Page 121 of Reckless Devotion

“You’re an evil man.” I sigh happily, squirming as he trails his stubbled jaw across my stomach. “How long did you say Sunny would be?”

“Mmm, she said she would be back in time for dinner.” He settles himself over me and I feel how ready he is against my center.

“Again?” My eyes go wide, tiny bursts of electricity sparkling inside my navel as he shifts against me.

“I’ve come to accept that I will always be hard within a twenty-foot radius of you.” He grins, leaning down to nip the sensitive skin at the base of my throat.

I giggle, my breath expelling abruptly when he shifts again, more intentionally this time so that I get another hit of friction in just the right place.

Even though I’m exhausted, I feel the never quite extinguished spark of desire zing to life, my heartbeat accelerating. Just when I decide to give in to the devilish man trailing a hand down a lazy path to my hip, we both hear the mechanical clunk of the industrial elevator and freeze.

“God dammit,” he hisses, flexing his hips with a small groan.

I gasp, clutching at his broad, muscular shoulders. “Chase—”

“I know, baby. I know.” He leans down and gives me a chaste peck on the lips before sliding out from under the covers and walking his bare, perfectly sculpted ass over to his closet, muscles slipping and sliding beneath tanned skin.

I sit up as he flings one of his T-shirts and some sweatpants my way and starts pulling on some of the same. Before I’ve even got my foot into one leg, he’s back by my side, kneeling down to help me.

“I could get used to this princess treatment.” I slip his T-shirt over my head, noting that it pools right down to thigh level because he’s so big. And that is saying something, because I am not a particularly short woman.

He rolls up the cuff on the bottom of the sweatpants, making sure they don’t trail under my feet. When I stand, I see in the large mirror in one corner that I look kind of like a drowned rat, with my hair stuck up in all different directions.

“So get used to it—move in with me.” He smooths my hair down, cupping my cheeks in the process and kissing my forehead.

“Stop saying stuff like that so casually.” Doesn’t he know my heart skips three beats every time he does?

“Why? I want you here.” He lifts his eyebrows and I open my mouth to respond, but hear another clunk from the other side of his door which reminds me we have more pressing matters.

“We’ll talk about this later.” I roll my eyes and give myself a once over in the mirror to make sure I don’t look too freshly fucked, excitement streaking through my belly

Chase hadn’t told Sunny I was coming home, and I'm glad. I can’t freaking wait to see her face.

“Okay, but my answer will be the same, Peppercorn.” He smiles, ruffling a hand through his hair, which houses obvious signs of my hands clutching at it. “I’m done being apart from you.”

When we open the bedroom door, we both see an energetic Sunny shimmying around the living space with earphones clamped to her head, wearing gym wear. Her hair is wet from using the building’s pool, and she has her eyes closed, face scrunched and seemingly lost in the music.

“Oh my.” I lift a hand to my mouth as she moonwalks a couple paces, and then flips her feet into a classic Michael Jackson toe stand, singing a quiet lyric I can’t hear, wildly off key.

I can feel Chase shaking close behind me as he tries to hold back laughter.

Sunny spins around on the spot, a faint tinny bass escaping her earphones. I start forward to get her attention, but Chase grabs my shoulders and holds me back right as she begins another fresh round of slinky moonwalks.

“Are you crazy? She’s building up enough static to shock the shit out of the next person who touches her.”

I snort, conceding that he is probably right.

“Hey!” he bellows, the tenor of his voice cutting right through her music and making her startle.

A moment later, her eyes land on me and flare wide. “Pepper!”

I grin, rushing forward as she flings herself in my direction, so hard she knocks the wind out of me. “Hey babe.”

“You’re back!” She pulls back as if to check it’s really me, moisture pooling in her eyes. “What happened? Is it over?”

“It’s over, kid,” Chase says quietly when I feel too choked up to respond straight away. “She’s home and she’s not going anywhere ever again.”

“Do you promise?” Sunny’s question is aimed at me as she blinks back tears.