existed. Standing before her, he could have been either primitive Indian or primitive African. The loincloth could have served either purpose.
“Now your turn, Netherland.” The deep hoarseness in his voice filled the room.
She blinked again. “You want me to undress?” She could barely get the words out. She could barely swallow. The man had the best-looking body she had ever seen. All hard and firm.
She inhaled deeply and continued to look at him. He looked magnificent.
“Yes, I want you to undress. But keep your panties and bra on.”
She inhaled deeply once more. Then she did as he had instructed and began removing her clothes. He watched her every move.
First she unhooked her skirt and let it drop to the floor. Then came her blouse, which left her in her bra and halfslip. His eyes never left hers when she tugged her slip down past her hips, grateful that she’d had the mind that morning to wear a matching bra and panty set with—of all things—a tiger print.
If that didn’t beat all.
Here he stood before her looking like something straight from some African jungle or some American wildlands, and she was dressed like prey. A willing prey at that. Whatever fight or resistance would have been in her had left the moment he’d dropped his pants.
Their gazes locked and held as he walked slowly over to her. “You are about to be captured, Netherland. Totally and completely. You may as well surrender,” he said softly. “But make no mistake about it. If you surrender, you have to surrender all. I won’t take anything less than that. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Not really, but Netherland nodded anyway.
“Do you know how much I want you, Netherland? Do you have any idea?”
She swallowed, then heard herself say, “It can’t beany more than I want you, Ashton. This attraction between us is unnatural.”
“No, it’s not,” he whispered, reaching out and sliding his fingertips down her abdomen and beneath the band of her panties. Gently, soothingly, he touched her damp heat with his fingertips. “There’s nothing unnatural about it. You are my soul mate. Our spirits are entwined. I knew it the very first
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