His eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he plucked her fingers from his shirt. Something about him...as if the icy husk he surrounded himself with was now melting before her eyes. Cold-blooded? Oh, no. This man suddenly burned.
But when next he spoke, his tone gave nothing away. “You’re saying I should treat you like a normal, healthy woman?”
Should I be nervous? “Yes. Because that’s exactly what I am.”
“Okay, then. That’s exactly what I’ll do.” He let her go and straightened. He smoothed his clothes, gave her one last lingering look and strode from the room—leaving her trembling...and desperate for their next interaction.
Despite his words—and his actions—something had changed in him. Between them. That look...
What would he do when she showed up for work tomorrow?
She could hardly wait to find out.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JASE RETURNED TO the hospital bright and early the next morning, purpose in his every step. He couldn’t stay away a second longer, felt dragged by an invisible chain.
He didn’t pause at the nurses’ station and didn’t care if visiting hours had or hadn’t started. He went directly to Brook Lynn’s room, the private suite he’d ensured she had. The door was open, and she was perched at the side of the bed, looking fresh and clean with cheeks bright pink and her golden hair gleaming around her shoulders. She wore the T-shirt and shorts he’d had delivered for her.
The shirt had come straight from his closet.
The lingering effects of her illness had fallen away, and the sight of her arrested him. She was a beauty like no otherCHAPTER ONE so it was little wonder he’d been on fire for her all night. Or that she’d awoken needs he’d never known he’d had—needs he would never again be able to ignore. To possess utterly, through any means necessary. To consume wholly. Not just anyone, but her. Only her.
When she’d proudly proclaimed herself healthy, he’d almost pulled her flush against him and kissed her. But she’d looked vulnerable and hauntingly fragile, and he’d found the strength to walk away instead. The need to protect her, even from himself, had proved stronger.
Now here she was, on the bed, looking as healthy as she’d claimed.
He shut the door and moved into her line of sight.
She gasped with surprise—and pleasure? “Jase!”
He paused long enough to ask, “How are you feeling?”
Warmth bloomed in her baby blues. “Totally racer ready. Just waiting for my discharge papers.”
“Good.” He closed the distance, cupped the back of her nape and pressed his lips to hers.
She opened with another gasp.
No turning back now.
His tongue thrust against hers, and hers reached tentatively for his. A groan escaped her, enthralling him, and just like that, he lost track of his surroundings, his intention to simply taste. His mind centered on only one thing: hearing that sound again.
He urged her to her back, kissing her as if he would die tomorrow. As if she were the last girl he’d ever see. As if her lips held the answer to every question he’d ever asked. Supple and willing, she reclined for him. Her arms wound around his neck, bringing him with her, so that the hardest parts of him were lined up with the softest parts of her. All the while their tongues rolled and thrust in a white-hot tangle.
He tasted cinnamon, a hint of strawberries. A heady combination, addictive when it should not have been. He’d tasted all three flavors before, but they’d never made him feel as though he was floating... melting from the inside out.
He could be locked away for the rest of his life, he decided, but it wouldn’t matter because he’d experienced this one perfect moment. Not even Daphne had affected him this strongly—and with so little. But then, her kisses had been those of a teenager in puppy love. This one came straight from a woman with passions as intense as his own.