Marly's Choice (Men of August 1)

He caressed her cheek with his fingers, then leaned close and kissed her cheek with a light, reassuring touch.

“Your clothes will be laid out on the bed when you get out. Dress and come down to dinner. I’ll be waiting on you.”

There seemed a wealth of meaning in those last words, but Marly wasn’t able to decipher the message. She just prayed he didn’t mean what she was scared he did. She sighed roughly, sank to her shoulders in the water, and began to reconsider Cade as a lover.

Chapter Twenty

The clothes Cade had laid out would have been one of Marly’s choices if she was still intent on seducing him. Black silk thongs, a short black, stretching silk sheath that dipped low in the back, and skimmed the tops of her breasts in the front and made Marly feel like a million bucks. Smoky black thigh-highs and her favorite black heels completed the outfit. She looked like a dark angel when she finished, with her hair falling in long, riotous curls down the middle of her back.

She smoothed the dress over her hips, standing in front of the full-length mirror that had somehow made it from her room to Cade’s. She sighed; her clothes filled his closet as well, and his dresser. He had been busy while she slept. She wasn’t certain if she cared much for the high handedness he was displaying.

He was taking complete control of her now, and she didn’t much like it. It didn’t matter that he had warned her he would, she wasn’t a child to be ordered, nor was she so submissive she would willingly give him total control in everything. She shivered, remembering the control he had exerted over her in bed. She couldn’t fight that, and she knew it. For the first time since beginning her campaign to seduce him, she doubted herself. She wasn’t experienced enough to handle Cade, and she knew it.

“Stop worrying so much, Marly.” He had slipped into the bedroom quietly, and now stood watching her with that intent dark stare that made her stomach tighten spasmodically.

She swallowed deeply as he came toward her. He was dressed in jeans again, a smoky gray cotton shirt, and boots. And he was aroused. She closed her eyes as he came up behind her, pulling her hair away from her neck to deposit a kiss there. She shivered at the caress.

“You’re beautiful.” His gaze met hers in the mirror, and Marly barely contained a groan of pure sensation as his look traveled over her body. “Absolutely beautiful.”

His hands moved slowly down her bare arms, making her breathing escalate.

She couldn’t speak. She wanted to. She wanted to protest the sudden heat flaring in her stomach, the erection she could feel pressed against her back as he leaned close to her.

“Dinner’s ready. Marie cooked for us and left everything on the stove to serve ourselves before leaving. The boys are out for the evening and we’ll have the house to ourselves.” He watched her as he spoke, and Marly knew he was assessing her silence, her expression, everything.

“Where did they go?” Her breathing hitched in her throat when his lips began to caress her neck again and his hands gripped her hips, pulling her closer against him.

“Hm, who knows about those two?” Marly watched as his eyes closed, his mouth moving to the bend of neck and shoulder.

“Cade.” Her neck arched despite her own best intentions as his teeth nipped the skin there, sending heat rolling through her body.

“Shh, it’s just a kiss.” But he was breathing hard, and the hands at her hips were pressing her firmly into his thighs. “I promise, no play for a while.”

But his control was shaky at best, Marly thought. He wanted her again; she could see it in the wild swirl of color in his eyes as he glanced at her in the mirror.

“Come on.” He finally sighed roughly, moving away from her. “Dinner. Then maybe a movie. We haven’t watched a show together in forever, Marly.”

Marly felt dazed, confused. His voice smoothed out once again as he took her hand and led her from the bedroom. He was almost like the old Cade, gentle and non-threatening. Marly was well aware of the irony of the situation. She had wanted nothing more than his passion until she had it. Now, she still wanted it, but the extremity of it terrified her. Perhaps she should have paid attention to the warnings her friends had given her years before.

Cade escorted her from the room, his hand riding low on her back as they walked downstairs. The lights were low in the house tonight, the silence so pervasive that the hollow click of her heels on the hardwood fl

oor of the hallway was almost eerie.

“Are you going to ever speak to me again, Marly?” Cade finally asked her softly as he led her into the kitchen, and pulled her chair out at the table.

“I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat, fighting the huskiness in her voice.

“Here.” He poured her a glass of wine, setting it softly in front of her, then moved back to the stove.

Dinner was fresh grilled steak and shrimp, potatoes and greens with soft rolls on the side. The wine was smooth and slid easily down her throat, loosening the tension in her body as she sipped at it. As her glass emptied, Cade refilled it, all the while watching her as the silence wrapped around them.

“Finished?” he finally asked her as she pushed her half eaten meal away and sipped from the glass once again.

“Yes.” Her fingers played nervously with the stem of her glass.

Cade sighed, standing to his feet and carrying the plates to the sink as Marly sipped from her wine once again. She rarely drank, usually not caring much for the state it left her in. When her inhibitions loosened, she thought too much, wanted too much. But the nervous tension in her body was just as bad. She hated feeling this way, hated the hesitancy she now felt at wanting Cade. She loved him so much she ached from it, but he terrified her now.

“Come on, Marly.” He pulled her slowly from the chair, watching as she hastily retrieved her wine glass.