Like None Other
Page 4
“Captain,” she whispered as his kisses drifted over her temple.
“Call me Phin.” His breath stirred her hair, and she shivered again.
“Phin.” He smiled when she said his name, a masculine, hungry smile. His hands slid down her back, curving her spine until her body pressed against his. Emma tried not to gasp aloud as her breasts flattened against him. Against her belly she could feel his erection, growing harder by the minute, and this time she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.
“Phin,” she said again, trying to keep hold of her fraying thoughts. “I should tell you . . . What your mother said . . .”
“I don’t want to talk about my mother or your mother.” He was kissing the side of her neck now. Emma tilted her head, shamelessly begging for more.
“But my mother is ambitious, even grasping. She . . . oh my . . . She coerced you into having a dinner party . . .”
“Emma,” he said, his voice low and ragged, “if she’d suggested I host a circus in my parlour for you, I would have done it. If she said I could call on you only if my connections were good enough, I would have lined up every relation and friend I have, just to ensure I could see you.”
“But you can see me any time,” she protested.
“That’s not what I want, with a wall between us.” He kissed her brow, smoothing her hair back. “I want to see you like this.”
“Phin.” She slid her hands around his neck, making him look at her. “You didn’t need to appease my mother to see me.”
He paused. “No?”
Emma blushed. “I didn’t spend so much time in my garden before you arrived.”
He blinked, smiled and then threw back his head and laughed. “And I’ve been plotting a careful campaign to seduce you.”
“You have been, all this time,” she said. “With just the sound of your voice.”
“Really.” Interest sparked in his face. “Just my voice?”
“Yes,” Emma admitted. “And your tales of adventure and danger in foreign lands. I would imagine I was there with you.”
Phin laughed. “Well! That is good to know. For I have a tale of adventure to tell you, my darling Emma, and, while there will be no danger or foreign lands, I plan to seduce you most thoroughly, and with more than my voice.”
She smiled up at him as he gathered her into his arms once more. “I’ve been waiting months for that adventure.”
“It will be like none other,” he promised. He kissed her again, bearing her back into the jasmine, and a shower of tiny blossoms covered them both.