Pillow Chase. Jeanie London

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