CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Jessica lay sprawled in bed with Mark, boneless and completely blissed out. He had definitely enjoyed her lacy lingerie, and once he’d finally taken her out of it, they’d had even more fun. Now they lay together, arms and legs entwined, the sheet tangled around them. “Ready for dessert?” she asked.
He cracked open an eye and peeked up at her. “That wasn’t dessert?”
She shook her head. “I got you a cake.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. When was the last time he’d had cake on his birthday? “Chocolate.”
He grinned. “My favorite.”
“Want to eat it in bed?”
“Hell yes, I do.” He lay back, all naked and satisfied and so masculine she was practically drooling at the sight.
“Don’t move a muscle.” She slipped his shirt over her head, breathing in his scent as she left the bedroom and walked to the kitchen. Bear hopped off the couch and came trotting over, tail wagging. “Sorry we’ve been ignoring you,” she told the dog. “I’ll convince him to let you in later, okay?”
With Bear at her heels, she walked to the pantry and pulled out a serving tray. She set the cake on it, along with two small plates, forks, and a serving knife. Balancing it all on the tray, she headed back toward the bedroom.
Mark climbed out of bed to shut the door behind her, leaving Bear in the hallway. The dog whined.
“Aww, she’s lonely,” Jessica said.
“She’ll survive.” He looked down at the cake on the platter. “All that for us?”
“Just us. Go nuts.” She grinned as she set the platter down on the end of the bed.
Mark sat beside her. He picked up the serving knife and cut two enormous wedges of cake, putting one on each plate. He handed one to her and leaned back in bed with the other plate in his hand. “Looks good.”
“It’s from the bakery.” She eyed the huge piece of cake on her plate.
Mark took a big bite. “Oh yeah. It’s good.”
She scooted over next to him and took a bite of her own. Flavor exploded on her tongue, rich and chocolaty. “Yum.”
True to his word, Mark devoured his slice and went in for seconds. She picked at her slice, but she still didn’t have much of an appetite and honestly chocolate cake had never been her thing. She much preferred apple pie, but it was more than worth it to see Mark enjoying his cake so much.
“Not hungry?” he asked as she set her plate aside.
She shook her head. “Only a few days left on the antibiotics.”
“You’ve lost weight.” His gaze dropped to her hips.
She tugged self-consciously at his oversized shirt that she wore, nodding.
“You know I like you the same no matter how you look,” Mark said, “but I kind of miss your curves.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Then you’d better feed me lots of cake once I finish these antibiotics.”
“That is a definite ‘can do.’” He leaned in to kiss her, still sitting there gloriously naked in the bed, holding a plate of half-eaten cake.
“You look really hot right now,” she murmured against his lips.
“That so?” He set his plate aside and tugged her into his lap. He kissed her again, slow and deep, as rich and decadent as the chocolate cake he’d just finished. They kissed, touching and groping until her body was burning up with need.
When Mark pushed inside her, he made love to her with the newfound freedom she’d unleashed in him. No more holding back. He took her completely—wild and passionate and intense. Afterward, they lay together, holding on to each other and panting for breath.
