Page 95 of Brushed By Moonlight

Bad analogy, because James Bond didn’t rest or regenerate. He danced between silk sheets with nubile young women for half the night.

Nubile young women who usually ended up dead at the hands of the vengeful villain, but hey. I decided to ignore that part. Besides, I wasn’t nubile, and I wasn’t beautiful. Also, I had at least half a brain, unlike most of the Bond girls.

A brain chanting for me to give up this charade and get it on with my dragontout de suite.

I peeked at the glowing clock and set a five-minute goal. Five minutes to settle down and erase dirty thoughts from my mind.

Two minutes and sixteen seconds later, I groaned and threw back the sheet.

“Marius,” I whispered, inching toward the bedroom.

No answer. I frowned.

“Marius,” I hissed.

The sheets rustled slightly, and he grumbled, “I said, last chance. You missed yours.”

I stuck my hands on my hips. Seriously?

He kept it up for five of the longest seconds of my life, then chuckled and raised the sheet.

“Get in here, woman. Naked, preferably.”

I yanked off my sleep shirt and dove into the bed. Into his arms. Into his hungry kiss.

He tasted of fresh, seaside air with the slightest hint of ash. Smacking my lips, I found myself not in the least turned off. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Marius arched a dark eyebrow, striking aTake it or leave itlook, but I could sense his heart race.

“A little ashy, but otherwise, not bad,” I bluffed, touching down for another kiss.

He snorted. “Not bad?”

I grinned into the kiss. “Only the good kind of bad.”

“You speak in riddles, woman,” the man who was the very definition ofbadcomplained.

I ran a hand down his side, inching toward his hip. “Are you saying I should stick to another kind of communication?”

His eyes glowed in the dark. “Works for me.”

“All right, then. Lie back,” I ordered, guiding him with firm hands.

“You’re still talking.”

“Patience. I’m about to put my lips to a better use.”

His eyes sparkled. “Oh yes?”

“Yes,” I promised and made good on that by diving into a deep, hungry kiss.

Those were the last coherent words either of us uttered for a long, long time. I leaned in, doing my best to pin down his body, and he slowly relaxed into the mattress with an amused expression.

Amusedirked me, though. He considered himself such a master of control?

I set about proving him wrong, working my way inch by inch down that magnificent body. My lips journeyed from his mouth to his chin, then his neck. They paused at the swell of his chest to kiss, then circle his nipples.

He sucked in a breath, and I hid aYou ain’t seen nothing yetgrin.