Tempting the Best Man - By J. Lynn Page 0,32

mouth nearly broke her. It was a gentle sweep of his lips, a sweet, chaste kiss that started off as a slow boil and then exploded as he deepened the touch, his tongue slipping the length of her and then inside.

Chase burrowed into her flesh, sucking, tugging, and licking until her back bowed and she cried out his name. She was on the verge, hanging over the edge and then her release sped through her, pitching her so high, to a place where only white heat and sensations existed. And he kept going, drinking her in as another climax started and broke apart again, her cries hoarse as her body spasmed.

When she came back down, Chase had sat on the edge of the tub again and was holding her in his lap, his cheek resting on her shoulder. His hands traced an idle, smooth circle along her lower back, following the curve of her spine.

Madison didn’t protest when he leaned back, his vibrant blue eyes hooded. Those dimples appeared on his striking face, and she wanted to kiss them. She wanted to do all kinds of things. Starting with repaying him…

Madison reached down, wanting to feel his length, but he stopped her. “We still need to talk,” he said, his fingers pressing into the flesh of her hips again as he placed her on her feet.

Talk? She didn’t think she was capable of forming a coherent sentence. Tiny droplets of water sprayed from her soaked hair when she shook her head.

Chase chuckled as he rose. Reaching around her, he grabbed the towel and slowly, carefully dried her off before wrapping the oversized material around her breasts.

“Now,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “I can concentrate.”

She stared up at him, doubting how affected he really was when he could engineer her lust like that and not take any pleasure for himself. Stirrings of unease began in her belly, a not-so-pleasant thing to feel after something so mind-blowingly wonderful. “Well, I can’t.”

Taking her hand, he led her out of the bathroom to the bed. She sat, clutching the edge of the towel, very unsure of everything again. Especially when his emotions were on lockdown, his face blank, but his eyes…

He stood before her, legs spread in a powerful, dominant stance. “I want you.”

You have me, she wanted to say. “I think we’ve established that.”

His lips curved at the corners. “And you want me.”

“Another known fact,” she said. A well-known fact, that is, but there was no need for her to point that out. “Where is this conversation going?” Because she wanted to finish it, strip him naked, and finally get him where she’d always wanted him. Oddly, a heart-shaped bed was never in her fantasies, but she was okay with improvising.

“And I care about you. I really do.” Chase knelt before her, his eyes meeting hers. “There’s only one option.”

Hope was back again, beating at her insides like a hyper butterfly. Caring about someone didn’t mean loving her, but Chase wasn’t the type of man to proclaim his undying devotion, especially with the daddy issues. But she could work with this. And of course, there was only one option. Cut the crap and be together. Face her brother, admit that they cared for each other, and deal with it. Together, she could prove to him that he was nothing like his dad. That he was worth everything. Then they could finally discover if there really was a fairy-tale ending for them. And of course, lots and lots of sex in the near future.

“I agree,” she said, fighting a goofy grin that would make her look like she’d been smacked with the idiot branch.

“Good. Great.” His shoulders relaxed. “Because this is what we both need.”

God, did she ever need this—need him.

Chase smiled. “And once we do it, then…things will be normal again. It’ll be over.”

She started to nod in agreement, because she was still knee deep in her fantasy coming true, but what he said slowly sank in. Icy dread drifted over her skin. “Come again?”

“Having sex,” he explained as he rose and leaned forward, placing his palms on either side of her thighs, caging her in. “We do it. Get it over with. Because obviously we can’t go back to things being normal until we do.”

That horrible chilled feeling seeped through her skin, leaving her numb. “Being normal?”

“Yeah, like things were before. We can be friends again.” He placed a large hand on her shoulder, and she flinched. Chase frowned.