A strange tingle was growing in the pit of Kate’s stomach, and she couldn’t stop it, couldn’t control it.
“I was probably more asleep than awake.”
The atmosphere around them felt heavy with something unnameable and untamable. She became fiercely aware of every point of contact of their bodies. Her knee against his thigh. Her shoulder against the side of his arm.
“Do you want me to hijack you now, Kate?”
Her stomach tightened at the question. “What do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes and told herself his husky tone was due to the strep throat, but it was too thick, too heavy, as heavy as those coal-black eyes.
He cupped her cheek in one huge, dry palm. “You always took care of Molly until she found Julian. You always put her first, before anything else. Didn’t you?”
When Kate could only nod, he continued.
“This is how I am with you, Kate. It’s instinctive in me. Putting you first. I’d never take advantage of you, that’s my number-one priority. But if I knew you might want something from me, I would like to give it to you. So...”
Suddenly he looked as hungry as he did when he ate her food.
“Do you want me to hijack you?” he asked. “Want me to come after you? Is that why you’re leaving for Florida? Do you want me to give chase?”
His stare was so piercing and primal, he didn’t look weak or sick at all.
He looked predatory and male, and she felt fragile and female. Inside her, a dozen words rippled with the need to come forth.
I want you. Please give me your love. Yourself.
But how could she tie him up this way? Was this really the answer he wanted? Or was he seeking for her to appease him by saying that she didn’t need anything else from him? He’d given her so much already. For his whole life.
A sound of protest tore from her chest, and it sounded so sexual, Kate swallowed it back in horror.
He smiled slowly, almost seductively, as his thumb trailed down the curve of her jaw. “Cat got your tongue?”
Kate couldn’t think. Speak. Breathe.
His thumb went lower, and now slowly brushed over the sleeve of her dress. Then it trailed down her bare arm, the touch a shivery, silken whisper that made her insides quiver with yearning. Her heart galloped as pure need kicked in. His other fingers joined his thumb to caress the inside of her left arm, and her skin broke out in goose bumps as her lungs strained for air.
Garrett was quiet as he watched her reactions. She realized she hadn’t pulled away from his touch, but instead had leaned closer.
He slid the fingers of his other hand into her hair, softly tangling them inside the loose mass. He watched her with somber expectation, as though wondering if she would stop him.
She didn’t.
Oh, why didn’t she?
What on earth was he doing?
What was she doing?
Intense sexual thoughts began to flicker through her mind. Garrett’s lips, his beautiful body naked against hers...
Their gazes held, both of them silent, their eyes almost questioning but also on fire with desire. His breath, slow and deep and slightly uneven, bathed her face.
Suddenly, he tugged her dress up her thighs and then slid his hand under the fabric, up her panty-clad bottom, then up her back, his fingers slowly tracing the little dents of her spine.
Kate sucked in a mouthful of air.
She probably should stop him. She probably should. Instead, she trembled and bent to brush a kiss across his lightly stubbled jaw. Then she drew back and noticed that his eyes were closed, his face almost in an expression of pain. She cupped his jaw and kissed his forehead, her insides melting when he groaned, encouraging her, so that she kissed the tip of his nose.
His hands were suddenly on her hips. Pushing her away? No. He drew her over his lap, guiding her so that she straddled him, and suddenly his fingers stole under her panties to caress her buttocks as his nose slid down the length of hers. She should pull away, but she was breathless, waiting for something, anything, as he buzzed her lips with his. “Kate, stop me,” he said softly.
Holy hell, what was he doing?
He blamed the seven freckles on her nose. They made him do stupid stuff.
He blamed the strep, the fact that he was on steroids, antibiotics and some strange tea his mother had made him this morning. He blamed the fact that Kate smelled like spring and raspberries. He’d never been so hungry, and he didn’t know if a thousand men could tear her away from his arms today.
He was fixated on her lips. It was surreal, so surreal, having Kate in his bed. “Stop me, Katie,” he found himself saying, as he continued to run his hands up and down her thighs, and grip her lovely bottom.
He wanted to squeeze her so tight he feared he’d break her bones. He shouldn’t be touching her buttocks, but he was too tired to fight the urge and too sick to care. They felt too good. She felt too good.
He’d wanted to do this since he’d seen her slide into those purple panties and he’d been haunted ever since. Why had she done that little striptease? He couldn’t stop thinking she’d wanted him to see her. She’d wanted him to want her.
And he did, he really did.
“You think I’m blind? That I don’t know?” he murmured against the top of her head. He drew back and stared into her face, noticing how soft her lips looked parted. “What you want is right here—and you’ll want it whether you’re in this room with me or all the way in Florida. You’ll want me.”
He didn’t know why he was testing her like this. But he wanted to see...
If she feels anything for me.
Anything even remotely resembling this madness that I feel.
He caught her closer when she squirmed and tried to push herself away. “You have no idea what I want!” she angrily spat.
“I know exactly what you want! I notice it every time you look at me, like I’m everything you’ve ever wanted. But I’m not, Kate. We both know I’m not. There’s not a day I don’t remember what I took from you—”
“Shut up, Garrett! You’re sick and...medicated and clearly out of your mind.”
He caught her back against him and stroked her cheeks as tenderly as he could, but knew his hands were shaking. “I know you’ll probably hate me for this, but I still won’t let you go to Florida. I want you close to me, where I know you’re safe.”
“I’m not asking for your permission!”
He frowned and stared into her beautiful shining eyes, wondering why he couldn’t have this girl, why he felt like he was poison for this girl.
“So you’ll make me follow you? Hmm? Is that what you want, Kate?”
She glared at him, and he couldn’t stand that little glare. He set a kiss on her forehead and rubbed her back under her dress, and she shuddered and pressed closer. Her need seeped into him, warming him to the core, until he felt like a torch was blazing inside of him. Blazing for her. He could feel her need of him like you’d feel rain pelting your back or the sun on your face. There were days when he could successfully ignore the pull between them, the undeniable chemistry. But tonight, his heart beat like a crazed drum for her. His muscles strained with aching desire. He could hardly stand not to touch her,