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‘No?’
She shook her head, and he silently willed that knot at the back of her head to unravel. The acute need to sink his fingers into those lustrous locks mildly alarmed him. As had that pounding need he’d been restraining himself from acting on again since she’d left him with the doctor. Hell, he’d barely been able to pull back from that kiss.
So why resist?
She was his wife, after all, wasn’t she?
He wasn’t sure why he was holding back. Perhaps he was savouring what was to come. Had he been this patient before? Or was it something else? Something less...palatable?
He’d returned—by all accounts from the dead—and she’d barely even touched him. That flash of jealousy she’d exhibited in the church when she’d believed he was marrying another woman—which he admitted now had stoked something primal and possessive to life within him—was now carefully but firmly under control. Which was all the more dissatisfying in light of his own emotions when he’d heard that young buck attempting to inveigle his way into a private lunch with Imogen.
Hiswife.
Zeph couldn’t deny there was distance between them. He might not remember every relationship he’d had in the past but even he knew a contented married couple didn’t live in separate apartments. Or have separate sleeping staterooms on a private yacht.
He watched her open her mouth, no doubt about to issue another prim denial. An excuse. A less welcome alternative.
And he felt that primitive urge swell higher. ‘I haven’t gone down the unsavoury path of looking myself up online yet but I’ve learned enough about my business practices to know I’m not averse to tough negotiating. Is that what is needed now,matia mou? Or will my wife come willingly?’
He tried to ignore the fact that she seemed to wince imperceptibly every time he reminded her that they were married.
No matter. They had time. Time to delve into the mystery of why this woman, who awoke intrigue and carnal desire he hadn’t experienced for any of the women who’d crossed his path in the last ten months, alternately looked at him with defiance and wariness.
He frowned inwardly. He hadn’t...hurt her, had he?
His jaw clenched, willing her to give a positive answer so the unnerving sensation crawling through his belly would cease.
‘I’ve already said I’ll come and stay on the yacht with you,’ she murmured, but that mildly bewildered look in her eyes didn’t dissipate.
And that only made the churning in his gut intensify. He quelled it and nodded, telling himself to tread carefully. ‘Good—’
‘But a honeymoon isn’t necessary,’ she blurted. ‘We’ve been married for over a year.’
‘Barely enough time to feel like a boring old married couple. Were we estranged, Imogen?’ he asked, boldly taking a chunk out of the mystery.
‘No, we weren’t,’ she murmured after one too many beats.
He sidestepped the relief that oozed through him. ‘Good,’ he repeated, then held out his hand. ‘We will buck a trend and celebrate our second wedding anniversary and our honeymoon in one go. So shall we?’
He gritted his teeth as she eyed his hand as if it were a coiled snake about to strike.Patience.His senses shrieked that was what was required here.
After an eternity, she crossed the room and placed her hand in his.
And that sonic explosion came again, rocking him on his feet.
He’d dismissed it as his over-exuberant imagination the first time it’d happened. Just as he’d downplayed the effect of that kiss and the way it’d thrilled his blood and roused his male senses.
Now he knew it wasn’t.
His libido was alive and well, and eager for this intriguing woman who’d somehow taken his name but didn’t act one little bit like a wife happy to be reunited with her husband.
And perhaps that was a tool rather than an obstacle. Or, at the very least, a satisfactory way to pass the time while he waited for his memories to return. He shrugged inwardly. At this point he was beginning to accept that nothing was off the table.
And if he had to seduce his wife in order to unravel this mysterious part of his life...well then, so be it.
What on earth was she thinking, agreeing to a honeymoon with Zeph?
What did that even entail?
