Chapter Nine
In the tranquil aftermath of her hot bath, Tessa watched Miles as he sent Hector away, then fiddled with the leather apparatus hanging limp near the bed. When he finished, he looked down on her as she played a game of possum, pretending to have suddenly fallen asleep. He stared mostly at her abdomen, admiring the stripes of red set off by the background of her white skin.
“They’ll be gone too soon,” he said.
“Hummm?” Tessa murmured as if she hadn’t heard him.
“You heard me; I know you’re awake.”
She opened her eyes and smiled. “You said they’ll be gone too soon?”
“You shouldn’t be without a sign of your devotion to me,” he said.
Tessa wanted to make love to him again, without Hector, just the two of them moving together in impassioned embrace. He must have read her secr
