As she dropped her hand, Loukas lifted his own and traced a fingertip down the creamy slope of her cheek all the way to her mouth. He slowly circled its Cupid’s bow contours, watching as her lips trembled and quivered in response to his touch. ‘Kissing you was my first mistake.’
Her pupils flared into dark pools of ink. ‘Your second?’
‘I’m about to make it right about now.’ He brought his mouth down to hers and tasted her lips. Once. Twice. Three times. She gave a soft, breathless sigh and he touched down again, lingering longer this time, feeling the suppleness of her mouth melding against his, making the blood thunder through his body and charge south to his groin. He had never tasted a mouth as sweet as hers. Sweet and yet smoking hot. Heat exploded from her mouth to his, lighting fires all over his flesh, making him gather her closer, desperate to feel her body against his.
She wound her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the ends of his hair, her soft mouth torturing his self-control.
What self-control?
Did he have any when it came to her? Every time he put his mouth on hers his willpower took leave without pay. Her little whimpers of encouragement made it impossible to pull back from her temptation. He deepened the kiss, exploring every corner of her mouth, enticing her tongue to play, flirt and mate with his. Loukas cupped her face in his hands, angling his head to gain better access, relishing the scent and texture of her skin.
Her fingers were on his scalp, massaging him into a stupor. Her touch unhinged him, unloosed in him a primitive urge to lose himself in her like he had done with no one else before. He always kept control. Always. But, with her mouth fused to his and her hands moving over him, his need for her was almost frightening.
He pulled back from her but kept his hands cradling her face. ‘You are a dangerous young woman.’
Emily’s toffee-brown eyes were guileless and she quickly straightened her crooked frames with her finger. ‘Why?’
Loukas brushed the pad of his thumb over her kiss-swollen bottom lip. ‘Because I can’t seem to keep my hands off you no matter how much I tell myself to.’
Her hand came to rest on one of his wrists, her fingertips light as fairy feet. ‘I have the same problem.’ She moved her fingers to his mouth, circling it as he had done hers. ‘Should we be doing this?’
‘This?’ Who was he kidding? He knew exactly what this was. This was magic. This was irresistible. This was the only thing he could think about. The only thing he wanted.
She leaned forward and pressed a feather-soft kiss to his mouth. ‘Touching and kissing and...stuff.’
‘Isn’t that what engaged couples do?’
Her hand fell away from his wrist and her teeth began to work at her lower lip. ‘I waited seven years for my ex to propose and he never got around to it. I only met you a month ago and you never stop mentioning marriage. When are you going to take no for an answer?’
He kept his gaze trained on hers. ‘We can’t retract our statement now without looking like fools. We don’t have to be married for ever. Just long enough to get the press off our backs. I’m not offering you the fairy-tale. Just a convenient arrangement so that our child gets a good start in life. After that, we’ll reassess if things aren’t working out.’
Doubt flickered on Emily’s face and her eyes became downcast. ‘I don’t know... It seems weird to be marrying someone I hadn’t even met a month ago.’
‘You will never want for anything. I will make sure of that.’
Twin pleats of worry divided her smooth brow. ‘It’s not about the money. We’re not in love with each other.’
‘Neither were Draco and Allegra but that seems to have turned out all right.’
‘But Allegra was always a little bit in love with him,’ she said. ‘We, on the other hand, are practically strangers. I hardly know anything about you and you expect me to marry you?’
‘This is the only way forward. We should get married as soon as possible and then the press attention will go away, just like it did with Draco and Allegra.’
She narrowed her gaze. ‘You’d seriously get married to a stranger just to stop a little press attention? Really?’
‘We’re doing this for our child, Emily. Why wait? Do you want to be hounded for the next eight months, having cameras and phones and recording devices thrust in your face every time you step out the door? Strangers taking photos of you while you’re eating in cafés or restaurants or simply walking down the street? No. I didn’t think so. We’ll marry quickly and quietly and that will be the end of it. Problem solved.’
Something passed over Emily’s face—a flash of panic followed by resignation. ‘Okay, we’ll do it your way. I’ll marry you.’ Her teeth kept going back to her lower lip. ‘How soon were you thinking of—’ she gave a tiny gulp ‘—doing it?’
‘The end of the month.’
Her eyes widened. ‘But that’s only two weeks away!’
‘So? It shouldn’t take too much time to plan a simple ceremony with a handful of witnesses.’
‘But won’t people expect someone of your status and wealth to have a big church wedding?’
‘I don’t do things just because people expect me to,’ Loukas said.