“I believe Hawk’s gardener has been experimenting to create hybrid roses,” Belinda remarked.
She was looking down at a wood work table strewn with various gardening tools, plants and neatly marked glass jars.
He studied her profile. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Max, my gardener, has done the same at Halstead Hall.”
She cast him a look from under her lashes, as if wondering whether his comment was meant to be a reproach—his house, which was now her own as well, had the same cottage industry in place and she didn’t seem to know it—or whether it was yet another meaning-laden invitation to make herself at home in his life.
The scent of roses and other blooms hung around them in the warm, humid air. Colin would never have thought that a greenhouse would be a sexually stimulating environment, but it was.
He let his fingertips trail up Belinda’s arm in a light caress, and watched goose bumps appear. Fascinating.
She didn’t look up at him, but there was a new stillness to her.
Testing, he stepped closer and cupped her upper arms from behind her. He bent and breathed in the soft air by her temple.
“What are you doing?” There was a catch in her voice.
“What does it seem as if I’m doing?” he responded, his voice laced with laughter and seduction. “I’m trying to determine your scent.”
“There are other people here.”
“Surely they won’t mind if I try to distinguish my wife’s scent from among those intermingled in the air.”
“They’ll misconstrue your actions.”
“Is that my fault?” he murmured, teasing.
The greenhouse door opened and closed again, and this time, they were well and truly alone.
He stroked her arms. Belinda had the softest skin. He’d thought so before, but now, touching her, the tactile sensation brought the realization rushing back to him. Blood rushed to his head and other parts of his anatomy.
He let his lips skim the column of her neck.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to pick up my scent in a place as aromatic as this.”
“Tiger lily,” he announced, and then breathed in deep. “It’s soap or body wash or some type of lotion.”
She glanced back at him, her look astonished. “How did you guess?”
He crinkled his eyes as he held back a grin. “It’s not a shy scent—”
“Oh.”
“—and I noticed some tiger-lily products among your cosmetic products back at the hotel.”
“Oh!” Her eyebrows drew together.
“I’m not nearly so omniscient about taste, however.”
“Clearly.”
“For that, there’s only one way for me to find out.”
Before she could react, he turned her toward him.
He settled his lips on hers and tasted her as if he had all the time in the world. He explored with his tongue, coaxing a reaction from her and inviting her to be a full participant with him.
After a moment, she relaxed in his arms, though she still didn’t give him the uninhibited reaction he was looking for.