Harlequin Desire November 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: The Secret Heir of Sunset Ranch\Claiming His Own\Expecting a Bolton Baby by Charlene Sands

Author:Charlene Sands
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Seven

Maksim sighed as he gazed out his bedroom window.

Not that it was really his, just the suite he occupied when he stayed here. The one he’d had as a child he’d turned into part of a living area his mother used for her weekly gatherings with her various public-work committees. His mother had given Caliope and Leonid the suite across from him.

He’d almost moved out when she had.

Being in constant proximity to Caliope during the day was something he could relish...and withstand. During the nights, to feel her so close, to visualize her going about her nightly routines was sheer torture.

That first night, he’d lain in bed imagining he could hear her showering, feel the steam rising to shroud her lush body, the lather sliding tantalizingly over her every swell and into her every dip, the water sluicing over her curves, washing suds away. Then he’d seen her drying her hair until it cascaded around her smooth shoulders in a glossy mass, applying lotion to her velvet flesh, slipping into a silky nightgown, sinking into bed between the covers with a sigh of pleasure. All those things he’d so many times done for her as she’d surrendered to his ministrations, as he’d pampered her, indulged her, possessed her all through that magical year. Exquisite pleasures he’d never have the privilege of having again.

He’d woken up aching, wrecked, intending to hole up somewhere on the far side of the mansion. But she’d exited her bedroom suite at that same moment, a smile of pure joy flashing at the sight of him, and he’d known. He’d put up with any level of frustration and agony for the possibility of a moment like this.

The last time he’d stayed here had been six months ago, when he’d finally succumbed to his mother’s fretting and had come visiting her. He’d tried everything to put off that visit, hating to let her see him in his condition back then.

She’d been horrified when she’d laid eyes on him, but she’d thought he was just desolate over Mikhail’s death. He’d let her think that. It had given her hope he’d eventually climb out of the abyss of despair and regain his health. He hadn’t even thought of telling her the truth.

Then a miracle had happened. He’d reached out to Caliope, and though she’d refused to let him back into her own life, to bestow her intimacy on him again, she’d let him into her precious family unit with Leo. Beyond all expectations, she had given him a closeness he’d never thought possible to have with her, or with anyone else after Mikhail.

She’d become his friend, his ally, when before she’d only been his lover. Every minute with her made him realize how much he’d been missing—with her, in life. He couldn’t help but keep envisioning how much deeper it could all be if she let him cross that final barrier into passion once more.

But he would never ask for it. What she continued to give him was enough, more than enough.

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