Pillow Chase

“You do realize you’re challenging me,” Troy said

“Mmm-hmm.” Miranda stepped toward him, closing the mere inches between them. His bold wife knew just what he wanted then. He recognized the flare of desire in her eyes, sensed in that moment he’d accomplished his goal by distracting her big-time.

There was nothing between them except a growing erotic challenge. She wanted him to beg. He wanted her to beg. It was a potent combination. And with the variety of sex toys around them, he thought they both stood a good chance of getting what they wanted.

Miranda slipped out of his arms in a playful move he hadn’t been prepared for, leaving him feeling the sudden distance between them, but he didn’t complain.

Not when she slipped her curly mane over her shoulder and reached for her zipper…then Troy braced himself for the show that was about to begin.

Dear Reader,

The FALLING INN BED… miniseries has been all about exploring how falling in bed leads to falling in love. So far we’ve savored the sweetness of finally giving in to long-term lust. We’ve grown breathless with sparks-at-first-sight. Now let me introduce my already-in-progress couple (a phrase borrowed from talented Harlequin Temptation author Tanya Michaels—thanks, Tanya!).

Miranda and Troy have known what they wanted from each other from the moment they met—to be together in and out of bed. But saying “I do!” isn’t always enough to ensure a happily ever after. Luckily for these two, love forms a solid foundation for marriage and lust proves an effective tool for tackling even daunting obstacles.

I hope Pillow Chase brings you to happily ever after. Let me know. Drop me a line in care of Harlequin Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario Canada M3B 3K9, or visit my Web site at www.jeanielondon.com.

Very truly yours,

Jeanie London

Pillow Chase

Jeanie London

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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To Quinta and Edward Flood, a very special couple who are living proof that love can conquer anything. You’ve shared your lives for more than sixty years, and I thank you for sharing the past twenty-two with me. Love you both!

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Prologue

IF EVER A WOMAN had been born to make a man think of sex, that woman was his wife, Miranda. And if ever a hotel had been designed to make Lieutenant Commander Troy Knight imagine the variety of ways to make love to his bride of barely two years, it was Falling Inn Bed, and Breakfast.

This hotel had won the Most Romantic Getaway Award with good reason. Ever since they’d visited during the planning stages of their wedding, Troy had been impressed by how this hotel’s amenities focused on couples. Shops offered everything from sex toys to lingerie, and the brand-new Wedding Wing kicked off its grand opening with a large-scale promotional campaign called the Naughty Nuptials.

And then there were all these romance-themed suites.

The one spreading out before him now was an aphrodisiac of sight and sound, so exotic that Troy could only stand beside Miranda in the doorway and take it all in.

Purple silk veils draped gold furnishings. Statues of couples in erotic poses doubled as columns to separate the living and dining areas. Vases and screens made of colored stones. Sultry flute and cymbal music. Swaying rattan fans.

The Egyptian Pleasure Pyramid.

Whoever named this suite hadn’t been kidding.

A domed wall and ceiling of glass made up the far end of the room. Beyond lay a courtyard of foliage and flowers and bright summer sky. A garden oasis in the middle of gilded opulence. And this would be their home for the next three weeks.

Troy couldn’t stop smiling and didn’t bother to try. He pushed the door wide and motioned Miranda inside, appreciating the sight of her from this vantage. Slim and feminine, she moved with a sensual grace that always caught him hard. Even the black curls tumbling down her back made him think about how all that silky hair felt on his skin.

When he’d married her in an elaborate ceremony in this very hotel nearly two years ago, Troy hadn’t realized that his desire for her could grow any stronger. He’d guessed marriage would satisfy his hunger and make them more comfortable together.

In some ways it had, but marriage hadn’t dulled the ache inside that pushed him to shut this door and keep her all to himself until they had to return to the real world.

That ache still took him by surprise. The feeling was potent, urgent, as if he couldn’t get enough time with his wife and wanted to make the most of every second together.

Troy knew this feeling intimately. As a career naval officer, he’d experienced his share of situations where urgency kept him alive. To return to Miranda.

“So what do you think of our suite, Mrs. Knight?” He closed the door and shut out the world.

“I’m not sure what to think.”

Her silky voice started his pulse humming, and he covered the distance to where she stood inspecting their surroundings, eyes wide and kissable lips parted. Plucking the purse from her hand, Troy hung it on the back of a chair. “This suite looks like the Web site.”

“Only in real-time.”

Her voice gave no clue whether she thought real-time was a good thing, so he lifted her stylish hat away to free up his view. Just a glimpse, and Troy recognized the distance in her expression, the shadows in her gaze.

Real-time should have been a great thing. Three weeks together in a romance resort after months spent apart during his latest deployment should have been better than great.

But Miranda’s closed expression suggested otherwise. He recognized the look—one she wore in public—a beautiful, perfect mask that showed no hint what she felt inside.

Miranda excelled at dealing socially with his commanding officers. She was the envy of his peers, and Troy enjoyed having her on his arm during the many functions that were as much a part of his career as his special operations missions. He’d been reared military and understood the game. To others, his wife was an extension of him, half of the whole. He was very proud of her.

But Troy loved Miranda best when she let her hair down and looked eager. She didn’t look eager now. She looked…unreadable. Her public persona was firmly in place, her expression so remote he’d have needed a nuclear sub to maneuver the distance to his wife. The wife he knew was in there. Somewhere.

He had three weeks to find her.

“Who knew they could come up with a suite wilder than the Roman Bagnio?” he said, a reminder of the romance-themed suite they’d enjoyed on their wedding night not so long ago.

“Those baths were definitely wild.”

Folding her in his arms, he drank in the feel of her smooth curves, warm and familiar and inviting. “Definitely wild. This time we’ll be around here long enough to put these facilities to good use.”

“Our wedding night wasn’t enough for you last time, Lieutenant Commander?”

“Not even close.”

They’d been the last couple to be married at Falling Inn Bed before construction had started on the new Wedding Wing. Now that the addition to the historic hotel was finally complete, they’d been invited back to participate in the inaugural events as the featured honeymoon couple.

Troy had been all for this vacation. The ongoing war against terrorism had been demanding his attention through most of their marriage. While separation was a normal part of their life together—he’d been stationed in Norfolk pre-9/11 when they’d met—regular deployment into the action had been keeping him away more than usual.

A lot more than was healthy for any relationship.

Troy couldn’t say if the separation was a problem. He and Miranda didn’t argue. They weren’t angry with each other or disappointed with anything but the length of time they spent apart. Yet lately whenever he returned from a mission, it took longer and longer to find her behind that perfect wife persona she wore in public.

He thought she might be dealing with some wartime anxiety issues, but she’d assured him that his e-mail posts and phone calls kept her stress manageable. As far as she was concerned, they’d always dealt with separation. She pointed out how his mother had a husband and two children serving various functions in the armed forces right now. If he wasn’t worried about how his mother coped, he shouldn’t be worried about her.

Troy could only take her at her word. No stranger to a demanding lifestyle, Miranda was part of a politically active family, which came with a set of demands as unique as his own. She could maneuver the territory.

Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that this woman who meant everything to him was quietly retreating behind an invisible wall. Or that the intimacy, which had always been such an amazing part of their relationship, was slipping away. Troy might not be sure what the problem was, but there was a problem. He felt it down deep.

He had three weeks to get Miranda to share whatever was bothering her.

And Falling Inn Bed, and Breakfast happened to be the perfect place to carry out that mission objective. This hotel specialized in couples, and when they were together, the rest of the world ceased to exist, which was exactly what needed to happen so they could focus on what was really important.

Each other.

1

WHO KNEW A BLINDFOLD would make such a difference?

Miranda Knight hadn’t, but with one silk scarf throwing the world into shadow, her remaining senses were heightened, lending the oncoming sexual encounter an unfamiliar thrill.

Since arriving for their stint as the Hottest Honeymoon Couple at the Wedding Wing’s grand opening, she’d made lots of discoveries, both in her sexual fantasies and otherwise. With Troy, the fantasies were always well worth the effort.

Regrettably the otherwise hadn’t been so accommodating.

But right now Miranda wasn’t going to think about anything but her fantasies. The otherwise had no place intruding in her thoughts when she sat on a chaise in the Egyptian Pleasure Pyramid oasis, blindfolded, with a whole morning ahead to enjoy her husband.

Troy was an early bird who opened his eyes fully awake. She had to work harder to face the day, always worth facing whenever Troy twined his arms around hers and kissed her until pleasure made her gladly swap dreams for reality.

Lovemaking in the afternoon could be equally gratifying. Sometimes they wore themselves out and wound up napping in each other’s arms. Other times they worked up such an appetite that dinner became a meal best served in bed, where they didn’t have to dress or make polite conversation with Troy’s commanding officers or the other men on his team.

She liked making love with him late at night, too. When the lights went out, she used her hands to see, to take control and drive Troy wild. His throaty growls would echo in the darkness, and that was her favorite way to fall asleep, feeling adored and satisfied and so very pleased with herself.

When Miranda really got down to it, she liked making love with her handsome husband anytime, anywhere.

Good thing, too, because right now she needed a good diversion. The otherwise had been stressful in ways she hadn’t expected. She’d meant for this vacation to be a break from reality, a chance to reacquaint themselves after so many months apart. Coming back to Falling Inn Bed was supposed to help her focus on them as a couple and forget all about the stresses of their everyday lives.

Not to mention that Niagara Falls was home, and Miranda had been counting on feeling better once back on familiar turf.

Unfortunately geography didn’t seem to be making the difference. They were two weeks into their trip—the grand opening’s official Hottest Honeymoon week would begin tomorrow—and she was sitting here half-naked, blindfolded and thinking.

Thankfully the beep of the microwave distracted her, and Miranda frowned into her dark world, wondering what Troy was up to. He’d seemed interested in a lot more than food this morning. She hadn’t heard him sneak up behind her while she’d been dressing. He’d scooped her into his arms and brought her out to this oasis then left her sitting here, waiting.

Stretching back on the chaise, Miranda let her hair spread around her in a pose she hoped would entice the man from his meal. She wasn’t going to think about food while basking in this unfamiliar awareness of her senses.

In her mind’s eye she could see the oasis, alive with blossoms and lush foliage, smells that grew thick in the warmth of the morning sun. Gardenia, jasmine, rose, lily and, beneath others she couldn’t name, the rich scent of earth.

The garden fanned out around a small tiled piazza. A fountain with whimsical sculptures of a naked couple filled this oasis with the steady bubbling of water. Hidden audio speakers piped music through the suite, the soft strains of a tambourine, cymbals and flute weaving an exotic tune that lent to the fantasy of the place.

Rattan fans circulated air over her bare skin and, combined with the blindfold, she felt aroused in a way she’d never felt before, vulnerable almost to the point of breathlessness. And curious, too, especially when the refrigerator door opened.

What was Troy doing? Her husband was an adventurer in bed on a normal day, always cherishing and challenging her, but with him so caught up in the spirit of the Naughty Nuptials and all the erotic events…

Miranda heard the scuff of movement across the thick oriental rugs in the living room, and suddenly her whole body felt attuned to the sounds, to the soft stir of branches as he passed into the courtyard, to the careful clatter of something—a tray perhaps—on the tiled tabletop. And then the quiet hush of his breaths when he came to stand beside her.

She could sense his presence. Chemistry connected them, an awareness on some elemental level that not even this blindfold diminished. Miranda could feel him, could feel his gaze sweep over her. She knew he stood beside her, most likely smiling at the sight she made spreading out on the chaise.

Marriage had only deepened their connection. She’d learned to sense Troy’s moods, to guess at his thoughts behind those striking green eyes. And the phenomenon worked both ways. They didn’t always need words and could often communicate with a glance or a touch. She liked that about their relationship.

Well, she usually liked it… She suspected Troy could sense something was off with her now, despite her best efforts to leave her worries back in San Diego. She wouldn’t let anything spoil their time together, not when they had a fantasy vacation to enjoy and he’d been gone for so long.

Stretching out, she hoped to entice him, to prove how determined she was to have fun. He claimed they were soul mates, and while she honestly hadn’t given much thought to her stance on traveling through lifetimes to find each other, Miranda knew only Troy had ever made her feel so aroused by simply knowing he wanted her.

And she knew he did. Even with the blindfold.

She felt him taking his time to peruse her, drawing out the silence, comfortable with it. Her insides grew fluttery, her breath poised in her throat as she awaited his next move.

“I like watching your body respond to me.” His voice was hard-edged and strong with no hint of an accent. “I don’t even have to touch you.”

Troy had been reared all over the world, a typical military brat, and the only sound that came through in his voice right now was the sound of stimulated male.

Who needed to see when she could hear how much he wanted her?

“I try to be an accommodating wife.”

“You are that, Mrs. Knight. No question.” Slipping his hand under her ankles, he maneuvered himself beneath her and placed her feet in his lap. “You don’t know how many times I’ve been in my barracks falling asleep, trying to figure out what I’ve done to deserve you. Why are you willing to wait for me to come home when you could have a husband who’s always with you?”

Troy wasn’t shy about sharing how he felt, and she’d always appreciated his honesty, relied on his ability to steer them through emotional waters because she didn’t find it so easy.

“You love me,” she said simply.

“I do.”

And he seemed committed to proving how much he loved every little part of her when he massaged her feet. Miranda inhaled deeply, a sound of pure contentment as his touch melted her muscles, and she reveled in the simple joy of togetherness. For some couples time together was a given, for them it was a gift.

Easing her foot in a circle, Troy worked the muscles along her calves then began the process over again with the other. His fingers glided along her hose, his strong hands touching her in all the right places.

“So what have I done to deserve this special treatment?” Miranda asked.

“You love me.” He dragged his mouth along her in-step and warmed the silk with a kiss.

She trembled as he nibbled his way along her anklebone, an area of her body she’d never realized was so sensitive. And this wasn’t the only erotic discovery she’d made since becoming involved with her husband.

Troy’s sense of adventure was one of the things that had attracted her to then-Lieutenant Knight. He’d seemed larger than life, more exciting than any man she’d ever known, and it was much more than his career and his uniform. Much more than his piercing green eyes and striking blond looks. Much more than his aura of powerful male.

It was simply him, and his wonderful zest for living.

He made her reach beyond herself and the world she knew. He didn’t have any trouble handling the visibility that came along with her family, with having a father and grandfather who were both politicians. Troy performed beautifully in public but managed to live life as if no one was watching.

It was a skill she hoped to learn.

As far as Miranda was concerned, Troy was a good influence. He’d even turned their wedding into a celebration. Scoffing at the traditional, he’d talked her into a fantasy wedding at this romance resort. Then he’d whisked her away from Niagara Falls for a life filled with travel and excitement and challenges she’d never dreamed of.

Challenges she’d never dreamed she couldn’t live up to.

Squelching the thought brutally, Miranda slid her fingers through his hair. The familiar feel of the brushed short strands helped chase away her thoughts with a burst of tenderness for how much she loved this man. And how much she would do to be with him.

Like stop thinking. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking.

Tracing the curl of his ear, Miranda trailed her fingers along his hairline, along the curve of his jaw beneath smoothly sculpted cheeks. She searched for the pulse beating there.

And she found it, strong and steady. Like Troy himself.

Pressing her fingers into his throat, she counted the beats, her own heart speeding its pace when he ran his tongue through that responsive hollow between ankle-bone and heel. He swirled his tongue over her foot, a lush stroke, before gusting a warm breath between her toes.

He made the simplest touch erotic, made her respond to him as easily. It was his gift, one that bore out his belief about soul mates.

And made her so very glad they’d found each other.

When she heard a thunk against the tabletop, she tried to distinguish the sound, but couldn’t. Letting her fingers drift away from his skin, she waited.

An unexpected warmth touched the bottom of her foot, and she started, earning a throaty chuckle from Troy as he pressed the solid heat to her skin, that solid cylindrical heat…and she realized what he’d been nuking in the microwave.

“And I thought you were making breakfast.”

He rolled the warm sex toy over the ball of her foot, over muscles he’d massaged into supple compliance. “I’m making a meal out of you. Hungry?”

“Only for you.”

“Good.”

“So what is this, Lieutenant Commander? The glass dildo or the see-through vibrator?” He’d obviously helped himself to some goodies from one of the more unique features of this suite.

The sexy sheet sets.

Each day housekeeping outfitted the gold-framed bed in specialty sheets with names like the Kama Sutra Sports Set and the Incredible Edible. Each set came equipped with a surplus of sexy toys for couples to play with.

“You tell me, Mrs. Knight.”

“Oh, so you want to play games?”

He didn’t reply, just eased the device up her calf, a two-handed move that made her sigh. But content didn’t seem to be the reaction he wanted because he grazed the device lightly behind her knee.

“That tickles.” She scrambled away, but didn’t get far. With this blindfold, she wasn’t sure where the chaise ended and didn’t want to overbalance and land on the floor.

Not that Troy wouldn’t save her. He’d catch her before she could go over the side, but she much preferred to look enticing in her blindfold rather than clumsy.

But her vanity came with a price, and choosing the path of least risk meant exposing the insides of her thighs. Troy zeroed in on the target, skimming that warmth along her skin, tickling her until her muscles quivered with her efforts to resist.

But he wasn’t having any part of resistance.

“Spread your legs.” Arousal made his voice a sexy command, and shifting around, he wedged his hips between her knees to force her to comply.

Miranda didn’t need her eyesight to know hunger had sharpened the lines of his face, made him look focused, predatory. She’d burned that expression into her memory to carry her through the times when they were apart.

But they were together now, and using his ruthlessly toned body to best effect, Troy crowded her against the sloping back of the chaise, filled her senses with the feel of him, the familiar male scent of his freshly scrubbed skin.

He never slowed those achingly teasing touches, but worked his way toward the juncture between her thighs until his sexy device warmed the panty hose against her aroused sex.

Sliding her hands along his chest, she used touch to anchor herself as that invading heat melted her insides. She traced the broad hollows of his smooth skin, but before she could slip her arms around him, that heat between her legs burst into motion, an electronic vibration that pulsated against her most private places and made her gasp in surprise.

“Does that answer your question, Mrs. Knight?”

He pressed his mouth against her ear, breathed a sultry breath, another sensual assault that sent that surge of moist fire straight to her core.