“Perhaps, but I don’t intend to take the risk. I won’t take a real lover.”
His mouth curled at one corner. “I suppose that as your husband, I should be gratified. I wouldn’t relish being cuckolded.”
“You needn’t worry on that score.”
“But you don’t expect your proscription against taking lovers to apply to me?”
“No. I have said so more than once.”
Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Kell felt an unaccountable stab of resentment at her tolerant attitude, especially since he couldn’t reciprocate. He couldn’t feel at all tolerant about her making love to other men.
His brows narrowed in a frown. There was a reasonable explanation for his proprietary feelings toward Raven: it was no more than pure primal instinct. By taking her body, by being the first to claim her, he’d created an intimate bond between them as old as the laws of procreation-the primitive animal hunger of a healthy male for a ready female, the exultation of the conqueror. It was only natural that he would feel a certain possessiveness toward his beautiful new wife.
Scoffing at himself, Kell abruptly changed the subject. “We should establish some other rules for our relationship,” he said brusquely. “I have a house in London. You may use it as it suits you, but eventually you will want to find one of your own.”
Her blue eyes searched his. “You don’t mind if I live with you?”
“Whether or not I mind, we will have to reside together for a time if we want to keep up the pretense of a love match. Afterward we can go our separate ways. I will take you there tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Why don’t you get some sleep?”
She turned over, giving him her back, her hair a curtain of tousled silk that flowed to the pillows.
It was a long while before Kell heard her breathing soften into a
low and even rhythm, longer still before he could relax the tension in his own body.
Despite his exhaustion, however, sleep eluded him, for his thoughts kept returning to their consummation. What should have been a perfunctory coupling had turned far hotter than he’d anticipated-and it had dismayed the hell out of him. Raven was so exquisitely responsive, so startlingly vibrant that he’d wanted to bury himself endlessly in her.
He’d fought his desire. It had taken every ounce of control he possessed to resist her wild sweetness and withdraw from her. That brief, explosive encounter hadn’t been enough to sate him, either. He could still feel the lushness of her slim body moving against him, the hot, soft tightness of her virginal passage as he sheathed himself inside her, the way she fit perfectly in his arms.
The savage rush of hunger that memory inspired made Kell curse.
Unable to help himself, he reached out and caught a stray lock of her silken hair, letting it drift through his fingers.
Raven Kendrick…no, she was Mrs. Kell Lasseter now, his wife. And she was an enigma. A vixen whose spirit and sensuality concealed a deep wariness. If she could be believed, she feared any man whose touch could arouse her passion.
He feared her as well. He’d been shaken by the experience of making love to her. Shaken by her mouth, her touch, her scent. By his own need.
She was a supremely dangerous temptation.
He had no difficulty understanding how she had attracted so many ardent suitors. He could fall for her without much effort-
God, what a disaster that would be!
He would have enough trouble dealing with the aftermath of their sudden marriage. He dreaded having to tell his brother that he’d wed the very woman Sean had once professed to love. And given Raven’s reputation for breaking hearts, his brother’s included, he would be a fool to allow her any further chance to get under his skin.
In that regard, he regretted having to offer her the use of his London house. The last thing he wanted was to be forced to share his home with Raven, where he would be enticed and tormented by her nearness.
Thankfully they needn’t be together often, or in any intimate way. They could ignore each other for the most part. And he could take refuge in his gaming club much of the time.
Turning over, Kell forced himself to close his eyes. Tomorrow he would deliver Raven to his town house, and then he would be done with his duty. Afterward he should be able to dismiss her from his thoughts and focus on his brother. His chief priority would be determining what to do with Sean, Kell reflected grimly.
It only remained for him to crush his unruly feelings for Raven before they grew into something he could no longer control.
Chapter Eight