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"You haven't been riding him again, have you?" His gaze shot to hers, his guilty flush speaking volumes. "When he's ready to face the world, he will."
He nodded, settling on the bed beside her, and a part of Chase's heart cracked when she cuddled their son protectively. He let it pass. But he felt as if he were talking to a stranger, and Chase wondered if he had imagined the past months. Did she still love him? Did she show him her passion because she only wanted to keep him happy so he wouldn't petition for custody? He hated to think that of Tessa, for she wasn't a manipulative person, but right now, Chase felt her precious love fading before his eyes.
God, he thought, his throat so tight it threatened his breathing. He couldn't hurt this much in a lifetime.
"I'm sure your family is here." He inclined his head toward the door. He didn't mention that, in all likelihood, so was his.
She nodded. "In a few minutes," she whispered against Christopher's head. "I want to be alone with my son."
Chase's expression sharpened, but he didn't comment and leaned close, smoothing his hand over his baby's back and kissing him. He met her gaze, inches from her face. "I love you, Tessa. I always will." Then he kissed her.
A deep, sexy kiss, the kind he tortured her with when he was loving her body, smooth and hot. Tessa reacted instantly, cupping his head, pressing him closer, reminding herself that she was being foolish and reckless and risking a good man's heart with her tangled emotions. She sobbed against his mouth and he drank it, sliding his arm around her and kissing her until she was breathless, her eyes glazed.
Slowly he drew back and, without meeting her gaze, he left. Tessa looked down at her son and cried.
Chase was composed when he entered the waiting room and announced that they had a son. His mother cried, hugging him, as his father pumped his hand, his aging eyes a little misty. Celeste sobbed quietly, then popped out of her chair, bracelets jingling as she declared she must read her grandson's palm first thing. Colin hooted, slapped his brother on the back and passed out cigars as if he were the daddy. Yet a moment later, he was strangely silent.
Chase met Samantha, Tessa's elder sister, up close and personal for the first time and recognized the resemblance immediately. She could be Tessa's twin except for her height and dark auburn hair. There was something ethereal about her, calm in a sea of excitement, and when she wrapped her arms around him, she whispered, "She's being a stubborn brat again, isn't she?"
Chase chuckled mirthlessly and nodded.
"Be stubborn back, then," she said.
He liked her already and tried to recall Tessa's reasons for insisting that her sister was "out there on another plane of existence."
"Some people need rescuing from themselves, Chase," she added, before leaving his arms.
Her gaze shifted to Christian, who was staring out the window, and as if he suspected her eyes were on him, he slowly turned his head. His brows rose, his gaze pinning Samantha briefly before she dragged her eyes back to Chase. She patted his hand, much like Celeste, and pressed a chunk of crystal into his palm.
"This will give you some peace," she whispered, and he thanked her for the crystal, clutching it tightly as he dropped onto a saggy leather couch. One by one, family visited, and as they filed out, Chase headed back to Tessa's room.
He pushed open the door and slipped inside. Tessa was resting, Christopher tucked to her side, taking his first meal. He moved closer, settled in a chair and watched. Her breast was pale and full as the baby suckled, and he thought she was asleep until she put the baby to her shoulder, gently patting his back. She offered Christopher her other breast, never opening her eyes, and Chase experienced a strange mix of jealousy and contentment just watching them.
"Tessa."
Her eyes flashed open. She made no move to cover herself and it pleased him. Her body was his and primitive instinct told him he'd have it again. He wanted all of her, or nothing, he realized suddenly.
"I will see you later." Why did that sound like a threat? He raked his hand through his hair and felt like a stranger to his family. If she'd just smile at him, touch him, he thought. He kissed her forehead, then his son's, his cheek brushing her breast as he did. He heard her gasp and allowed himself a small smile as he left. Cool to him or not, there were some things Tessa couldn't deny.
A nurse caught him before he opened Tessa's hospital room door the next morning.
"Miss Lightfoot asked that I give you this." The portly woman looked uneasy as she handed him a copy of Christopher's birth certificate. Chase was listed as the father. Then exactly what Tessa was doing hit him square in the gut. She was still cutting him out of her life. Why else would she not give this to him herself?
