Hard Wear by Marilyn Lakewood

Author:Marilyn Lakewood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Troll River Publishing
Published: 2015-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

When Chase stepped out into the hall, Sage jumped up eagerly to greet him. He stroked her golden coat, checked his watch, and then went into the kitchen to get her “gourmet dog chow” that Saundra ribbed him about, yet always made sure they had stocked in the kitchen.

Working under his dog’s intent supervision, he pulled the bag of kibbles from the top of the fridge and poured out her evening ration into a clean, stainless steel bowl. He refilled her water dish, set both bowls in her feeder, and left her crunching contentedly away while he went downstairs to his office.

He crossed the carpeted floor and checked the fax machine. Rand would call first, but if Kali wanted a hardcopy, the machine was good to go.

Over the last decade, similar lifestyles had cemented his friendship with Rand. Chase had come through for him in the past, and today with only a few hours notice, Rand had been there for Chase. No questions, no problems. He’d never asked Rand to make a house call before. This morning Chase had done it in order to get inside a woman without a condom.

What he felt for Kali was a new level of desire.

He loved everything about her. Her agile intelligence, her beauty, and even her reticence. She challenged him, and yet by the time he’d left her house that first day, he’d sensed that with the right man, she’d be brave enough to explore her submissive instincts. She continued to resist a relationship, but this weekend he would show her how well they fit together, and that he wanted more.

During the twelve years since his wife’s death, he’d taken lovers—discreet intermittent affairs—relationships based on companionship, physical satisfaction, and convenience. Until lately, he’d been able to ignore the growing restlessness.

Everything changed when he walked into Tanner’s Hardware and noticed a skittish, tawny-haired angel in the carpentry aisle.

The desire he’d felt in other affairs seemed anemic compared to the urgency that drove him now. He liked taking care of females, his alpha matrix drove him to support the women in his life, but he’d never felt so keenly involved. He wanted to keep this woman near him—cherish, protect, and provide for her.

He’d give her everything. No holding back.

He went to his desk and pulled a couple of items from the side drawer. The square, velvet jeweler’s box he left on the top. The other item, a silk drawstring pouch, he pocketed and took upstairs. He stopped by the kitchen to let Sage out into the fenced yard, and when she came back in, he gave her a small treat.

Before he went back to the bedroom, he poured out one more shot of tequila.

There were things left to talk about. He hadn’t rushed Kali, although she might not think so from her perspective, but from his, considering how fiercely he desired her, he’d been easing into this gradually.

It had been hell, too. He felt strung out on anticipation. Even now, after he’d had her, he couldn’t tame the beast.

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