Page 168 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

She leaned into his long, lingering kiss.

‘Better?’ he asked, when they finally pulled apart. His glance slid to the tiny pearl buttons down the front of her bodice. ‘Well, they’ll be a challenge.’

‘And we both know you love a challenge. Do I look as stressed as I feel?’

‘It’s not too late to elope,’ he said, a smile glimmering in his eyes.

‘We have been through this. Let people have this day. We have the rest of our lives together.’

Before he could react to this emotional statement her gaze went past him to the fluttering drapes and her eyes widened in comprehension.

‘You actually climbed in through the window?’ She gasped, thinking of the fifty-foot drop below the window.

He brushed a twig off his lapel and gave an irrepressible grin.

‘And after being forbidden to do so on pain of bringing down dire cosmic retribution on our heads. Apparently, it is unlucky to see the bride in her dress before the wedding—did you know that?’

‘Everyone knows that.’

‘I am not superstitious. The window seemed the obvious solution to my being denied access to you.’

‘Obvious? Only to a mad person,’ she retorted, fighting back a grin as she clicked her tongue with mock severity. ‘You can’t climb through bedroom windows on your wedding day. Andwhy...?There are doors. And I have never known you not to do something because it was forbidden before.’

‘I thought you’d consider it a romantic gesture,’ he admitted. ‘Have I not earned a few brownie points?’

‘It is not romantic to break your bones on your wedding day.’

‘I had no intention of falling.’

She laughed.

Joaquin didn’t laugh. His expression was brooding and intent, almost like a man in pain, as he stared at her.

‘God, but you look beautiful!’ he said, his voice smoky with emotion. ‘I was persuaded to spend last night away from you against my better judgement, and I wanted... Ineededto see you. I never want us to spend another night apart.’

The possessive warmth glowing in his eyes made her light up inside. ‘I’m not sure how practical that will be,’ she said lovingly. ‘But I missed you last night too... Today has been...’ She grabbed her hair in both hands. ‘Look!’

‘Gorgeous!’

‘No, not gorgeous! Awful! Every time I practised putting it up it worked, and today...’

‘Wear it loose. I like—All right,’ he added quickly, when he recognised the signs of an imminent meltdown. ‘Let me,’ he heard himself offer recklessly.

‘You?’

Sitting on the stool in front of the dressing table mirror, she discovered there was something almost hypnotic about watching his hands running through her hair, his elegant fingers massaging her scalp.

It was ten minutes later when he spoke. ‘More relaxed?’

She opened eyes that had drifted closed. Her hair was still loose but, yes, she was relaxed, she realised.

Even though she probably shouldn’t be.

‘I am,’ she admitted, meeting his eyes. She shivered as his fingertips grazed her neck and he pushed her hair to one side to kiss her neck. ‘Mmm... I should be getting... Joaquin... You can’t...’

But of course he could.

He could always transform her into a helpless bundle of inarticulate longing.

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