Bound by Love Page 4

  "I was beginning to worry,” he said when she paused in the family room's archway. “You were out there a long time."

  She stepped down into the room, searching the shadows for him.

  "I was thinking,” she said, when she spotted him lying across the couch. She approached and played with the open button of his jeans a moment before trailing her fingers softly up his bare chest to cup his cheek.

  His gaze revealed nothing of his thoughts. “And?"

  "It was great. Last weekend, I mean.” She paused, unsure how to go on and wishing she could read his blank expression. His voice was remote. She missed his more passionate tone that glided over her skin.

  "And?"

  She shrugged. “Sex isn't enough. I love you, but I deserve someone who loves me, too."

  She waited in silence for his next move. Trying to force an admission of feeling from him was either the right thing to do or a huge mistake that would make her miserable. Only one way to find out.

  He reared up from the couch, grabbed her, and rolled her under him.

  "You're gonna kill me, woman,” he said with a gratifying mix of male frustration and bafflement. “Let me get this straight. You left me in suspense all week because I didn't say the words?"

  Staring up at him, she was struck by how perfect they fit together and she smiled. Maybe the words escaped him, but he'd shown her in a thousand different ways. She'd been a fool not to see it.

  He cupped her face in his gentle hands and gazed steadily in her eyes. “I love you. Happy now? Put me out of my misery. Please."

  He continued before she could answer. “You know me well enough to know I don't bring anyone here."

  "Mack,” she interrupted.

  "And do you really you think I'd give a key to just anyone? Jesus."

  "Mack."

  "I never took you for thick-headed, Nikki—"

  "Mack!"

  "What?” He finally stopped when she grabbed his ears.

  Smiling she said the first thing that popped in her mind. “Shut up and kiss me."

  With a big grin, he obeyed. And they were tied up happily ever after.

  Author's Bio

  As a native of the South, is it any wonder Loribelle has a love of story telling? She started writing seriously as a teenager and finished her first manuscript, a mystery, when she was 19. After a few bumps along the way and stints as an Army MP, a waitress, a student, and a wedding photographer, she turned to writing full time. Currently she divides her time between a husband, three kids, writing, and a part time photography gig. Born and raised in Atlanta, she lives in the Wiregrass region of southern Alabama.

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