Echoes of the Heart by Alyssa J. Montgomery Read Free Book Online Page A

moulded her body to his, hands scorching her as they ran over the soft swell of her breasts, down over her waist and hips, pulling her forward slightly and lingering on the curve of her bottom. His touch was as sensual as she remembered.
    Way too much time had passed since she’d been in his arms and hadn’t held back. Reaching her arms up, she re-familiarised herself with the strength of the muscles of his shoulders and neck. Her fingers weaved through the thickness of his dark hair and she moaned into his mouth as the tip of his tongue ran across her lips.
    The sensation was divine.
    She pressed her hips into firmer contact with his. The rock-hard jut of his arousal pushed against the soft flesh of her abdomen, promising both pleasure and release. It had been so long since she’d been sexually aroused. Jake had been the only one to reduce her to a seething mass of frustrated hormones.
    Why hadn’t Jake been her husband?
    She stiffened in his arms and her eyes flew open. With a mammoth effort, she wrenched her head back, breaking contact with his lips. This was no dream. She stood at Waverley Cemetery secreted between massive crypts, having just buried the man she’d been married to for two years, and she was in another man’s arms.
    Jake’s arms.
    What was she doing?
    Overhead a seagull squawked as though it was castigating her for her weakness.
    For a few seconds, she was paralysed with shame. She hadn’t loved her husband, it was true, but to react to Jake’s kisses and his touch in this setting…
    Thank God the media helicopters weren’t around to film them.
    ‘Get away from me!’ she said, pushing on his solid chest.
    He didn’t budge so she took a step sideways and he watched her with wary eyes. His breath was laboured, his eyes still heavy with passion.
    ‘You want to be in my arms, Amanda,’ he argued. His voice was a mix of aggression and frustration. ‘You want to be in my bed.’
    ‘No,’ she said, knowing it was a lie. ‘You’re wrong. This was just...’ She waved her hands around as she sought for an explanation. ‘This was just a need for comfort after all I’ve been through. I don’t want you.’
    ‘Your responses say differently, my sinful lover. I’ve never forgotten the feel of your body wrapped around mine.’
    She told herself it wasn’t what she wanted. Not now. Not like this. What they shared had been based on a lie. What they could have had together was never attainable after everything that had happened. He was confusing her, toying with her. Hadn’t she just vowed she was in control of her own life now? Hadn’t she promised herself she wouldn’t be used again? ‘Please, Jake…’
    ‘I will please you,’ he said, determination etched in every feature of his handsome face, ‘just the way I always pleased you.’
    ‘That kiss was a huge mistake. I don’t know —’
    ‘You do know,’ he cut across her speech with impatience. ‘What do you hope to achieve by denying it?’ He reached out and caught her hair firmly in his hand, threading the blonde strands through his fingers.
    ‘I’m not thinking straight. I’m in shock. I’ve been under enormous strain.’
    He ignored her excuses. ‘I remember your little sighs of delight as I made love to you on the beach. They haunt me,’ he said raggedly. ‘I haven’t forgotten how beautiful you were, lying naked for me, your body bathed in the moonlight.’
    She shivered—part in apprehension and part in longing. Appalled by the extent of her craving for him, she fought to stop her body from leaning toward his.
    ‘No matter how many lovers you’ve had, Amanda, your body remembers my possession.’
    ‘Jake —’
    ‘I don’t like you, Amanda. I certainly don’t like my desire for you, but I’m honest enough to admit that I need to make love to you over and over again until my passion burns itself out. We’ll both be better off once we extinguish our need for each other.’
    Her heart filled with fresh