“You are perfect, Roman,” she reminded him again. He needed to know it. Needed to understand how she saw him.
His skin scorched under her fingertips, smooth and seductively strong. A rumble sounded in Roman’s throat as she stroked his muscled flesh, causing it to tense under her attentions. He clasped her wrists suddenly.
“Clementine.”
A warning.
She ignored it, moving against the hold he had on her and sliding her fingers under the waistband of his trousers to find the hard heat of him. He was smooth and strong there too.
He hissed a breath through his teeth. “You are going to force many a curse word from me.”
“I’ve missed you,” she confessed. “I’ve missed your kisses. Missed your company. I do not want to be apart from you again.”
His throat bobbed and he released his hold upon her hands. “You cannot have missed me as much as I missed you, Musgrave.” A tilted smile crossed his lips. “I was a fool to stay away for so long.”
“We did agree to steer clear of each other, if you recall?”
“Well, I disagree now.
“As do I.” She nodded firmly as he drew her into his hold. “As do I.”
∞∞∞
Roman claimed her mouth swiftly. He couldn’t wait any longer. She might think him perfect, but he knew differently. He’d been a fool to deny what was between them simply because of a few little differences. Was it not the differences that meant they worked so well together?
He’d come too close to losing her and he wasn’t about to let that happen again.
He bunched her skirts in a firm grip and slowly lifted the reams of fabric while he kissed her deeply, lost to the sensation of her sweet warmth. His fingers met soft flesh above the band of her stockings and he clutched her thigh. Clem issued a soft cry.
She tore her lips away from his and brushed kisses down the bristled length of his jaw until she reached his exposed chest. He dug his fingers into her flesh as she pressed fervent, open-mouthed kisses to his skin.
With his other hand, he clutched her head to him and murmured words of her loveliness, of how much he needed her. He wasn’t certain what he said but the words tumbled from his lips. When she moved downward, he grabbed her arms and lifted her back up.
“I can only stand so much of that, Musgrave, and you are incredibly good at it.”
Her cheeks pinkened. “I’ve considered what I might do to you in this very situation a few too many times.”
Good God. Clementine was unpredictable but this was beyond insane. The woman wanted to drive him over the edge.
“I’ve thought of you too.” He inched her backward until her back met the wall and she gasped when he pressed his body over hers. “I thought of touching you in every way possible. Of kissing you…everywhere.”
His eyes flashed with desire as her breasts were crushed under the unyielding strength of his chest, and his hands came up either side of her head, effectively trapping her.
One hand against the wall, Roman used his other to trace the curve of her side, following it down until he reached the swell of her hip. He gripped her hip before coming around to cup her rear. Clementine’s lids fluttered as he coaxed her to flatten her hips against his arousal.
“Did you think of this?” he asked.
“Oh yes.”
When he registered no doubt, no hesitation, only brazen desire, he couldn’t resist any longer. He should take it slow or even walk out of here and be the gentleman he purported to be, but he was exhausted with pretending to be something he was not. With Clementine, he could be nothing more than a man.
A man in love with a bold, wonderful woman.
Kissing her firmly, he kept her close, rocking into her in a bid to ease some of the ache in his erection. Their kisses grew frenzied, and he brought a hand up between them so he could cup her breasts through her stays. Clementine writhed underneath him as his manhood pressed into her.
She cried out and he jerked back.
“I’m too rough.” He cursed under his breath. “I cannot control myself around you.”