Kate’s gaze narrowed. “What is this? Coercion?”
“If you care to see it that way.”
There was no other way to see it.
She had been concerned by his resistance, wondering why he wasn’t pursuing her with an inkling of the same intensity as before, now that he’d enjoyed her body. But evidently he was waiting for her to agree to wed him.
She folded her arms over her chest. “I won’t beg you to make love to me, Deverill.”
“Good, since I don’t know how much willpower I can summon.”
She pressed her lips together. She had a good notion to shake him and make him see reason.
As if reading her thoughts, he gave a warm chuckle.
Without speaking again, Kate marched over to her valise. Flustered and vexed, she found her nightdress and drew it on. Then she climbed into bed, snuffed the lamp, drew the covers up, and turned her back to Deverill.
She expected to hear him making his own bed on the floor, but silence filled the small room. After a moment, she felt the mattress give way as he joined her beneath the covers.
Before she could react, he inched up her nightdress to her hips, then slid his arms around her and pulled her back into the cradle of his body.
At the shock of heat against her skin, Kate caught her breath. “What are you about, Deverill?”
“I have reconsidered.”
“You said you wouldn’t make love to me.”
“I won’t. I am making you ache, just as you’ve done to me. Let’s see how well you handle temptation while I sleep beside you.”
Kate clenched her teeth. He was fully aroused, his member swollen and hard against her buttocks, and he was making her equally aroused—no doubt to remind her of what she was missing by refusing to wed him.
“Sometimes,” she stated in a barely restrained voice, “you can be the most irksome, contrary man of my acquaintance—which is saying a great deal considering the men in my family.”
“I won’t argue with you.” He brushed aside her hair and pressed a kiss in the curve of her neck, eliciting a responsive shiver from her. “Now go to sleep, love. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
His tone was easy but resolute. She wouldn’t sway him, she knew he was saying. Until she gave in, he would sleep in the same bed with her but go no further.
More infuriatingly, she was pitifully glad he had relented even that much.
Despite his advice to sleep, Kate remained awake for a long while. The wash of sexual heat flushing through her body made her restless and on edge, while images of them together naked and wicked and intensely passionate kept assaulting her.
Eventually his body relaxed and his breathing slowed. Kate lay there, listening to his heartbeat. The undercurrent of tension kept her senses tinglingly alive, yet it felt so good to be here with Deverill, sweeter than the sweetest wine.
No doubt such enforced celibacy would be beneficial to the growth of their relationship, but she didn’t like it at all. Not when she wanted to melt into his arms, to savor his hard strength, to explore the explosive magic that he’d only given her a taste of before. Even with the frustration of unfulfilled sexual arousal, though, lying in Deverill’s embrace was far, far better than sleeping alone.
And that realization was the most infuriating of all.
When Brandon woke at dawn’s first light, he lay next to Kate, burning. He relished sleeping with her, but sharing her bed, being unable to satisfy his fierce desire for her, was sheer torment.
Indeed, last evening had strained his willpower to the breaking point. He’d spent much of the time fighting his natural inclination to overwhelm her with passion. He could easily imagine kissing her awake now and arousing her silken body, guiding her to unlock her wildest self. He craved feeling her body respond with ardor.
Even so, he was fully committed to winning Kate—which meant striving to romance her as she wanted, without relying on physical seduction. He needed to show her what it would be like to be his wife, the simple pleasure they could find together.
Even more than pleasure, he wanted to make her happy. Thus for her sake he would try to be the man she wanted him to be, Brandon vowed. If it meant having to explore his long-buried feelings, well then, he was willing to concede.
Just then Kate rolled over onto her back. When her thigh brushed his swollen cock, the contact sent a jolt of pure pleasure rocketing through him.
Sucking in his breath, Brandon raised himself on one elbow to gaze down at her. Her disheveled auburn hair glowed richly in the rays of sunlight filtering through the lace curtains.