his mind, Imogen moved in his arms, bringing her so close that she must know the effect she was having on him. A deep, throaty growl escaped him as she lowered her head, averting her face from him. He wanted nothing more than to lift her chin, make her look into his eyes and then cover her full lips with his. She looked up at him, as if knowing what he wanted, what he needed. The fight for restraint raged and by some miracle he only allowed himself to brush his lips lightly over hers.
It was enough. The touch tape of passion had been lit. Now it was only a question of how long the fuse would be before the inevitable explosion. Usually he craved instant gratification when he kissed a woman, not wanting to get caught up in the emotional warfare of anything remotely like courtship, but Imogen was different. This place was different. In a bid to escape his family, his reality, he was different.
If he was his usual self, he knew that once he kissed a woman passionately she would be in his bed that night. But not this time. For the first time he wanted to savour the moment, enjoy the mounting anticipation of kissing her properly, of caressing her sexy body, of finally making love to her.
He had one week here on the island, just as she did. What would it be like to make the moment last that long? What would it be like to romance her, court her—before the inevitable conclusion? Damn it. Imogen’s talk of romance must have got to him.
‘Are you busy tomorrow?’ His voice cracked into a hoarse whisper as he moved back from her, away from the temptation to plunder her mouth. Right now she looked so kissable, so very sexy, it was almost more than he could bear. He had no idea where his restraint was coming from or what was driving it, but right now it was just what he needed.
‘No.’ Her whisper was husky and told him so much, told him she wanted him as much as he wanted her, that she too was fighting the tug of war between passion and restraint.
He smiled and brushed his lips lingeringly over hers. As desire erupted inside him like the roar of a lion he whispered against her lips, ‘I’d like our moment of escape to go on for a little longer than just tonight.’
‘I’d like that too.’ He knew she was smiling. Her eyes sparkled as she looked into his and just when he thought he couldn’t take it any more her eyes fluttered closed and her lips pressed against his. Soft and yielding, they tempted him, but he forced himself to return the light kiss, held on to his restraint as if his life depended on it as he avoided the kiss becoming demanding and hard. He wanted her in his bed, crying out as passion consumed them—but not tonight.
This moment out of time, this dalliance with the kind of romantic ideas he’d always locked out of his life, had come at the perfect time. Everything else in his life was falling apart, threatening who he really was, and Imogen, a beautiful blonde, had slipped into his life. What better distraction than the woman who seemed as intent on escape as he was?
‘I will bid you goodnight.’ He pulled away from her, his body aching with unquenched desire. If he wanted this moment to last all week he had to walk away now. If he didn’t let her go he wouldn’t be truly escaping from everything he now knew he was.
IMOGEN HAD BEEN shocked by the way Marco had made her feel and even more astounded by the way she’d wanted to be kissed by him that first night. Now, after spending five blissful days in his company, escaping reality and living the dream of romance, what had shocked her more was that even though a sizzling chemistry surrounded them, he’d done nothing other than kiss her gently at the end of each day.
It was becoming too much and her whole body hummed with the kind of need only he could satisfy. Each day they’d explored the island and each night they’d acted like lovers but, when he did nothing more than kiss her, those old and supposedly buried insecurities had rushed back. Did he really like her? Desire her? There was definitely something between them, but whatever the attraction was it certainly wasn’t enough for him to do more then gently kiss her and she was certain he wasn’t the kind of man to hold out to gentlemanly instincts. He was a hot, sexy man and probably had women falling over themselves to be kissed by him—and much more.
‘I see you have followed my instructions.’ Marco’s voice brought her up sharp as he arrived at the villa she and Julie were sharing, and when she looked at him that fizz of attraction she had each time she saw him rushed through her.
‘As you weren’t going to tell me where we are going or what we are doing other than it involves the sea, what else could I do?’ She feigned indignation as she looked at him, feeling somewhat underdressed in her red one-piece and cover-up—the only two items of her own clothing she’d worn all week whilst she’d acted out the lifestyle of luxury.
‘I’m impressed you aren’t one of these women who cannot even think of going in the sea, much less getting her hair wet.’ He took her hand and led her from the villa towards the beach. ‘What is Julie doing for her last day? I hope she didn’t mind me stealing you away again.’
If only he would steal her away for ever, Imogen thought, but she knew she wasn’t his type. At least, the Imogen she really was certainly wasn’t his type. Not that it really meant anything, she reminded herself sharply, the risk of getting carried away with it all stronger than ever. She was just someone for him to while away the week with. Why else would he have only kissed her goodnight at the end of each day?
‘Julie is more than happy with our arrangement,’ she said as they walked on the soft white sand of the beach, already heating up from the sun. Imogen wasn’t about to enlighten Marco to the fact that Julie hadn’t come back to the villa last night after her date. ‘She’s using this week to escape too.’
Imogen tried to make light of the whole situation, or arrangement as he’d openly called it. She simply wanted to enjoy this last day with Marco. Tomorrow she and Julie would be on a flight heading back to England and the normality of their day jobs at Bespoke Luxury Travel. Their moment of escape here on the romantic tropical island would be over.
‘In that case we have all day to be together—apart from a little something extra I have arranged just for you. For our last night together.’
She looked up at him, the sun sparkling in his eyes. Or was that mischief? He’d arranged something for her? First he’d told her she was beautiful and now this. If she wasn’t careful she’d lose all sense of reality and start wishing for the kind of happy-ever-afters she knew didn’t really exist.
‘I’m intrigued,’ she teased but her breath caught as he took hold of her hand, making her stop, so that she could only stand and look up at him.
‘I’m the one who is intrigued. By you.’ His eyes darkened until they were completely black and her pulse raced as with his free hand he pushed back stray strands of her hair which had escaped from her ponytail.
He was going to kiss her—and she wanted him to. Not the soft, gentle kisses he’d given her since that first night. She wanted him to really kiss her.
Her eyes closed as he moved nearer, his hand sliding round to hold the back of her head, bringing her closer to him. Not that she needed any persuading. This was the last day of living the life of luxury. After tomorrow Marco would be part of a moment out of reality, a man she would never meet again. They lived in two completely different worlds.
His lips moved over hers and she kissed him back, demanding so much more from him. Fire leapt to life inside her as she pressed herself recklessly against him, abandoning any notion of being sensible, wanting only to ease her aching desire for this man.
