“As I wish? When have you ever done as I wished?”
The sound of their laughter echoed from the high-arched ceilings as they ran up the stairs, down the hall, and into his chamber.
Jean Marc’s laughter vanished as soon as the door shut behind them.
At first Juliette didn’t notice his sudden sobering as she started toward the bed, her fingers fumbling at the fastenings of her gown.
“No.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder and saw him taking off his pearl-gray satin coat.
“Don’t undress, Juliette.” His voice was soft, his gaze night-dark. “Not yet.”
She gazed at him uncertainly. “But you’re undressing.”
“Oh, yes.” He strolled forward and draped his coat carefully over the back of the blue and ivory tapestry-cushioned chair. “As quickly and expediently as possible.” He began to unfasten his white linen shirt. “ButI’ve decided I don’t want you to do it.” He gestured to the chair where he had laid his coat. “Will you sit down?”
She crossed the room and dropped down on the chair he’d indicated, staring at him in bewilderment. “Jean Marc, you’re behaving very oddly.”
“Am I?” He stripped off the shirt and threw it aside. “Bear with me. It all has a purpose.”
She didn’t care a whit about his purpose. She wanted totouchhim. She wanted to close her fingers on the dark, springy thatch on his chest, rub her palms on the smooth, hard musculature of his shoulders. “It’s beensevenweeks, Jean Marc.”
He nodded. “Too long. I had a good deal of time to think.” He sat down on the bed, pulled off his left boot, and then tugged at his right boot. “About you, Juliette.”
Her hands closed tightly on the cushioned arms of the chair. Sweet heaven, he was beautiful. The sunlight streaming into the room bathed him in a golden glow, delineating each feature of his face, the tough, sinewy grace of his chest and shoulders.
“Aren’t you going to ask what I thought?” He tossed the other boot aside before he stood up again and quickly resumed stripping.
“Could we speak of this later?”
Jean Marc was naked now and she could feel heat suffuse her body as she looked at him.
He stood in the middle of the room, standing with legs slightly astride, lean buttocks tight, every muscle tense, his manhood boldly aroused.
She couldn’t breathe, the air in the room seemed heavy, vibrating with the same arousal she saw in him. She started to stand up and go to him.
“No.” He moved forward and pushed her gently back down in the chair. He dropped to his knees beside her chair, took her hands, and held them tightly. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“What?” He knew what she wanted of him, and it had nothing to do with him kneeling before her like abeautiful naked God come down from Olympus to seduce a mortal.
His gaze fastened intently on her face. “I want to give you something. I’ve always been the one who has taken. Now I want you to take.” His hands tightened on her own. “Use me, Juliette.”
Shocked, she merely stared at him.
He lifted her hand and placed it on his naked chest. She could feel the springy hair brush her flesh and the thunder of his heart beneath her palm. “I want you,” he said quietly. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted you more. It’s important that you know that.”
“Then, by all that’s holy,takeme,” she said in exasperation.
The faintest smile tugged at his lips as he shook his head. “Tell me what you want. Do you want me to undress you?”
She nodded jerkily. “It would be an excellent start.”
He rose to his feet and pulled her up from the chair, his hands deftly undoing the fastenings at her neck. As his fingers brushed her flesh she inhaled sharply. Her gaze flew to his face, and what she saw there caused her heart to start to pound harder.
The golden olive of his skin was pulled taut with strain over his cheekbones, and his dark eyes glowed as they held hers. “Do you remember that first day in the cabin on theBonne Chance?”
“Of course I do.”
