The Midwife's Marriage Proposal (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 3)
Page 57
She didn’t look back.
By the time he joined her in the hallway she had the front door open. Freezing cold air flowed through the doorway, reminding her that heat and warmth couldn’t last.
He paused in the doorway, his black helmet under his arm. His leathers accentuated the width of his shoulders and the strength of his thighs, and she felt the need explode inside her again.
The truth was that the passion between them was a living, breathing force. More powerful than both of them.
She could put oceans between them but she’d never be free of him.
This need that consumed her would be with her for ever.
‘You’re going to say yes, Sally.’ His voice was soft and loaded with purpose, and before she could protest or resist he brought his mouth down on hers again, intensifying the reaction that the mere sight of his body had already started. His warm mouth seduced hers and then he lifted his head reluctantly. ‘If I have to ask you every day for the rest of our lives, you’re going to say yes.’
Without giving her time to reply, he pushed the helmet onto his head and strode over to his bike.
* * *
Tom let himself into the converted barn that had been his home for the past five years. He dropped his keys on the table and immediately poured himself a large whiskey.
Despite the almost animal urgency of their lovemaking, his whole body was still throbbing with unfulfilled need.
As far as he was concerned, that had only been a starter.
Given his way, he’d have carried her upstairs and carried on where they’d left off for the rest of the night.
He ran a hand over the back of his neck, sweat breaking out on his brow as he remembered the wildness and the desperation.
They’d both lost control.
Had he hurt her?
Guilt and concern rippled through him, but then he reached for his glass and felt the sting of the wounds she’d inflicted with her teeth and nails. He gave a totally masculine smile and lifted a hand to his shoulder, remembering how she’d met him bite for bite, comforted by the evidence that she’d wanted him every bit as desperately as he’d wanted her.
She’d burned for him as he’d burned for her.
No matter how much she denied it, how much she fought it, they were meant to be together.
He should have realized that seven years ago. But he hadn’t been able to trust that what she’d felt for him had been real.
But now he knew that it was more real than anything else in his life.
And being with Sally mattered more than anything else in his life.
He sucked in a breath and finished his whiskey, facing the indisputable fact that she was going to fight him. That she was determined to not allow herself to be hurt a second time.
It was going to be hard to persuade her that loving him didn’t present a risk.
Even harder to persuade her to trust him enough to marry him.
He stood still, a frown creasing his brow, deep in thought. And then the solution came to him and a smile spread across his face.
She thought that she could live without him. Live without what they’d shared tonight.
It was up to him to show her that she couldn’t.
CHAPTER EIGHT
IF SALLY had thought working with Tom had been difficult before they’d made love, afterwards it became almost intolerable.