British Bachelors: Delicious & Dangerous. Kate Hardy

talk of him choosing their nightly entertainment either. Kit couldn’t deny she wasn’t upset about that. Her nightly dreams were all about Hal. So much so that she sometimes woke up in a sweat, with her heart racing dizzyingly. Her visions of him and her together were so real that she was crushed when she woke up and realised they were just nocturnal fantasies. She might get to the end of this job with her self-enforced celibacy intact, but that didn’t mean she would be remotely happy about it—not when her heart already ached at the mere idea of parting from Hal for good.

      When the nurse paid her next visit to examine his injured leg and with a cheerful smile declared it to be ‘healing nicely’, adding that it was just a matter of time before he would return to full strength, to Kit’s mind Hal didn’t seem entirely convinced. When the nurse went on to say that he should take advantage of some regular physiotherapy before seeing his consultant again, and that Kit should make sure to keep up the RICE treatment, he gave a brief nod of agreement, thanked her for the advice and saw her to the door in his wheelchair.

      He still wasn’t in the mood for conversation, it seemed...

      The night after the nurse’s visit Kit lay in bed, staring up at the shadowed ceiling in her bedroom for what seemed like hours, because she’d been alternately teased and tormented by the memory of Hal’s taste in her mouth and his hands on her body and as a result sleep evaded her. But eventually she fell into a fitful doze.

      A loud shout woke her up. Immediately responding, she hurriedly pushed aside the sheets and counterpane and scrambled to her feet. Without even pausing to grab the striped cotton robe she’d draped over the back of a slipper chair, she ran outside into the corridor and pushed opened Hal’s bedroom door.

      The soft light in the hallway more than adequately illuminated the room. Wearing navy silk boxers, Hal was positioned half in and half out of the voluminous bed, gripping onto the oyster-coloured silk sheets for grim death as his cast-covered leg precariously slid towards the floor.

      Kit grabbed hold of him to prevent him from falling just in the nick of time. His broad, hard-muscled back was slippery with sweat and it was no easy feat to lift and push his heavy masculine frame safely back onto the bed, because he was clearly still half asleep and in no position to help her. Thankfully her reaction had been lightning-quick and had saved the day. A heavy fall onto that broken bone of his would have set him back several months at least, she was sure.

      As he fell back against the pillows and stared dazedly up at her she gently ran her hand over his forehead, pushing back the rebellious dark curls that brushed against it.

      ‘Are you okay? You gave me an almighty shock when I heard you cry out like that.’

      ‘I’m fine.’ Although Hal’s smile was definitely on the drowsy side, his mercurial hazel eyes still managed a mischievous twinkle. ‘Thanks to you. You really are my guardian angel, aren’t you, Kit? Quite apt that you should rescue me when I was dreaming that you were in my arms.’

      Still leaning over him, Kit turned as still as a statue. The remark had sent her own temperature skyrocketing and she was suddenly aware that the only thing separating them was the flimsy chemise she wore, which she’d impulsively bought from a vintage market stall in the Portobello Road. In truth, it was totally impractical, but she loved it. With its spaghetti shoulder straps, and a scooped neckline that just about covered her breasts, it was probably the most feminine item of clothing she possessed. And beneath the hyacinth-coloured material, apart from her panties, she was as bare as the day she was born.

      ‘It must have been quite a dream if it nearly made you fall out of bed,’ she replied huskily.

      ‘It was. If it was graded by a panel of judges, the medal it would win would definitely be gold.’

      ‘What were you doing...? Wrestling with me?’

      Hal’s chameleon golden-eyed gaze was no longer drowsy but wide and alert. In a flash his hands moved to fasten themselves round Kit’s slender-boned wrists and her heart thudded so hard in surprise that the desire to be free again didn’t even cross her mind.

      ‘I was passionately making love to you, and I guess we both got a little carried away.’ He smiled teasingly.

      Riveted, Kit stared. ‘Well...’

      His indisputably aroused gaze was roaming over the curves of her creamy breasts in the body-skimming nightwear and she was only too aware that his own magnificent bare chest was mere tantalising inches away from hers,

      ‘I’d advise you to try and have less, shall we say...energetic dreams in future. Especially when they could potentially endanger your health.’

      ‘What if I think the dream was worth the potential danger? I’m not a man who plays safe. I like to take risks, remember?’

      His well-shaped lips formed a slow, seductive smile and the heat from his body mingled with his arresting cologne and made Kit feel seriously weak. As she stared back into his chiselled handsome face any desire to do the sensible thing and free herself completely deserted her.

      ‘I know,’ she answered softly. ‘It’s what you’re famous for, isn’t it? Taking risks, I mean. But seriously, Hal, I’ve been so worried. You’ve hardly spoken a word to me over the past few days. Is there something wrong that you’re not telling me about?’

      ‘No, sweetheart. There’s nothing bothering me other than frustration at so stupidly injuring myself and not being able to take control of things as I usually do.’

      Kit breathed out a relieved sigh. ‘Is that all? Don’t you know those feelings aren’t a permanent state? Bones heal and your frustration will fade just as soon as you’re up and about again, like you were before. In no time at all this setback will be nothing but a distant memory. I promise.’

      ‘Hmm, you’re probably right. But, talking of another kind of frustration, did I tell you how sexy I think that little number you’re almost wearing is?’ he murmured, deftly pushing aside the inadequate spaghetti straps so that they slid down over her slim arms and caused the bodice of her chemise to reveal even more of her. ‘Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?’ he husked, his darkened gaze avidly roaming her now almost completely exposed bare breasts.

      The cool night air that drifted in from the partially opened window skimmed her nipples and hardened them to prickling, tight steel buds. But Kit knew in truth it wasn’t anything external that made her react physically like that. It was her desire and hunger for Hal, and its force was like a torrid drowning wave she couldn’t do anything but surrender to.

      ‘I want to make love to you, Kit. Will you let me?’

      ‘What about—what about your injured leg? I don’t want to risk hurting you.’

      For answer he put his fingers across her lips to quieten her. ‘I’m sure that between us we can find a position where there’ll be no risk to my leg. Let’s work it out, shall we? It will be an adventure.’ His compelling eyes darkened even more. ‘Are you in the mood for an adventure, Kit? I’m hoping that the answer is yes.’

      Before she could utter a word Hal’s hands were driving through her hair, pulling her down on top of him and searing her lips with urgent scalding kisses that made her gasp and moan for more. She was all but on fire for him. The temperature of her blood surely couldn’t be far from reaching boiling point, and she didn’t resist when he guided her carefully over him so that she was sitting astride his toned, fit body.

      As she settled herself straight away Kit became intimately aware of the steely hardness beneath the sensuous silk of his shorts, but she didn’t encourage or succumb to inviting his possession straight away, no matter how eager she felt. She didn’t just want to receive pleasure; she wanted to give it too. Sitting back for a moment to observe him, she knew her appreciative smile couldn’t help but be seductive. Henry Treverne was one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen, and she wanted to make the most of her time with him—however long or short that might turn out to be.

      With a soft sigh Kit bent her head again. But instead of meeting his lips she slowly