Part 22 (1/2)

Moments later he ended the call and placed the phone on the dresser. The resort was a pretty nice place if you needed somewhere to hide out, and until that lunatic was caught he intended to keep Sam right here. What nearly happened today had taken a good twenty years off his life.

He glanced up when he heard the bathroom door open. She had showered. They usually took showers together, but he'd needed to call Luke to apprise him of what had happened. Of course, both Luke and Mac were furious, but grateful Sam was okay.

Blade saw that she was wearing the bathrobe supplied by the hotel, and knew that she was naked underneath. s.e.x should have been the last thing on his mind but it wasn't. He would always want her, anytime and anyplace. But now, what she needed was for him to hold her, a.s.sure her that she was safe.

”Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded as she tried drying her hair with a towel. ”Yes.”

He crossed the room and took the towel out of her hand. ”Sit,” he said, pulling out the chair at the desk for her.

She glared up at him and he saw some fire returning to her eyes, but not enough to suit him. When she sat in the chair he went about drying her hair. This was the first time he'd dried a woman's hair, but then there had been so many firsts with Sam.

”I called Luke and Mac and told them what happened,” he said.

She didn't say anything. She simply nodded.

”Mac is going to clear your calendar for the rest of the week.”

She nodded at that, too.

”We're staying here for a while. At least till Sunday, and then we'll decide where we'll go. If I have to, I'll take you back to Houston, to Whispering Pines. n.o.body can get on that ranch unless Jake wants them there.”

When she still didn't say anything to that, he said, ”And I want you naked for the entire time we're here.”

She turned around, glared at him, stood up and s.n.a.t.c.hed the towel out of his hand. ”You h.o.r.n.y b.a.s.t.a.r.d, don't hold your breath!”

He laughed. ”Hey, the fire's back and I love it. I was beginning to miss your smart mouth.”

When Sam realized what Blade was trying to do, she threw herself into his arms and pressed her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She needed his strength. And she would give just about anything for his love.

Blade held Sam tight for a long moment and then picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed. ”I just want to hold you, sweetheart. Nothing more, I promise,” he said, tucking her close to his side as he stretched out in the bed. ”I really need to hold you.”

There was no conversation between them as he held her, needing to have her close to him as much as it seemed she needed to have him close to her. A few moments later, he said in a strained yet husky voice, ”I could have lost you, Sam. d.a.m.n, I could have lost you. And what scared me most is the thought of losing you without letting you know how much I love you.”

Her body went still and for a moment he wasn't sure she was breathing. ”Sam?”

She s.h.i.+fted slightly and turned in his arms to meet his gaze. ”You love me?”

He reached out and traced the tip of his finger down the side of her face. ”Yes. And I'm not saying that to try and put pressure on you or anything. I know you don't love me yet, but I might as well warn you that if I have anything to say about it, you will eventually.”

Sam had to fight the tears from falling from her eyes when she whispered, ”I do.”

Blade lifted a brow. ”You do what?”

She reached out and placed the palm of her hand against his cheek. ”I do love you.”

He pulled back slightly and stared at her. ”You do not.”

She couldn't help but grin. ”I do, too.”

She moved up in the bed and leaned over him. ”I love you, Blade Madaris, and that's what scared me the most, too. The thought that I could have died and you would not have known how I felt. You would have had no idea how much I love you.”

”Oh, baby.” Blade pulled the woman he loved into his arms and covered her mouth with his. This was his woman. He loved her more than life itself and was determined more than ever to protect her. Nothing in this world was more important to him than her.

Chapter 24.

When Sam awoke the next morning it was to find her body curled up close to Blade with his large arm slung over her hip, as if he needed to make sure she was there, plastered to him and safe from harm. She s.h.i.+fted her body and smiled, knowing she truly had something to smile about.

Blade loved her.

She never considered herself a crybaby, but she felt tears welling up in the back of her eyes. The two of them were an unlikely couple. He had been the player and she, the player hater. And she had done all the things to him that had been her trademark. And he still had come back. He had been there when she needed him. If she would have defied him and opened that box, she would not only have taken her life but taken his, as well.

She closed her eyes when she realized just how close she'd come to doing that. That d.a.m.n lunatic. That crazy person had a lot of friggin' nerve to want her dead. She couldn't wait until he was caught and when he was, she would- ”The fire is boiling over in your eyes now. You're pretty hot in more ways than one,” Blade said, lifting her up and placing her on top of him. She'd known he'd only wanted to hold her, but after his sensual confession that he loved her, she had wanted him to make love to her, and he had, several times. And she had drifted off to sleep with him still embedded deep inside of her. It hadn't been the first time they'd gone to sleep that way, and she was going to make sure it wasn't the last.

”What time is Alex arriving?” she asked. She was ready to hear what he had to say.

”His flight got in a couple of hours ago.”

Her eyes widened. ”That means he could be on his way here,” she said, trying to pull out of Blade's arms.

”Doesn't matter. I'm getting this.”

And then he kissed her in the way she was getting used to being kissed by him. It was a long, drawn-out, make-your-panties-wet kiss. The only problem was she wasn't wearing any panties.

She pulled back and broke off the kiss. ”Come on, Blade, we have plenty of time for that later. We need to get dressed.”

He released her and she eased out of bed. ”I want to be dressed with the coffee brewing when he gets here, and I need to shower first.”

Blade watched her walk into the bathroom in all her naked splendor, and when he heard the sound of the water running, he decided he wanted to take a shower, as well. He eased out of bed and followed the woman he loved.

”Thanks, Sam,” Alex said, accepting the cup of coffee. He glanced over at Sam and Blade and thought something was different. Oh, he'd known since the other night in Houston that they were having an affair, but Christy thought it was more than that. Seeing them together now, he was beginning to think so, too.

He watched how Blade was keeping her within easy reach, and when she moved, so did Blade's eyes. She was rarely out of his sight. If Blade hadn't already fallen in love with her, then he was more than halfway there.

Alex bit into his bagel. Luke had stopped by a deli and bought a dozen of them. Sam had eaten only one. He, Luke and Blade had practically finished off the others.

”So, you think you know who sent the bomb, Alex?”

That question came from Blade. He, Alex and Luke were in chairs in the sitting-room area of the hotel room. Sam was perched on the arm of Blade's chair and his arm was wrapped around her waist.

Alex took a sip of his coffee. ”I think so, but first let me tell you who I don't suspect any longer.”