“Did you want to take the bed?” she offered. “I can sleep in the main cabin.”
“No, you take the bed. While you remember my discomfort with large social gatherings, I remember how you need to be comfortable to sleep.”
Imogene felt her cheeks color at his words and the images that rapidly filled her mind. Of the two of them in a narrow double bed doing anything but sleeping. Or when they did, and despite the intense heat of equatorial Africa, they curled so close together it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. She’d grown used to sleeping with him so quickly after they’d met, and it had taken her months before she’d stopped reaching for him in the dark after she’d returned to New York.
She averted her gaze before she suggested something stupid, like sleeping together again. After all, they were married and had a common goal of creating a family together. But even as she thought it, she knew she wasn’t ready to take that step. Not yet anyway.
“Thank you,” she finally managed. “Would you like to use the bathroom first?”
Valentin laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Us. We sound so damned civilized.”
She giggled. “Yes, we do. Surprising under the circumstances, when you think about it.”
“Shows we’re better people than we were before.” His eyes grew dark and serious. “I meant what I said back in that office, Imogene. Even more than the vows we exchanged. You won’t regret this.”
Imogene swallowed against the lump in her throat and gave him a small nod. She was beyond words, but she wasn’t beyond feeling, she discovered as he strode through to the well-appointed bathroom and closed the door behind him. After a few minutes she heard the shower begin to run. She groaned at the knowledge that he was naked, that water now coursed in strong rivulets over his body. A body she’d once known perhaps even better than her own. She slumped onto the bed and kicked off her shoes before tugging at the invisible side zipper on her gown. She stood again and let the gown drop to the floor before stepping out of it and picking it up again to gently fold it and lay it on an easy chair.
As she did so, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Dressed in a white lace-covered bustier and matching panties, together with white lace garters and sheer white stockings, she looked the epitome of bridal innocence. She touched the top of her thighs where her skin was exposed and felt a shiver course through her. Looks were one thing, but the actuality was quite another. Her entire body was attuned to every sound she could make out from the bathroom and it responded to the visual effects that her mind so willingly supplied.
The water snapped off and the sound propelled her into action. She grabbed her carry-on case and yanked out the robe she’d packed in there earlier. Had it only been this morning? It felt like a lifetime ago. She shook out the robe and gasped when she saw a shower of rose petals fall from the folds. The only person who could have sabotaged her things was her mom—she was the one Imogene had wanted with her all morning. And despite the lack of romance in her own marriage and her trepidation about the way Imogene had approached this one, Caroline had attempted to inject a little romance into her daughter’s day.
The door to the bathroom opened.
“You okay? I thought I heard you make a noise,” Valentin said, stepping through the doorway with a white towel wrapped around his hips.
All rational thought fled. The perfect lines of his body could have been carved by Michelangelo, except she knew that if she touched him he wouldn’t feel like cold marble. No, his skin would be hot, pliable and highly responsive to her caress. Every feminine instinct in her body clamored to be reacquainted with him. Intimately.
“Are those rose petals?” he asked, snapping her out of the seductive trance that threatened to take over her weary mind.
He drew closer and Imogene quickly shoved her arms in the sleeves of the robe and dragged it closed at her waist.
“Don’t rush on my account,” Valentin teased, the gleam in his eyes showing his appreciation of her attire.
“I’m sorry, I’ll clean them up. Mom must have—”
“Hey, don’t panic. It’s okay.” He reached out a steadying hand to her and clasped her forearm before she could bend down. “Relax, okay? I think a few rose petals are only to be expected with a bride and groom aboard, don’t you?”
Heat flared along her arm. Heat that tantalized and teased her already overwrought senses. Imogene pressed her lips together before answering, “But we’re not your typical bride and groom, are we?”
“We never were typical,” he agreed.
His words sent another rush of color to her cheeks. She groaned inwardly. Why did she continually blush around him? No one else had ever had the capacity to wring that kind of reaction from her before. She gestured to his towel.
“Are you planning to sleep in that?”
“It might give our cabin crew a bit of a shock if I did. No, I have some pajamas in my case. When you go to the bathroom I’ll change in here, if that’s okay.”
Ah, so they were back to being polite again. That suited her just fine. Right now she didn’t know what to think or say or do. All she knew was that she needed to create a bit of space between herself and Valentin before she did something stupid, like press her lips to the small brown discs of his nipples, or lick off that tiny droplet of water that followed the indentation of his abdomen.
“I’ll say good-night now, then,” she said stiffly and gathered up her toilet bag.
“Good night, Imogene,” Valentin replied.
His voice was gentle and deep and almost her undoing. It would take only a second to lift her face to his. To claim a good-night kiss. But if she did, she knew exactly where that would lead and she knew she definitely wasn’t ready for the ramifications of what would follow. Not mentally. Not yet.
Valentin looked out the aircraft window at the glorious coastline that appeared beneath them. Turquoise waters edged by foaming waves crashed against a reef that appeared to encircle the island they were approaching. As the plane drew lower still, he could make out white-sand beaches and towering palm trees that waved their fronds in the onshore breeze.
“Look at that,” he said to Imogene, gesturing outside.
“It’s beautiful,” she answered, leaning across him to get a better look. “And it’s certainly not like the New York winter we’ve left behind. Still, I guess, being in the southern hemisphere, it’s summer down here, right?”
He grunted in response, barely able to speak right now. Did she know her breast was pressed against his arm, he wondered, or realize what her closeness was doing to him? How her subtle fragrance invaded his mind and made him think all kinds of inappropriate things he’d rather be doing with her right now? Her very nearness was going to be a major test of his ability to practice abstinence while they worked toward understanding each other better. It was something they were going to need to discuss very soon or he’d go crazy.
He moved slightly and Imogene immediately pulled away.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
She fiddled with her seat belt, tugging at the strap and ensuring it was firmly done up.
“No problem,” he responded, even though her touch had rapidly become a problem for him, indeed. He gestured out the window again. “Looks like we’re coming in to land.”
Imogene reached for his hand. “Do you mind? I always get nervous.”
He curled his fingers around hers and was surprised at how tight her grip became as they descended through the clouds. “I never knew that about you.”
“Well, we’ve never flown together before, so I guess you never got the chance to find out.”
Her words came out lightly but he knew there was a lot more behind them.
“You’re right,” he conceded. “We didn’t get to know a lot about each other at all, did we?”
&n
bsp; The wheels touched the tarmac and her grip tightened even more. The plane felt like it was fighting the brakes as they eventually began to slow down and taxied toward the terminal building. One of the cabin crew came toward them, a warm smile wreathing her pretty face.
“We’ll be disembarking soon,” she informed them. “Once the stairs are down I’ll come and get you and direct you to customs and immigration. It should only be a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Jenny,” Valentin acknowledged.
He felt Imogene disengage her fingers from his hand one by one.
“She’s attractive, isn’t she?” Imogene commented. “Do you know her well?”
Valentin shrugged, suddenly aware that any comment right now could be a potential minefield. “As well as I know any of the Horvath Aviation crews. I fly a lot with my work and I’ve gotten to know a few of them. Jenny’s husband, Ash, is one of our pilots. It’s company policy that if staff are a couple, they be assigned together whenever practical.”
He felt Imogene relax a little. Was it because she now knew that Jenny was married? Until that supposed incident with Carla, jealousy had never been an issue, but was it going to be an issue now? Obviously Imogene felt vulnerable—she’d taken a major leap of faith in marrying him again, but then again so had he.
As soon as they were settled into their accommodations they’d be having a serious discussion about the boundaries of this new marriage of theirs and what they each expected out of it. Failure wasn’t something that Valentin accepted, which was what had made him an excellent student, a brilliant doctor and an astute businessman. The fact that his first marriage had failed had always been a thorn in his side. He knew he’d been the innocent party all along but his failure in not being able to make Imogene see that had been hard to bear. Her insecurity had driven her away from him, which, in turn, meant he’d failed her. Now it was up to him to make sure she never felt that way again.
Before long they were descending the stairs of the aircraft and stepping onto the steaming-hot tarmac at the airport. It was a short walk to the small terminal building, and clearing customs and immigration took only a few minutes since they’d landed at a quiet time at the airport with no commercial airliners arriving or departing. The air around them was thick with humidity but a steady breeze blew off the nearby ocean and tugged at their clothing as they exited the terminal building to find a driver waiting for them with a sign.
“Kia orana!” the woman said in greeting as she slipped a lei of fragrant blooms around each of their necks. “Welcome to the Cook Islands. I’m Kimi and I’ll be your contact and your driver during your stay with us. Please, come with me.”
Valentin put a hand to Imogene’s elbow as they followed Kimi to a van. Their luggage was loaded in the back and in a few moments they were off. After twenty minutes they were at their destination: a secluded villa just back from the sand on a private lagoon.
“Everything here is at your disposal,” Kimi said expansively. “You have your own pool and you’ll find water toys to use in the lagoon in the shed behind those bushes. There’s an outdoor shower for you to use in complete privacy when you come back from the beach and if you need anything else here at the house, please just lift the phone over there and someone will handle your query. I’m available to drive you anywhere you want to go.
“There’s fruit and drinks in your kitchen, together with a few breakfast items, and you’re welcome to use the neighboring resort restaurants for breakfast and lunch and just charge it back to the villa. Tonight, dinner will be brought to you at seven. We can serve it here on the patio or down on the sand if you’d prefer, although we’re expecting a bit of a storm tonight. Oh, and there’s a car or scooters for you to use if you want to drive around the island yourselves. Just remember to keep left and watch your speed. It’s only thirty-two kilometers round-trip to get around the island, but you can take as long as you like. You’re on island time now.”
“Thank you, Kimi. This is lovely,” Imogene said with a genuine smile.
He realized that beneath the smile, though, she still looked tightly drawn and tired. Obviously having that great big bed to herself during the flight hadn’t ensured a good enough rest for her. Or maybe she was worried about something else. They’d essentially be alone here for the better part of seven days—was that what was bugging her?
Kimi bade them farewell and left.
“Well,” said Imogene, with her hands on her hips and looking out to the tranquil lagoon. “Here we are. It’s certainly beautiful.”
“As are you,” Valentin said softly. “You’re going to need to be careful with that fair skin of yours.”
“I brought plenty of sunblock,” she said nervously as if she suddenly realized that he would be the one applying it in the areas she couldn’t reach. “What time is it?”
“Just after 8:00 a.m.,” he commented after glancing at his watch.
“Wow, it’s going to feel like a long day, isn’t it?”
“You can rest anytime you need. Our honeymoon is going to be all about doing what we want to do. And getting to know each other all over again. In fact, there’s something we need to discuss.”
She stiffened and drew away from him slightly. “Oh? And what’s that?”
“Sex,” he answered.
To his delight, color shot through her cheeks and her eyes flared in shock at his bluntness.
“S-sex?” she said on a wobbly note.
“I don’t think we should do it.”
Her eyes widened even farther. “You don’t?”
He swallowed. This was all coming out wrong and even though it went against every male instinct in his body, it had to be said. “Obviously I want to...y’know. But last time we leaped into a sexual relationship so quickly it blurred everything else out of existence for us. We met, we married and we separated all within the space of only a few months. I think we should take our time this time. In fact, I’d like to...”
“You’d like to...?” she coaxed.
“I’d like to court you this time.”
“Court me? Isn’t that kind of like locking a stable door after the horse has bolted? We’re already married.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t take the time now, this week at the very least, to get to know each other better.” He took a step toward her and put his hands gently on her shoulders. “Imogene, this is important to me. I don’t want anything to go wrong this time.”
Five
Imogene looked at Valentin in surprise. There was a note to his voice she’d never heard before. He’d always been strong and decisive, and yet at this moment he sounded unsure. And for someone who was very much a take-charge kind of guy, he’d definitely put the ball in her court. Had he noticed how nervous she was? She’d never known him to be terribly observant of her before. His patients usually were the ones who got all of his focused attention and rightly so, but somewhere along the line, he’d changed. Either he’d expanded his powers of observation or he was truly making an effort for her. A warm kernel of hope lit deep inside. A hope that they’d be able to make this work this time around. She made her decision.
“Yes, I’d like you to court me,” she replied with a shyness she hadn’t expected to feel.
“Okay.” Valentin exhaled on a long breath. “So, today—shall we go for a swim first, or would you like something to eat?”
“A swim sounds divine. We were fed so well on the flight I don’t think I’m going to need to eat again for a while.”
“Beach or pool?”
“Oh, beach, definitely.”
Imogene walked off the patio and through the sliding doors into the house. Fans turned lazily on the ceiling, and she carried on walking until she found the master bedroom where their luggage had been put. There was another room on the other side of the hallway.
“I’ll take this other room and leave you the
master,” she said, making a decision there and then.
To her relief, Valentin didn’t protest. Instead he grabbed her cases and rolled them across the tiled floor to her bedroom.
“I’ll knock on your door when I’m ready,” he said with a grin. “It’ll be like coming to pick you up on a date.”
She smiled automatically in return. He really was taking this seriously. “Sure,” she answered and closed the door behind him.
A flutter of nerves started low in her belly. It felt weird, yet exciting at the same time. Being courted by her husband? What a novel idea. She quickly opened her case and lifted a filmy beach wrap out together with a bikini. She eyed the bikini with a little trepidation. Was this going to be too revealing? She hadn’t worn one in such a long time she’d even felt uncomfortable trying it on in the store, but the sales assistant had been effusive in her compliments, saying the emerald green of the fabric worked brilliantly with her skin tone and brought out the color in her eyes. Well, Imogene decided as she began to shed her clothes, even if they were merely courting this week, no one said anything about not being tempting at the same time. In fact, wouldn’t that just be normal?
A knock a few minutes later saw her tie the beach wrap firmly around her hips before opening the door.
“I’m ready,” she said breathlessly. “I just need sunblock on my back, if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, sure,” Valentin answered, taking the tube of lotion from her. “And if you can do the same for me, too?”
“Oh, yes,” Imogene replied, hoping her fear at having to touch him, at having him touch her, wasn’t clearly evident.
She was so attuned to his every movement, and while she’d agreed in principle to their no-sex agreement, actually living that agreement was going to be a challenge. But she, like Valentin, didn’t want to muddy this chance at a new beginning by making the same mistakes they’d made before.
Mistakes? Had loving each other so absolutely been a total mistake? Unbidden, her body rode a wave of remembered pleasure. She fought her scattered nerves back into submission. This was going to be a whole lot more challenging than she’d ever expected.
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