Soul. Heart…Body.
Well we’ve knocked two of the three out of the park. Both of us knew it was only a matter of time before we were bound wholly, the complete triforce. And after last night, I don’t think either of us were going to last very long. I wanted him – there was no doubt about that. But Chase and his sudden sense of morals was standing in the way. Since when had he grown an honorable conscious?
Since when I had I become such a hoochie?
Ives had been right about us. Now that I had given Chase my soul and heart, it made me stupidly happy. A testament that I had truly lost all common sense.
And I desperately needed a hot shower. I smelled homeless.
Sneakily as possible, I tried to wiggle out of his arms.
“Where are you going?” he mumbled in a deeply sexy voice still half asleep. He burrowed his head against the back of my neck, clenching his hold on me. His lips grazed a sensitive spot and I shivered.
Where had I been going? With his lips on my exposed skin I lost brain power. Thinking wasn’t possible. Oh right. “Shower,” I uttered.
“Do you need my help?”
I elbowed him in the gut and he released me. “I think I got this one covered Casanova.” He was being so damn contradictory.
Edging out of bed, I headed for the bathroom. I could feel his eyes watching my every movement. Closing the door behind me, I was engulfed with the essence of Chase. His bathroom oozed him. Bottles of every shape and color lined the counter. Lord, he was worse than a girl. Curiously, I picked up one of the green bottles, popping the top and sniffed.
I screwed up my nose and put it back with the others. What could he possible do with all this crap? On second thought, I didn’t want to know. Then I got a glance of myself in the mirror. I was rockin’ the messiest ponytail known to man. “Oh dear God.” I ran my hand down my neck expecting to see a nasty cut, forgetting that I had this inhuman ability to heal. My neck was smooth and ivory. A good thing, I was thinking. If Chase had seen it…
I shuddered. Let’s just say, I thought his anger would have rivaled Satan himself.
Immediately I started the shower.
Resurfacing from my long overdue cleansing of pure bliss, I found Chase exactly where I’d left. Sprawled on his bed with the corners of his lips tipped up and there was a distinct gleam of amusement in his eyes. “Do you know that you snore like a banshee in your sleep?”
“I do not,” I denied. Jesus, I hoped I didn’t.
He beamed at me, patting the empty sheets next to him. “Come back to bed. I missed you.”
My heart tripped, and I gladly got back under the covers.
Pulling me into his warm embrace, he whispered my new favorite words. “I love you.”
I clamped my eyes shut, savoring the moment. Never would I get tired of hearing him say those words in his dark, magnetic voice. It enthralled me. His arms tightened around me. “I love you too,” I said, snuggling deeper against him.
“You better,” he half growled, half moaned.
A smile tugged at my lips. “Oh yeah, just remember who said it first.”
But as usual the joke was on me.
I felt his hand skim down my tummy and wasted no time making its way up my tank top. No longer was I smiling. My heart stopped at the first touch of his hand against my flushed skin. It was breathtaking. I gasped as he skirted the top of my shorts. Deviating just a little, his fingers began to trace the still slightly tender mark at my hip. It tingled wildly under the feel of his light touch.
“I’ll never forget,” he promised, kissing my neck.
Damn he was good.
Chapter 25
“I need to see my mom,” I declared.
Chase’s eyes softened with understanding. “I’ll go with you,” he volunteered but left no room for argument. I could feel his reluctance to let me go. And I had a feeling it was going to be a very long time before Chase would leave my side.
“She doesn’t know what happened, right?” I asked again just to clarify. When he told me that he had compelled her, my feelings had been conflicted. On one hand, I was so freaking relieved that she hadn’t spent the last five days worried sick about me. On the other hand, I hated that he had played around in her head. And from what I gathered, Devin wasn’t thrilled either. At least we agreed on something, my mom’s wellbeing.
His damn cocky grin spread. “Not even a hint of what happened.” A fragment of ruthlessness popped into his eyes. “Which reminds me Angel, we still need to talk about what did happen.”