Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Her body quivered as it always did when his touches tempted, or his words excited. She didn’t say anymore, she hurried off and up to her room.
While her long, gray skirt was nice, she wished she had the little black dress she took everywhere with her when she traveled. She had two. One with long sleeves, low neckline, and snug to mid-thigh and the other was almost identical except it was sleeveless. Black high heel sandals went with it, both items fitting easily into her carry-on.
Carry-on!
She had brought her carry-on suitcase, and she hadn’t fully unpacked from her last trip. Could she have left the black dress in the zipper compartment in the back? She had thrown only a few things in the suitcase when she had packed for this short trip and had never bothered to check the back compartment.
She unzipped the section she had neglected to check before packing and smiled. Her long sleeve black dress and her shoe bag with the high-heel sandals were there. She pulled them out, shaking the few wrinkles as best she could from the black dress, then draping it over the chaise.
A smile spread across her face as she entered the bathroom to take a shower. At least she would leave him with a memory of her, that he just might not be able to forget.
Lara stared at herself in the mirror when she finished. She looked different. Did she dare say sexy? She had never thought of herself as sexy, but seeing herself now, she actually felt that she looked sexy. Or was it that she felt sexy, truly sexy, for the first time in her life?
It wasn’t her body that had changed; it was how she thought of herself that changed.
She wasn’t seeing her faults; she was viewing herself with confidence.
She ran her fingers through her auburn hair and gave it a shake, leaving it looking a bit untamed, and then she added a bright red lipstick to her lips. A last spritz of wild honey body spray and she went to join Michael for their last meal together.
His back was to her when she entered the formal dining room and she was glad of it, since the atmosphere caught her by surprise.
Romantic.
The whole room was scented with it; dim lighting, flickering candles, a fire crackling in the fireplace, a bottle of white wine chilling in a silver bucket, the table set for two with fine china and white linen napkins and soft strands of light classical music drifting in the air.
While it strummed her passion, it stirred her heart much more.
He turned then and seeing how his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw her was the best complaint she could have ever gotten.
“I’m rendered speechless. You’re too stunning for words.”
Okay, maybe that was the best complaint she had ever gotten.
He held his hand out to her and she walked over to him, wondering how he could appear more handsome each time she saw him. Of course the expensive black suit he wore with the cobalt blue shirt and black silk tie no doubt added to his good looks.
“That dress is lethal,” he said as he took her hand and drew her close. “And so are those red lips of yours. I’m going to enjoy kissing them bare.”
She playfully turned her head away when he went to kiss her. “And here I thought to paint your whole body with my red lips.”
He took hold of her chin and turned her face to claim a sharp kiss. “Tempt me with such an image and—” His eyes began to glow red and he quickly shut them.
Lara gulped back the lump that rose in her throat. She realized that he was fighting back his vampire side more and more when it came to sex. While she trusted him, she also thought it would be foolish of her to add to his struggle.
“Later,” she whispered, pressing her hand to his chest.
His eyes opened to reveal a spattering of red that faded more slowly than usual. “You can count on it.”
He held out the chair for her to sit and he took the seat at the head of the table. Conversation flowed naturally between them as it always did. They never seemed to lack something to discuss. Tales of his travels fascinated her, and tales of her work intrigued him. And always underlying their discussions, or anything they did, was intimacy.
It came in a simple touch, a laugh, a smile, an unexpected kiss, a playful poke, or a look that had them both knowing that soon, very soon, they would make love.
It was a lovely meal, though Lara wasn’t concerned with the meal as much as she was with the time left to her with Michael. She had been enjoying herself so much that she hadn’t realized several hours had passed, bringing morning that much closer.