warning, Memphis leaned down and hoisted Kate over his shoulder.
CHAPTER SIX
“M EMPHIS ,” Kate choked out, closing her eyes, breathless from desire and the awkward position. Being hauled like a sack of flour was hardly the romantic ending she’d envisioned as she’d all but dragged him up the stairs. “Wait—” She opened her eyes, and the sight cut off her protests.
The upside-down view of Memphis’s backside could only have been improved with the loss of the white briefs that stretched across his tight rear end. Mesmerized, Kate watched the alternating bulge and lengthening of the corded muscles of his buttocks and thighs as Memphis carried her with impressive speed up the spiral staircase to the eagle’s-nest guest suite. The space had been her bedroom since the end of her marriage.
Dizzy with desire, hot blood surging through her veins, she fought for breath as he mounted the last step, crossed into the suite and set her down in the middle of the room.
She didn’t want to miss a thing, so she pushed the hair from her eyes, and was a little disappointed he didn’t instantly pick up where they’dleft off. Instead, as if stunned, he looked around at the slate-blue walls, the feminine Battenberg lace curtains and matching bedspread—covered in every outfit she’d nervously tried on and dismissed before tonight’s dinner.
Memphis’s gaze was firmly fixed on the queen-size bed, clearly meant for one.
Heat flushed up her neck, and she felt a sudden need to explain. “Before Dalton and I officially separated, I moved out of our master bedroom.”
“How long ago was that?”
She hesitated for several heartbeats. “Eighteen months.”
A stunned silence followed and his brows reached for the ceiling. “You’re kidding me.”
A twinge of self-consciousness twisted in her chest. “By the time we’d finally accepted the fact that our marriage was over, it was only six months before the election.”
Memphis stared at her skeptically. “What did that have to do with anything?”
The twinge in her chest grew stronger. “I told you, I believe in Dalton’s policies,” she said, knowing the excuse sounded inadequate. “And I loved being the driving force behind his fundraising events.”
She didn’t add that her role had given her a sense of fulfillment she’d desperately needed. Or that it had seemed logical at the time. But now she wondered if there weren’t bigger issues at hand. Namely, a fear of being alone.
Memphis’s silence made her uncomfortable,and she felt the need to fill it. “I was the one to suggest we maintain appearances until the election was over and things had time to settle.”
His expression remained incredulous. “Was it your idea to be locked in a chastity tower?”
“It was of my own making.”
“No men have been up here since you two decided to separate?”
“Not unless you count Frank who did the remodeling.” Despite the fact that Memphis wore nothing but tight briefs, and his finely honed torso made conversation difficult, she said, “And even though it’s been two years since I’ve had sex, I’m not into seventy-year-old men.”
“Two years,” he said, as if still struggling to take it all in. And then his attitude gradually shifted, his eyes growing dark as he slowly came toward her, his rumbling words loaded with meaning. “So what are you into, Kate?”
His predatory look was mesmerizing, and the rate of her breathing increased as she struggled for an answer to the delicately worded question about her sex life. She lifted her chin in defense of her choices. “Solitary activities.”
As he came closer, a second emotion briefly flashed across his face, a cross between a disturbed-by-her-choices look and sympathy-for-the-reasons expression.
But she’d had enough pity these past few months to last her lifetime. “You can make it up to me.”
Instantly the last trace of sympathy disappearedand his demeanor returned to one of pure predator.
CHAPTER SIX
“M EMPHIS ,” Kate choked out, closing her eyes, breathless from desire and the awkward position. Being hauled like a sack of flour was hardly the romantic ending she’d envisioned as she’d all but dragged him up the stairs. “Wait—” She opened her eyes, and the sight cut off her protests.
The upside-down view of Memphis’s backside could only have been improved with the loss of the white briefs that stretched across his tight rear end. Mesmerized, Kate watched the alternating bulge and lengthening of the corded muscles of his buttocks and thighs as Memphis carried her with impressive speed up the spiral staircase to the eagle’s-nest guest suite. The space had been her bedroom since the end of her marriage.
Dizzy with desire, hot blood surging through her veins, she fought for breath as he mounted the last step, crossed into the suite and set her down in the middle of the room.
She didn’t want to miss a thing, so she pushed the hair from her eyes, and was a little disappointed he didn’t instantly pick up where they’dleft off. Instead, as if stunned, he looked around at the slate-blue walls, the feminine Battenberg lace curtains and matching bedspread—covered in every outfit she’d nervously tried on and dismissed before tonight’s dinner.
Memphis’s gaze was firmly fixed on the queen-size bed, clearly meant for one.
Heat flushed up her neck, and she felt a sudden need to explain. “Before Dalton and I officially separated, I moved out of our master bedroom.”
“How long ago was that?”
She hesitated for several heartbeats. “Eighteen months.”
A stunned silence followed and his brows reached for the ceiling. “You’re kidding me.”
A twinge of self-consciousness twisted in her chest. “By the time we’d finally accepted the fact that our marriage was over, it was only six months before the election.”
Memphis stared at her skeptically. “What did that have to do with anything?”
The twinge in her chest grew stronger. “I told you, I believe in Dalton’s policies,” she said, knowing the excuse sounded inadequate. “And I loved being the driving force behind his fundraising events.”
She didn’t add that her role had given her a sense of fulfillment she’d desperately needed. Or that it had seemed logical at the time. But now she wondered if there weren’t bigger issues at hand. Namely, a fear of being alone.
Memphis’s silence made her uncomfortable,and she felt the need to fill it. “I was the one to suggest we maintain appearances until the election was over and things had time to settle.”
His expression remained incredulous. “Was it your idea to be locked in a chastity tower?”
“It was of my own making.”
“No men have been up here since you two decided to separate?”
“Not unless you count Frank who did the remodeling.” Despite the fact that Memphis wore nothing but tight briefs, and his finely honed torso made conversation difficult, she said, “And even though it’s been two years since I’ve had sex, I’m not into seventy-year-old men.”
“Two years,” he said, as if still struggling to take it all in. And then his attitude gradually shifted, his eyes growing dark as he slowly came toward her, his rumbling words loaded with meaning. “So what are you into, Kate?”
His predatory look was mesmerizing, and the rate of her breathing increased as she struggled for an answer to the delicately worded question about her sex life. She lifted her chin in defense of her choices. “Solitary activities.”
As he came closer, a second emotion briefly flashed across his face, a cross between a disturbed-by-her-choices look and sympathy-for-the-reasons expression.
But she’d had enough pity these past few months to last her lifetime. “You can make it up to me.”
Instantly the last trace of sympathy disappearedand his demeanor returned to one of pure predator.
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