Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
C assie woke feeling warm. Not hot like yesterday when she feared her face would melt right off her skull, but a pleasant, comforting warm. Something deep within her felt…safe. How odd. Of course she felt safe. She lived in Kismet, one of the safest places this side of the Front Range.
Why did she have such a sense of contentment?
She shifted, muscles still a bit achy from her sickness. Thank goodness it only seemed to be a twenty-four-hour bug. As the child of two doctors, she’d always hated getting sick. Her parents had been great physicians, but horrible nursemaids. They always reminded her the sniffles and boo-boos she suffered could be far worse. And if she complained too much, they reinforced the point with documented proof of the latest outbreak they were dealing with. Harsh? Perhaps, but she could see their point. They had been saving lives every day, and she was complaining about a tummy ache she got from eating too fast.
She tried to keep any illness in perspective. Didn’t mean she had to enjoy it.
As she stretched, something pressed against her backside, something hard and warm and delicious smelling. Her brain began to fire, memories of yesterday flooding back. She remembered not feeling well when she woke yesterday, thinking it was still the hangover from the previous day, realizing it wasn’t, texting Del to cancel—
Del!
Body tensing, heat flooded her. Not the fever coming back, no, this scorch came from the hot sting of embarrassment. Del came to her house. He saw her all sick and miserable, made her soup, put her in the shower…naked! Ohmygod! Del had seen her naked and not a fun, sexy naked, a sick, whiny, pathetic naked. He held her, he comforted her, took care of her. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had done that. Even her grandmother had stayed away during any teenage illnesses, preferring to call a home nurse to care for her.
She didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed or grateful.
A little bit of both.
“You are thinking way too hard for this early in the morning.”
Startled by the husky sound of his voice breaking the silence, she flinched. “How did you know I was up?”
“I saw the smoke coming out of your ears.”
She reached a hand up to the side of her head, then, realizing he was teasing her, smacked the arm sneaking around her waist instead. “You ass.”
“Mmm, so feisty in the morning. I like it.”
Warm lips pressed against the soft spot just behind her ear, causing a tremble of awareness to shoot straight down to her lady parts.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better.” Did her voice squeak? She meant to sound strong, confident. Dang it.
“Good.” He kissed her neck again, and she couldn’t stop the shiver of pleasure from crawling up her spine. “Your fever broke sometime around midnight, so I was pretty confident you’d be feeling more like yourself today.”
“You stayed.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Because I asked you to.” She’d always asked her parents to sit by her sickbed, but they had been too busy, and she never dared ask her grandmother for fear of seeming too needy. But last night, with Del, she laid her cards out, asking for what she wanted, and her bet had paid off. He’d stayed.
She sniffled, gratitude overwhelming her.
“Hey.” Strong, capable fingers touched her chin lightly, turning her head. Del hovered above her, leaning on one arm. His hand cupped her face, thumb stroking her cheek, the rough pad rasping against her soft skin, creating such a dichotomy of sensations. “I wasn’t going to leave you last night. Even if you hadn’t asked me to stay, I would have.”
“Really?”
He gazed at her with wonder. “Of course, Cassandra. You were sick. You needed help, someone to take care of you. I’m not that big of a jackass to leave someone alone when they’re sick and need help.”
“You’re not a jackass at all.” She rolled to her back, staring up at him. “In fact, I think you’re pretty wonderful—holy shit, you’re naked!”
She slapped a hand over her eyes, but it didn’t help. The one, quick glance she’d taken had revealed all of Del in his original glory. And how glorious he was. Last night, she’d been pretty out of it with her fever, but she vaguely remembered him holding her in the shower, his bare chest pressed against her heated skin. But he’d kept his briefs on; it hadn’t been more than she’d seen over the many years they’d been acquainted. Del’s swim trunks didn’t cover much more than his underwear. Of course, until last night she’d never been held against his bare chest. And until this morning she’d never seen…
“You’re naked!”
“Yeah, you already said that.”
She felt the point needed reiterating. “Why are you naked?”
“Because my briefs were wet from the shower and after three hours of trying to sleep in my jeans, I decided that was never going to happen. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to sleep in those things?”
No, because she always slept in soft, comfy, cotton sleep shirts like the one she wore now. The one she didn’t remember putting on…no wait, she did remember. Del put it on her, after the cool shower.
“I did have a sheet wrapped around me, but you stole it during the night.”
“I did not!”
His brow rose, gaze going to her body and the—dang it—sheet wrapped around her blanket.
He winked and said with a chuckle, “If you wanted to get me naked, Sassy, all you had to do was ask.”
Quickly, she ripped the sheet off and tossed it over Del’s lower half with a groan. “Ugh, I think I’m feeling sick again.”
“Hey,” he reached for her, grasping her hand in his. “You know nothing happened right? I’d never do anything without—”
“Duh.” She cut him off. “I know that. I’m just embarrassed by the entire situation.”
“Nothing to be embarrassed about. We all get sick. At least it wasn’t some stomach bug coming out of both ends.”
Leave it to Del to come up with that lovely imagery. Shaking her head, she stared at his hand holding hers, just as he held her last night. Tears clogged her throat, too many emotions fighting their way through her right now to pick them all out. Why had she never seen how kind and caring this man was? Why did he hide this side of himself from everyone? There was more to Delta Jackson than met the eye.
“Thank you for taking care of me and for staying. I appreciate it.” More than he knew.
The teasing smile on his face softened, turning genuine. “You know what’s funny? I actually liked taking care of you last night. I like spending time with you. I like…you, Cassie.”
His smile vanished, replaced with the strained look of a man unused to revealing his true feelings. Breath catching in her lungs, she scooted closer, until she lay directly under him.
“I like you, too.” And the strange thing was, she did. Over the past week she’d come to see Del in a whole new light, a light she discovered was pretty dang endearing.
His eyes darkened, gaze roaming over her. He couldn’t see much. The thick quilt still covered her from chest down, but Del stared as if she was laid out on the bed in nothing but scraps of lace and silk. Beneath the blanket and thin cotton nightshirt, her nipples hardened, and dampness gathered between her legs at the look of pure lust radiating from his gaze. His head began to lower, eyes focused on her mouth. Even as her body arched to meet him, her mind screamed this would be the stupidest thing ever.
“Del.”
He stopped, hovering inches above her lips. “Yeah?”
“We shouldn’t.” What am I doing? Why am I stopping? He’s sweet, caring, and the sexiest man I’ve ever seen! That was not her brain, that was her horny haven’t-had-sex-in-two-years self talking. She needed to ignore it, even if it had some very good points. “It will…complicate things.”
“More than they already are?” he asked with a raised brow.
He makes a good point! Her horny self was right. Things were already so damn complicated, would adding sex be so bad? Plus, it gave one more layer of authenticity to their marriage ruse. She was making excuses, but at this point she was beyond caring. She wanted this, wanted Del. Why not take what she wanted?
“Yes or no, Cassie? Your choice. No matter what you say, I’m still your friend. I’ll still help you get your grandmother’s house.”
He was giving her the choice, without stipulations. That sealed it.
“Yes, but it’s still a pretend marriage.” She had to be very clear on that. No mixing emotions in with what they were about to do. They needed the reminder. She needed the reminder.
His jaw tightened for a moment, but then a cocky grin eased his face. “Of course. But, Sassy, there’s no pretending with this.”
He pressed himself against her, and her eyes nearly crossed. The hard, thick length of his erection hit just the right spot, and she couldn’t wait to have him inside her. His lips finally came down on hers. She thought she’d imagined the passion of their last kiss, but she hadn’t. The low burn in the depths of her belly ignited like an inferno, blasting through her body at the first caress of his mouth.
He held himself above her on one arm as his other hand stroked down her neck. He hesitated at her collarbone, then his warm palm glided across her chest before moving to the side to grip the quilt and tug it off. Nothing separated them now but a sheet and her thin sleepshirt.
His teeth gently nipped at her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth with a gasp. Taking advantage, Del plunged his tongue inside and she was all too happy to meet it with her own. He tasted like mint. How was that possible? The man was so damn sexy he couldn’t even have the decency to have morning breath.
Cassie’s thoughts scattered when she felt the soft cupping of his hand on her breast. Tearing her mouth from his, she moaned as pleasure assaulted her.
“Like that?” He chuckled, kissing his way down her jaw, neck, and lower. “How about this?” His mouth latched onto her other breast, through her shirt, teeth gently biting down on her nipple.
She cried out, the sensation racing from her breast straight down to the throbbing between her legs.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
She could feel his smile against her as he continued worshiping her breasts. He worked her over with his hands and mouth, all the while moving his lower body against hers in a maddening rhythm. Need coiled within her. Her hands gripped his head as he moved from one breast to the other, the cotton of her gown now soaked in the spots directly over her nipples. She arched her hips, pressing against him, seeking the completion just out of her reach.
“Del, I need… I need…” What the hell did she need? She could barely think straight with all that magic he performed.
“More?” His head lifted, lips glistening in the soft morning light.
She nodded, and he grinned with a wink. She was starting to like that wink.
His hands continued to caress her breasts as his body moved down, lips pressing soft kisses as he went. All the writhing and grinding she’d been doing caused her night-shirt to ride up so he had no problem gracing feather light kisses to her bare hipbones, upper thighs, and finally—
“Oh, yes, Del. Yes!”
She cried out as his mouth settled where she needed him most. He used his tongue like a master, hitting all the right spots until she was crying out, begging for release. His lips closed over her, sucking gently.
The stimulation overwhelmed her. Bright colors exploded behind her closed eyes like fireworks on the fourth of July. She screamed out something, it might have been Del’s name, as the rush of the orgasm flooded her. “Holy shit!” She panted, trying to catch her breath.
Del raised his head, giving her a cocky grin. “And we’re just getting started.”
She returned his smile, crooking her finger at him. Just getting started? Yes, please. This was one complication she wasn’t going to regret. At least, judging by the look of Del’s hard body, not for the next few hours.