Finger Prints by Barbara Delinsky

Author:Barbara Delinsky [Delinsky, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780061841187
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2009-10-09T07:00:00+00:00

FINGER PRINTS / 255

“It’s all right,” he soothed, his eyes worshipping her with the love he’d professed. A soft smile broke through the darkness of his beard. “Don’t say anything. Just know what I feel. Okay?”

It was his expression, so deep and filled with adoration, that stifled her fear. In his arms she felt safe and protected and, yes, loved, as she’d never felt before. For the moment she couldn’t think to question that love or to brood on its ramifications. The here and now were far too precious. Very slowly joy spread through her, bringing a soft smile to her lips.

“Okay,” she whispered. As Ryan relaxed back on the rug, she closed her eyes and nestled against his chest. Gradually the heartbeat by her ear steadied and her own pulse slowed.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he murmured, deep in thought, hypnotized by the low flicker of flame in the hearth and the sacred warmth of the woman in his arms. He shifted her gently to better hold her. “I had it all planned. We were going to sit by the fire and talk, drink a little champagne and usher in the New Year simply enjoying each other’s company.” He looked down at her. “Because I do. I do enjoy your company.” When she propped her chin on his chest and sent him a chiding look that said she’d caught him with his hand in the cookie jar, he had the good grace to blush. “I mean, sure, I wanted to make love to you, but if you hadn’t wanted to we could have just lain here all night and I would have been happy.”

Given the urgency of his tone, Carly half believed him. “I wouldn’t have been, but thank you for saying that,” she whispered.

He squeezed her. “What do you mean, you wouldn’t have been? Was my body the only reason you came up here with me?”

256 / BARBARA DELINSKY

She rubbed her flushed cheek against his chest. Her laugh was warm and soft against his skin. “Of course not. But I knew what to expect. I knew it was inevitable. I wanted it.”

Facing him again, she was suddenly serious. “I’ve never been this way with anyone, Ryan. I mean, there haven’t been many men, any men other than my husband, and even with him I wasn’t this way.”

His heart soared. “What way?” he asked softly, needing to hear it from her.

She averted her eyes, shy in the face of his soul-searching gaze. “Forward. Aggressive. I’ve never undressed a man.”

A ripple of fire surged through him, and he hugged her.

“God, you’re amazing!” he growled. “And there I was thinking you were reticent!”

She had nothing to say to that. The fact was that Ryan brought out things in her she hadn’t known existed. Already she was tingling inside again. She slid her foot down his calf, sandwiching her leg between his two. Her hand moved gently across his chest. She savored the sensation of his firm skin, his soft pelt of hair beneath her fingertips.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.