“Good.” He pulled her into his arms, his hands sliding down to press her body into his. “I enjoy having you to myself.”
“Me too,” she had no problem admitting.
They kissed, but he kept things from getting too intense. She didn’t mind. There were a thousand different ways to kiss her husband and she enjoyed them all. This warm affirmation of affection was wonderful and she let herself melt into him, trusting that he would take care of them both.
After too short of the blissful interval, he pulled back. “Appetizers will be arriving momentarily.”
“I’m going to be halfway to my weight goal for being able to get pregnant by the end of this cruise. You realize that, don’t you?”
“I would like nothing better.”
Only he didn’t sound as if he was thinking about her weight at all. And for once, she didn’t think the worst—like to wonder if the whole point of the honeymoon had been to get her ready for carrying his child. He’d been too attentive and consistent for her to think his motives for this trip had been mercenary.
She had a hard time attributing ulterior motives to anything he did when he made her feel so cherished.
She grinned. “Okay. Shall I dress for dinner?”
“It would be my preference that you undress, but since the wait staff will be delivering our food, I will be content if you stay as you are until then.”
“I’m not eating in the nude, Ariston.”
“Perhaps you would wear that lovely gown you bought in the gift shop?” he asked with a very hopeful expression.
“I didn’t think you saw me buying that.” It was a mint-green silk negligee complete with peignoir that she’d thought to surprise him with upon returning home.
And so she told him.
“You can surprise me again. Rest assured, my enthusiasm will not be dimmed for the repeated experience.”
She nodded, thinking that maybe, like with the rug, having a nightgown that reminded him of the closeness and intimacy they’d shared on this trip would be a good thing.
“If I’m going to wear lingerie to dinner, I think I’ll bathe beforehand. You can knock on the en suite after our food has been delivered.” With that, she disappeared into the luxurious bathroom.
She’d thought cruise ship accommodations would be tighter, and no doubt they were in the rest of the ship, but Ariston’s personal suite was spacious and had all the finer appointments, like leather furniture, a king-size bed that gave an absolutely fabulous night’s rest and marble in the bathroom that came complete with a Jacuzzi tub.
She imagined all his top-of-the-line suites shared some things in common, but doubted any of them were quite as posh.
Chloe heard voices in the room after she’d been soaking only a few minutes. No wonder Ariston had been so careful to keep their kisses from going incendiary.
As much as she might have liked to relax in the tub longer, she made quick work of washing before letting the tub drain. It would have been more fun with Ariston anyway, and she didn’t want to make dinner cold waiting on her.
She took only a few moments to lotion her face before brushing out her hair and donning the gorgeous nightgown and peignoir. The green silk was too thin to be completely opaque, but the lace-accented peignoir lent another layer of modesty … or titillation, depending on how one looked at it.
Her guess was that Ariston would lean toward the latter.
When she came out of the en suite, his expression was everything she could have wanted it to be upon seeing her. He looked as if he wanted to eat her up.
Perhaps she should have bought the matching set in white, only she’d thought it was too virginal and having been married twice now—if to the same man—she felt anything but.
“You’ll have to wait until after dinner.” She smiled, doing nothing to hide her own desire.
He crossed the room in a few long strides and pulled her against him. “Perhaps we should have dessert first.”
“Anticipation will only improve the experience, or so you used to tell me.” He hadn’t made any such claims on this trip.
“I am less patient than I used to be, I find.”
“Isn’t it supposed to go the other way round? You’re supposed to be more patient as you get older?” she teased.
“So Pappous says, but at least in this, I will have to believe he is wrong.”
She shook her head, laughing softly as she pulled from Ariston’s arms and went over to the table. “Dinner first. I didn’t put this on just for you to take it right back off.”
“But didn’t the saleslady tell you that was exactly the destiny of such nightwear?”
She had actually and Chloe had blushed crimson. Now she just felt warm inside.