Adapting Desires (Endangered Heart Series Book 3) Read online

  “Is this amusing for you?” he sneered. “Torturing me with your little disappearances?”

  Her leg arched up just enough to make ripples around the water of her left leg, showing the glistening limb just to the bend of her knee.

  Emilia Ward was a silent film, and without the recorded sound, he found himself painfully staring at the screen.

  “How would you like it if I did this to you?” he tried again. “Walked out the door with no sign of returning every time we found a subject to disagree upon?”

  Lolling her head to the side, her expression hardly changed. Even as she stretched her neck, exposing just another inch of herself from beneath the bubbles, he counted the lines between the tiles. What sort of marriage were they to have if he allowed her to win every argument with just a show of her flesh?

  “If you disappeared, I would find you.” She straightened her neck back to its former position and sighed. “You’re not the only one who can hire a P.I., you know.”

  “Clearly,” he said, looking her up and down. “You are rather resourceful.”

  Back to her silence, she cracked her knuckles and relaxed her shoulders.

  “Where were you anyway?” he asked.

  “Spending your money.”

  Kasper watched her narrow brows. An expert on her facial expressions, Kasper knew instantly that while she may not have been mad at him, she remained somewhat distant even in her relaxed state. Still, no longer able to resist, Kasper sat on the bathmat beside her and began tracing small circles around the freckle at the top of her shoulder. Though that part of her seemed to relax as well, she still kept her eyes shut and the rest of her body rigid.

  “Please don’t be that way.” Kasper took her hand from the edge of the tub and brought it to his lips instead. “So I made a stupid threat. You know how dim-witted I can be when I am worried about you.”

  The faintest hint of a smile began to show on her face. Kasper used the opportunity to sit at the edge of the tub itself, his newly repaired ring finger swirling the bubbles at her toes to make her giggle.

  “Since I get the same way, I guess I can’t judge.”

  Leaning to kiss the top of her forehead, he inhaled the smell of her hair. “I’m glad you didn’t stay away for too long.”

  She stared up at him curiously. “I’ve been back for almost an hour now.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me?”

  She shrugged her shoulder blades into the tiles behind her. “I checked on you when I first got in. You seemed all right at first, and I knew you needed the sleep. Besides, it gave me time to set up downstairs.”

  “Set up?” he asked. “Set up what?”

  “You’ll see when we get down there.” She giggled. “Now stop stalling and get in here before I change my mind.”

  He had already removed his shirt and had nearly undone his belt when it occurred to him the mechanics of the situation. Pausing briefly to undress, he reached over, her foot stopping his hand just before he pulled the drain.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Avoiding flooding.”

  She groaned and looked over the edge of the tub at the floor. Apparently this had not occurred to her either. However, it hardly seemed to bother her, and she sank deeper into the bubbles.

  “I’ll admit I’m not looking forward to cleaning up that mess. But the temperature is perfect and I won’t let you mess it up.”

  Kasper removed the remainder of his clothing and rolled his eyes. “The faucets are adjustable, dear.”

  “Are you trying to get me to rescind my invitation?” And with the slightest hint of teasing in her voice, Emilia scooped up a small bit of soapy suds before blowing them in his direction.

  He held up his hands defensively and kept his mouth shut, more than willing to settle into the water when she straightened up and pulled her knees to her chest. Emilia’s movements may have been subtle, graceful even in their attempts, but as the water created a glistening effect over her bare chest and arms, it was all he could do to sustain himself for as long as he did.

  The water itself stung in its heat as it enveloped him from his feet to his shins, quickly becoming nothing more than a mere tingle when he sat down and hauled her to him. He smiled wildly the entire time, even when their mouths met in a painful kiss, bodies crushing together despite the awkward positioning. Sure enough, water cascaded to the floor.

  Worries and concerns were abstained in their lust for one another, his questions and concerns somehow more easily dealt with at some interval when she was not touching him. Now, with her hands roaming toward his thighs, Kasper was finding himself losing the ability to form complete sentences in his mind, his capacity for thought forming failing altogether as she slid her palms close to the places he wanted her the most. Like the tease she was, she avoided his member in just the right way, giggling as she pulled her mouth away from his.

  Oh, if his defective heart would not be the death of him, his pretty wife certainly would be.

  “You are entirely aware that a manslaughter conviction may disqualify you as the life insurance beneficiary?” His sharp inhale of breath was quickly hushed over by her quiet kisses. Kasper’s muscles bunched and flexed as he wiped the suds from her back.

  “I—” he hissed again as she gently bit his neck. If she waited much longer to relieve him…he gently hit his head against the tile. “I am entirely seriously. Haven’t you tortured me enough for one day?” Kasper closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the edge of the tub. Another second longer, and he would have begged.

  “How?” Though bold, Emilia’s voice was soft like velvet. It was not often that she attempted to take control of him in that way, yet Kasper would have been a liar if he did not admit that a part of him very much liked it. “Tell me how you want me to touch you.”

  Eyes flying open, Kasper locked onto the spark of desire that had taken over Emilia’s face. Regardless of how he inspired the anger in her, it was unquestionably tied to the lust she felt for him—a theory he had suspected for quite some time and was eager to explore.

  Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Kasper cleared his throat multiple times before he found his voice again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was grateful now that the door was left open, for if it had not been he may have suffocated to death. “Obtain the soap and accumulate lather between your hands.”

  Though she was slow to respond, she complied with his request and squirmed away from him enough to stand on her heels and reach for the soap she knew he used. Agonizing seconds ticked by as he listened to the sound of bubble bath disintegrate around them. Despite her insistence to the contrary, Kasper would have sworn that Emilia rather enjoyed being bossed around, as she so often referred to it as. Though it gave him pleasure to choreograph their movements in the bedroom, clearly it pleased her just as well if not more so to do the same…

  Frankly, at the moment, he enjoyed it too much to put any thought into it.

  “And?” her voice sang. “Anything else?”

  He groaned miserably, slamming his fists hard enough to disturb the bottle of shampoo just above his head. “Must I spell it out for you?” he shouted.

  “No,” she sighed. “I just like to keep your manners in check.”

  “I want—” his voice croaked as he began again. “Need to feel your hands around me, please.”

  She wrapped one of her delicate hands around him and was immediately rewarded with a sigh.

  “Like that, I take it?”

  Nodding eagerly, he remained silent, concentrating on the joy her slick, soapy hand brought him by stroking tightly up and down his erection. Every so often, her thumb would slide over the head when she reached the tip, her alternative hand cupping the remainder of his manhood—taking especially great care of that sensitive spot underneath the sack.

  Painful and glorious all at once, he jerked away from her. “Stop,” he insisted. “Or I’ll—”

  “Or you’ll what?” She giggled.

&n
bsp; Not wanting to come alone, he tugged Emilia up without warning to drape her legs on either side of his to ride him. Never had he been so grateful for the oversized tub, though whether or not the steam rising was from the water or from the heat that generated between them, he couldn’t be certain. All Kasper could be entirely sure of was his firm grasp on her hips as he held her steady and how wonderfully his name sounded with the acoustics the bathroom provided.

  “Kasper!” Again she cried out as he pressed deep into her.

  Now he concentrated on the ripples vibrating throughout her body as she tightened around him. Frantic not to disappoint her with his body begging for release, he slid his hands into her hair, pulling her to him as hard as he could without hurting her.

  “Ride me,” he demanded.

  As he suspected, the last act of bullying set her off, and he tightened his hand in her hair and kissing her as she went over. If she was holding any restraint of her own, it was shed in the final few thrusts, all but forcing him to follow her immediately afterward.

  Moments later, he held her close while they breathed heavily, and he stroked a hand up and down her shoulder blade. What bubbles remained were mostly on the floor now or fixed to the faucet handles themselves, and slowly but steadily as he became aware of more of the world around him, he realized that their efforts had caused the drain itself to become undone, the water slowly receding in the whirlpool at their feet.

  “I guess it’s just as well.” She huffed. “The water was practically cold anyway.”

  Though reluctant, he released her from his arms—if only to better watch her twirl the last strands of her hair back around her headband. When she stood up, he continued to view her with a combination of admiration and insensible allure—a new craving for her overcoming him before he was scarcely aware of it.

  “If you insist on squabbling, I should make you wear a parka.”

  She smiled as she reached for a towel.

  “And a snowsuit.”

  “You’re the one who starts it.” She patted her arms dry gently before wrapping the towel around herself. “I just finish it.” But as she turned to walk away from him with a wink, he grabbed her at the last minute, pulling her back into the tub with him. And though he would have only needed one arm for the venture, he used both for the security of balance.

  “Oh no, you don’t, my little peach.”

  Almost instantly, his hands went to slide up the end of the lush cotton towel, enjoying the yelp of surprise that emerged from her throat.

  “Why must you always have the last word?” he whispered in her ear.

  “I wasn’t—”

  “What,” he said slowly, sliding a finger inside of her, “did I just say?”

  With his lips on her neck, he felt her swallow hard and smiled at his small victory.

  She was putty in his hands as he withdrew his finger from her, yet before she could protest, softly his hand took her mound, and with only the towel between them, began rubbing gently back and forth.

  “Hmm.” She quivered so that he had to snake his arm behind her to secure her standing. “It seems my attempts to dry you are doing just the opposite.”

  Easily, he could tell she was considering something smart to say, perhaps already had the comment in mind, and so put his lips to hers to silence her. When they parted, Kasper began to tug at the towel end tucked tightly between her breasts. With little effort on both their parts, it fell to the tub’s bottom, providing considerable more stability for their feet on the slippery surface.

  He steadied her further with a hard hand around her backside and pushed her to the cold tile. When he did, the sight of the shower head inspired him to greater heights. Without pause, he reached for it, changing the faucet and turning the water back on to a suitable temperature.

  “Since you insist on remaining so wet…”

  Emilia’s eyes grew wide as he inched the shower head between her legs, his fascination in the female anatomy growing as her legs parted and her expression appeared joyful. When had she become so delightfully flexible?

  Teasing her inner thighs, Kasper chuckled while she squirmed to get closer. Faster than her, however, he pulled away each time she tried to thrust herself into the pulsing water. For her reward, Kasper drew a little closer to that throbbing bud of hers each time, no longer sure if it was Emilia’s desire that vibrated the tub or the shower head itself.

  “My, my,” he mused. “You are a dirty girl. Perhaps I should bathe you more often.”

  When he finally found her sweet spot, her nails dug into his back hard enough to draw blood, the sting escaping him as he enjoyed her squeals of pleasure.

  Chapter 9

  He could see the lights before he even stepped out of the door, white and glistening in the dark that had fallen over the manor. Kasper followed them as Emilia did, admittedly enjoying the view of the lights and pine garland wrapped around the staircase. While the view was not ideal, he could see similar garland atop the fireplace hearth, a large hanging wreath just above that.

  “I thought you were joking about this.”

  “Originally, I was.” She giggled. “But then I really got into it.”

  “Yes.” He fingered a poinsettia petal on one of the steps. From what he could see, Emilia had arranged the plants so that there was one on the edge of every step.

  “Come on.” She laughed. “There’s more.”

  His sigh was inaudible. “Of course there is.”

  A large pine tree waited for them in the lobby, still wet from the falling snow outside. Huge in proportion, and without any symmetry, its obscure branches were long but full, threatening to bust from the windows had they been open.

  He looked at it from top to bottom. “Are you not supposed to trim these things?”

  “Mr. Rivas already did. Isn’t it pretty?”

  “You do know I’m not a Christian, don’t you? And neither are you, for that matter…”

  She slapped him playfully and tinkered with one of the white lights already secured within the tree’s depths. “How did you manage to get all of this done already?”

  “The tree and poinsettias were delivered about an hour ago, so I put the lights on then. Mrs. Levkin helped me with the garland and the other things—”

  “Other things?”

  Well trimmed stocking were hanging over the fireplace, with reserved displays of peppermints and candy canes. Kasper was even more horrified to see the holiday cards from his clients he had stuffed into the garbage displayed on the refrigerator, additional poinsettias on the kitchen tables, and those awful nutcracker figurines on the end tables.

  He pointed to the cards on the refrigerator. “I threw those away for a reason, you know?”

  “We can throw them away if you want.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close. “But you are helping me decorate the tree—”

  “Oh.”

  “And build a gingerbread house.”

  “No.”

  She laughed into his chest, and despite his worries, Kasper resisted the urge to smile back.

  ***

  Emilia exposed him to both Christmas in Connecticut and It’s a Wonderful Life while they decorated the tree together. A tradition he had seen in catalogues growing up and deemed silly as an adult, but took a strange liking to now—undoubtedly because Emilia was involved. In a dream-like trance, he watched while she removed the boxes of round ornaments from their bags and sorted them by shape and color. Subsequently, Kasper adjusted his position to hers while she untangled the newly purchased hooks and assigned them to large colorful snowflakes. He even made a game for himself out of it, taking a sip of wine every time she bent over or stretched in such a way. Eventually she caught on.

  “Are you enjoying the view?”

  “Very, very much.”

  She mumbled something incoherent and reached for a tapestry of glittery red ribbon. “Fine. But keep down to two glasses—and at least eat something.”

  “Slave drive
r.”

  Without any warning she pounced on him, giggling and smothering the bandages on his face in feather-light kisses. Still, there was a strange concentration, her hand steadying his wrist to prevent any wine from spilling.

  “Isn’t that what wives are for?”

  He kissed her back. “Good point.”

  “Okay.” She laughed back. “I’ll get you something to eat, and maybe you’ll actually watch the movie.”

  The moment she climbed off of him, his eyes followed her until she had left the room. Even then, Kasper reached for the television remote control and turned down the volume so he could hear the higher notes of her humming—a sign she was in a good mood. Not wanting to ruin it, he tried to obey her wishes and at least get some notion of this holiday film she wanted him to see.

  So far, Kasper gathered it was an older film—the gritty black and white features told him that much. Though the movie was already far along, Kasper quickly gathered that it was about a man who had everything and complained about all of it. For some reason, it seemed to take a nitwit of an angel for him to see how valuable his life was.

  Of course Kasper only really guessed that was where the film was going. He had seen few contemporary films that had an unhappy ending and were not the product of a formula. Unquestionably, however, he was relieved to hear the soft sound of Emilia’s slippers sliding against the hardwood floor as she came back to the living area, the smell of sharp cheddar and muenster cheese making his stomach gurgle more than he would have admitted.

  “What?” she said, as if reading his mind. “You didn’t think I was actually going to cook something, did you?”

  Kasper smiled to himself, observing the large tray of cheeses, dried meats, fruits, and her beloved pita chips.

  “I won’t possibly eat all of that.”

  “Probably not.” She shooed him away to make a spot for herself, and when he complied she pulled a red grape from its stem and pushed it past his lips. “But you need to be sober enough to help me with the top half of the tree—the star and so forth.”