Page 29 of Bride Under Contract

He moved her so easily, Grace thought, and she went so easily. It was as if the wooden floor beneath her feet was air, or she was skating on ice.

Not that she’d ever skated. But even so the thought made her smile as she faced him—or was it the simple relief that they were talking again and alone? His scent cut through the dank humid air, and they were staring at each other as intently as they had the moment they met.

‘What’s everyone saying?’ he asked.

‘That you’re going to have a film crew come here.’ She looked for a reaction but got none. ‘It would be a shame to spoil it.’

‘Arif would concur.’

She must have heard the edge to his voice. ‘Did you two just have an argument?’

‘I guess you could call it that.’

Carter didn’t tell her what it had been about, though, and nor did he tell her the plans were his cousin’s, deciding that in this case perhaps it was better the devil she didn’t know. A sell-out and a power-hungry rat she would possibly be able to fathom more easily than a man whose heart had turned to stone at the age of eight. A man who was a cold, empty shell, who could crush a pretty soul like Grace’s in the palm of his hand.

Yet she stood as if undaunted—in fact she disputed the supposed evidence.

‘It’s just rumours,’ she added.

And in her sarong her shoulders were near naked, her dark curls were still wet from the shower, and he didn’t care about the rules tonight.

‘I missed you last night,’ he told her.

She let out a short, incredulous breath, minty and fresh, and he looked down at the mouth he had forced himself to deny.

He could deny it no more.

Grace found out not only what she’d missed last night, but all she’d been missing. For when his mouth lightly grazed hers, she almost folded inside at the slow, sensual contact.

He could have kissed her the moment she met him, Grace now knew, as her lips brushed his, parting a little. It might have been described as a light kiss, but it was potent, for no contact was broken and she closed her eyes to the heady bliss.

As his hand slid to her waist he pulled her into him. The slip of his tongue, her involuntary moan, seemed to inflame him, as if he’d been waiting for this kiss for a very long time.

So, too, had she.

His kiss was masterful, honed to perfection, and when she closed her eyes, when she sank into sheer bliss, Grace didn’t even care how those skills had been acquired, she just relished their application.

He tasted her, curled her tongue, sucked the tip, so slow and thorough. And that combined with the expensive scent of him, and the heat from his naked torso, had her coveting more of him. She pressed her hands on his bare chest—not to push him away, just to feel beneath, to touch him and feel the fan of hair—then moved them up to his hair, simply to feel more of him.

There was no comparison to the teenage kisses she’d known. It felt like a discovery as she simply allowed the passion in. His hands were more specific—one came to her breast and felt it through the flimsy fabric. She should remove his hand, Grace knew, tell him it was too much, too soon. Only it wasn’t enough, and it was by far too late, for she’d ached for this since last night.

She felt her stomach tense low down as he lifted her hair and kissed her neck with the same deep attention he had given her mouth. His hand left her breast and pulled her closer in, and possibly he lifted her a little, for her bare feet felt as if there was no ground beneath them.

Her eyes were closed, her mouth frantic. ‘Why didn’t you kiss me last night?’ she breathed.

‘Shh...’ he said, kissing down her neck towards her shoulder. ‘I’m kissing you now...’

‘Why?’ she asked again, still bemused, only more so now. A night and a day of frustration had her demanding answers and she moved her neck so they faced each other, breathless, mid-kiss, suspended in want. She could feel where his mouth had been, and watched as he pondered her question.

‘Because you don’t know me.’

‘You don’t know me either, Carter,’ she responded. Because if he knew she had never been touched, or the true chaos of her life back home, then she was certain he’d be gone.

‘If you did know me, you’d know we can go nowhere. I don’t do relationships.’

‘So, you think with one kiss I’d assume we were in a relationship?’

‘Grace, I think we both want more than one kiss.’

---