He wasn't successful, and he started feeling so warm he had to open a window.
“Keep your mind off her,” he muttered. “No need to think about Victoria. There are millions of people on this planet, and she's just one of them. And there are a number of planets, too. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars…”
Robert ran out of planets in short order and, desperate to keep his mind on anything but Victoria, started in on the Linnaean system of taxonomy. “Kingdom, phylum, then…”
He paused. Was that a footstep he'd heard? No, he must have imagined it. He sighed, then resumed.”…class, order, family, and then… and then…” Damn it, what came next?
He started pounding the table with his fist in an attempt to jog his memory. “Damn, damn, damn,” he said, punctuating each pound. He was well aware that he getting a bit too upset over his inability to remember a simple scientific term, but the task had taken on almost desperate proportions. Victoria was upstairs in the tub, and—
“Genus!” he fairly yelled out. “Genus and then species!”
“I beg your pardon?”
He whipped his head around. Victoria was standing in the doorway, her hair still damp. The dress he'd bought her was a hair too long and dragged on the floor, but other than that it fit her quite well. He cleared his throat. “You look—” He had to clear his throat again. “You look fetching.”
“Thank you very much,” she said automatically. “But what were you yelling about?”
“Nothing.”
“I could have sworn you were saying something about the genius of the three seas.”
He stared at her, certain that his loins had sapped some of the energy from his brain, because he truly had no idea what she was talking about. “What does that mean?” he asked.
“I don't know. Why did you say it?”
“I didn't say it. I said, ‘genus and species.’”
“Oh.” She paused. “That would explain everything, I suppose, if I knew what it meant.”
“It means…” He looked up. She had an expectant and slightly amused expression on her face. “It's a scientific term.”
“I see,” she said slowly. “And was there any reason you were shouting it at the top of your lungs?”
“Yes,” he said, focusing on her mouth. “Yes, there was.”
“Was there?”
He took a step toward her, and then another. “Yes. You see, I was trying to keep my mind off something.”
She nervously wetted her lips and blushed. “Oh, I see.”
He moved ever closer. “But it didn't work.”
“Not even a little bit?” she squeaked.
He shook his head, so close to her now that his nose nearly brushed hers. “I still want you.” He shrugged apologetically. “I can't help it.”
She did nothing but stare at him. Robert decided that was better than an outright rejection and moved his hand to the small of her back. “I searched the door for a peephole,” he said.
She didn't look surprised when she whispered, “Did you find one?”
He shook his head. “No. But I have a very good imagination. Not”—he leaned forward and brushed the lightest of kisses onto her mouth—” as good as the real thing, I'm afraid, but it was enough to lead to my current state of extreme and prolonged discomfort.”
“Discomfort?” she echoed, her eyes growing wide and unfocused.
“Mmm-hmm.” He kissed her again, another light touch intended to arouse, not invade.
Again she made no move to pull away. Robert's hopes soared, as did his arousal. But he held his desire in check, sensing that she needed to be seduced by words as well as actions. He touched her cheek as he whispered, “May I kiss you?”
She looked startled that he'd asked. “You just did.”
He smiled lazily. “Technically I suppose that this”—he brushed another of those feather light kisses across her mouth—” qualifies as a kiss. But what I want to do to you is so different it seems a crime against words to call them the same thing.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
Her curiosity thrilled him. “I think you know,” he said, smiling. “But just to refresh your memory…”
He slanted his mouth against hers and kissed her deeply, nibbling on her lips and exploring her with his tongue. “That is more along the lines of what I intended.”
He could sense her being swept away on the tide of his passion. Her pulse was racing and her breath was coming faster and faster. Beneath his hand he could feel her skin burning through the thin fabric of her dress. Her head fell back as he kissed her neck, trailing hot fire along the line of her throat.