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He slowly smiled. It no longer mattered whether or not he was worthy of Raine Wimbourne. She had captured his attention and he would not release her until he had managed to rid himself of his strange fascination.
“I at least intend to take much greater care of you,” he softly promised. “You will want for nothing while you are with me.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “You cannot just take me with you.”
“Who is to stop me?”
“Why are you doing this to me, Philippe?”
His fingers drifted down the curve of her throat. “That is, querida, a particularly stupid question. You know precisely why I am doing this.”
“Because you want me in your bed?”
“Because you belong in my bed,” he corrected. “You know that as well as I.”
Her chin tilted. “If that was what I believed I would not have fled.”
Philippe smothered his instinctive flare of annoyance. She was too proud to easily submit to the will of another. Even if it was what she most desired.
And she did want him. He had not imagined her ready response to his touch, or the soft moans of pleasure that had filled the small nursery.
His fingers lingered at the base of her throat, measuring the flutter of her pulse.
“Then it will be my duty and very great pleasure to convince you otherwise,” he murmured.
He felt her shiver beneath his touch, but with a visible effort she gave a shake of her head.
“It cannot believe you would go to this trouble simply to have a woman in your bed.” Her eyes narrowed. “You are just the sort of gentleman that most dim-witted females would tumble over themselves to be with.”
Philippe laughed softly. “I am uncertain if that is a compliment or an insult, but possessing my natural share of vanity I shall take it as a tribute to my male charms.”
“Or perhaps to your obvious fortune,” she said tartly.
“A cruel blow, querida.” He moved so swiftly that Raine did not even have time to squeak before he had her pinned in the corner and his face buried in the curve of her neck. “Perhaps we should discover just what my…best assets truly are.”
Her lips parted to protest, and his head shifted to capture them in a deep kiss. His tongue stroked into the moist temptation of her mouth as his hand cupped the back of her head. A groan was wrenched from his throat as that sweet heat poured through him like warm honey.
Meu Deus. This was what he had been seeking. This was why he had been furious when he had discovered she had disappeared. This was why he had postponed his trip to France. This was why he had ignored his servants’ bemusement as he had devoted two days to skulking around the small Knightsbridge cottage like a man demented.
He could not allow this woman to slip from his grasp.
His lips devoured hers, his desire so sharp and intense he found himself struggling not to rip aside the offending cloak so he could feel the satin skin beneath.
He had thought to teach her a lesson. To prove to both of them that she was far from indifferent to his touch. But even as he felt her soften against him and her hands clutch at his arms in response, he realized the danger of such a lesson.
Raine Wimbourne was perhaps the only person in the world who possessed the power to shatter his ruthless control. She could make him forget everything but the pleasure of having her near. It was a power that he had no intention of revealing to anyone. Least of all this woman trembling in his arms.
With an effort he eased his kiss, giving her lower lip a light nip as he pulled back to study her flushed countenance.
“So what is your conclusion?” he asked, his heart beating so fast he feared she might hear it in the thick silence. “Is it only my wealth that charms the ladies?”
Her dark eyes held a hint of bemusement. Precisely the sort of bemusement a man wanted to see after kissing a woman senseless. Then astonishingly she was giving a shake of her head and her expression was hardening with determination.
“Tell me why you came after me, Philippe,” she demanded.
His lips twisted as he accepted that she possessed much of the same grim determination as he did. It was bound to make their relationship…interesting, to say the least.
“Because, I have need of you,” he said, knowing a distraction was in order.
