A Night With Consequences by Margaret Mayo Read Free Book Online Page B

her breath away. She wanted him to kiss her—really kiss her. Something she had shied away from all her life. She had shied away from any sort of contact with a man.
    But Blake was more than just a man! She closed her eyes and thought about what it would be like for him to kiss her. Would it be light and sweet, or deep and tempestuous? Would it fill her with pleasure or dread? She felt him move and guessed that he was going to put her away from him, move back to the other sofa—with the coffee pot between them. And her heart suddenly ached.
    But then she discovered that he was simply positioning himself more comfortably in order
to
kiss her. It was a gentle kiss, an experimental kiss, but the touch of his lips on hers was like lighting the touchpaper on a firework. It fizzed quietly at first, but then explodedinto a galaxy of sparks and showers, of crackling noises and body-tingling sensations.
    Sensations such as she had never experienced before. Stimulation such as she had never experienced before.
Whoa!
she thought. What was happening here? How could a simple kiss create such strong feelings? Except that it was not simple. It was a complex kiss, one that spun into every corner of her body, creating tingles and hunger and all sorts of crazy emotions. It was like pins and needles everywhere.
    She was afraid to open her eyes and look at him. This was a man of the world who had made love to endless women. Experienced women. Women who would readily respond. Whereas all she was doing was submitting. It would hardly be enough for him.
    But letting him know what he was doing to her, what was happening to her, felt frighteningly like revealing her soul. Shame suddenly crept over her, shame that she was allowing the kiss, and she struggled to free herself.
    Immediately Blake let her go. ‘I’m sorry, Kara, I thought you were ready for this. I want to help you—if I may be permitted to do so? Not all men are the same. You need to know that. There are some good guys around.’
    Finally she looked at him. And what she saw in his face was nothing but compassion. He was not judging her or comparing her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, her voice no more than a husky whisper now. ‘It’s just that I’m not used to—’
    ‘I know and I understand. I’m sorry I misjudged thetiming,’ he said gruffly. ‘Go to your room if you want to.’ And he did indeed look truly sorry. Sad, even.
    Kara did not want to leave; she did not want to be alone—not yet. She wanted to feel Blake’s strong arms around her again. They had held comfort and—and something else she could not put a name to. ‘Will you—will you just hold me?’ she asked, feeling tears gathering in her eyes.
    His answer was to pull her gently against him, his arms folding round her. How long they sat there like that Kara did not know, but it felt like a very long time. She could feel the regular beat of his heart and peace stole over her until gradually she felt completely at ease with him.
    The threatened tears never materialized, and when she eventually went back to her room she felt like a new woman. She even—and this thought really scared her—wondered what it would feel like to have Blake in bed beside her. Except that she knew it would be hard for him, if not impossible, to sleep with her and not want to make love. But she was not ready for that yet.
    Her mind was slowly adjusting to the idea that such a relationship could work without her feeling that she was doing something wrong, something her father would not approve of. But he had been such a big influence in her life that it was too soon yet to let go of the old and welcome the new.
    At least she was getting there.
    Blake’s eyes caught Kara’s as she joined the conference the next day. Her confession last night had knocked him for six. Any man who hurt a woman, whether it wasphysically or verbally, was the lowest of the low as far as he was concerned. And her father’s abuse had certainly left Kara with