“Maybe we shouldn’t be, ah, physical until after the wedding?” Her voice was embarrassingly breathless.
“Are we talking all physical contact or just the good kind?”
She wasn’t sure. She wanted to ask what he meant by the good kind, but she was too scared of the answer. “Why don’t we keep all touching to a minimum until after the wedding? That way we can get to know each other a little before we…”
“Get physical?”
“Yes.” She sagged with relief. “What do you say?”
“Well, we can’t not touch. That would be unnatural. Maybe we should set a limit instead. Tell me when I step over the line.”
He was laughing at her. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but instead he deftly turned her to face him, and his lips met hers. She forgot her complaint. His tongue traced a lazy trail around her lips, tasting, teasing, before dipping into her mouth. Tiny little lights flashed inside Caroline’s eyelids as Josh seduced her with his kiss. One minute it was soft and slow, the next intense and demanding. She clutched his shoulders and held on tight as her mind soared.
“Was that too much touching?” he purred against her lips. His voice was a soft seduction. Caroline found it hard to think.
He trailed his lips over to her ear before tugging her earlobe between his teeth. His breath made her heartbeat race.
“Tell me when it’s too much,” he whispered.
In the back of her mind Caroline got the feeling they were talking about two different things. He peppered tiny kisses along her jaw to her mouth, before biting her bottom lip. Caroline panted. She wrapped her arms tight around his shoulders as his left hand splayed across her waist. His thumb traced lazy circles on her stomach.
“Remember,” he said against her mouth, “cry uncle.”
His words may as well have been German. She was way past thought. She was lost in a place where only sensation mattered. Her breasts pushed against his chest. They felt uncomfortably heavy, and ached to be soothed. As though he were reading her mind, his hand skimmed the underside of her breast. Caroline pressed against him as his tongue teased her upper lip. Suddenly she was in his hand. She felt his touch graze her nipple. She whimpered. More. She needed more.
She felt him tug at the clasp of her bra; there was a ping and she was free. A momentary panic dulled her desire. The hand on her breast disappeared, only to return
under her shirt. Skin on skin. Moving achingly slowly towards her breast. She felt him push the lace of her cup out of the way. Her spine went stiff as anxiety rimmed the edge of her passion. A warm hand engulfed her, and something snapped in her mind. She wasn’t even aware she’d moved. The next thing she knew, she was standing on the other side of the room with her arms folded over her chest.
Josh’s blue eyes were dark. He stared at her for a moment before running a hand through his hair.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
Caroline’s eyes flicked to the door. Part of her wanted to run. The other part wanted to drag him upstairs to her bedroom. She needed to get things under control. She looked at his worried blue eyes. She needed to tell Josh the truth. She needed to explain to him exactly how minuscule her experience really was. Her shoulders slumped. This was going to be a fun experience.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Caroline fled for the bathroom. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with her boobs hanging out.
As she passed her bedroom door, another idea popped into her head—if Josh was called away, she wouldn’t need to have the conversation at all. Looking down the stairs, she checked to make sure Josh couldn’t see her. He was still in the kitchen. She turned the tap on in the bathroom, then tiptoed into her bedroom and picked up the phone. She felt sick at what she was about to do. It went against her nature to lie. Before she could stop herself, she dialled the local police station.
“Caroline, is that you?” Agnes barked into her ear.
Blast. Caroline had planned to do this anonymously. She forgot the police station would have caller ID.
“Yes.” She cleared her throat. “Yes it is. You need to send a police car to the castle. I thought I saw someone breaking in. You had better call Josh McInnes too. I know he has problems with troublesome fans.”
She had lied to the police. She never lied. And she’d lied to the police. She was going straight to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. And never, ever get a chance to roll the dice and break free.
“We’ll get right on it.” There was a pause. “Why did you wait until you got home to call?”
“You know I don’t have a mobile phone, Agnes.” At least that wasn’t a lie.
“Right. I forgot. Thanks for calling.”
A moment later, she heard Josh’s phone ring downstairs and dashed back into the bathroom. As feet pounded up the stairs, she refastened her bra and tucked her shirt back into her skirt. She was patting her cheeks with a towel as Josh appeared in the doorway.
“Sorry, baby, I have to go. There’s been a break-in at the castle. It’s probably nothing, but I should be there.”
“Of course. You go on. We can talk another time.”