"This way," she said softly as she tied the first knot in the soft fabric, "you’ll have a really good view."
"View?" The one word from his beautiful mouth was strangled. Borderline desperate.
"Yes," Brooke replied, certain that he wanted this just as much as she did. In any case, he’d left her no choice but to take matters into her own hands—and mouth, too. A rush of heat hit her at the thought of what she was finally about to do. "Your view of me doing this."
A moment later he was on her tongue, and she was moaning from the pleasure of finally tasting his hard, hard flesh. He tasted so good that she found herself growing greedier with every inch of him she took inside her mouth. And, oh, how she loved it when he wrapped his hand in the silk binding around her hair to hold her just where he wanted her as he grew bigger, hotter, with every slick of her tongue over him.
Somehow, through the blood rushing in her ears, she heard him growling her name before he gave himself up completely to her mouth, her hands. She drank in his pleasure as if it were her own, and her lips would have curved up in a full smile if they weren’t already wonderfully occupied.
A short while later, when he tugged at her silk-bound ponytail and she rose to her feet, the ends of the silk were sticking to the damp skin between them.
"Promise me you’ll never wear these in your hair again unless we’re in the bedroom."
She made a show of considering his question. "Do you really think anyone else will know they aren’t just pretty silk scarves?"
"I don’t give a damn what anyone else knows. I’d know, damn it. I’d know what you did to me while you were wearing them in your hair. I’d know the way you actually smiled as I did that to you."
Of course, that made her smile even wider. "Can I help it if you make me happy?"
That light she was starting to see more and more sparked in the back of his eyes as he slid the silks from her hair.
"Promise me, or these go into the next bonfire."
"I promise I’ll only wear them for you."
A split second later she was on the bed beneath him, and he was swearing he’d buy her more lingerie as he grabbed the lace and silk she was wearing and tore it off. She was thrilled by his rough, desperate possession, soon there were no more questions from either of them, no room for anything but sighs of pleasure and gasps of ecstasy as they wrapped themselves around each other.
But the most perfect moment of all came after they’d both toppled over the edge together, and he whispered the sweetest words she’d ever heard: "You make me happy, too."
* * *
Brooke was asleep within moments. Rafe loved the way she wrapped herself around him, her breathing even and soft now as she slept against his chest.
Every time they made love, she grew bolder, more confident in her ongoing quest to be wild. As he gently stroked her soft hair and breathed her in, he knew how frustrated she was that he kept refusing to do things like tie her up or blindfold her with the silks she’d brought home.
Didn’t she realize that just the thought of having her arms bound to the bed frame and her eyes covered was cause for insanity? He was afraid it would be a slippery slope, especially when he was already so much rougher with her in bed than he’d ever intended to be. There were plenty of gentle moments between them, too, but the fact was, he’d lost it every single time. Holding down her wrists, shoving her up against the shower tiles, then taking her again on the bed inside of fifteen minutes.
He’d never forget the way she looked when she was down on her knees in that incredibly sexy outfit, her hair tied back so that he could see every beautiful expression on her face as she’d gazed up at him with the unabashed joy she brought to everything, including taking him into her mouth...
Damn it, he thought as he buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair, he needed to stop replaying the sexy scene in his head or he’d end up being the most selfish bastard in the world by waking her up to take her again when she needed sleep to recover from her tiring day.
When she shifted against him, he wrapped his arms tighter around her, bringing her soft curves even closer. There was no point trying to deny that what they were doing had turned into so much more than just sex.
Rafe’s chest clenched tight as he felt her breathe slow and steady against his chest. The closer the two of them got, the more he worried about keeping her safe, not just with a deadbolt on her front door, but from people who would want to take advantage of her trusting, innately positive nature.
Brooke was so easy to be with that in moments like this, he could almost see himself spending the rest of his life with her. But could a cynical bastard like him ever truly make her happy outside of the bedroom? And what would he do if the answer was no? Could he do the right thing and give up the one person who did the impossible?
Because when Brooke was in his arms, she made the darkness—and all the liars and the cheaters—disappear.
Chapter Nineteen
Holy crap, thought Rafe as he looked in the delivery truck, his sister had bought a lot of furniture. And yet, once the crew finished unloading it all and putting it where Mia had told them to on the chart she’d made up, Rafe had to admit it was exactly the right amount.
Brooke was next door taking care of the work she’d put aside to help him with his house. It didn’t help that she’d lost another full day in Seattle yesterday. He would have offered to help her make the chocolates for this week’s upcoming delivery, but he figured he’d only end up getting in the way. Especially considering he couldn’t be in the same room with her without ripping her clothes off and taking her.
As it was, he’d been hard-pressed to leave her bed that morning. There hadn’t been one other thing he’d wanted more than to stay there beneath the sheets, her warm curves pressed against him as he tasted and kissed and caressed every beautiful inch of her. But since he’d known how much work she had to do, he’d forced himself to leave so that she could get to it.
There was still work to be done on his house, but as he wandered through each of the fully furnished rooms, he couldn’t deny that it was easily move-in ready. That first night, when he’d seen how trashed his family’s old lake house was, he’d been furious. He’d come to the lake to relax, not renovate a house. But now, instead of being glad his house was perfectly habitable, down to the matching towels Mia had ordered for the bathrooms and the bookshelves in the living room that held new hardcover copies of his favorite authors, a hard knot fisted in his gut.