Dark Solstice (34 page)

Rhea lifted a hand and traced a path down his belly. “You didn’t ask me.”

“Hell! I just did, didn’t I?”

Rhea let out a huff of irritation and looked up at him. “You call that asking?” she demanded, a little miffed.

He planted his hands on his hips. “What you see is what you get, baby. I’m not much of a romantic.”

Rhea studied him a moment and stepped back to survey him. Warmth curled in her belly. “That’s a pretty appealing package, John Raathe. Do I get love to go with it?”

“Every time I get the chance,” he responded promptly, his lips curling in a slow grin.

She tapped a finger to his chest just above his heart. “Love, Raathe—not just sex.”

He let out an irritated huff, shaking his head at her. “If you haven’t figured out by now that I’m crazy in love with you, I don’t think you’re going to.”

Rhea surged against him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. He looped his arms around her, holding her tightly. “How about a little of that loving you were offering just a minute ago?” she murmured after a moment.

“How about we go down and sign the contract first and
then
get down to the loving part?”

Startled, Rhea tipped her head back to look up at him. “
Now
?”

“There’s no time like the present,” Raathe said firmly. “Anyway, if we don’t hurry, I’ll have to hunt that fucking coward, Justice down. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for crushing his confidence and turning a man like that into a weak-kneed coward, munch! From what I hear he was a hell of a ladies’ man before you clipped his wings. I had a hell of a time dragging him here!”

Rhea looked at him uncertainly as he switched the water off and helped her out of the shower. “You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack, munch. If we don’t hurry, he’s going to decide you changed your mind again and go off to sulk—or drink himself into a stupor.” He considered it. “Maybe we ought to swing by the Rec Room, just in case, before we head out to sign the papers?”

Bemused, Rhea dried herself off and followed him into the other room. “He really does love me?” she murmured when she’d dressed and Raathe took her arm, urging her out of the room.

“He really is reduced to idiocy every time he looks at you. Swear to god, he isn’t actually an idiot!” Raathe said dryly, hustling her toward the lift at the end of the corridor.

Rhea had to jog to keep up with him. She was a little breathless by the time he stopped in the lift to give the command for their level, but it wasn’t entirely from being rushed from her stateroom. “And you really do love me?” she asked.

Shaking his head, Raathe pulled her into his arms and kissed her silly. “I really do love you,” he murmured huskily when he’d lifted his head. “Now—can we just focus on the getting that contract signed?”

The End