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Something broke inside Tessa then and her eyes burned. "I know." She flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in the curve of his throat. "I know."
He didn't mistake the hopelessness in her voice. He rubbed her back in soothing circles before he eased her down to the bed. She kissed him liquidly as he tossed a cover over her and she snuggled in his arms, drifting quickly into sleep.
But Chase couldn't rest. He stared at the canopy and felt electrified. He wanted to wake her and make love to her again. He'd never known anything like being with this woman, inside her, held by her. She was sexy and passionate and he wanted her to be his wife. But her reaction to his claim left him wounded and confused. It seemed, he thought, that it was going to take a lot more than words to convince Tessa that he loved her first.
* * *
Nine
Tessa was having a delicious dream, her body awake and aroused, yet her mind lethargic. She reached for Chase, yet when she found the space beside her empty, she succumbed to the dream, enjoying the erotic sensations curling through her like smoke. Vaguely she felt a warmth against her thigh.
"Chase," she whispered, yet refused to open her eyes, afraid the dream would end. Between her thighs was damp and hot, and she tried to close them, to ease the ache, but couldn't. Suddenly she was fully awake and aware.
"What are you doing?"
"Tasting you," he said without hesitation.
Her face burned and she flung her arm over her eyes. "Oh please, don't stop now!"
He didn't, his tongue laving at the core of her. Instinctively she drew her leg up and Chase eased two fingers inside her.
"I'd rather have you," she whispered into the darkened room. He climbed onto the bed beside her, tucking her to the curve of his body, her back to his chest. Effortlessly, he entered her.
She moaned deliciously. "Are you always this insatiable?"
"Only with you, angel." He withdrew and surged deeply. "Devious of me, wasn't it?"
"Yes. Oh, heavens!" Tessa felt every glorious inch of him penetrate her and she clutched a pillow, biting it to keep from moaning like a banshee.
"I want to drive into you," he whispered in a husky voice, his arms wrapped around her as he withdrew and slid slowly home. "I want to make love with you every way imaginable and I never want to stop."
"Me, too," she whispered, then twisted a look at him. "Me, too."
His expression was pleased, strained and sharp with his fountaining need, and she touched his cheek.
"Chase," she gasped, feeling her release approach with the force of a flood, a flood she wanted him to join, and she leaned back into him, flinging one leg brazenly back over his muscled thigh.
And he touched where the air touched her body, stroking her tender bud and feeling her slide into heaven. The warmth of the room buffeted her cries, her straining whimpers as he pushed and pushed and she took him, squeezing the life from him, feminine muscles flexing and clenching with their power.
In a soft burst of needed air, they collapsed deeper into the down covers.
"They have names for men like you, Chase Madison," she muttered into her pillow, then glared at him.
He grinned, unashamed of his tactics. "I wanted to wake you an hour ago."
"Try to contain yourself for at least another two hours," she said, patting his thigh and snuggling into the cocoon of his warmth.
Chase watched her sleep, her breathing even, and he brushed a strand of black hair from her cheek. He pressed his lips there. "I love you, Tessa," he whispered on a shaky breath.
Tessa wasn't asleep and her heart jumped every time he said it, but logic and reason interfered, tainting the sweet proclamation. Did he really love her or was it his feeling for his child speaking? Tormented that she might never know the answer, she followed the disturbing thoughts into the arms of sleep.
Her body spooned with his, Chase slipped his arm around her, her breast filling his palm. She snuggled closer, a tangle of arms and legs and wrinkled sheets. Light crept across the mauve carpet when Chase finally found the peace of dreams, Tessa wrapped in his arms and his heart in her hands. Falling in love with her was dangerous, he realized, because now she had the power to destroy him with a few simple words.
Tessa woke slowly, her body sated, and she stretched languidly, reaching for the man beside her. Her hand met emptiness and she shifted to her side and smiled. Rose petals lay strewn over the depression his body had left. She scooped up a handful and inhaled their fragrance. A note slid off the pillow.
Get up, lazy. Be back at nine with breakfast.
She glanced at the clock and scrambled off the bed and into a quick shower. Sitting on the couch, she was dressed and mildly awake when Chase came through the front door. His khaki slacks and blue polo shirt told her he'd stopped by his place. She flung the newspaper aside and drew her knees up, patting the space on the sofa beside her. Chase bent and kissed her forehead, then emptied the bag onto the table.
