Anew: The Epilogue Read Free Page B

nipple.
    “You present something of a problem, Mrs. Slade.”
    “A problem? Why--?” My voice catches.
    His finger continues circling my nipple, the touch is almost
leisurely yet so potent that I feel it at the core of my being.
    “Because,” he says, “I’m caught between wanting to cherish
and protect you versus…”
    His eyes go smoky, hinting at wildfires raging behind them.
    “Versus what?” I murmur.
    “Let’s just say that you have the starring role in every one
of my fantasies.” He leans closer, his breath brushing the shell of my ear. “And
I think some of them would shock you, even now.”
    “T-they would?” I stutter in surprise. Just what does he
have in mind? I’m not sure that my imagination can stretch that far. Although
it’s certainly more than willing to try.
    But for the moment…
    “Take off your shoes,” he says.
    I obey and am rewarded when he drops a light kiss on my lips
before slowly moving down the length of my body until finally he is kneeling at
my feet. The sight of this proud, indomitable man in that position takes my
breath away.
    I’m shaking with need, afraid that my legs won’t hold, as he
tucks his fingers beneath the lacy edge of one of my thigh highs, kisses the
tender flesh just above it, and carefully peels the stocking down my leg and
off. The other follows slowly enough that before he’s done, I’m quaking all
over.
    Looking up at me with blazing amber eyes, he says, “I want
to taste every inch of you.” The tip of his tongue glides over his lips in
anticipation.
    With agile grace, he gets to his feet, his hands skimming
over my body from my ankles upward as though he can’t bear to interrupt our
skin-to-skin contact. His fingers splay over my thighs, his thumbs pushing
between them to part my sex and stroke me.
    A ripple of almost unbearable pleasure begins just above
where he is touching and blossoms outward into every cell of my body.
Incredibly despite my recent orgasm, I already feel as though I’m about to come
again.
    The experience of being so acutely sensitive to him makes me
feel stripped bare not merely physically but in every possible way.
Instinctively, I grasp at a little space for myself, a moment in which to
recover some scrap of equilibrium.
    I turn quickly toward the bathroom. Ian is bigger, faster,
and far more used to asserting himself physically than I am. That being the
case, I’m not above getting any edge that I can, including a head start.
    “Race you to the shower,” I say and sprint for it.
    I reach the spacious ivory-and-vermilion bathroom first. Bypassing
the sunken tub where I’m looking forward to a long, hot soak later, I open the
glass door to the large shower. Steaming water gushes instantly from
half-a-dozen strategically placed jets. I step under them and groan softly as
muscles I hadn’t realized were knotted begin to unclench.
    Ian saunters in a moment later and joins me. He tilts his
face up to one of the jets and closes his eyes as the water runs over him. I
stare at him unabashedly, still marveling that after everything we have been
through, he is here with me.
    At the thought of how close all of this came to not
happening, my throat tightens. He came so close to dying… That the man
responsible for that is now dead himself doesn’t erase the terror and dread
that etched themselves into my soul. I still blame myself for Ian being in such
danger to start with.
    The combination of painful memory and lingering guilt proves
to be too much. Tears mingle suddenly with the water on my cheeks. I turn my
head away, struggling to get myself under control before Ian sees. But it’s
already too late.
    “Amelia, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
    His concern is instant and intense. Before I can search for an
answer that I don’t really have, he gathers me to him. Nestled against his
chest, within the protective circle of his arms, I give into the emotions that
I have held at bay for too long. Finally, I’m safe and secure