“Save us time in what way?”
“The time you waste between getting that booty call and arriving at the designated meeting place. The quicker you’re there, the faster you can get to the fun part.” He laughed out loud, seemingly pleased with his reasoning.
I stared at him, open-mouthed.
His sexy smile curved into a panty-dropping grin. My heartbeat went through the roof.
He was right, of course. If I were to want to pay him a visit in the middle of the night, the location of his room mattered a great deal. However, as much as the idea appealed to me, it wasn’t going to happen.
“Is your brother staying with you?” I turned away from him, changing the subject.
“Of course not.” He sighed. I could feel his gaze on me. “What? You still don’t believe me that I had no idea he was here?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, I don’t. You’re a liar.”
“Only when I have no other choice. Unfortunately, your trust issues are beginning to turn into a problem. I’ll sign us up for therapy as soon as we’re back home.”
What?
“What do we need a therapy for?” I asked.
“We need to build trust if we want to save this relationship.”
This relationship.
“We don’t have a relationship, Chase.” Hopefully, if I said it often enough, my stupid heart would stop skipping beats at every single meaningless word of his.
“On paper, we do.” He grinned. “I’m still your husband, aren’t I? That should count for something.”
“Fake husband,” I stated the obvious.
“No one would agree with you now that we’ve consummated the marriage.” He was smiling, but his tone was serious. I sensed we were entering that gray legal area of his again.
“It was a mistake,” I mumbled.
“I don’t think that’s the way you feel.” His eyebrows shot up. “I think, given the chance, you’d repeat the experience in a heartbeat. You know how I know?”
I knew I should take the bait and yet I couldn’t help myself. “How?”
“You’re wet. A man has his ways of telling.”
“You’re unbelievable and the kind of jerk my mother would have warned me about.” I stared at him as the limo pulled up next to us, his laughter strangely intoxicating. Heat settled between my legs. I pressed them together, realizing that I was wet. Very much so.
“Maybe,” Chase whispered. “But I actually think she would have given you her blessing.”
Chapter 16
Throughout the drive back to the hotel, my mind kept wandering back to his words about my mom and the way he had looked when he spoke them. However, as much as I would have liked to talk about it, we had more pressing issues to attend to.
Such as his split lip and the fact that he had just taken a beating for me.
“Why didn’t you tell your brother that we got married?” I asked back at the hotel.
Chase was sitting on my bed. I was kneeling at his feet, wiping caked blood off his lips. Every touch sent my heart racing. Strangely, in spite of the intimacy, the gesture felt natural—as if I had always done little things for him.
His lip was still swollen, but at least he was clean.
“I thought you guys were close,” I added, my gaze focused on his beautiful face.
“We are,” he said. “That’s the thing. He’s my best friend.”
“Didn’t look that way when you two met in the hall.”
“That’s because we got in a fight before you and I married.” The way he said it made me stop and listen up.
“About what?” I put away the wet towel and sat down on the bed, eyeing him in the silence of the room. He looked exhausted, but more than that, he had a wild glint in his eyes that didn’t escape me.
It must have been a taxing fight.
“About you,” he mumbled.
“Hmm.”
The heaviness of the situation was oppressing. Unsure what to do with myself, I decided that I needed to keep both my hands and my mind busy—anything, just not look at him.
Resuming my position, I dived the towel into the bowl of alcohol and wrung it, then pressed it back against his wound.
“Why?” My voice came low, strangled.
His eyes remained glued to me for a few seconds. At last, he sighed. “I don’t know.”
I frowned. “You don’t know?”
“Okay, I know why we fought. I don’t get why he acted the way he did. It’s like he doesn’t get it.”
“Get what?”
His fingers circled around mine, and he pulled me onto his lap, his body close, his scent irresistible. “Would you believe me if I told you that I’m starting to fall in love with you?”
My breath died in my throat. My vision swam. My knees grew weak. His honesty surprised me, shocked me, confused me.
My words remained lodged inside my brain.
“You…” I shook my head, frowning. “Why?”
“Why? Really? You’re asking me the same thing he did?” He groaned. “I told him that I had feelings for you. His response was that it’s impossible to fall in love with someone so quickly and that I shouldn’t let my feelings interfere with our plan.” His grip on my fingers tightened, as though unconsciously he was trying to hold on to me. “He was afraid I wouldn’t go through with the wedding to get the inheritance.”
“But you did,” I said.
“Yeah, but…” He looked up. His eyes met mine in something deep and intimate. “I also did it because I like you. And because I cannot bear you dating anyone else but me. Particularly not my brother.”
“I don’t know why you keep saying that. He isn’t even my type.” I blurted out the words before I could stop to think what I was saying.
“He isn’t?” Chase asked, his gloomy expression slowly lifting.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then who is?”
I looked away, but not before a smile tugged at my lips.
We both knew it. No point in denying it. But I didn’t want to spell out the obvious either.
“Then why would you want to go out with someone other than me?” he asked.
My attention turned back to him, my breath coming out shallow. “Maybe because I was trying hard to move on from you.”
“Do you still want to, now that you know the truth?”
I swallowed.
Did I?
“Probably, yes,” I whispered. Was it the truth? I didn’t know. “But it doesn’t mean I haven’t developed feelings for you, too.”
His hand moved to the nape of my neck. Slowly, he leaned forward and his lips met mine.
Closing my eyes, I surrendered to his kiss.
He kissed me as if I was a delicate flower.
As if time had stopped.
As if he and I were the only people in the world.
His lips parted gently, silently urging me to deepen the kiss. And I did so willingly, letting his tongue explore my mouth.
I lay down on the bed, and his body moved between my parted legs. His hands began to roam over my body, trailing up the naked skin of my thighs as he pulled up my dress.
I stopped his hand, but only for a second. “Chase?”
“Hmm?” His eyes were hooded, mirroring my own lust.
“This will be the last time,” I whispered and arched my back, signaling that I was more than ready for him.
Chapter 17
For a moment, Chase stared at me, his eyes shimmering with desire intermingled with countless unspoken questions, as though he couldn’t believe my invitation. And then he began to undress me in a hurry, his hands flying over my body, squeezing beneath my clothes.
His lips started to kiss my naked skin, leaving a wet trail behind. I let him touch me, caught up in the heat of the moment, and moaned as his hand moved in determined strokes over my inner thighs.
“You’re really something,” Chase whispered.
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“The best.”
My body yearned for his touch, my mind marveling at the heat his hands left behind. Cupping my breasts, he sucked one nipple in between his lips, then paid the same attention to the other, until they became so hard it almost hurt.
I threw my head back and pulled him on top of me, my body shivered against burning skin. My fingers roamed over his back, his broad shoulders, and finally settled in his silky hair. I wanted him naked. I wanted him inside me, filling me, stretching me.
“You sure kept me waiting,” Chase murmured and pried my legs apart, settling between my thighs. His breath brushed my naked skin, my most sensitive spot.
“All good things are worth the wait,” I said.
Especially you.
“You’re so right about that.”
As soon as his tongue licked my clit, I moved.
“Don’t,” I whispered.
My words stopped him. With clouded eyes, he gazed at me. “Why not?”
“I won’t be able to control myself.”
“I have all time in the world, if that’s what worries you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to wait. I need you now,” I whispered.
“You sure?” As if to point out what I’d be missing, his tongue brushed my clit again, and again, his fingers rubbing against my folds, almost sending me over the edge.
“Very sure,” I half-whispered, half-moaned, and let out a sudden gasp as his tongue probed my entry.
Oh, my God.
It felt so good.