The Bachelor Pact (40 page)

Maddie's chest tightened as she opened the box.

"Oh, Chase. You got my mom's heirloom back. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Chase lifted the delicate pendant from the box and fastened it around her neck. "Now, the necklace is where it's supposed to be."

"And so are we," Maddie whispered. "Let's promise not to have any secrets from each other, Chase."

"Okay." Chase grinned and pulled her to him, winding a strand of her hair around his finger. "As long as we're being honest, sweetheart, there is something I've been wanting to ask you."

"What is it, Chase? You can ask me anything."

Chase held her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Did you really get naked at that nudist colony?"

Maddie laughed, climbed in his lap, then looped her arms around his neck, and crossed her fingers behind his back. "Oh, honey, of course not. You're the only man who's ever seen me naked."

Chase smiled smugly. He'd figured as much.

The limo pulled up and parked at his house, and the driver opened the door. Chase lifted her in his arms and carried Maddie up the sidewalk. "This happened a little too fast for me to plan a honeymoon," Chase whispered. "But maybe we can plan a trip to Cancun or something in a couple of weeks."

Chase paused at the entryway to his new house and gazed into Maddie's eyes. "After we broke up, I couldn't bring myself to come back in here, Maddie. I knew every room would make me remember you."

Speaking of remembering—Maddie suddenly remembered her little revenge ploy and realized he hadn't seen the changes in his bedroom yet. "Uh, Chase, maybe we should go to a hotel for the night."

"No way." Chase unlocked the door and carried her straight to the bedroom. "I've been dreaming about making love to you on that four poster bed ever since that first time."

"Um, about that four poster bed..." Maddie closed her eyes as he flicked on the light.

Chase gasped at the sight of the red velvet, heart-shaped bed, and blinked at the strobe light flickering with psychedelic colors. "Oh, my God, Maddie. What have you done?"

* * *

An hour later, they both lay sated and content and happily married in the middle of the plush, heart-shaped bed. After the first time they'd made love, Maddie had fixed them a special dessert, and they'd eaten it in bed. Literally off each other.

Chase nuzzled Maddie's neck and pulled her on top of him, his body hardening at the sight of her naked breasts. "So, you wanted me to have a bachelor pad, huh?"

"Well, I thought
you
wanted to be a bachelor. So I figured you might as well have a proper love nest for entertaining your love bunnies." Maddie nibbled at the sensitive spot just below his ear where the scent of whip cream still lingered.

"My love bunnies?" Chase sighed with a grin. "So, are you going to dress up like a bunny for me?"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, honey."

Chase laughed. "Seriously, you're the only love bunny I want, sweetheart. You fulfill my every fantasy."

"Speaking of fantasies?" Maddie quirked a mischievous brow. "Do you still have that black eye patch?"

Chase's laughter rumbled deep from his chest. "Oh, yeah, you did mention you have a thing for pirates." Chase felt for his shirt, unearthed his black eye patch, and winked as she tied it around his head, "I did vow to love, honor, and cherish now, didn't I?" He began by stroking his fingertips across her sensitive nipples. "And I cherish every part of you. This nipple." He leaned up to taste each rosy tip. "And this one, too." He laved her until Maddie groaned and dug her hands into his hair.

"Oh, Chase."

"And I love this tender skin." He bent and kissed the underside of her breast. "We will have to make a few changes in this room though."

Maddie pressed her heat against his erection. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Those orange nude paintings on the wall have to go." His fingers traced a fiery path down her breasts to her navel as he gestured toward the deflated plastic figure on the floor. "And let's definitely get rid of that pitiful blow-up woman." He tweaked her nipple, spread a little more chocolate sauce on the peak, then licked the tip again, loving her slow and so deep her body responded with an answering, burning ache. "I'd much rather have the real thing."

Maddie moaned at the erotic sound of his suckling noises. "What about the heart-shaped bed?"

"A little too Vegas for me."

"And the strobe lights?"

"They're making me motion sick." Chase slipped a finger down her stomach to tease her curls. "Besides, I'd rather have natural light—I want to see every bit of you."

Maddie reached down and cupped him in her hand, smiling when his sex surged full and hard against her palm.

Chase glanced at the ceiling, and the walls, enjoying the different views of their naked bodies almost as much as having Maddie on top of him. "But we might have to keep the mirrors."

Maddie straddled him. "Oh, so you like the mirrors?"

Chase fit his shaft at the tip of her sex, then pulled her down on top of him, filling her with his throbbing sex. Her moan of ecstasy nearly brought him to the brink. "Yeah, we might want to add some above the sunken tub." He began to rock within her. "And the kitchen island."

She gripped his shoulders and pulled him deeper inside her.

"And the laundry room, and that walk-in closet..."

Maddie clawed at his back, pumping him harder as she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "And when we have babies, we might have to think about building that secret tunnel."

Chase thrust inside her again, filling her to the core. Maddie threw her head back and screamed in ecstasy.

"Secret tunnel?" Chase's own release began to spiral as he plunged into her again. "Heck, sweetheart, we might have to soundproof the walls."

The End

Sleepless in Savannah

by

Rita Herron

Dedication

To all the fans of Marry Me, Maddie, who requested Lance and Reid's story—this one is for you. Hope you enjoy and that Lance suffered enough!

And also to Andy for giving Emily the real deal—the Diet Cokes with the balloons!

Chapter 1

"Listen, Sophie, just follow the seven sacred rules for trapping a man." Maddie Summers-Holloway quirked an eyebrow, a hint of mischief in her sparkling brown eyes. "Then you'll snag Lance and we'll be sisters-in-law."

Sophie Lane laughed, squinting at her reflection in the mirror of the green room. Now that Maddie had been married an entire month, she was the expert. "Right. I'm sure he'll fall for those old tricks."

Not that she wanted to trick anyone into marriage. She didn't. She simply wanted Lance to fall in love with her the way she had fallen for him. And she had caught glimpses of moments when she knew he was attracted to her. That kind of chemistry she couldn't have misread.

But he'd blown her off with as much gusto as she would blow out her birthday candles a few days from now; anything to make the flaming evidence of aging disappear.

Thirty and still single.

At least she had a few good eggs left, or so her doctor had said at her last physical.
That
had made her feel
sooo
much better.

Maddie gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, they might work. Lance is attracted to you. He just has some commitment issues to resolve. I swear, he still feels compelled to uphold that stupid bachelor pact Chase and my brothers made when they were kids."

Sophie sighed and sipped her diet Coke. She could understand young boys making an agreement never to get married, even writing it down, but to renew it as men? Even though they were worried romance might interfere with their work schedules and newly founded business, the pact was ridiculous. "At least Chase tore his up for you."

"Yeah, tearing up that pact was a beautiful thing." A dreamy glow settled into Maddie's eyes—the elated, happy look only newly married women possessed.

The look Sophie wanted for herself.

She leaned forward, searching for laugh lines in the mirror, but discovered frown ones instead, then pivoted the chair toward Arial, her makeup artist. "Do you think I need more powder around the eyes?"