microwave distracted her, and Miranda frowned into her dark world, wondering what Troy was up to. He’d seemed interested in a lot more than food this morning. She hadn’t heard him sneak up behind her while she’d been dressing. He’d scooped her into his arms and brought her out to this oasis then left her sitting here, waiting.
Stretching back on the chaise, Miranda let her hair spread around her in a pose she hoped would entice the man from his meal. She wasn’t going to think about food while basking in this unfamiliar awareness of her senses.
In her mind’s eye she could see the oasis, alive with blossoms and lush foliage, smells that grew thick in the warmth of the morning sun. Gardenia, jasmine, rose, lily and, beneath others she couldn’t name, the rich scent of earth.
The garden fanned out around a small tiled piazza. A fountain with whimsical sculptures of a naked couple filled this oasis with the steady bubbling of water. Hidden audio speakers piped music through the suite, the soft strains of a tambourine, cymbals and flute weaving an exotic tune that lent to the fantasy of the place.
Rattan fans circulated air over her bare skin and, combined with the blindfold, she felt aroused in a way she’d never felt before, vulnerable almost to the point of breathlessness. And curious, too, especially when the refrigerator door opened.
What was Troy doing? Her husband was an adventurer in bed on a normal day, always cherishing and challenging her, but with him so caught up in the spirit of the Naughty Nuptials and all the erotic events…
Miranda heard the scuff of movement across the thick oriental rugs in the living room, and suddenly her whole body felt attuned to the sounds, to the soft stir of branches as he passed into the courtyard, to the careful clatter of something—a tray perhaps—on the tiled tabletop. And then the quiet hush of his breaths when he came to stand beside her.
She could sense his presence. Chemistry connected them, an awareness on some elemental level that not even this blindfold diminished. Miranda could feel him, could feel his gaze sweep over her. She knew he stood beside her, most likely smiling at the sight she made spreading out on the chaise.
Marriage had only deepened their connection. She’d learned to sense Troy’s moods, to guess at his thoughts behind those striking green eyes. And the phenomenon worked both ways. They didn’t always need words and could often communicate with a glance or a touch. She liked that about their relationship.
Well, she usually liked it… She suspected Troy could sense something was off with her now, despite her best efforts to leave her worries back in San Diego. She wouldn’t let anything spoil their time together, not when they had a fantasy vacation to enjoy and he’d been gone for so long.
Stretching out, she hoped to entice him, to prove how determined she was to have fun. He claimed they were soul mates, and while she honestly hadn’t given much thought to her stance on traveling through lifetimes to find each other, Miranda knew only Troy had ever made her feel so aroused by simply knowing he wanted her.
And she knew he did. Even with the blindfold.
She felt him taking his time to peruse her, drawing out the silence, comfortable with it. Her insides grew fluttery, her breath poised in her throat as she awaited his next move.
“I like watching your body respond to me.” His voice was hard-edged and strong with no hint of an accent. “I don’t even have to touch you.”
Troy had been reared all over the world, a typical military brat, and the only sound that came through in his voice right now was the sound of stimulated male.
Who needed to see when she could hear how much he wanted her?
“I try to be an accommodating wife.”
“You are that, Mrs. Knight. No question.” Slipping his hand under her ankles, he maneuvered himself beneath her and placed her feet in his lap. “You don’t know how many times I’ve been in my barracks falling asleep, trying to figure out what I’ve done to deserve you. Why are you willing to wait for me to come home when you could have a husband who’s always with you?”
Troy wasn’t shy about sharing how he felt, and she’d always appreciated his honesty, relied on his ability to steer them through emotional waters because she didn’t find it so easy.
“You love me,” she said simply.
“I do.”
And he seemed committed to proving how much he loved every little part of her when he massaged her feet. Miranda inhaled deeply, a sound of pure contentment as his touch melted her muscles, and she reveled in the simple joy of togetherness. For some couples time together was a given, for them it was a gift.
Easing her foot in a circle, Troy worked the muscles along her calves then began the process over again with the other. His fingers glided along her hose, his strong hands touching her in all the right places.
“So what have I done to deserve this special treatment?” Miranda asked.
“You love me.” He dragged his mouth along her in-step and warmed the silk with a kiss.
She trembled as he nibbled his way along her anklebone, an area of her body she’d never realized was so sensitive. And this wasn’t the only erotic discovery she’d made since becoming involved with her husband.
Troy’s sense of adventure was one of the things that had attracted her to then-Lieutenant Knight. He’d seemed larger than life, more exciting than any man she’d ever known, and it was much more than his career and his uniform. Much more than his piercing green eyes and striking blond looks. Much more than his aura of powerful male.
It was simply him, and his wonderful zest for living.
He made her reach beyond herself and the world she knew. He didn’t have any trouble handling the visibility that came along with her family, with having a father and grandfather who were both politicians. Troy performed beautifully in public but managed to live life as if no one was watching.
It was a skill she hoped to learn.
As far as Miranda was concerned, Troy was a good influence. He’d even turned their wedding into a celebration. Scoffing at the traditional, he’d talked her into a fantasy wedding at this romance resort. Then he’d whisked her away from Niagara Falls for a life filled with travel and excitement and challenges she’d never dreamed of.
Challenges she’d never dreamed she couldn’t live up to.
Squelching the thought brutally, Miranda slid her fingers through his hair. The familiar feel of the brushed short strands helped chase away her thoughts with a burst of tenderness for how much she loved this man. And how much she would do to be with him.
Like stop thinking. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking.
Tracing the curl of his ear, Miranda trailed her fingers along his hairline, along the curve of his jaw beneath smoothly sculpted cheeks. She searched for the pulse beating there.
And she found it, strong and steady. Like Troy himself.
Pressing her fingers into his throat, she counted the beats, her own heart speeding its pace when he ran his tongue through that responsive hollow between ankle-bone and heel. He swirled his tongue over her foot, a lush stroke, before gusting a warm breath between her toes.
He
