LITMIR.BIZ

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that someone who’s been in the public spotlight since she was young could have any vulnerability left,” Chase said wryly.

      Kate looked down at her hands. “Maybe that’s what makes her so vulnerable.”

      “You were pretty young when your mother died,” he said quietly. “It couldn’t have been easy for you, either. What I don’t get is why I didn’t know that the famous country singer, Willa Dean, had another daughter. Hell, I’m not sure anybody knows.”

      Kate shrugged. “My mother was still in high school when she became pregnant with me. She and my dad tried to make a go of it, but she had her heart set on becoming a superstar, and he just wanted to be a car mechanic. They were only kids.”

      “So what happened?”

      “They split up before I was a year old. I traveled with my mother and her band for the first six years of my life, until I started elementary school. Then I went to live with my dad and his new wife.”

      “That’s rough,” Chase said. “Were you happy with your father?”

      Kate sighed, remembering. “I wasn’t unhappy. But he and his wife had a new baby and hardly any money. Things were tough for a couple of years and I always had the sense that I was a burden. But then my mother started selling albums and she began to send some money to my father for my upkeep. That helped.”

      “Did you ever go back and live with her?”

      Kate didn’t look at him. “No,” she said quietly. “My mother rose to the top of the billboard charts very quickly, and she didn’t have time for a kid.” She gave a rueful laugh. “Even after she had Tenley, she didn’t have time for a kid. Sometimes, I think the only reason she brought Tenley on tour with her was because it helped her public image. She dragged that poor baby everywhere, and what the public didn’t see was that when the cameras weren’t around, Tenley rarely saw her mother. She spent most of her time with a nanny. But when people thought of Willa Dean, they automatically thought of her angelic little daughter. So when she died …” Her voice trailed off.

      “You became Tenley’s mother.”

      Kate laughed, refusing to dwell on those days. “Well, more like a doting aunt.” She slanted him an amused look. “Were you a Willa Dean fan?”

      Chase chuckled. “Still am. I’m from Texas, and there’s nothing a Texas boy loves more than a good old country song. Man, I grew up listening to Willa Dean, and it didn’t hurt that she was so damned gorgeous. In fact, my brother had a poster of her hung over his desk all through high school.”

      Kate couldn’t suppress her smile, not at all surprised to hear that Chase’s brother had kept a poster of her mother in his bedroom. She’d been a beautiful woman, and an amazing singer. Everyone had loved Willa Dean, the same way that they now loved her daughter, Tenley.

      “Yes, my mother was an incredible woman,” she agreed. She yawned hugely. “Oh, my God, I’ve never been so tired in my life.”

      Chase pulled her up, his hands strong and warm under her elbows. “C’mon, let’s get you into bed. You’re asleep on your feet.”

      “I’ll be fine,” she assured him. She thought of the long, chilly walk back to the tent and couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through her. “Maybe you have a coat or sweater that I could borrow?”

      “I have something even better,” he murmured, and turned her toward the rear of the small housing unit. She went, unresisting, until she realized they were in his bedroom. He bent down to pull back the blankets of the bed.

      “What are you doing?” Her heart began an unsteady rhythm in her chest as she watched him peel back the sheets. “I’m not sure—”

      “Shh,” he said soothingly. “Your virtue is safe with me. Lie down and get some sleep.”

      He pushed her, unresisting, into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, and then crouched down to pull off her shoes. Kate studied his bent head and barely resisted the urge to run her fingers over his velvety short hair.

      “Why are you doing this?” she asked. “Aren’t there some kind of rules against having members of the opposite sex in your quarters?”

      Setting her shoes aside, he looked at her. In the dim light of the bedroom, his eyes seemed to glow in his face. “Yeah,” he acknowledged. “There are. But I’m not going to be here. I’m going to head over to command headquarters and catch up on some stuff.”

      “When will you be back?”

      He glanced at his watch. “We’ll leave for Camp Leatherneck at 0700 hours, but I’ll wake you up well before that.”

      The temptation he offered was too great to resist. “Okay,” she acquiesced. “You win. But I really, really want a hot shower, so if we could work that into the morning routine, I’d appreciate it.”

      He gave her a brief smile, but there was a tension in his expression that set her pulse tripping. He made a movement to stand up, and Kate impulsively caught his hand in hers. His skin was warm and dry, and she could feel the rough calluses of his palm. He glanced in surprise at their joined hands, and then looked at her face, and for an instant, Kate saw hunger in his eyes.

      “Thank you,” she murmured, and she leaned forward to press a kiss against his cheek. She meant for the gesture to be quick and impersonal, but he turned his face at the last instant, and her kiss landed on his lips. For a microsecond they both froze, and then Chase made a small sound of defeat and his mouth began moving against hers.

      Kate stopped breathing. The guy knew how to kiss. His lips were warm and firm and she found herself tentatively responding. His beard was rough against her sensitive skin, but she didn’t care. He didn’t touch her except for where his mouth was fused to hers. Kate pressed closer, wanting more of the sensual contact. Chase complied, leisurely slanting his mouth across hers until her lips parted, and he tasted her. The slick contact of his tongue against hers caused heat to explode beneath her skin, and she felt a rush of liquid warmth to her center.

      She shifted restlessly, curling her hands around Chase’s neck to pull him closer. He made a small groaning sound, and for an instant, Kate thought he would resist. Then he pushed her back against the mattress and covered her body with his.

      The sheets were cool through the thin material of her shirt, but Chase’s body was warm and Kate dragged him closer, sliding her arms over the sleek muscles of his back. He deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth with his tongue and catching her small moans of pleasure. Kate speared her fingers through the velvet roughness of his short hair, reveling in the feel of it beneath her fingertips.

      How long had it been since she’d felt a man’s arms around her, or luxuriated in the hardness of a masculine body pressed against her own? Too long, apparently, because she was igniting beneath his touch. She no longer felt tired; every cell in her had come alive. Desire coiled tightly in her womb and then unfurled to radiate through her limbs and finally center at her core, where she pulsed hotly. She wanted to rub herself against him and relieve the ache that was building with every sensuous sweep of his tongue against hers.

      Chase dragged his mouth away and Kate had a moment of panic when she thought he was leaving. But he moved his lips to her jaw and pressed hot kisses against her skin until he reached her ear, and then lightly licked along its contours. Kate shuddered and arched her neck to give him better access. He complied, following the path of her throat until he reached the neckline of her shirt. He glanced at her face, and Kate’s breath caught at the heat she saw in his eyes.

      She didn’t object when he slid a hand over one breast and cupped it in his palm. But she was unprepared when he moved his fingers to the hem of her shirt and dragged it upward, exposing her to his hot gaze.

      “Christ, you’re pretty,” he rasped, and slid a callused hand over the smooth skin of her stomach, until he covered one breast.

      Kate made a small mewling sound of need and arched upward, wanting more

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