Her color deepened. Thank goodness he couldn’t see it. “I’m fine.”
“If I hurt you—”
“You didn’t. Really. I wanted—I wanted—”
Jake put his hand under her chin and gently lifted her face until her eyes met his.
“So did I,” he said huskily.
Her lips curved in a smile. He smiled, too, and gave her a tender kiss. After a long moment he cupped her shoulders and eased her down against the pillows.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said softly. “I’ll only be a minute.”
Cat tugged the blankets to her chin as he got to his feet. It was the first time she’d really seen him naked, the first time she’d seen any man naked, and she drank in the sight as he strolled to the connecting bathroom.
How beautiful he was! Broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped, long-legged. He had a tight bottom, and she blushed again as she wondered how he’d look from the front. She’d felt him, deep, oh, so deep within her, but she hadn’t actually seen…
“Here we go.”
She blinked. He’d tied a towel around his middle. Too bad, she thought, and again the hateful color spread into her face. But before she could feel too stupid Jake was at the bed, scooping her into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking care of you,” he said, and brushed his lips over hers.
“Taking…?” She glanced back at the bed. This time she was sure she turned pink, from the top of her head to her toes. There was a red stain on the white sheets. Mortified, she dug her face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder.
“Oh, God,” she moaned. “Jake, I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot—”
“Sorry? For giving me such a gift?”
He kissed her hair as he carried her into the bathroom. A stream of water splashed from a gold faucet into an enormous black marble tub. Jake stepped into it, Cat still safe in his arms. He sat back, kept her nestled against him, and she sighed with contentment as the scented water lapped at her breasts.
“Sweetheart, if anyone should be apologizing it’s me. I took something precious from you last night.”
“You took something I wanted to give you,” she said, turning so she could see his face. “Only you,” she whispered, and she shocked herself, shocked him, by reaching for him, taking his already erect penis in her hands and stroking its silk-over-steel length.
“Cat,” Jake said tightly, “honey, it’s too soon…”
“It isn’t,” she said, and he slid into her and made love to her with his body and, heaven help him, with his heart.
How had it happened? How had he fallen in love with his ward?
A couple of hours later, bundled in sweats and heavy socks, mittens and woolen caps, they stood on the terrace and looked at a city turned into a fairyland by snow.
At least Cat was looking at the city.
Jake was looking at her, and trying to find a way out of the nightmare that trapped him.
He was in love with Catarina.
And he had to marry her off to another man.
Otherwise he’d violate the terms of both wills. Her parents’, and his father’s. She’d lose her inheritance. He’d never learn the names of his brothers.
“Oh, look,” she said, with a little squeal of delight. “Jake? That man is skiing. Skiing—on Fifth Avenue
!” She turned to him, eyes bright with excitement. “Isn’t this wonderful?”