Dare Me Again Read Free Page A

baby. If I overstepped some boundary by making arrangements with my wife’s employer without her knowledge so she could spend Christmas with her husband, I only apologize if that action puts you in bad place when we return.” He pulled her hair back and her breasts dug into the smooth linen of his shirt. “But I’ll be damned if I’ll apologize for anything else.”
    “Simon, I’m not asking for an apology, I
want
to go to the mountains with you. But, baby, you can’t just call my boss and threaten—”
    “What makes you think I threatened him?”
    Cocking her head, she chose her words carefully. “Perhaps you vigorously persuaded him? Because I know Sam wouldn’t have let me have time off without some serious incentive.”
    He smiled again. It got her every time. “I merely explained that in your condition you needed some time off. Then I explained how angry I would be if anything happened to you or the baby because you were overworked.”
    “Simon!”
    He threw his head back and laughed. Ignoring her furious glare, he grabbed the cradle of her hips at the same time he plunged into her, taking her breath and arguments away.
    And just as she always had, she gave Simon what he wanted, because it was she wanted, too.
    He was gentle in his passion, murmuring soft words of love for her. His possessive arms held her close. His lips covered hers, muffling her cries of pleasure as she came in a sweet wild torrent of sensation.
    Simon quickly followed her. “Damn, Kat,” he groaned as his body jerked against hers. His sharp intake of breath, then his long slow exhale of satisfaction that followed fueled her wife’s ego. She hung in his arms, her tired body warm, and supple. She had all the strength of an overcooked noodle. Pressing her cheek to his chest, she closed her eyes and softly sighed.
    “If we were home, Princess, I’d stand here all night inside of you and allow you to sleep wrapped around me like this, but…” He kissed the top of her head.
    She looked up at him with tired eyes. He smoothed her hair from her cheek. His dark green eyes narrowed. “You look beat as hell. If I hadn’t already told Doc Sam you needed rest, I’d tell him now.”
    She nodded. He had a point. She suddenly felt so exhausted she could barely move.
    “I’m getting you dressed and taking you home. You’re done for the night.”
    “Simon, my shift doesn’t end for another two hours. I have a responsibility.”
    “You’re damn stubborn, Mrs. West,” he chided as he stepped back, giving her some room.
    Smiling more brightly than she felt, she moved out of the warm circle of his body. “It takes stubborn to know stubborn.” As she bent to retrieve her skirt, the room swayed and she lost her balance.
    “Damn it, Kat!” Simon cursed, catching her to him. “My stubborn is overriding yours. I’m taking you home.
Now
.”
    This time she didn’t argue.
     

     
    Simon stood over his slumbering wife while tying his tie. He was late for his flight to LA, but reluctant to leave her. She had slept from the moment he slid her into his car last night to now. She hadn’t moved when he undressed her, or when he pulled her into his arms earlier and kissed her good morning. She was down for the count. And it was his fault for pushing her sexually last night and for not being home when she needed him.
    “Damn it,” he snapped and unknotted his tie for the third time, then started over.
    Maybe that’s what he and Kat needed. Not a restart of their relationship or marriage. Hell no. Despite its rocky beginnings, he wouldn’t change any of that because it was what brought them together. But these past few weeks…
    This task force was sucking up every minute of his day and Kat’s job at the clinic was sucking the life out of her. Something had to give. Hopefully their vacation time together would be the impetus of that something giving and they could come up with a few compromises so that they wouldn’t have to spend so much time