again, unable to meet the intense gaze above her.
"You sure as hell won't need to wonder if I'm faithful," Gage murmured on a note of contented masculine humor. "Dealing with you in my bed won't leave me any energy for handling other women!"
Rani flicked him an appraising glance from behind the concealment of her lashes. "Are you trying to tell me something, Gage?"
"I'm only reaffirming what I said earlier." He leaned over a couple of inches to plant a light kiss on her forehead. "We're together now, you and I. There will be no one else for either of us."
He was claiming her for an affair. Rani tried to sort through her muddled reactions to that information and found herself bogged down in quicksand. She honestly wasn't sure what her feelings were at that moment They almost defied description. A part of her still resented the way he was driving her into an arrangement, but another part of her felt helpless to resist. How could she have been so thoroughly seduced by a man who was neither comfortable nor serene?
"Remember what I said about arrogant victors," she tried to drawl lightly in an effort to meet the masculine satisfaction in him with something approaching nonchalance. But the words came out all wrong. They came out sounding fearful and defensive.
He didn't seem to notice. "Are you admitting I'm the victor tonight?"
"Of course not!"
"Oh, well. I've still got a few more hours to try wringing the admission out of you," he decided philosophically.
"Not a chance," she asserted.
"If I can't manage it here in bed, my coffee will probably do the trick in the morning," he warned, and lowered himself to her once more.
Rani awoke the next morning with a temporary sensation of complete disorientation. She was not accustomed to waking up in beds other than her own, she thought wryly, glancing around the austerely elegant room. Doing so was unsettling. She really was set in her ways. In a strange house one didn't just hop out of bed and traipse down the hall to plug in the coffee. On top of that, one had to spend time wondering where the bathroom was. And then there was the awkwardness of not having a closet full of fresh clothing from which to choose.
All her normal routines were going to be short-circuited that morning. I've become a creature of habit, she thought, sitting slowly up in bed as her gaze fell on the magnificent masculine body next to her. This man, she acknowledged, was going to be the cause of her learning some new habits. An affair with Gage Fletcher.
She rolled the words around in her mind, drinking in the expanse of his tanned back, which was exposed above the white sheet that was gathered at his lean waist. An affair with Gage Fletcher. The very thought sent a shiver of uneasy excitement through her, and the memory of the previous night's passion reinforced that tremor.
How long would he want the arrangement to last?
That question was enough to send her sliding toward the edge of the bed. Standing up, her toes buried in the thick pile of the gray rug, Rani was suddenly conscious of a delicious ache in the muscles of her inner thighs. It was not all that different from the ache she had experienced after the horseback-riding session on King's ranch. Grimacing, Rani reminded herself that the night before it was Gage who had done the riding. Not at all sure she liked that image, she began a determined hunt for the bath.
It wasn't hard to find. Stepping inside and closing the door quietly behind her, she surveyed the impressive scene. The huge tub and the other porcelain fixtures were all done in a deep shade of red, and the room was mirrored completely on two walls. The tub was reached via a couple of tiled steps, so that when standing within it one had a tranquil view of an enclosed garden just beyond the glass wall. The room was tiled in a material that looked like lustrous gray granite. The towels were as red as the fixtures. Whoever had decorated Gage's home had definitely had an eye for effect.
"You sure as hell won't need to wonder if I'm faithful," Gage murmured on a note of contented masculine humor. "Dealing with you in my bed won't leave me any energy for handling other women!"
Rani flicked him an appraising glance from behind the concealment of her lashes. "Are you trying to tell me something, Gage?"
"I'm only reaffirming what I said earlier." He leaned over a couple of inches to plant a light kiss on her forehead. "We're together now, you and I. There will be no one else for either of us."
He was claiming her for an affair. Rani tried to sort through her muddled reactions to that information and found herself bogged down in quicksand. She honestly wasn't sure what her feelings were at that moment They almost defied description. A part of her still resented the way he was driving her into an arrangement, but another part of her felt helpless to resist. How could she have been so thoroughly seduced by a man who was neither comfortable nor serene?
"Remember what I said about arrogant victors," she tried to drawl lightly in an effort to meet the masculine satisfaction in him with something approaching nonchalance. But the words came out all wrong. They came out sounding fearful and defensive.
He didn't seem to notice. "Are you admitting I'm the victor tonight?"
"Of course not!"
"Oh, well. I've still got a few more hours to try wringing the admission out of you," he decided philosophically.
"Not a chance," she asserted.
"If I can't manage it here in bed, my coffee will probably do the trick in the morning," he warned, and lowered himself to her once more.
Rani awoke the next morning with a temporary sensation of complete disorientation. She was not accustomed to waking up in beds other than her own, she thought wryly, glancing around the austerely elegant room. Doing so was unsettling. She really was set in her ways. In a strange house one didn't just hop out of bed and traipse down the hall to plug in the coffee. On top of that, one had to spend time wondering where the bathroom was. And then there was the awkwardness of not having a closet full of fresh clothing from which to choose.
All her normal routines were going to be short-circuited that morning. I've become a creature of habit, she thought, sitting slowly up in bed as her gaze fell on the magnificent masculine body next to her. This man, she acknowledged, was going to be the cause of her learning some new habits. An affair with Gage Fletcher.
She rolled the words around in her mind, drinking in the expanse of his tanned back, which was exposed above the white sheet that was gathered at his lean waist. An affair with Gage Fletcher. The very thought sent a shiver of uneasy excitement through her, and the memory of the previous night's passion reinforced that tremor.
How long would he want the arrangement to last?
That question was enough to send her sliding toward the edge of the bed. Standing up, her toes buried in the thick pile of the gray rug, Rani was suddenly conscious of a delicious ache in the muscles of her inner thighs. It was not all that different from the ache she had experienced after the horseback-riding session on King's ranch. Grimacing, Rani reminded herself that the night before it was Gage who had done the riding. Not at all sure she liked that image, she began a determined hunt for the bath.
It wasn't hard to find. Stepping inside and closing the door quietly behind her, she surveyed the impressive scene. The huge tub and the other porcelain fixtures were all done in a deep shade of red, and the room was mirrored completely on two walls. The tub was reached via a couple of tiled steps, so that when standing within it one had a tranquil view of an enclosed garden just beyond the glass wall. The room was tiled in a material that looked like lustrous gray granite. The towels were as red as the fixtures. Whoever had decorated Gage's home had definitely had an eye for effect.
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