The Look of Love (The Sullivans #1)(49)
Author: Bella Andre

Everything in her body coiled into that one spot that was about to explode and she stopped breathing, stopped thinking, couldn’t have remembered to be scared for the life of her, even as he shifted again and tied up her other ankle.

But he didn’t give her synapses any time to start firing again, because as soon as she was fully bound, his mouth was back there, between her thighs, giving her more pleasure than any woman had surely ever known before.

And then she wasn’t fighting her ties to try and get away from the wicked stroke of his tongue, the diabolical thrust of his fingers inside her clenching heat, she wasn’t even struggling because she was at all scared…no, she was tugging and pulling against her bonds for the simple reason that it felt good, so good to know that she was giving herself over, one hundred percent—every ounce of all of her faith and trust—to the man she loved. He’d already made her come twice, but it didn’t matter, because she already knew she’d never, ever have enough of him.

She could hear moaning, begging, in the room, but she was so far gone that by the time she realized she was the person making those desperate noises, her world was being split apart by a pleasure so intense only one thing had any chance of remaining.

“Love.”

The word fell from her lips again and again until Chase was there with her, until his mouth was saying the same word against hers and then they were kissing and he was inside of her, thick and hot and so wonderfully big she felt like she might burst from how full her body, her chest, her heart, felt as he loved her. She couldn’t wrap her arms or legs around him, but somehow, she felt closer to him than she ever had before as he lifted up onto his knees and slid up so that she could look down her naked body, slick with her sweat and his, too.

“Look at how lovely you are, Chloe. Look at how brave you are.”

He hadn’t pushed her earlier when the word love had slipped out of its own volition, he’d simply let her fear dissolve all on its own.

Her thighs were spread far enough apart by his bindings that she could easily see his shaft, slick with her arousal, sliding slowly in, then out of her.

The act was impossibly beautiful.

Shockingly sensual.

“How can you be the one who’s bound,” he said in a voice that shook, “and yet I’m the one who’s utterly helpless?”

She’d never known a man to be so honest with his feelings, with his emotions. She hadn’t thought it was even possible.

Chase was so much more than her knight in shining armor.

He was her own personal miracle.

“I love you.” Happiness flooded her alongside the incredible pleasure. “I love you so much.”

So quickly she wasn’t sure how he did it, he pulled her bindings loose and then they were wrapped around each other and Chase was rolling them over so that she was straddling him, looking down at the man who had managed to find a heart so deeply buried she hadn’t even known it was there anymore.

In the end, it was the look in his eyes of love—a love that promised forever, a love that would never, ever let her down—that pushed her all the way over the edge.

Straight into Chase’s loving arms.

Chapter Nineteen

Chloe woke up with her legs entwined with Chase’s and his eyes on her as he propped himself up on his elbow. “Good morning.”

She felt sleepy and warm and impossibly content. “Hi.”

Chase gently stroked the hair back from her forehead with his free hand, but even though his touch was gentle, even though she was still pushing sleep away, she could feel how tense he was.

Their night had been so incredible, start to finish, she’d barely been able to keep up with it, with the incredible pleasure of simply being with Chase.

The perfect, romantic dinner.

The fun game of bocce ball.

And then lovemaking so sinful yet sweet, so totally beyond any ecstasy she’d ever thought to experience.

“I love you.”

The tiniest bit of tension went out of his expression, out of his muscles, as he smiled down at her, then pressed his mouth to hers in a gentle kiss that somehow managed to steal her breath away without even trying.

She shifted on the bed so that she was sitting up against the headboard. The sheet didn’t cover her br**sts, but the last thing she was thinking about was modesty. She could feel herself stalling, hated that she was making things even more tense…but everything she was feeling had come on so suddenly that she was only just barely managing to process her emotions as they flooded through her.

“I don’t want you to go.” Chase’s passionate words resonated all the way down to the very depths of her soul. “I love you.” He slid his hands over hers. “You love me.”

“Chase, I—”

He pressed one finger over her lips. “Please, just let me say one more thing.”

She paused, then nodded.

“I know you want to prove some things to yourself. But you don’t have one single thing to prove. You’re an incredible woman, the sweetest, strongest person I’ve ever been fortunate to know. I don’t have one single doubt that you can take care of the things you want to take care of by yourself.” He caressed her cheek and she had to turn her face into his warmth. His love. “Let me help you. Let me be there for you. Let me be there beside you. Let me be your strength in numbers.”

All night long as she’d slept in his arms, her subconscious had been spinning, working to figure out how she was going to deal with everything. And for the past four days she’d been basking in wonder at the sweetness in every one of Chase’s smiles, at the heat of his kisses, at how good she felt with him, at how wonderful and unexpected his words of love were. She’d tried to convince herself that leaving was still the right plan, that it was something she had to do to know her own strength.

But love—the love she could no longer deny feeling for Chase—had changed everything.

Especially her stubborn belief that she needed to go it alone to prove that she was strong, to prove that she wasn’t a victim. Who was she kidding? Only a fool would walk away from this man.

She’d been a fool once before. But she’d learned from her mistakes: She wasn’t going to turn away from a love this pure, this real.

“That first night you found me,” she said softly, “I knew I would never trust a man again. I knew it wasn’t even possible. But then you walked into my life and turned it completely upside down. And suddenly, everything I knew, everything I believed came into question.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to ask myself those questions. I didn’t want to make the mistake of hoping again. I didn’t want to end up believing in the wrong thing again. It was easier, so much easier, just to cling to those old feelings. It was easier to tell myself—to tell you—that our connection was just physical. Somehow I had to find a way I could justify not denying myself your touch, your kisses.”