Winston, Anne Marie - [Family Secrets 02] by [..]

Author:.. [..]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-07-18T03:18:35+00:00

Chapter Eight

"Why don't I take you to your room?" Kurt put his own shirt and shoes on, then helped her to her feet and slipped her dress over her head. After she stepped into her sandals, he led her back through the hotel to the elevators that took them to her floor. Gretchen merely stood at his side like a mannequin the entire time, moving only when his hand on her elbow urged her forward.

When he opened her room door, he gestured for her to precede him, then followed her in and let the door shut behind him. "Gretchen?"

She turned slowly, and when she met his eyes, her own were dull with anxiety. "I'll be all right," she said in a monotone.

He was willing to bet that was a lie, so he ignored her words and crossed the room, drawing her into his arms. "It's okay to cry," he murmured, rubbing her back.

"I don't want to cry," she muttered against his chest. "I want to remember."

For a long moment, there was silence in the room, broken only by the light sound of their breathing.

Kurt stroked her back and skimmed his hand lightly over her dark hair. "You'll remember when you're ready to," he finally said.

Gretchen drew away from him a little. "You must think I'm a pitiful thing," she said. "Afraid of fire, afraid of water, panic attacks, can't remember a third of my life..." She laughed but the sound was bitter. "Believe it or not, I was self-sufficient, well-organized and reasonably unflappable until I started having these memory flashes."

"Until I came along." The realization made him wince.

She looked shocked. "Oh, I'm not blaming you. You're just the messenger." She took a deep breath. "You've been much kinder than I suspect many people would have been."

"Kindness isn't what's motivating me." He leaned forward and brushed his mouth lightly along her temple. What a dumb thing that had been to say, he berated himself. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he was being nice to her to get her to sleep with him. Sure, he'd die a happy man if he ever got her into his bed, but that wasn't what he'd meant.

He couldn't examine the words too closely. Exactly what had he meant? He hoped like hell she didn't ask him.

Gretchen was still gazing up at him, a puzzled frown on her face. When she frowned, her full lower lip pouted in what he could only say was an incredibly erotic way, and he struggled to resist the urge to bend and put his mouth over hers.

Instead, he drew her with him to the love seat and sat down. She needed comfort right now, not a sex-crazed maniac. He patted his knees. "Here. Sit down."

Gretchen looked at him doubtfully. "I'm too heavy."

He laughed. "I could hold two of you. Come here."

She angled herself and sat reluctantly, perching gingerly on his knees. She was so clearly uncomfortable that he was abruptly reminded of her unusual past. For the first time he began to understand what her adolescence must have been like.

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