A Vow to Secure His Legacy

Imogen looked down at his glossy dark hair against her skin, that proud face, his large, capable hand clamping her hip while his lips skated across the place where their baby lay.

Her heart turned over at Thierry’s tenderness, and stupidly, tears pricked the back of her eyes. Rapidly, she blinked them back.

‘You really do care about the baby.’ The revelation tightened her throat.

His eyes met hers and connection throbbed between them, strong as the beat of her heart. ‘Of course I care.’

Imogen shook her head, confused by what she thought she saw in his eyes. ‘There’s no need for this...us.’ She stumbled over the words, hating the idea that, for the sake of their baby, he might pretend to want her too.

‘No need?’ His dark brows scrunched together.

She tried to hitch herself higher in the bed but his weight imprisoned her.

‘You don’t want me. There’s no need to pretend.’

‘Not want you?’ His eyes rounded.

Imogen looked away, too aware suddenly of her nakedness. ‘When I went to your room, when I wanted you, you rejected me.’ Sheer pride kept her voice steady when it felt like she was crumbling into a thousand humiliated pieces.

‘Listen to me, Imogen.’ His hand was warm and compelling as he cupped her chin, turning it so she was forced to meet his gaze. ‘I never, not even for a moment, stopped wanting you.’

‘But—’

‘But I tried to ignore that because I needed to look after you. I thought you were too sick, too fragile—’

‘Fragile!’ Her eyes bulged.

Thierry nodded. ‘I was trying to protect you from me.’ Slowly the grim line of his mouth eased into a rakish smile that made her heart dance. ‘But you’re not ill now, are you?’ His voice grazed her nerves like suede on silk.

Imogen opened her mouth to argue, to probe, but abruptly he was gone, sliding down her body. ‘Thierry?’

He positioned himself low, his strong hands urging her thighs up and out, leaving her wide open to him. Imogen’s breath stalled, her protest disintegrating as those midnight-dark eyes snared hers. His mouth dipped to touch her in that most sensitive spot and a shiver of powerful excitement shot through her. She’d waited so long for his loving. Wonder filled her at the idea he, like she, had suffered from the careful distance they’d maintained.

Imogen swallowed hard, but before she could formulate words his mouth caressed her again. This time the bolt of pleasure rocked her to the core.

Seconds later, her heart quivering from the smoky expression in his eyes, the flames erupted and her whole body lit up from the inside. The climax was more powerful than any Imogen remembered. She found herself sobbing his name, her hands biting his shoulders as waves of pleasure rolled through her.

Afterwards he didn’t smile. There was no satisfaction like he’d shown in the past when she hadn’t been able to contain her response to him. His expression was serious, completely intent as he gently lowered her legs, stroking her thighs till the racking shudders of ecstasy abated.

Through half-closed eyes she watched him undress, revealing the lean, powerful body that was so superbly masculine and honed to perfection. His movements were methodical and slow, as if he didn’t understand how much she needed him, even after that climax. No, because of it. She needed Thierry, his body joined with hers.

Finally, he covered her with his hard frame, careful to take his weight on his arms. Heavy thighs pressed against hers, the rough silk dusting of his chest hair tickled her nipples and she sighed, relishing his heavy erection nudging her.

Imogen clutched his shoulders, trying to draw him closer, but he resisted, his jaw locked in an expression of determination that flummoxed her. But soon she understood.

It wasn’t enough that he’d already reduced her to white-hot ash with that blast of sexual release. He was determined to do it again, with his superb body and his hand between her legs.

‘I want you. Now,’ she gasped, letting go of his shoulder and reaching for him. But she’d barely brushed her fingers across that hot erection when he captured both her wrists and shackled them above her head with one hand.

‘Thierry!’ But his mouth met hers, stopping her complaints, and all the while he made love to her with a slow, sure eroticism that made her tremble all over again. Heat sparked anew and she jerked hard beneath his touch as rapture took her.

How long he pleasured her she didn’t know but she saw stars over and over again. Her breathing fractured and her body was limp and boneless from an overload of delight.