Read Online The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander - Free Book Online Page B

excitement. She sagged against him, an odd yearning for more building within her.
    “After all,” he murmured between kisses, “it’s not as if we can do anything at this point.” This point, he thought, this magnificent, bewitching point. Deftly brushing away her sleeve, he exposed one perfect shoulder. He teased the satin skin with teeth and tongue and then his mouth drifted lower toward breasts now heaving with newfound arousal and innocent desire. His tongue traced the neckline of her bodice and her skin quivered beneath his touch. His words whispered against the swell of her breast. “It’s not as if we could go after them.”
    The temptation of the valley between her breasts beckoned and enticed. His tongue tasted her heated flesh, and she shuddered. Aching need surged in his veins. Any determination not to allow their passion to triumph over them ebbed away. They were to be married, at any rate. What harm could there be in a few passionate kisses, a few intimate caresses, a mere moment of shared arousal?
    “Erick,” she said softly. Vaguely, he noted that her breathing had slowed to nearly normal. He raised his head reluctantly and gazed into her eyes. A slight frown creased her forehead and a thoughtful expression graced her face. Erick stared in disbelief. His desire vanished, as if hit by an icy splash of water. Here he was, in the midst of a rather successful seduction, and the blasted chit wasn’t even paying attention!
    She stared up at him. “Why can’t we?”
    “Why can’t we what?” She might have dampened his ardor, but it would still take him a few moments to get his mind off the temptations she’d been so close to offering and he’d been more than willing to sample.
    “Go to Egypt, of course.” She scrambled off the sofa and paced the room. Excitement built in her voice. “It’s perfect, Erick. With us along, your father can’t possibly take advantage of my mother.”
    Erick shook his head, still wondering how she could shift from the throes of passion to exhibit enthusiasm for something altogether different so quickly and easily. God knows he couldn’t. He sighed in irritation, frustration sharpening the edges of his words. “I think you’ve forgotten a number of things.”
    He stood to face her and ticked off the items on his fingers. “Number one, she did not go with my father; he is accompanying her for her own protection. As a favor to me, I might add. Number two, your mother has some kind of mysterious business in Egypt, and from what she has or has not said to both you and my father, I don’t believe she would welcome us along. Number three, they have already left. There’s no guarantee we could catch up with them.”
    “And finally ...” With a flourish, he presented his trump card. “We have the same problem our parents do: no chaperone. The whole idea is absurd.”
    “Piffle,” Belinda said with a wave of her hand.
    “Piffle?”
    “Piffle.” She nodded firmly. “Not one of your objections holds water.” She cast him a triumphant smile, then echoed his earlier gesture, counting her reasons off on her fingers. “Your Aunt Wynne can be our chaperone. I daresay the poor old dear would love a trip like this. She doesn’t seem to get out much. And if you go to the docks today, you can probably find out what route their ship was taking. With any luck we can take a ship with a faster or more direct route. Finally, regardless of what my mother does or does not want, she is behaving so oddly, I think it is in her best interest for us to act.”
    “You mean interfere,” he said wryly.
    “Perhaps.” She shrugged. “All I know is that my mother is normally a reserved, reasonable woman who never does anything the least bit impulsive or ill advised.”
    Erick drew his brows together in a thoughtful frown. “I have been wondering about all this. You can not remember her behaving like this before?”
    “Never.” Belinda shook her head in a blizzard of golden curls.