“So.” She forced a light note to her voice and stepped toward him. “Should we...retire? To the bed?”

“That isn’t—” He cleared his throat and stepped back. “That isn’t how things like this are done. You don’t simply go to a man’s room in the middle of the night and say, ‘Seduce me!’”

“I did offer to seduce you.” She stepped closer. “I might need some assistance in that, but the offer remains.”

He stared at her.

“Surely this is not the first time a woman has come to your room with an offer of this nature.”

“No, it isn’t. But that is entirely irrelevant. We’re not talking about some woman. We’re talking about you!” His brows drew together in a forbidding manner. “What did you think was going to happen here, India? Did you think you could simply waltz into my room, declare your intentions and I would throw you onto my bed and have my way with you?”

“That sounds like an excellent way to start.” She nodded. “But you might wish to discard the pillow.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, clutching the pillow tighter against him.

“I must say, I’m a bit surprised.”

“You’re surprised?”

She casually circled around him and sank down on the edge of the bed. “I never imagined this was going to be quite this difficult. I thought a man of your reputation would be more than amenable to a night of...amorous adventure.”

“So I’m the trollop?”

She winced.

“Now see here, India Prendergast.” Indignation rang in his voice. “Admittedly, I have had my share—perhaps more than my share—of amorous adventures. And while the offer is tempting—more than tempting—bloody hell, India, I love you! And you are not the kind of woman one dallies with—especially not on command! You are the type of woman one marries!”

She stared at him. “Does one?”

“It might very well depend.” He stalked over to her, dropped his pillow, yanked her to her feet and into his arms. “Are you here because I am a means to an end? A way to make the night last forever? Or are you here because you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you? Because you cannot stand another minute without being in my arms? Because I have taken up residence in your heart and regardless of how ill suited we are for each other, we are as well inevitable?” His gaze bored into hers. “Because you love me?”

“Well...” Her breath caught. “Yes.”

“That’s settled then.” He stared into her eyes but made no effort to let her go.

“I think you should kiss me now.” She rested her hands on his chest, startled to note he had nothing on beneath the dressing gown beyond the pajama trousers. Just as startling was how exciting that was.

“Do you?” He swallowed.

“It seems like the thing to do.”

“I believe I said the next time I kissed you it would be at a time and place of my choosing.”

“And yet here we are.” She slid her arms around his neck. “Seize the day, Derek.” She tentatively touched her lips to his. “This is an unexpected opportunity.”

He groaned and pulled her tighter to him. His arousal pressed against her through the layers of fabric, and the strangest feeling of need ached inside her.

“Kiss me, Derek,” she murmured against his lips, shifting her hips to press closer. Any lingering apprehension vanished in the heat of his body next to hers.

“India.” He moaned and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss firm but distinctly restrained. She could feel the tension in the hard muscles of his arms around her, as if he were holding himself in check. As if he were afraid. This would never do. He raised his head, released her and stepped back. “There. I have kissed you—now you should go.”

“Derek,” she said with a sigh. “I am a twenty-nine-year-old spinster, which did not bother me at all before I came to Paris. I usually wore gray or brown. I prided myself on my efficiency, and I considered myself quite ordinary. Now I find it rather sad and somewhat pathetic. I feel like an entirely different person. And it’s your fault. You taught me to breathe, Derek, and now you have to suffer the consequences.” She smiled in what she hoped was a sultry manner. “And I have no intention of leaving.”

“And I have no intention of seducing you.” His resolute tone was at complete odds with the sharp bulge beneath his dressing gown.

“Very well then. If you will not seduce me, I shall have to seduce you.”

“Will you?” A distinct challenge shone in his eyes, and he shrugged. “Be my guest.”

“You should know that novels of detection are not the only things I have read.”

“Oh?” He smiled in a knowing manner. “Then by all means, proceed.”

“You would be amazed at what one might learn through the joys of reading,” she said under her breath. Although she really had no idea what to do now.

“I can imagine.” He chuckled.

“You doubt me?”

He shrugged.

She studied him for a moment, then reached out and pulled the sash of his dressing gown free, letting it drop to the floor. The gown fell open, leaving the hard planes of his chest exposed. A smattering of hair covered his torso between his flattened nipples, then trailed down to disappear beneath the trousers. She moved closer and ran her hands over his chest. He shuddered beneath her touch, and his hands clenched into fists by his side, but he made no other movement. A sense of pure power washed through her. How long would it take for him to lose control?

She reached up and kissed the base of his throat, then ran light kisses down his chest. She felt his sharp intake of breath beneath her mouth and smiled to herself. Her hands pushed the gown off his broad shoulders, and it fell with a whisper to the floor. She reveled in the feel of his tensed muscles beneath her fingers, then slowly circled behind him, her hands never leaving his flesh. His back was as well defined as his chest. She stepped back and shrugged out of her wrapper, leaving her covered only by the nearly transparent material of the negligee. Odd that this wasn’t the least bit embarrassing. No man had ever seen her so scantily clad, and yet there wasn’t so much as a hint of apprehension. Instead it was all quite exciting.

She ran her hands over him, caressing his shoulders and tracing the ridges and valleys of his back with the tips of her nails. Her fingers drifted along the cleft of his spine, lower to the waist of his silk trousers, hanging low on his hips, and below to the curve of his buttocks. He tensed at her touch, and she savored the feel of his body and his response. She ran a finger along the edge of the fabric. His breath came a bit faster, as did hers. She moved closer to press against him and kissed the back of his neck. She wrapped her arms around him and reached for the drawstring of his pajamas, inadvertently brushing over his erection. He drew a deep, shuddering breath.

“India.” The word was little more than a moan.

She tugged at the drawstring, and his hand caught hers.

“You realize there is no going back from this?” His voice was ragged with desire.

She swallowed hard. “I do.”

He turned to face her, her hand still in his. “I have never taken a virgin to my bed.”

“Then I shall be your first.”

“No, you shall be my last.” He pulled her to his lips. “Be forewarned, India Prendergast, I don’t want a single night with you. This night is not all I want to last forever.”

“Good.” The word was little more than a sigh.

He kissed the palm of her hand, then her wrist. She shivered and a yearning ache spread low in her abdomen. He straightened, drew her into his arms and crushed his lips to hers. For a moment, panic surged through her. What had she done? It was quite exciting when she was the one doing the seducing, when she was in control. Now his mouth plundered hers, demanding and insistent and...her mouth opened to his, and he tasted vaguely of heat and brandy and spice. His arms wrapped tighter around her and the beating of his heart echoed her own. Something decadent and demanding—desire no doubt throbbed deep within her.

His mouth trailed from her lips and along her jaw to linger just below her ear. She caught her breath. His lips ran kisses down the curve of her neck. He moved the sleeves of her gown off her shoulders, his mouth never leaving her flesh, heated beneath his touch. He pushed the gown lower until it slid to the floor leaving her naked in his arms. She shivered with the cool night air and the feel of his body close to hers.

One hand caressed the small of her back and moved lower to the curve of her bottom. He cupped her breast and lowered his head to flick his tongue over the hardened nipple. She gasped, and her stomach tightened. He sucked at her breast and the most astonishing sensations coursed through her. Without thinking, her body pressed closer to his, his erection beneath the fabric of his pajamas nudging between her legs. He shifted his attention to her other breast, pulling the nipple into his mouth, gently nipping and sucking until her knees weakened and her nails dug into his shoulders for support.

He lowered her onto the bed and for a moment stared down at her. “There is nothing ordinary about you, India Prendergast. You are remarkable.”

He ran his hands over her ankles and along the insides of her legs, lightly caressing her knees and traveling ever higher to her inner thighs. Her legs fell open of their own accord; she was conscious of nothing but the astonishing feel of his hands on her skin—arousing and hypnotic. Flesh that had never seemed so alive. As if he had brought her to life.

His fingers slid between the soft folds at the meeting of her thighs and her breath hitched.

“Derek!”

“Carpe diem, Miss Prendergast,” he murmured, sinking to his knees between her legs.

Surely he wasn’t—she propped herself up on her elbows and stared at him. “Derek—you aren’t? You wouldn’t!” She stared. “Would you?”