Let Me In by Carolyn Faulkner Read Free Book Online Page A

beautiful face and trying to fold her arms over her chest, but he was holding her much too tightly for that. Damn him! He knew how much she loved it when he contracted his arms around her ribcage to just shy of pain, knew how safe and secure that made her feel.
    It was such an easy thing for him to do, that he did it quite often, liking the way it seemed to settle and center her, somehow, as if being held that way forced her to abandon her sometimes prickly tendencies in favor of allowing herself to feel – even just for these briefest of moments – that she was safe and secure. He would love to have deluded himself into thinking that she felt that way all the time with him. That was part of his overall goals for her and their relationship – to get her so that she could relax and let him take care of her, to know that he would lay down his life without a moment's hesitation to ensure her safety.
    But those were big concepts that were, realistically probably a ways off from being dealt with. Right now he was just trying to help her – one way or the other – to find some measure of happiness with their new arrangement, although he didn't think that she was anywhere near as happy with it as he was.
    She wasn't looking at him, which he knew from experience meant that she was probably going to tell him something that was going to get her into trouble, or at the very least was something she didn't much want to tell him. "Answer me, Miranda, what did you do – or didn't you do that you were supposed to?"
    She fiddled with the top buttons of his dress shirt and bit her lip.
    Oh, this was not going to be good, he could tell.
    "I cancelled the rest of the renovation," she whispered, her body tense in his arms.
    It was a simple matter for Mace to lift her off her feet, and despite how annoyed he was at her, her small, helpless "oof" when he did so went directly to his genitals, which had been in a perpetually semi-aroused state since she'd agreed to the twist he wanted to implement in their relationship, forcing his cock to try to burgeon against the confines of his underwear and the zipper of his suit pants, with only moderate success. "Look at me."
    When he spoke in that tone, she knew better than to try to evade obeying him and her eyes did meet his, although he didn't like the uncertainty, the hesitation, he saw there. It made his heart contract painfully. Even if she had been naughty, he didn't like her feeling as if she had to be afraid of him in any way. He knew that this was a leftover from that bastard in her past – the one he knew had truly hurt her, although he didn't know the specifics about how and he was quite sure he probably didn't want to know.
    "Why did you do that?" The question was asked entirely without rancor, almost too neutral for her comfort.
    She shrugged, barely able to move that much within the strong confines of his arms, her eyes already having wandered away from his nervously. "I didn't like you going to all of that expense for me. It's unnecessary."
    Mace knew exactly to what she was referring. It had been a bone of contention between them since he'd suggested it. He reached up to cup the back of her head in one big palm, forcing her to look at him. "And was that your decision to make, little one?"
    Although she appreciated the endearment, she didn't like being reminded by it of just how physically vulnerable she was to him. She was already at his mercy – her feet dangling a foot or so off the floor simply because he was hugging her. "No," she answered truthfully but with understandable reluctance. "But you ought to be thankful. I'm saving you money."
    He didn't look thankful, although he did have a small, wry smile on his face. "I refer you to my last question. Whose decision was it to make about whether or not we were going to have skylights in your studio?"
    "It should be mine, though!" she protested loudly, bringing her leg back to kick him in the shin in frustration, but the smile had