Grounded by R. K. Lilley Read Free Book Online Page B

stifle the urge to tell him that they seemed to share a taste in women.   I told myself firmly that it wouldn’t be a constructive thing to say.   There was a lot about his past that I would need to overlook if we were going to have any hope of staying together.   And as long as it really was the past, I thought I could learn to deal, though his explanation troubled me on a number of levels.  
    I was silent for a long time while I examined my own thoughts, and finished getting ready for bed.  
    James didn’t appreciate me keeping my own council.   “Tell me what you’re thinking,” he burst out finally.   “Are you upset?”  
    I went into the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth.   James dogged my footsteps the entire time, trouble in those brilliant eyes that never left my face.
    I was climbing onto the bed when I finally answered.   “I guess I’m just a little surprised with you, that after all of that, you were still seeing her just a day before I met you.   I’m not upset, just — is it so hard for you to stay away from her?”  
    I was glancing at him only as I finished speaking, but I clearly saw him flinch.  
    “It’s not like you’re thinking.   I don’t know if you’ll think it’s better or worse, but I didn’t continue to see her for all that time because I couldn’t stay away.   It’s sort of the opposite.   We had preferences in common, but I never even liked her.   I’ve known from the start that she was mercenary.   Perhaps not the extent of it until she went after Scott, but I realized at least enough to know, that I could never care for her.   I saw her because I needed an outlet for the things I do, and at my worst, I thought that we deserved each other.   I didn’t even contact her that often, only when I was between subs and in a particularly dark mood.   Most of the time she wasn’t even allowed to talk — “
    I held up a hand, having heard more than enough.   “I don’t think I can bear to hear those kinds of details.   One last question, and then I’ll drop it.   Why does Scott still call her his wife?”  
    He grimaced.   “Scott never got over her.   He never saw her as she is. He just sees the package, and the fact that she’s insatiabl — “
    I held up that hand again.   “Please.”  
    He brushed my hair from my face.   I saw his tan throat work as he swallowed hard, leaning over me.   “I’m sorry.   I don’t mean to be insensitive.   It’s hard to explain these things without touching on sensitive things.”
    “As long as I don’t have to hear any more about her sensitive things,” I said wryly.
    He grinned.   “You know I’m only interested in your sensitive things.”
    I wrinkled my nose at him.
    “Too soon to joke about it?” he asked.
    I nodded.  
    He sighed.   “Anyway, word is that they remarried a few weeks ago.   Poor bastard.   She’s going to wring him out to dry.   Nothing I can do about it, though I did try to warn him.   And I didn’t lose control, Bianca, not like you’re thinking.   He took a swing at me, he missed, and I didn’t.   They were escorted off the premises.   They won’t be allowed back on.   Anything else you need to know?”
    I shook my head.   A part of me could have questioned him all night.   Everything about him interested me, from his past to his present, and the masochist in me wanted to know every little detail.   I knew what I needed to know, though, and that would have to be enough.
    He did his kinky doctor routine, examining every inch of me, and then massaging my body slowly and carefully.   I was well-sated from the afternoon’s vigorous activities, but I still wanted him again by the time he finished.
    He studied my back for a very long time, but said nothing, just softly kissing the marks he had left there with the black and blue roses.  
    I felt like I’d slept the day away, but somehow I felt myself drifting off even as he tended to me.   He