Groaning, he screwed up his face. ‘I deserve that.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, you do. But I guess we could go take a look, if you’re not in any rush to get back.’
‘I’m not.’
Her eyes were soft and teasing now. ‘Really? Maybe you should have joined those Benedictine brothers after all.’
He felt his whole body harden, like iron quenched in a forge. ‘That’s big talk, Lady Antonia. And later I am going to call you out on that.’
She slipped past his outstretched hand, laughing, but he caught her easily, pulling her against his body and kissing her fiercely.
Ten days. Nine nights.
It would be enough to satisfy this craving.
Then he would go back to the States and get on with his life.
CHAPTER NINE
SHIFTING AGAINST THE warmth of her pillow, Nia opened her eyes and rolled onto her side towards Farlan, her fingers feeling for his warm skin.
There was no one lying beside her.
Frowning, she shuffled up the bed. Farlan was crouching naked in front of the fire, his eyes fixed on the darting flames as he slotted a log into the glowing orange stack.
Her mouth drying, her eyes fluttered over the curve of his back.
For a moment she just stared at him.
He looked as if he was posing for a sculptor, or about to take part in some Olympian game in Ancient Greece.
His body was a perfectly weighted balance of tension and geometry, the smooth, contoured muscles gleaming in the firelight like polished marble.
She held her breath. It still felt miraculous that he was here with her…that he wanted what she wanted.
Nine days, eight nights, and counting.
No more cross-purposes. No more confusion or hurt.
They were of one mind.
She thought back to that moment in the restaurant when she had told him the truth about Lamington and her parents’ finances.
And then he had confided in her.
It was their gift to one another.
An honesty neither had managed in the past.
And this was their reward.
A honeymoon, almost, like the one they would have had if they had been meant to share their lives as they’d once hoped.
The thought made her chest burn, and for a moment she wanted to tell him that he was the only man she had ever loved, that not a day had passed without her thinking about him.
Instead, she reached over and pressed her hand against the sheet that still bore the imprint of his body.
It was already cooling.