Chapter 74

Amaya woke up in the quietude a little while before dawn. The only sound she could hear was the gentle wash of the water against the sides of the yacht. Chase was sleeping spoon-like behind her, one of his arms over her waist, his legs entwined with hers. She had never spooned anyone before. It was such a cosy, intimate feeling to be curled up together, skin to skin. She listened to the sound of his breathing, feeling each rise and fall of his chest against the naked skin of her back.

She glanced down at the band of his tanned, hair-roughened arm around her waist. The contrast of his darker-toned skin against her creamy white made something tingle and shiver deep and low in her belly. The curtains weren’t drawn as they were so far away from anyone in the private cove they’d anchored the yacht in the night before. The stars were like handfuls of diamonds flung over a dark velvet blanket, twinkling and winking, existing in a timeless and spectacular array. It struck her how long it had been since she had seen the stars in such magnificence.

Her life had become so busy with work and taking care of her child that she rarely saw the night sky other than in the city, where the light pollution all but wiped their brilliance out, apart from a stubborn handful. Amaya hadn’t even taken holidays lately, so the occasional stargazing she did with Thea while taking a break had gone by the wayside.

Chase sighed and shifted behind her, his arm tightening around her body. "Are you awake?"

Amaya felt the stirring of his erection against her bottom, sending a rush of physical memory through her body. "I hope that’s not your idea of foreplay."

He chuckled and turned her so she was facing him. His dark eyes glittered as brightly as the stars outside. "Here’s the rule: You don’t get to leave my bed until you’ve had a good time."

Amaya traced the line of his smiling mouth with her fingertip. "I’m having a very good time, Chase. Better than I thought possible."

He captured her finger and kissed the tip, holding her gaze with the ink-dark steadiness of his. "Not sore?"

She surreptitiously squeezed her legs together but wasn’t quite able to disguise her wince when the overused muscles gave a faint protest. "No…"

One black brow rose, demanding the truth. "Not at all?"

Amaya caught her lower lip in her teeth. "Well, maybe a little bit. That was quite a workout for me, given I’m a little out of practice and all."

"We had a little practice in the closet room, remember?" Chase stroked her forehead with such exquisite tenderness that it made her chest feel strangely tight.

She rolled her eyes. "Do not remind me."

"Yeah, but I’m sorry. I should’ve thought and taken it more slowly." He winked.

Amaya lowered her gaze and went back to tracing his mouth, lingering over his lower lip and the rich coating of stubble below it. "I guess I must seem a bit of a pariah, getting to this age without a healthy sex life."

"Really?" He inched up her chin again, his eyes lustrous and dark. "I have enough female friends and colleagues to know how hard it is for a career woman to juggle work and relationships, especially with a child."

"Very true."

"Besides, some men don’t like not being the centre of a woman’s world. Some careers are more demanding than others," she added, which made him stop in his reverie.

"True."

"See, you agree with me now. And also, I had to fight hard to get where I’ve got," she said. "Not much, but I managed to take care of Tommy for many years alone. And, in spite of all the sacrifices I’ve made, I’ve still not made myself good enough for you, nor will I be."

He raised his brow. "What makes you think that?"

"Because I was never your equal, Chase. I'm just the trophy wife you need."

Her words halted him. Did she really think of him that way? "Is that what you want? To be made my equal?"

For years, it was all Amaya had wanted. It had consumed her—the drive to achieve, to be recognised as competent and capable, amongst others—for him to realise that she was something, that she was not just a mere vase for display. But lately, her motivations have undergone a change.

She doesn't know why, but surely it was something about how Chase made her feel.

She still loved her job, but it didn’t feel as satisfying as it once had. She found herself thinking of all the bad things about her work instead of all the positive things. "I don’t know. Maybe it’s time I shifted my goal or something. I seem to have come to a bit of a career dead end."

He frowned. "The Specialist Department?"

"Maybe. That and other things..." Other things, such as that niggling sense that she was missing out on something. Something far more important than having a job.

Chase smirked. “But there is this important thing I want to see.”He came up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, and held her close.

“What?”

He smirked. “Let’s find out.”

She turned in the circle of his embrace, ready for his kiss, every cell in her body crying out for him, only him. His mouth moved over hers, hot and challenging, and she matched him, their kisses deep, long, and luscious—the type of kisses to melt a body and sear a soul.

If they’d kissed like this all night long, she would’ve been happy, but she didn’t want to settle. Not tonight.

Tonight, Amaya wanted those stars and that moon.

“I want you so much,” Chase murmured, trailing his lips down her neck as his thumbs nudged the underside of her breasts, toying with her, teasing her, before drifting upwards to circle her tight nipples through the silk.

Her head fell back on a moan as he deftly flicked the clasp on her shoulder, and the dress slithered down her body in a rustle of silk, its caress almost as erotic as Chase’s hands.

“Jeez,” he muttered, his gaze raking her from head to foot before resting on her breasts, the naked need in his eyes sending a tremor of unbridled lust shooting through her. ‘You’re even more gorgeous now, if that’s possible.’

Smiling, Amaya tugged on his shirt. “Still the sweet talker.”

Sliding the shirt off his shoulders. “But for now, less talk, more action.”

“You want to see some action?”

His scorching kiss had her grateful for the edge of the bed bumping the backs of her knees as she collapsed onto it, happily watching as he shucked off the rest of his clothes in record time.

“I like those,” she said, pointing to the black boxers that had been haunting her dreams ever since she’d glimpsed them on their wedding night.

“And I like those.”

He toyed with the top of her white lace thong, sending a river of heat straight to her core.

“But not enough to keep them on,” she smiled.

He whipped them off and tossed them over his shoulder, his eyes glazing as his gaze roamed her.

“Come here.”

Amaya held her arms out to him, and he entered her embrace in a second, the touch of his bare skin against hers sizzling hot.

He kissed her, laved her, and delved his fingers into her until she was panting for release, clutching at him, crying out his name, and sobbing her need when the mind-numbing tension climbed, spiralled, and shattered into a million shooting stars.

She couldn’t think, she couldn’t speak, and she whimpered when he left her for a moment to rip off his boxers and roll a condom on.

“I’m right here, sweetheart.”

“Where you belong,” she said, a second before his mouth claimed hers, and he lay on top of her, sliding inside with a smooth, powerful thrust that made her gasp.

He filled her, completed her, and she wrapped her legs around him, tilting her hips to encourage deeper contact. Then he moved, sliding in and out, every move sending shards of exquisite pleasure firing through her, making every nerve ending sit up and cry for more.

And he gave her more.

He drove into her, his chest rasping her sensitised nipples, his tongue mating with hers, his rhythm taking them higher and higher until he stiffened and cried out her name, shuddering into her. Amaya had no idea how long they stayed locked together; their heart rates slowly calming, and their breathing soft and ragged. She didn’t mind his weight, didn’t mind the slick of sweat between their bodies. She’d asked for the stars and the moon.

Chase had delivered the whole damn solar system.