Chapter 42

• The rest of their indulgent dinner passed in a deliciously heated haze of loaded innuendos and smoldering glances. With every sip of rich cabernet, every forkful of succulent fare, the charged tension musteredting and intensifying between the newlywed couple.
• Valerie could scarcely tear her gaze away from the magnetic pull of her husband's rugged features - the strong jawline she yearned to trace with her lips, the perpetually tousled chestnut locks begging for her fingers to run through them, those piercing blue-green eyes that seemed to strip her bare with a single molten look.
• For his part, Michael did little to disguise the open appreciation blazing in his expression as he drank in every elegant line and tempting curve of his bride. His gaze would linger brazenly on her lips after each teasing remark, trailing lower to the emerald silk skimming lush feminine contours in a way that set Valerie's veins simmering.