The Australian's Bride: Marrying the Millionaire Doctor / Children's Doctor, Meant-to-be Wife / A Bride and Child Worth Waiting For

Alex cleared his throat. ‘I think,’ he told the waiter, ‘that we might avail ourselves of room service if we require dessert.’

‘Very good.’ The waiter took their plates and moved away smoothly.

‘Is it?’ Alex stood up, dropping his linen napkin onto the table and extending a hand to Susie. ‘Very good, that is?’

‘Oh…yes.’ Susie put her hand into his. She had been looking forward to dancing with Alex again tonight but, finally, he seemed to have caught the urgency she had been aware of all evening.

And it was, indeed, very good.

They left the restaurant in almost unseemly haste. Hand in hand. Susie was only vaguely distracted by Sophia Poulos’s open-mouthed delight as she spotted them in the foyer.

The lift was, satisfyingly, instantly available but they had to share it with another couple. The grip on Susie’s hand tightened until it was almost painful, but Susie made no complaint. When the strangers got out, they waited, unmoving until they reached the top floor. Then Alex pulled her from the lift, somehow opened the door of the suite and then Susie found herself with her back to the wall, grateful for its support under the onslaught of Alex’s kiss.

But then—disturbingly—the urgency was flicked off like a switch. Alex broke the kiss, moved his hands away from Susie’s hips and placed them on the wall on either side of her head. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and his gaze seemed fastened on where Susie could feel her pulse hammering on the side of her neck.

‘Tonight,’ he said softly, ‘we take our time.’

It was as though they had agreed on a destination last night and located the maps and the most direct route. Tonight was about exploring detours. Finding every delight that might otherwise have been hidden. Knowing where they would end up but making the most of the journey.

Potential interruptions from a phone call were forgotten.

The idea that she might not be special enough had been long since vanquished for Susie.

She had never felt so desirable.

So…worshipped.

‘You’re beautiful,’ Alex told her more than once as he moved to caress and kiss a new patch of her skin. ‘So beautiful.’

And Alex was…

Alex.

Perfect.

Susie learned the pattern of the dark hair that was a butterfly shape on his chest. She traced it with her tongue, revelling in the hard pebbles of his nipples and way his skin became so soft as the hair trailed off. The sound of raw need being heightened when she took him in her mouth and the way he breathed her name so much later in the moment of ultimate release.