by Sara Craven
Sighing, she lifted herself to him in a demand she barely understood, and heard her falling breath change to a whimper as all control was suddenly ripped away by some blind, atavistic force. She was total animal, drinking savagely from his mouth, her hands raking at him, her voice blurred, unrecognisable, urging him on. Her body convulsed in sweet agony as she was lost, torn apart, dazed and dazzled by the shattering rapture of her climax.
As he came, he gasped for her, his voice hoarse and breathless, as if he was drowning. And she felt the ultimate scalding heat of his possession. Some time later, he said, 'Are we still alive?'
'Never more so.' She caressed his lips with hers, her hands stroking his sweat-slicked hair.
'How could you know—so completely—what I wanted?'
'Because you're the other half of me.' He kissed her deeply, his tongue teasing and sensual. 'How could I not know?' He paused. 'Marry me, Adie, my one true love. I can't live without you.'
'And you were sending me away.' She put her palms against his chest, savouring the race of his heart.
'But only so that I could follow. You wouldn't have got far. I was hoping that if I let you go—you might miss me and want to come back.' His smile twisted her heart. 'If all else failed, I thought you might want the house.'
'The house is beautiful.' She put her lips to the pulse in his throat. 'But I'd walk out of it tomorrow to go with you.'
'I think we'll stay. It's time there was happiness here— and new life,' he added softly.
'Yes,' she said. 'Ah, yes.' Then, 'We'll build another treehouse.'
'As many as you want.'
'We'll fight,' she warned.
'How else would we make up?' Chay settled her against the pillows and drew the covers over her.
'Does it have to be marriage?' She curved herself into his arms, smiling wickedly. 'I've just begun to enjoy being your mistress.'
His lips touched her hair. 'Nothing need change. Wife by day,' he whispered, 'mistress by night. That's the deal, my love. And there's no negotiation. This time it's for ever.'
'For ever,' she echoed drowsily, and turned, in tenderness and trust, to sleep at last in her lover's arms.
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