Darkest Ecstasy (16 page)

B
irdsong.

The scent of a man, fresh out of the shower.

The cool, smooth sheets caressing her skin.

The mouthwatering smell of bacon.

Mmmmm, bacon.

Michelle stretched. Her body was still stiff and heavy. She dragged up her eyelids and checked the bed first. Tage was gone. Where he'd been sleeping the sheets were now cool. His pillow still had the indentation where his head had been resting. She grabbed it, pulled it to her chest, and cradled it to herself.

Last night had been so strange. She'd gone to an engagement party, thinking she would be celebrating her friend's marriage to the father of her child. Instead, she'd vomited. In front of him. Then he'd more or less kidnapped her, left her at his place and returned to the party, returned and fondled her as she slept, then somehow convinced her to not only stay the rest of the night but actually consider marrying him.

She'd gone insane.

Hormones. It had to be the hormones.

She needed to touch base with reality.

Her stomach rumbled. Saliva flooded her mouth.

After she ate some bacon.

Once again, she stretched her stiff, sore muscles as she sat up. Then she scooped up her clothes on her way to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she'd vomited, showered, brushed her teeth, did what she could to make herself presentable, and dressed in last night's clothes, minus the used panties. Those she tucked into her purse.

She headed downstairs feeling pretty decent, well rested . . . and hungry. She was roughly halfway down the staircase, when Tage rounded the corner. He looked up, saw her, gave her one of those grins that made her knees weak, and bounded up the steps, taking three at a time.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he caught her arm as if she was about to collapse.

“I'm fine.” Her stomach rumbled loudly, and she clapped a hand over it. “Starving.”

“Good. I have breakfast.” He wrapped an arm around her waist. It was odd, having someone treat her like she was so frail. She halfheartedly tried to move away from him, but he tightened his hold.

Together, they slowly made their way to the kitchen. It was empty.

He motioned to the French doors at the rear of the kitchen. “Your breakfast is waiting for you outside. On the deck. I thought you might enjoy some fresh air.”

“That's very thoughtful. Thanks.” Letting him steer her with a hand on her waist, she meandered through the spacious kitchen to the doors. Outside, the sky was a brilliant blue, cloudless. Birds chattered in a nearby tree. The deck was large, multilevel. The table sat at one end, covered with a wood gazebo structure. And a wall of trees circled a well-manicured lawn. At the back of the property shimmered a pond.

It was, in one word, gorgeous.

He pulled out her chair for her.

Sitting, she took in the spread as he circled around to sit across from her. Bowls of fruit, platters of bacon, eggs, and toast sat on the table. At her place sat a glass of orange juice and another of water. “This is some breakfast,” she said.

“I read that you will feel better if you eat a good breakfast. With lots of protein.”

She giggled. He was trying hard to please her. That was for sure. Clearly he was determined to prove that he was good husband material. One breakfast would only go so far. But it was a good start.

He immediately grabbed the platter of scrambled eggs and started loading up her plate. “The doctor will be coming by the house at eleven. And Rin and Lei would like to take you shopping later. I thought you might like to spend some time with them.”

There they were again, Rin and Lei. The sisters did seem nice, if a bit reserved. They didn't have a lot to say last night when she'd briefly met them at the party, which made her a little uneasy. “That's very nice, but I don't see any reason why I need to see a doctor this morning. The nausea is nothing, probably a little bug I caught. It's too soon for morning sickness. I'm fine. I have an appointment with my own physician in a week. Plus, I would like to go home, change my clothes, shower.”

“You can shower here,” he offered. “While you're cleaning up, I can run over to your place and get you some clothes.”

“Why would you do that? I mean, that's nice of you to offer, but I was assuming I would be going home this morning. I have things to do—”

“What things?” he asked as he dropped several strips of bacon on her plate.

“I need to do laundry.”

“I'll help you. You shouldn't be carrying anything heavy.”

“I can manage a laundry basket. It isn't that heavy. I don't own very many clothes. And none of them are made out of plate steel or anything.”

“I don't mind helping.” He spooned some fruit onto her plate.

She touched his wrist, stopping him from putting any more food on her plate. It was loaded enough. “It isn't necessary, Tage.”

“Okay.” He dumped some eggs on his own plate, a big mountain of them. “How long will it take for you to finish?”

“Why?”

“Like I said, I thought you might like to go out with the girls. And I wanted to take you to lunch first.”

She was feeling a smidge crowded. Holding up her hands, palms facing him, she said, “You're getting too pushy.”

“Oh. Damn. Okay. I've got the message.” He stared down at his plate for a moment. “I thought you'd appreciate the thought.”

Was he pouting? No. Disappointed? Yes, that was it. Disappointed.

“I'm sorry. I have a routine. I like my routine.”

“No reason to apologize. I'm the one invading your life,” he said to his plate.

“You aren't invading it.” Actually, he kind of was, but she couldn't stand seeing him look so sad.

His lips curled slightly. “I'm glad you feel that way.” He tipped his head toward the table. “Finish up, and then I'll run you home.”

“Thank you.” She took another bite of bacon. It was crisp, just the way she liked it. Salty. So good. She took another. And another. And several more until she couldn't eat another bite. Leaning back, she placed her hand on her stomach. “That was insanely delicious. Please tell whoever cooked it I enjoyed everything immensely.”

“You just told him yourself.”

“You cooked all of this?”

“Yes.”

She just might be in love. “Wow, I'm impressed. I never would've thought a man like you would know his way around a kitchen.”

“A man like me?” His smile amped up to full wattage. “What kind of man is that? I'm curious.”

“A man who works a lot, makes good money, doesn't have to cook for himself.”

“Hmmm. You're in for a few surprises, I think.”

“Good ones, I hope.”

“All good.” Standing, he set his hands on the back of her chair. “Ready?”

“Yes. I just need to grab my purse upstairs.” As she stood, he pulled her chair out for her. Then he led her through the house and, once she had collected her purse, outside to the car with a hand resting on her back. Like a gentleman, he opened her door for her, then waited until she was seated, before slamming it and rounding the front of the car to take his own seat. The sun was climbing quite high in the eastern sky as their car turned onto the road, roaring toward her house.

She stared out the window most of the drive, watching the world hum by. Businesses, schools, houses. As she sat there, she wondered what her life would be like in a year. By then she would be a mother. A mother. A little quiver of panic raced through her.

She was going to have a child.

Her life was about to change, whether she married Tage or not. And that change was going to be huge. Another wave of panic crashed through her.

What if she wasn't ready? What if she didn't know what to do? What if there was something wrong with her baby?

And what about work? What if she had complications and couldn't work for a while? Disability wouldn't be enough.

“You've been very quiet,” he said, glancing her way as they sat at a traffic light. They weren't far from her place now. Within a mile.

“I'm just... a little tired. Someone woke me in the middle of the night,” she said, smiling to let him know she was teasing. A part of her couldn't wait to be home, alone. She needed to think, to make plans, to consider all her options.

The other part, the scared part, wanted to tell Tage to turn the car around and take her back to that big house in the woods. It had been so peaceful there.

She'd felt safe. Protected. Cared for.

As he pulled up in her parking lot, she unclipped her seat belt and hugged her purse to her chest. “Thank you,” she said. “For breakfast.”

“You're welcome.” He motioned for her to stay put, then hopped out of the car and jogged around to her side. As she climbed out, she turned to step away from the vehicle, but he moved, blocking her in. Smiling up at him, she repeated, “Thanks again for the delicious breakfast. And for taking care of me last night when I was sick. I wasn't happy you basically kidnapped me, but I can see now that your intentions were genuine. Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before.”

He cupped her cheek. “Come back to my place.”

“I will. Sometime. Soon.”

“No. Today. Now.” His gaze flicked to her mouth.

“I can't.”

He leaned closer, angling his head until his mouth was so close to hers, his sweet breath warmed her lips and her head spun. If he kissed her, he just might convince her to go back to his place. He might convince her to do a lot of other things, too.

She placed her hands on his chest, intending to push him back. He didn't budge. “Tage, I need some space, some time.”

“You need rest,” he suggested, his mouth still hovering dangerously close to hers.

“That, too, yes.”

“You can rest at my house.”

“For some reason, I don't think I would get much rest there.”

He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him. “I guarantee you wouldn't leave my bed.”

A blast of heat rocketed through her at the flames she saw flickering in his eyes. “Yes, but that doesn't mean I would get any sleep.”

“True. But can you blame me?” He angled his head lower, letting his mouth gently caress hers. The light touch sent another wave of erotic need raging through her. He growled. Literally. The sound was low and rumbly and made her knees wobble. “I want to do things to your sweet little body. So many things. Some things I shouldn't want to do.”

The air left her lungs. A flurry of images flashed through her mind, all of them bone-meltingly hot. “Tage,” she heard herself mutter.

“Tell me to leave,” he said as he sprinkled kisses along her jaw.

She opened her mouth but all that came out was a whimper.

“Tell me to leave now.” One of his hands skimmed up her torso, fingertips grazing the side of her breast. Her spine arched, pushing her breast against him.

A growly groan vibrated against her neck as he flicked his tongue over the sensitive skin just below her ear.

Ohmygod, she wanted this man. A moan slipped from her lips, and she felt her bones softening. Heat was pounding through her now, waves of need. She curled her hands into fists, gathering the material of his shirt in them, and tried to summon up the strength to push away.

She couldn't. She couldn't do it.

His arm swept under her legs, and within a heartbeat she was cradled against him. The world bounced as he carried her up to her building. She curled an arm around his neck, handing him her keys when he reached the door. The instant they were inside, he rushed toward her bedroom. He eased her down onto the bed and trapped her between his outstretched arms. Not that she wanted to go anywhere. If anything, she wanted to pull him down, feel his weight on her, feel his heat blazing through her body.

“I want you so damn bad,” he muttered, jaw tight, eyes dark. “You have to tell me to leave. Tell me.”

“I . . . can't.” Lifting her arms, she hooked them around his neck and pulled. He angled lower and gazed into her eyes for one, two, three heartbeats and then groaned and kissed her.

The kiss was feral, rough, full of raw emotion. His lips were hard as they claimed hers. His tongue pushed into her mouth and stroked hers until she was writhing and whimpering, trembling all over.

Her pelvis rocked back and forth with each thumping beat of her heart, and wave upon wave of need crashed through her. By the time the kiss had ended, she was blind with need, desperate for his touch. Any touch. Anywhere.

When it didn't come, she opened her eyes.

He was propped on one arm, his large frame stretched out on her bed beside her. “If I stay another minute, I'm not going to be able to leave until I've made love to you. And this time when I have you, I won't be able to stop. I'll want you again. And again.” The hand that wasn't supporting him was resting on her stomach. It started sliding down, down, until it warmed her mound.

That again-and-again part sounded good. Better than good. “Maybe I want you to make love to me,” she muttered, surprised by what she was saying. Hadn't she told him just a few short minutes ago that she needed space? Time to think? And now she was practically begging him to take her.

“Dammit, you're not making this easy.”

“Neither are you.”

He pushed upright, stared longingly at her. She looked into his eyes, catching a glimpse of the conflict raging inside him. He wanted her like no man had ever wanted her before. And that thrilled her. And scared her. Both.

His hand was still there, on her mound. His fingers tensed. She felt the subtle movement.

She placed her hand over his.

He gritted his teeth. “Goddammit.” He grabbed her hand and jerked it over her head. “Don't move those fucking hands.”

A thrill buzzed through her like an electrical current. The dangerous edge in his voice made her simmer from head to toe and made every nerve in her body tingle.