A Murderous Game (40 page)

Gage left her sitting on the couch
without another word and went into the kitchen to make them a drink.

Abby lasted about three minutes
before the possibilities started to drive her crazy.

He looked over his shoulder when
she walked into the kitchen.

"Hi," she said a little
awkwardly. "I thought you might want some help."

He smiled. All he did was smile,
and she wanted to burst into tears. She didn't know if she could do this. What
if she was wrong? What if what she thought she'd seen in his eyes wasn't love?
It was too damn hard to be this close to him and not want more.

He was too much like chocolate. As
long as it wasn't in the house, she did all right without it. She swallowed.
She was lying to herself. He was way worse than chocolate. She hadn't done all
right when he wasn't around, and she wasn't doing all right now. She didn't
know if she'd ever be all right again without him.

"What are you thinking
about?" he asked.

"Chocolate."
Abby took the drink he held out to her and smiled. "I was thinking about
chocolate." She took a sip and shivered. "It's strong."

"I thought you could use
something a little strong right now. What about chocolate?"

"How hard it is to do without.
I guess that sounds weak. You've probably never had a chocolate craving in your
life."

"I've craved other things. I
know what it is to want something so bad you're willing to risk almost anything
to get it."

They stood in the middle of her
kitchen staring at each other. What had he ever wanted so badly? By the look in
his eyes she guessed it had to be more than a couple of
Lindt
truffles.

"I can't believe I'm going on
about chocolate after everything that happened tonight." Afraid he'd guess
what she'd really been thinking, she took another quick drink. It went down her
windpipe, and she started coughing.

Gage took her glass and set it on
the counter with his own. "Take slow breaths." He patted her on the
back until the spasms eased.

"Better?" he asked,
slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on the top of her head.

She nodded and held on. It felt so
good to be in his arms again. She really shouldn't take advantage of his
concern this way, but she couldn't find the will to let go yet.

"I know I don't have a right
to ask," she said, holding on tighter, "but I really don't want to be
alone right now. Do you think you could stay with me a little longer?"

Gage slid his hands up her back and
around to cradle her face. He gazed down at her, and Abby's breath caught in
her throat at the aching tenderness she saw in his eyes.

"I plan to stay with you the
rest of my life. Don't you think it's time you finally accepted that?"

"You, you mean you want to be
with me again?
Even after everything that's happened?"

He stroked his thumb over her cheek
and smiled.
"Again?
I've never stopped wanting
you. You're my chocolate, Abby."

"But why?" she asked,
afraid to trust the hope blooming in her heart.

"Because, Abby, I love
you." 

"Oh, Gage." Abby threw
her arms around his neck. "I love you, too. I love you so much it hurts. I
never meant any of that stuff I said before. I just didn't know how else to
protect you from everything other than sending you away."

He hugged her close. "I
know."

"You do?"

"Of
course."
He loosened his hold and looked down at her, his eyes
dancing. "What's not to love?"

Abby didn't even try to hold back
her smile. "Indeed."

He claimed her mouth with a
possession that made her knees go weak. She let all the feeling she'd bottled
up over the last week pour into the kiss, returning his ardor as if she'd been
starved just for this.
Only for this.

He kissed her nose, her cheeks. He
trailed hot lips down her neck then back up to her ear. She never wanted the
moment to end, unless it ended upstairs in her bed and another one began.

Gage clutched her to his chest.
"Marry me," he said against her lips. "Marry me, and I promise
I'll never let you regret it."

Abby pulled away from him. She
searched his expression for any sign he was jesting. All she saw was love. Gage
loved her.

"Say yes, green eyes."

"Oh!" She threw herself
at him. "Yes!" She rose on unsteady toes and kissed his chin.

Gage bent to swing her up into his
arms and held her against his chest. "Do you have any idea how much I've
missed you?"

Abby bit her lip. "I've got a
feeling you're about to show me."

"Oh, I'm going to show you all
right. I've already told you I'm much better at show than tell."

He carried her out of the kitchen,
his long legs eating up the distance to the stairs. When he set her down beside
the bed a couple of minutes later, a shiver of anticipation rolled through her.
She raised trembling fingers to the first button of his shirt and slipped it
open.

"Show me," she whispered.
And with a heartbreaking tenderness that brought tears to her eyes, he showed
her.

###

I hope you enjoyed reading Abby and
Gage's story. When I'm writing a book, I enjoy spending time with my characters
and am always a little sad when I enter that last word and bid them bon voyage.
As I wrote this book, I thought about including a minor romance plot involving
Rachael Gooding and T. Eugene Simms, but with all the sparks flying between
these two characters, I wanted to give them their rightful due. You can find
out what happens between them in
Run Rachael Run
, a romantic
suspense that finds Rachael being threatened by a mysterious stalker, and the
man she's forced to turn to for help may be a bigger threat to her peace of
mind than the unknown person pursuing her.

Run Rachael Run
is
scheduled to be released early in 2013.

If you would like to know more
about me and my books, please visit me at:
http://www.patriciaeparis.blogspot.com/—