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“You stay in bed and give up this outrageous behavior until you’re better.”
Did him a world of good to know she didn’t want him giving up the behavior altogether. “Not much incentive for me to stay put.”
Her sigh was long suffering. “I suppose you have a better wager?”
“Heck, yeah.”
Her hands were back on her hips. “I suppose you’re not going to lie down until you have your say?”
“Nope.”
She made a quick motion with her hand. “Let’s hear it.”
“If I make it to the other room, you curl up beside me for a little sparking.”
“You’re too ill for sparking.”
“Lucky for you, I see it differently.”
“So I see.” She stared at him a minute, her expression unreadable. “All right. You make it to the other room, and I’ll do what you want.”
“The term I used was sparking, but I can settle for what I want.”
She shook her head as if at the end of her rope, but he noticed her eyes crinkled at the corners while she did it. The woman wasn’t as set against the idea as she let on. Before he could push to his feet, she held out her hand and halted him. “If I win, you do as I say for the duration of your recovery. Until I say you’re recovered.”
He held out his hand. “Deal.”
She shook it. “Deal.”
She stepped back. He took long, slow breaths in preparation for the ordeal of standing up. On the fourth, he pushed himself to his feet. He made it in the direction of up, but his ribs forced him to stay humped over like an old man. Before he could stop it, a groan snaked from between his lips.
Elizabeth stood as still as a statue, watching his shuffling progression to the door. Opening the damned slab of wood was almost his undoing. The only thing that kept him moving through the mind-numbing pain was his refusal to act like a baby in front of his wife. She already had a low enough opinion of his strength. He had to brace himself on the door latch of the next bedroom. It gave unexpectedly under his hand. The jerk knocked him off-balance. Black agony swept over him. He stumbled and would have fallen, except for the shoulder inserted under his arm.
“You’re the most stubborn man.”
“Just determined,” he groaned.
“Why?”
He opened his eyes and stared at the bun bouncing along beneath his chin as they shuffled to the bed. “Sad fact is, I got this never-ending hunger for my wife, and stubborn woman that she is, she won’t appease it unless I prove myself to her.”
The little quiver that shook her bun, he put down to outrage. She didn’t respond to him, however, until she levered him onto the clean bed.
Her face was cherry-red when she did. “I don’t know why you persist in this ridiculous teasing. There’s no way you can…uhm, hold yourself, I mean…” She pushed her hair off her face in exasperation, then blurted out. “You know what I mean!”
He pulled her down beside him and went to work on the buttons of her dress.
“This is one of those times when a woman has to take charge.” He could see from her frown that she didn’t take his meaning. The angle of their position made it impossible for him to undo more than five buttons. “Like you did in the meadow.”
“Oh.”
“Though you might want to take off your dress first.”
She paused, seeming unable to take a breath.
“Please,” he added.
She sighed, told him he was a scandalous man, and went to the door and locked it before coming back. Halfway to the bed, she stopped, reached up and released her hair from its bun. It spilled in auburn glory past her waist.
He knew he was grinning like an idiot. “Lord, you’re something, darlin’.”
Her smile was shyness tinged with confidence. It took a long time for her fingers to get those buttons undone. By the time she let the dress slide down her arms to pool at her feet, he was panting like a winded race, horse and the shyness had left her smile to be replaced with sheer witchery. She stood before him in her lacy camisole, pantaloons, and delicate white stockings.
“You liked that,” she said, a wealth of satisfaction in her voice as she approached the bed. As she stepped into a beam of sunlight, he could clearly make out the curve of her waist, the soft pink of her nipples and the tempting triangle of her pussy.
He managed an eloquent, “Yeah.”
She leaned over, careful not to jostle his side. He reached up and curled his hand around her neck, urging her into his kiss. Her mouth felt good over his. She tasted hot and spicy. Womanly. “I missed you, Elizabeth.”
He felt a fool for such an emotional admission. He hadn’t meant to say it, but it had just sort of popped out. Instead of withdrawing or laughing, she sealed her mouth tighter to his. The ardor in her kiss increased tenfold. He took full advantage, sliding his hand to her breast, smiling when she gasped and pressed harder into his hand. Her nipple was already hard. He rubbed it with his thumb. It pulled up tighter. Harder. Begging for more. Her gasp whispered past his ear. Her eyelids drifted shut.
