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She’d completely lost the thread of their conversation. ‘Huh?’

He lifted a hand then, cupping her cheek, and the simple touch was like the igniting of a fuse.

‘Now you’re looking at the house and imagining living here.’

Yes, she had been, but she stopped herself from admitting as much. She couldn’t trust herself to speak, anyway. She just stared at him, lips parted, silently pleading, begging him to kiss her.

‘What do you think?’ he prompted, after a beat.

She swallowed, knowing she needed to find a way to put something—anything—into words. ‘The house is very beautiful,’ she said, after a beat. That, at least, was true. From the wide timber floorboards to the heritage paint colours, pretty wallpapers, it had the feel of a stunning country home, without being overly intimidating.

‘I’m glad you think so.’

Neither of them was moving. It was as if they’d both been sucked into the same vortex, and were stuck here, with nothing and no one else.

‘But I still haven’t made up my mind.’

His lips flickered with a hint of derision—and then a smile. ‘Yes, you have. You just wish you hadn’t.’

She swallowed her sound of surprise. ‘You’re wrong.’

His smirk was a contradiction. ‘I’m really not.’ He brushed his thumb over her lower lip. ‘You’re going to marry me, because there’s no better alternative.’

‘You think you know me so well?’

‘I know enough,’ he said with a small shift of his head, as his knee pushed forward, nudging between her thighs. Now she didn’t quite manage to stop the groan from escaping.

‘I know you want me to kiss you.’

Her eyes widened as they lifted to his, but there was no need to be embarrassed. She saw the same desire in his face as was taking over her body and soul. ‘You’re wrong,’ she murmured, and before he could say anything, or argue with her, she continued, ‘I want you to do more than kiss me, Tate Carrigan. I want you to take me to bed.’

CHAPTER FIVE

HE ABSOLUTELY DID not need to be asked twice. Hell, from the minute she’d shown up that afternoon, he’d been wanting to do this, so now, being able to scoop down and lift her up, hold her against his chest and carry her through the house towards his room was like having won the fucking lottery. But better.

He almost didn’t make it. Who needed a bed when there was a perfectly good floor beneath them? Yet somehow, he got through the door to his room before succumbing to temptation and kissing her hard, his mouth rejoicing, finally, in being melded to hers, his tongue duelling with hers, his hands roaming her body with a hunger that bordered on starvation, to feel not just her gentle curves but also her flesh. To touch her skin and watch as she fell apart in his hands.

She whimpered against his mouth, all aching, desperate need, just like that he was dealing with. He placed her on the mattress, then brought his body over hers, his fingers finally separating her shirt from her trousers, connecting with her bare stomach. He groaned into her mouth as he lifted the singlet top higher, brushing his hands over her full, round breasts. He remembered every inch of her, in almost painful detail. He hated that he could close his eyes and see her, but now he was reliving it, retracing his steps, feeling the euphoria of this woman as he had that night, and accepting that none of it had been exaggerated.

He wanted her now just as much as he had then. He pulled away from her only to strip off his clothes as quickly as was humanly possible, then to dispense with hers, his eyes slavishly devouring her as he went, until finally, she was naked, and he could simply stare at her for a beat, before bringing his body over hers and kissing her in a way that was just a promise of what was to come.

He was driven by the force of a thousand suns, and yet, before he moved to her sex, he held himself above her, eyes on Sarah’s body, just out of reach.

‘Say yes.’

She frowned, not understanding. ‘Yes, I want you.’

‘Say yes to marrying me.’

‘Tate…’

‘It makes sense, and you know it.’

He really wanted her to see that, to admit she saw it.

‘I…don’t know how we can make it work.’

‘But we will.’