Her eyes opened and Harley looked towards the large window. There was the most gorgeous silvery moonlight coming through, gilding everything with its gentle flow. Against her back, naked and magnificent, Armel was sound asleep, with one hand around her body, holding her. Harley pressed her lips together… She could still taste him there. She could smell him, and against her back, she felt the solid steady beating of his heart. A dull ache between her thighs remained, a reminder of how they had spent the night and also of what had happened earlier, that afternoon, in the bathroom and in the same bed she was in right now. Her legs went weak just thinking of it, and her insides were turning to hot molten lava. Slowly, she moved out from under his arm, turning around to stare at Armel. Pale white moonlight lit half his face, casting the other half into shadow. The smile lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes were relaxed. A small smile, a remnant from a d

Noémie De Roquefort still lived at ‘Fleur de Lis’, the pretty white-walled villa where Armel had spent his childhood. She greeted Harley warmly and beamed with genuine delight when Raphaël held out his arms, demanding to be picked up by his grandmother.“And how is mon petit ange (my little angel) today? Have you come to play with your Mémé?” she cooed, her elegantly made-up face breaking into a wide smile. “Harley, thank you for dressing Raphi in this blue outfit. He looks adorable in his polo shirt and his shorts,” Noémie commented. She led the way outside to the terrace where lunch was to be served.“The boutique has the same style in red. I’ll buy it for him tomorrow. And maybe some play clothes too… With your permission, of course, I could take him to the park.”“You’re too kind, Noémie. Of course, you could take Raphi to the park, but you are buying him a lot of clothes and toys. He grows up so fast and those outfits are going to be useless in a few months,”

His breath was hot on her skin. ‘Oh, God… I’m burning up,’ Harley thought feverishly, feeling her breasts swell and tighten until they ached for him to caress them. She couldn’t think logically and nothing else seemed to matter except that Armel should continue touching her and kissing her and she made no attempt to stop him when he unfastened the halter straps of her bikini and peeled the material down to expose her breasts to his hungry gaze. Perhaps she should stop wishing for the moon and settle for what Armel was offering? He might not love her, but he wanted to marry her and from the sound of it, he was prepared to be a faithful husband as well as a devoted father to their baby boy. Harley caught her breath when Armel cupped her breast in his palm and lowered his head to stroke his tongue over her hard nipple. The sensation was so exquisite that she arched towards him, wanting, needing, more of the same and she whimpered softly w

It was still dark when Harley awoke. Not the inky blackness of midnight, but a soft, shadowy darkness as dawn crept closer. ‘This is Armel’s room,’ she realized as her eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light. She was in Armel’s bed and it had been his arms holding her close throughout the night. He was still holding her, Harley amended when she turned her head and met a wall of warm, satin skin. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest told her he was sound asleep. She shouldn’t be here and now was the ideal opportunity to slip back to her own room. But the temptation to remain close to him, cocooned in this twilight world with the man she loved, was too strong to resist. With a small sigh, Harley closed her eyes and inhaled his clean, masculine scent. Slowly, inexorably, her senses stirred until she was conscious of each separate nerve ending tingling in illicit anticipation. Common sense warned her to flee before Armel ope

Three weeks later, Harley was still questioning her sanity at her decision to marry Armel. Undoubtedly it would be best for Raphaël, but could she ever be happy, married to a man who was only proposed to her just to give their son a home? The only thing she was absolutely certain of was their physical compatibility, Harley acknowledged ruefully. The long hours of loving in his bed each night proved irrefutably that her body had been exclusively created for Armel, for his hands, for his lips... The way he was making her body sing every single time he touched her, or kissed her was out of this world. When Armel reached for her, Harley went immediately into his arms, her heart pounding with anticipation of the delight to come when he caressed every inch of her. His hands and mouth were instruments of sensual torture that he used without mercy, exploring each sensitive dip and crevasse of her body before gently parting her and stroking her until she hovered