Only her lovely, uptilted breasts with their pale apricot nipples, just begging for the heat of his mouth.
But first…but first…
Kaz dropped to his knees. Kissed her ankles. The soft skin behind her knees. She sighed his name as he cupped her hips and brought his face to the soft golden curls at the juncture of her thighs.
He blew gently against those lovely curls.
And found her with his mouth.
She tasted of everything sweet and perfect and when she came, when he tasted her essence on his tongue, he knew there could not be anything more wonderful than this…
Except, perhaps, the feel of her in his embrace as he rose and swept her into his arms.
The taste of her lips as he kissed her.
The softness of her voice as she whispered of her need for him.
He carried her to one of the big white sofas. Placed her on it. Took off his jacket, toed off his shoes, unzipped his trousers while she watched.
“Hurry,” she said, and he cursed, tore off the trousers, his socks, his boxer briefs, and came down to her.
She wrapped him in her arms.
He slid his hands under her.
“Look at me, Ekaterina,” he commanded.
And he entered her.
She moaned.
Long, slow strokes. Silken strokes. Strokes of silk over steel.
“Katie,” he whispered, and she looked into his eyes and smiled, and what he saw in her eyes was in his heart. “Katie,” he said again, and together, they flew into a midnight sky ablaze with stars.
CHAPTER NINE
Eventually, they made their way upstairs, to his bed, where they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Kaz woke a couple of hours later and knew he would not get back to sleep again.
Katie was restless, tossing in her sleep, murmuring words he couldn’t understand. He knew it had to be the stress of knowing what tomorrow would bring and knew, too, that he could not, would not let what had been arranged for tomorrow take place.
He moved carefully, slowly, until he could sit up without waking her. Then he bent down and brushed a kiss over her tangled hair, stepped into the dressing room just long enough to grab a pair of sweatpants, and started for the door, pausing at the last second to go back and scoop his cell phone from the night table.
He headed downstairs.
He needed a plan, one that would salve Katie’s conscience about her dying mother even as it forced both her father and his grandfather into acceptance of the fact that there would be no betrothal ceremony and no wedding.
He found his abandoned snifter of brandy, took a drink, then carried the glass into his study where he turned on the desk lamp and settled into a big leather chair.
There had to be a way to do this. There had to be.
Beep.
What the hell…
Dammit. He’d turned off his cell phone. Why was it ringing? He must have hit it accidentally when he picked it up.