Enraptured by Ginger Voight Read Free Book Online Page A

spite of myself. He repeated the action with the other strap. His fingers trailed my bare shoulder. “So lovely,” he said so softly it was like a cool breeze against my skin.
    I looked up into his eyes. I knew this was my moment of truth. My hands shook as I pulled the tank top over my head. I tossed it onto the hammock. He hadn’t moved an inch. He simply watched and waited. I reached behind me to unhook my bra, and quickly discarded it as well.
    His jaw clenched as he watched me wiggle out of my shorts and my underwear. I finally stood before him, as bare as he was, as naked as I had ever felt in my life. His fingers curled around my neck as he brought me closer for a kiss. He groaned deep in his throat as I submitted immediately, and his other hand slipped behind my shoulder, down the slope of my back and the swell of my hip.
    I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me easily into his arms. The closer we got to the water’s edge, the stronger the tremor in my body. Just the sound of the waves rendered me paralyzed in his embrace. Drew strode purposefully through the shallow water. He didn’t stop until he was waist deep in the clear turquoise sea. My teeth clattered as I shook against him. I wasn’t sure what was more terrifying… the ocean before us, or the man who held me powerfully in his arms.
    He eased me onto my feet. The water was cold enough to take my breath away, and Drew was quick to wrap me in his embrace. “Look at me,” he commanded quietly.
    My eyes met his as he led us out another few feet. I could feel the ocean lift me and panic started to rise.
    “Don’t fight it, Rachel,” he said in that same strong, low voice. “Submit. And trust.”
    I was having trouble with both commands the further we got from the shore. I fought off a panic attack as the sand disappeared beneath my feet. He kept us both afloat, his eyes locked on my face. As he pulled me down to dunk us both underwater, I resisted immediately. “I’m scared,” I squeaked.
    “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said. “Believe in me, Rachel.” Gently he pulled me below the water’s surface. Unlike Alex, he didn’t immediately release me again. He kept us underwater until I was forced to look at him. His eyes were almost as clear as the sea in which we were submerged.
    As we broke the surface , his mouth landed hard on mine, clutching me to his hard silhouette while one hand tangled into my wet hair.
    It was all too much. The swell of the ocean made me queasy as I fought off several panic attacks at once. I was terrified of the water, of Drew, of the life ahead of me, and the crooked road behind me that led me to it.
    He miraculously took mercy on me, as if he could tell how overwhelmed I was. He swam us back to the shore, and laid me right along the edge of the water to catch my breath. He lifted up on his elbow to look down at my face. “You okay?”
    I nodded but my teeth chattered. I watched as his eyes traveled along the peaks and valleys of my wet body. His palm spread out against my stomach. He bent to deliver a kiss there so gentle I barely felt it.
    “It’s amazing,” he said softly, almost to himself. “Within you grows new life, just beginning,” he added with an absent smile. “It is a clean slate. A new chance.” He caressed my stomach with a gentle touch. “I won’t make the same mistakes. That is my promise to you, Rachel.”
    It was a moment of unexpected intimacy and vulnerability. In that moment, I saw the Drew he could be – the Drew I had long ago learned to love. I touched his wet hair with my hand. “Ditto.”
    His eyes met mine. I pulled him down for a tender kiss. There were no demands as our lips met and our mouths merged. We lay on the edge of the surf together, taking the time to acclimate ourselves to each other again. His fingers were feather-light as they danced across my body , but he did not push or coerce. He merely touched me and I allowed myself to be