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Chapter Seventy Eight
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2024-10-29 19:42:56She leaned forward, forgetting their vow not to dredge up the past. “And I was the woman you were supposed to marry, Matt. Didn’t I deserve anything from you? Besides a payoff and a get-the-hell-out-of-my-life?”
“I’m here now,” he said quietly. “I was angry. I had a right to be. I won’t apologize for that. But I’m here now and I want us to try again. We both made mistakes.”
She had to let go of the resentment and anger that She had to put it away because there was no way for her to win.
She leaned back in her chair. “So where are we going to drive tomorrow? Should I wear one of those scarves and huge sunglasses so I look chic?” she asked.
He relaxed, relief stark in his eyes that she was letting the matter drop.
“Wear that very sexy sundress that Rosa bought you.” he replied.
Sh
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“Thai sounds good. Get comfortable. Take your shoes off and prop your feet up. I bet your ankles are hurting from sitting with your feet down for that long. Mine are” Matt said.Savannah chuckled at the mother hen sound to his voice but did as he said and settled on the sumptuous leather couch. She kicked off her shoes and winced a little as she propped them on the ottoman.Matt had just set their drinks on the coffee table and settled next to her when his phone started ringing. She supposed it was to be expected since he’d been out of the country. It wasn’t as if his being tied up with work was anything new. In the past, though, she’d never hesitated to needle him or distract him. Something that had both exasperated and thrilled him in equal parts.But now she sat quietly as he fished his phone out of his pocket. His lips thinned a bit before he put the phone to his ear.&ldquo
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty
"But why does he wish to see you before the ceremony? This is not normal.” The older woman rang her hands. “Ai, ai, ai. Men, they are not rational. I Honestly don't understand them sometimes.”Tess stifled a smile. Her future mother-in-law had very definite views of what constituted proper male and female behavior. Tess’s father had confounded her several times over the past few days, wanting to approve the wedding dress, insisting on consultation with the chef for the reception and a host of other equally odd, to her mind, requests.She patted Amy Black's arm. “It’s all right. He just wants to see. He won’t touch anything.” She said.Her father had been ecstatic at the news of her upcoming marriage and had come over immediately to take part in the preparations, much to Dash’s mother’s dismay. She was not used to having a man around giving orders in the do
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty One
Neal Patchett shook his head. “You’re wrong. There was only one thing Tess wanted and I got it for her.” he said.Understanding came slowly to him. “Me.” Dash replied.Neal turned and looked at Dash, his expression almost harsh. “You. She wanted you and I was damned determined she was going to have you.”Had she known all along then? Dash wondered. Had she told her father she wanted to marry him and then waited for the old man to procure her a husband?Remembering how difficult she had been to catch, he dismissed the idea.He remembered too how Tess’s gaze used to follow him at business dinners and how she had been at her father's party. How she'd kissed him. Dash was positive that Neal had witnessed more passion between he and Tess at that party than he had ever seen with her and another man. He had drawn his own conclusions about his daughter's behavior and acted accordingly.Hop
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty Two
Neal Patchett had been right in that at least. The pill was not bitter to swallow, but the water it had gone down with had been rancid. The only way to rid his pride of the aftereffects of the blackmail was to plan a suitable measure of justice for the man.Dash did not want to ruin him completely. Neal was now family, but he would learn a necessary lesson about pride.As Tess took the first step forward, all thoughts of vendettas and lessons faded from Dash's mind. It filled with the primitive need to mate with his woman.This woman.Tess.Hereyes were dark with conflicting emotions. It was the fear that kept him rooted, waiting for her to come to him. She was so beautiful in her cobalt blue silk gown. It swept the floor as she walked and it pleased him she had not opted for the traditional white for their wedding night.He liked this indication of the fire within her. The h
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty Three
He laughed softly. “Yes. Really.” He said. He touched her gently, but firmly. “If I caress you here, you feel it here.”He brushed the nest of curls between her legs through the slick material of her gown while his other hand massaged her foot. Oh, man, he was right.She tilted her pelvis upward, desperate for more intimacy, confused by her body’s reaction to his not-so-innocent massage.“Yes. Oh…I felt it.” She said.“And do you feel this also, Tess?” he asked.She bowed completely off the bed as he touched her again. “I feel it. It’s…” Her voice trailed off into a gasp of pleasure. By the time he had given similar treatment to her other foot, she was incoherent with pleasure, having flopped back against the pillows, her body totally open to whatever he wanted to do to her.&
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty Four
She rubbed her face against his chest, adjusting herself against his body with a movement that unbelievably teased his recently satisfied flesh. “And you belong to me.” She said.He did not deny it. The bitter pill had turned out sweeter than nectar and he reveled in his possession of a woman so sweet, so passionate and so completely lacking in artifice. She was everything her father was not.Everything women like Olivia could never hope to be. Tenderness he had never known toward a lover washed over him and he caressed her back, wanting to soothe her to sleep in his arms.A soft butterfly kiss landed near his left nipple. “I love you, Dash,” she whispered against his skin.The words did strange things to his insides and he could almost thank Neal Patchett for giving him the gift of such a woman.------------------------They spent their honeymoon in Naples. Dash kept his prom
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty Five
He held it out to her and she lifted her gaze to stare at him as if he’d lost his mind.“I couldn’t decide whether or not to give you back your old one or buy you a new one. I kept the old ring. I kept it with me the entire time you were gone. But bought a new one for a new beginning.” Matt said.Her hand trembled in his and she stared speechlessly at him.He ruefully shook his head. “I know it’s not the most romantic proposal. It’s not even under the best circumstances. I’d intended to wait. Until it was the right time. Until we’d sorted out things between us. But I couldn’t wait any longer. And when my friends and family see you again, I want them to know that we’re together, that you’re the woman I’m going to marry and that you have my support.”Tears filled her eyes and her chest ached with emotion. He made no move to take the ring out of the box and put it on her finger for her. He simply held it in
SILENT DESIRES Chapter Eighty Six
She was a coward, but it was the cold, hard truth that fear was what held her back. Not pride. Not anything else. She knew that if he didn’t believe her this time they could never be together.Not wanting the weight of anxiety to bear down on her today, she shook the bleak thoughts from her mind and crawled out of bed. She padded into the living room to see that Matt had turned the fire on for her.To her further surprise, she found a breakfast tray waiting for her on the table with bagels, cheese and an assortment of fruit.She sank into the seat, her eyes stinging with tears. “I shouldn’t love you this much,” she whispered. God, but she couldn’t help herself. She craved him. He was her other half. She didn’t feel whole without him.Tonight was the dinner with his friends and his mother, but even that couldn’t dim her excitement or her happiness. And maybe t
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His hold was almost bruising now. “I know you have stopped loving me. I deserve it, but I love you, baby. You are the air that I breathe. The only music my heart wants to hear. The other half of my soul. I will make you love me again. I can do it. You still want me,” he said as one hand cupped her breast with its already tight peak.She turned her head and cupped his face between her palms so she could see into his eyes. “You love me?” she asked.“For a long time. Since before that party I think, but to admit it would have been to admit the end of my independence. Fool that I was, I thought that mattered. Without you all the freedom in the world would be a tiny cell in a prison of loneliness.”Her jaw dropped open. She couldn’t help it. Not only had he said he loved her, but he’d gotten positively poetic about it. “Those are pretty mushy sentiments.” She said.He shrugged, his nature showing stronger in that m
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Neal Patchett didn’t even sound sorry.“Because he doesn’t love me,” she fairly shouted into the phone.“No reason to yell, missy. I may be getting old, but I hear just fine. The man wants you and for him, that’s probably as close to love as any woman will ever get.”She curled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Could her father be right?“You should not have done it.” She said.“Tess, you wouldn’t take anything else from me.”“I didn’t want anything, just your love.” That was all she’d ever wanted from the two most important men in her life and the one thing she was destined not to get. “I’ve got to go.”“No, wait, child.”“What?” she asked with a lackluster voice.“I do love you.” he said.Four words she’d longed to hear since she was a child. They touched her now, healed some thin
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The rejection she felt was shattering.“I thought you cared about me. I knew it wasn’t love, but this thing between you and my father—it’s so demeaning. The knowledge that our marriage was the result of an arrangement between you and my father so you could get your company back…” Words failed her for several seconds as she struggled to keep the tears at bay.Finally, she swallowed. “I never would have suspected anything like that, but it explains so much.”He stepped toward her, his hand extended, “Tess, please, we can make this marriage of ours work.”She reared back, almost falling off the sofa. “Don’t come near me. I don’t want you touching me.” When she remembered how he had blackmailed her into marriage, using his body as the bait, she shuddered.His expression was that of a jaguar thwarted of its prey.“I want some time to think. Alone.” She said.He shook his head in sharp n
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She glared at him, anger and resentment boiling in a cauldron inside her that was ready to explode all over him. She jumped up and faced him, fury making her body rigid. “I don’t have to convince you of anything.” He was the one who’d been caught taking a shower while his former girlfriend lounged around answering his phone. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll call my father and ask him.”She turned to do just that, but his words stopped her.“Do not go. I will tell you.” Dash's complexion had gone gray. “You thought your father tried to get us together, but you did not realize the methods he used?”The methods had been pretty obvious, or at least she had thought so at the time. “He sent you to check on me in Athens.”“He sent me, yes, but not to check on you. I was under duress to convince you of marriage.” Dash said.That explained so much. Dash looked sick and she could imagine why. A proud m
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She leaned forward and kissed him, still holding his face in her hands. She stroked her hands through his hair and then over his cheeks again, smiling a tender smile all the while.“We make quite a pair, don’t we? We’ve made mistakes. But I like to think that we haven’t given up. And that maybe we’re stronger for it all. It makes me hurt that you’ve given up so much for me. Your family. The place you grew up in. And you gave it up, bought a beautiful house you knew I’d love all because you loved me. If I don’t forgive you then I’m denying myself that love and I don’t want to live without you, Matt. Or your love. Not anymore. The last months have been the worst of my life. I don’t ever want to relive that kind of agony again.”He pulled her into his arms, leaning forward so they didn’t tumble into the sand. He held her so tightly she couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t care. They were together. Finally. Without all the hurt and pain of the past. Without
SILENT DESIRES Chapter One Hundred and Four
The flight and subsequent transportation to the villa on the beach was seamless. Matt had changed his mind about going back to the paradise villa as he didn't want his mom or Enzo showing up again and upsetting Savannah so they had gone to moon island instead,the place where David and Emily had gotten married.Matt had ensured that Savannah was given every consideration. She was endlessly pampered and waited on and when they arrived on the island, they were greeted not only by the physician who would be monitoring her care, but a personal nurse who would reside at the villa with her and Matt.When Savannah got her first look at the sprawling villa, it took her breath away. They drove through a gate and down a winding driveway that was lined with lush, gorgeous flowers. Just for a moment the driveway paralleled the beach before it ended in front of the main house.The house couldn’t be more than a few steps fr
SILENT DESIRES Chapter One Hundred and Three
The tacit agreement to her fears made Tess's knees give way and she sank onto the side of the bed. “Are you saying you spent the night with my husband?” she asked. Her voice trembled, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to die.“Are you sure you want me to answer that question?” Olivia asked.“No,” Tess whispered, her vocal cords too constricted for normal conversation, “but I need you to.”Olivia hesitated. When she spoke, her voice had changed, become more tentative. “Perhaps you had better discuss this with Dash.”Tess didn’t answer. She just held the phone to her ear and stared at the far wall of the room she shared with Dash. Was this what death felt like? Your whole body going numb and your emotions imploding until there was nothing left?Another voice intruded on her blanked out mental state. “Tess? Is that you, honey?”And she realized she wasn’t numb. “Don’t call me
SILENT DESIRES Chapter One Hundred and Two
Dash called again at dinner that evening from Rome. She picked the call, feeling subdued and just plain not up to arguing with his mother or sister about taking the call. Then she stood up and left the table.“Hello, Dash. Was there something you wanted?” she asked in a voice that sounded dead to her own ears.“Yes, Tess, I want many things, but I called to apologize for my behavior when you told me about the baby.” He sounded tired. “I want our baby, honey. I am sorry I was less than enthusiastic when you told me.”She dismissed the apology as too little, too late. Perhaps if he hadn’t been treating her so hurtfully for days beforehand, it would have been enough. “Don’t call me honey. You don’t love me and I don't see any reason why you should. I don’t ever want you to use that word with me again.”“Tess, I…” He hesitated.Strange to hear her super-confident husband hesitant.
SILENT DESIRES Chapter One Hundred and One
Stepping out into the sunshine from the air-conditioned building, Tess asked herself where she could go. Looking up and down the busy street, she knew she wanted only to get away from the crush of people. An image of the grounds surrounding the Black villa rose in her mind like Valhalla to her ravaged state. She would take a taxi to the grounds and then when she was ready, she could walk home.Having a plan of action helped calm her churning emotions enough to wipe her tears away and wave down a cab.She had the driver drop her on the outskirts of the Black estate. Luckily, she remembered the code for the small gate in the far wall. She and Elena had used it once before on an afternoon walk.Once inside the estate’s walls, she walked only far enough to hide herself in the trees, then sank to the ground. Her back resting against the trunk of one of them, she let the tears fall freely. It hurt so much.
