Breaking the kiss, she stepped back on wobbly legs. “Goodbye, Zach.”
His expression gave nothing away as he paused for a moment before leading her by the hand to her bedroom door. “Good night, darlin’,” he murmured, lightly brushing her lips with his. “If you need me, I’ll be right out there on the couch.”
As she watched him walk down the hall, she wondered what she was supposed to do now. She wouldn’t be able to get a wink of sleep just knowing he was on her couch. Possibly in his boxer shorts. Possibly wearing nothing at all.
“Oh, dear Lord.”
Hurrying into her bedroom, she closed the door then leaned back against it. She was in deep, deep trouble and it was going to be a very long night if just the thought of Zach being nude could send fire streaking through her veins and cause her pulse to pound so hard she could feel it in every cell of her body.
Zach stared at the ceiling of Arielle’s living room long after he heard her close her bedroom door. If he wasn’t so damned uncomfortable, the situation would be downright laughable. Hell, he’d single-handedly built and maintained a thriving empire of luxury resorts. He had several billion dollars in assets. He had a mansion with eight bedrooms, all with very comfortable king-size beds. And here he was, on a couch that was too short, his head resting on a throw pillow hard as a chunk of concrete and covered up with a stadium blanket that needed three more feet.
But other than his back was going to kill him in the morning and he was in one room while Arielle was in another, the evening had gone rather well. After her nap, he’d finally explained about Aspen, hadn’t pushed the marriage issue and his body let her know in no uncertain terms how he still desired her as much now as he had then.
Now he had to convince her that getting married was in the best interest of their babies and by the time her brothers and sister-in-law arrived on Saturday, everything should be set for a weekend wedding. Granted it would be a small, family-only affair, since they didn’t have time to make a lot of arrangements. But later, if Arielle wanted something larger, they could plan a lavish wedding and reception.
Extremely satisfied with the way he was handling everything, he’d just drifted off to sleep when a woman’s keening wail caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand straight up and had him bolting off the couch in less than a heartbeat. His heart hammered hard against his ribs as he made his way across the dark room and when he stubbed his toe on the armchair, he muttered a curse that would have had Mattie washing his mouth out with soap when he’d been younger. But ignoring the throbbing pain that followed, he rushed down the hall and flung open Arielle’s bedroom door.
Relieved to see there wasn’t someone in the room trying to hurt her, he then realized she was writhing under the duvet as if in extreme discomfort. Rushing to her, he turned the bedside light on, pushed the covers away and noticed she was desperately trying to rub her left calf.
“Arielle, what’s wrong?”
“L-leg…cramp,” she moaned, her normally melodic voice tight with pain.
Kneeling on the bed, he brushed her hands aside and immediately massaged her left calf as he loosened up the muscle. “Hang on, darlin’. It should start feeling better in just a minute or two.”
In a matter of seconds, her expression told him the pain was lessening. Now sitting beside her, he continued to gently rub her calf.
“That feels…much better,” she admitted. “Thank you.”
During the ordeal with the muscle cramp, her thin yellow gown had ridden up well above her knees and he noticed that although her stomach had rounded slightly from being pregnant, the rest of her body was every bit as shapely as in Aspen. Just the memory of having her long slender legs wrapped around him as they made love caused his body to harden so fast, it left him feeling light-headed and made him damned glad that he had on a pair of loose boxers.
Without a thought to the damage he might do to his well-crafted plan not to push Arielle too far, Zach stretched out beside her. Then, gathering her to him, he pulled the sheet over them.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, her eyes wide.
He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he did know it felt completely right. “The couch is too short. Besides, you might have another leg cramp and I’d rather not risk breaking my neck getting to you the next time.”
“That’s about the most contrived excuse I think I’ve ever heard,” she protested, turning on her side to face him. At least she was still talking to him and not ordering him out of the room.
He laughed. “It was pretty weak, wasn’t it?”
Nodding, she asked, “Seriously, what are you doing in my bed and why?”
“I wasn’t exaggerating about the couch. It’s about a foot and a half too short to be comfortable for a man of my height.”
“I’m sure your own bed is long enough to accommodate you. You could go home.”
“No, I couldn’t.” He brushed a strand of silky auburn hair from her cheek. “I told you I’d be here for you, no matter what. And I’ll keep that promise or die trying.” He paused, then, deciding to lay it on the line, added, “And the biggest reason I’m in bed with you is because I want to hold you while you sleep and wake up with you in my arms.”
He could tell by the look on her pretty face that she had serious doubts about his motives. “Zach, I—”
“I’m not going to lie to you, darlin’. I want to make love to you. I want to be buried so deep inside you that you forget where you end and I begin.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But I give you my word, I’m not going to press you for more than you’re ready to give. When the time is right, we’ll know and nothing will stop me from giving you so much pleasure that we both collapse from exhaustion.”
She finally nodded. “I truly appreciate your consideration. Unfortunately, I don’t trust myself any more than I trust you.”
“I can understand having a doubt or two about me, but why can’t you trust yourself?” he inquired, enjoying the feel of her soft body against his much harder one.
“My judgment isn’t at its best when I’m around you.” She closed her eyes, debating with herself about how much she wanted to say. When she opened them, she found him intently watching her face. “I let myself throw caution to the wind with you once before and although I want and love these babies more than life itself, I would have preferred we were…” She stopped for a moment, trying to find the right words. “That things between us had gone a little more conventionally.”