Forget Me Not by Shannon K. Butcher Read Free Book Online

done in a long time.
    With Toren, she didn’t have to feel guilty or worry that he’d develop false expectations. He was leaving. He wouldn’t be around long enough for her to really learn to care for him. It was temporary. Fleeting. Safe.
    But not meaningless. To her, feeling this again—feeling alive again—had more meaning than he would ever know.
    Deep, aching want unfurled inside of her, giving her courage she never would have otherwise had. For all she knew, he’d be gone in a few hours. She wasn’t going to waste her one chance for a guilt-free fling.
    “Are you married?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “Seeing someone?”
    “I see you, Adreeahbenwah.” The way he said it, the way he looked at her as if she were the only thing that mattered, made her toes curl and her heart beat a little faster.
    “I mean is there another woman in your life? Someone back home who would be upset with you for the way you’re looking at me now?”
    “There is no one.” A dark smile drew her attention to his mouth. The indentation in his upper lips was deep, accentuating its fullness.
    The need to run her finger along that dent and feel if his mouth was softer than the rest of him sent an itchy restlessness speeding through her.
    Her insides trembled. She hadn’t yet done anything she couldn’t take back. A bit of teasing, a whole pile of lust, but nothing irrevocable.
    Adria so desperately wanted to do something irrevocable with Toren.
    His gaze had not left her while she warred with indecision. “And how is it that I look at you, Adreeahbenwah?”
    She loved the way he said her name, like it was all one word—the way he lingered over each syllable as if enjoying the feel of it against his tongue.
    “You look at me as if the rest of the world could fall away and you wouldn’t notice.”
    “That sounds like a dangerous way to feel,” he said, but he didn’t deny it.
    “It’s certainly a dangerous way to look at me.”
    “And why is that?”
    “Because you’re making me consider things I should not be considering.”
    He lifted a dark brow. “I would like to hear these things.”
    Maybe, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to say them. He made her quiver inside. He stole her breath. She wasn’t going to give him the added ammunition of her fantasies.
    “I think that’s a bad idea,” she told him.
    He loomed over her. She needed to stand and close the distance, but she worried that her traitorous knees would buckle. If they did and she ended up in his arms again, she knew how this would end. She’d take what she so desperately wanted—what he seemed willing to give—and nothing else would ever be the same again.
    Was that such a bad thing? Was her life really such a pile of roses and sunshine that a change—nearly any change—wouldn’t be an improvement?
    Not even close.
    Before Adria could change her mind, she surged to her feet and launched herself at him. He caught her easily, not even swaying as her body met his. She had no idea what would happen next, or how he would react, but that merely added another layer of excitement.
    She kissed him, and for a moment, his hesitation gave her pause. Did his kind kiss? Did it mean something different to him than it did to her?
    With a low sound of surrender, Toren kissed her back, and all those questions hovering in her mind were washed away by the sheer force of his enthusiasm.
    One hand cupped her bottom, lifting her higher to reach just the right angle. He tilted his head and his lips parted to let in a deep breath. Adria took advantage of the opportunity and slipped the tip of her tongue along the inside of his upper lip, right where the firm, hot skin of his lips met the soft, wet contours of his mouth.
    Whether he’d never kissed before, or simply hadn’t kissed like this, she wasn’t sure, but what she did know was that his reaction was immediate and almost violent in its haste.
    He bore her down to the couch, his heavy body pressing her into the soft