At first she thought the soft voice came from her imagination. She’d heard it often enough and he’d never been there.
When she was ready, she opened her eyes.
He stood there. Dressed in iconic black, his collarless shirt open at the neck, his dark eyes gleaming behind the lenses of his black-framed spectacles.
Their eyes met and tears sprang to her eyes once more. She blinked them away. “How the fuck did you get in here?”
“Your concierge let me in. Didn’t he tell you?”
Slowly she shook her head and realized what the guy downstairs had tried to say. “You can leave now.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. She could see the fists as he bunched them. “I will but I wanted to say something first. Please hear me out.” The slight quiver at the end of his words told her he wasn’t as in control as he was trying to project. That made her feel better, because she was sure as fuck not in control of her own emotions, which were rioting out of control. She felt hot, she felt sick, she felt exhilarated to be in his presence again.
“You can talk but then go.”
He dropped his gaze then lifted it again, his eyes blazing. And this time he didn’t hide the yearning in them or the desire that nearly set her on fire. It took all she had to hide her own need for him.
“Edie, I was wrong. So fucking wrong about so many things. When you left the clinic, I knew I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. Roubiere wouldn’t tell me anything, you know, not what you had done or didn’t, but I did look at the operating lists. You were down for a rhinoplasty.” A bitter smile twisted his lips. “I didn’t even make you promise not to have one did I?” He shrugged. “Not that it matters. I shouldn’t have made you promise anything. At first it seemed like a game and a way to have you, but later I really started feeling it. You’re so perfect, Edie, so very beautiful. Your experience enhances what you are and if you’d had surgery, that would have been eliminated like an eraser on a pencil drawing. It hurt me to think of you doing that.” He shook his head. “But that was me. I should never have asked. Just explained how I felt and left it up to you.”
“Yes, you should. It’s my body, my life.” And the reason she’d enforced her absence. She belonged to nobody, not anymore and she never would again. Not even this overwhelmingly sexy man.
“I know.” His eyes held misery now but still that desire he seemed unable to contain. “You have to do what you want otherwise you won’t be happy. And that’s what matters. You have to be happy, Edie. Anyway, I came to apologize and tell you I know why you walked away. And why I stayed away. If it weren’t for that, nothing would have kept me from coming to you.” He rocked on his heels and then started to walk.
It took her a moment to realize he was intent on leaving. She stepped aside so he could pass her but at the last minute, when his hand was on the doorknob, she put her hand on his arm. The muscle flexed as he turned to face her. His face had paled. “I’m sorry, Edie.”
“So you said. Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
He swallowed but she saw the spark of hope in his eyes, the way his mouth lifted at the corners. “Do you want me to?”
“I wouldn’t have said if I didn’t.”
The next minute he’d swept his arms around her, holding her tight, and his mouth was on hers, drinking her in like a man dying of thirst. His groan reverberated through her body, echoing hers. She opened her mouth when his tongue pressed against her lips took him inside. He swept his tongue around her mouth, reacquainting himself with her shape, her taste and she took too, her body remembering how exciting, how wonderful he felt.
He drew away slowly, ending with gentle butterfly kisses to her lips so she was tempted to follow him. His eyes opened slowly. Softer now. “God I missed you!”
“So much.” They stared at each other and she slid her hands under his jacket so that only his shirt lay between her skin and his. “What are we going to do?”
“Where’s your bedroom? If I don’t make love to you soon I’ll die.”
She loved his honesty. She felt the same way. And for the first time he’d said “make love”.
Her bedroom was at the end of the hall to the right. She took his hand and led him there, hitting the button by the door that dropped the drapes. They fell softly over the window the green silk falling in supple folds. She tugged him to the bed and swept back the embroidered coverlet. That wouldn’t be comfortable against bare skin. Then she turned to face him. “John, I—”
He cupped her face with his free hand. “I know. You don’t want commitment. I got that.”
Her eyes widened. “How did you get that?”
“I can’t give you everything you want.”
“Don’t give up.” That wasn’t what she was going to say at all.
A smile curved his lips. “I don’t intend to. And who knows, you might want more from me one day.”
She was sure of it but she didn’t tell him so. It wouldn’t do to give him too many ideas. They’d slept together, fucked every night for a week then spent two weeks apart miserable. Normally she’d say that wasn’t enough but this time she wasn’t sure. Not at all sure.
But she was sure of one thing. Her fingers went to her side zipper only to meet his already there. She smiled and moved her hand away, working on his shirt buttons instead.
The sight of his bare chest made her salivate and she went to taste and kiss. His hand cupped the back of her head. “Edie, Edie!”
She nuzzled the base of his throat and then lifted her hands to push his jacket and shirt off his shoulders. They fell to the floor and she had access to his top half.
But he had his demands too. He tugged at her shell and she lifted her arms so he could pull it off. He had her bra unclipped and off. No longer ashamed to show her flaws, she smiled up at him as he touched her nipples. His fingers were shaking. He lifted his eyes to her face and kept stroking her breasts. “I thought I’d lost this. I really did only come to say I was sorry.”
A suspicion crossed her mind. “Did you see the TV show?”
He shook his head. “I knew you’d do well, but I saw your name and I needed you. Needed to be with you. I thought of coming to the studio but I didn’t want to put you off so I stayed away.” He gave a shaky laugh.
“So you don’t know what I said?”
His gaze sharpened. “No. Does it matter?”
She lifted her hands to remove his glasses and put them on the night table. He wouldn’t need them for a while. “I said you were never my doctor, that’s all.”
He touched her cheek, smoothed his finger down, trailed it over her chin and down her throat to draw an imaginary line on the slope of her breast. “That doesn’t matter. We could have proved it if we’d had to.” He huffed. “Roubiere took more care than he needed to. Probably for the best although I nearly punched him out when he refused to discuss you at all.” He paused. “I just wanted to talk about you. If I couldn’t see you, couldn’t touch you, I needed something. But he wouldn’t.”
“It could have ruined your business if people started to gossip. You know what damage rumors can do.”
“I would have left, started again somewhere else. I thought about it, just so I wouldn’t have to share the same city as you.” He released her breasts and drew her close. “I’m not always a nice person. I didn’t want to think of you with anyone else. Couldn’t bear it. There’s a caveman lurking in all of us.”
She pressed her lips to his chest and enjoyed his taste and his nearness. “Just keep him under wraps for me. Don’t get rid of him completely, especially in the bedroom.”
“Does that mean…?” He cupped her head and stroked her hair. She heard him catch his breath.
“It means we take it one day at a time. I’m still ten years older than you are. That has certain implications.”
“You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, still the only one I want in my life. And I’m sorry, Edie, but I want that badly.”
Sh
e tilted her head up and he kissed her.
By the time the kiss ended they were lying on the bed stark naked. His rigid cock pressed against the soft flesh of her stomach and he rolled her so he was on top. He kissed her cheek, her throat and lingered at the sensitive hollow at the base. She shuddered and pushed against him.
“Sweetheart, I need you now.” He leaned over, threatening to leave her but knowing what he wanted to find, she put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
“No, you don’t have to use protection. I’m not fertile, it’s the wrong time of the month. And I’m clean.”
He leaned up on his elbows. “You’re sure?”
She nodded.
He watched her as he lifted up and settled between her legs when she spread them for him. His cock nestled in the folds of her pussy. “I love how you left that little bit of hair there.”
“It’s called a Brazilian.”
He smiled. “I know. But on you it’s called heaven.” He pushed his cock, sliding through her wet folds until it touched her vagina. “Edie!” He thrust inside her.
Her name on his lips was sweeter than any endearment, the name she’d hidden inside herself for so long, the name only a few other people used. On his lips it sounded perfect. “John!”
He stilled, buried deep inside her. “Will you call me Kwoklyn sometimes?”
He sounded younger, more vulnerable. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “Is that your Chinese name?”
He nodded. “Nobody uses it anymore. Not since my father died. To my mother I’m always John.”
“I like it. Kwoklyn. Now shut up and fuck me.”
Groaning he drove inside her, pushing deep until he touched her sweet spot. She cried out and pushed her pelvis up, trying to get him deeper. He plunged and stroked it again. She shuddered and held still while he massaged it, caressed her into a pure orgasm that reached her very heart.
Her body convulsed and she lost control, crying his name, both names, over and over until he called her name in response and she felt him gush hot and wet, so far inside her he became a part of her.
She had no idea how much time passed but when she opened her eyes, they were lying on their sides, his body still embedded in hers. Still hard. Or maybe he’d hardened again. He gazed at her and she knew what he was about to say.
“I love you, Edie Howard.”
She didn’t need to hesitate. “I love you too.” She kissed him with such perfection she couldn’t believe she’d ever kissed anyone else before. “I always did love you right from the minute I saw you. But that doesn’t mean I’ll always do what you want.”
“I don’t want you to. I’d hate that.” He smiled and touched his lips to her cheek. “I’ll love you even if you decide to turn into a human Barbie.”
“How do you feel really about me having surgery?” She tried to keep the emotion out of her voice, not giving him clues to the answers she wanted.
He gazed at her, touched her face, trailed his fingers down to her throat in the caress she adored. “The real person Edie Howard is more beautiful than any of the other incarnations. Adelaide Howard and Sunset were, are, dreams, icons of perfection. But Edie is so much more. She’s lived, she’s loved and she is so strong that I catch my breath when I see her. Hey.” He caught her tear on his fingers. “Just ignore me. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
She watched the crystal droplet shimmer on his fingertip. “Good tears, my love. Good tears.”
About the Author
Lynne Connolly has been published for five years and in that time has won two Eppies and a number of other awards, Recommended Reads and other acknowledgements for her paranormal romances and historicals.
While these are very gratifying, that isn’t why she writes. She wants to bring the stories in her head to life and share them with others, in the hope she might then get some peace.
Writing is what she was doing while she was working, bearing children and doing the other boring things that constitute living. Her favorite writer’s motto is “I can use that.” She lives in the UK with her husband, children and cats, and her doll houses. Creating worlds, miniature or otherwise, seems to be Lynne’s specialty!
Lynne welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Lynne Connolly
Pure Wildfire 1: Sunfire
Pure Wildfire 2: Icefire
Pure Wildfire 3: Moonfire
Pure Wildfire 4: Thunderfire
Red Alert
Red Heat
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
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Beauty of Sunset Page 9