Read Sweets to the Sweet for Free Online

to say. “I love this place,” she said lightly. “All the time I was growing up, I loved traveling and never really missed having a home. But since Mari…”
    “You picked a beautiful site. Come here, Laura.”
    She smiled, a cool, bright smile that denied the strange little shiver that raced up her spine. Come here, Laura. That was all he’d said. Nothing…dangerous.
    “It probably would have been more practical simply to find another apartment in New York, but…” She saw his hand reach out to her in the darkness, and smiled brilliantly again. “I wanted a home. Something of my own. My grandmother set up a trust for me, so I could afford it. Between that money and the fees I earn from my work—”
    His hand closed on hers, pulled her inexorably closer. She suddenly couldn’t remember what she’d been talking about. He looked down at her for a long moment, and then simply wrapped his arms around her. He smelled like the wine, like wind. Laura stiffened, feeling awkward and strange and…helpless. Human contact could be so terribly comforting. A hug. The warmth of arms around her. She’d been alone for months now, and afraid of so many things.
    His heart ticked with the steadiness of a clock in the darkness. His white shirt was soft against her cheek. The warmth of his body protected her from the night’s chill. “Lord, you feel good,” he murmured.
    Long, firm fingers stole under her hair, and his thumb soothingly rubbed the tense cord of the nape of her neck. Where an overt pass would have freed her to move away, his gentle touch hypnotized, disarmed. “We’ve both been alone,” he whispered. “I don’t mean away from people, I just mean…alone. Temporarily uprooted, changing our lives…I know what it feels like, Laura.”
    She tilted her head back. Her skin was so soft, her eyes so luminous. Owen sensed her wariness, and summoned thirty-three years of willpower to keep from kissing those delicately curled lips…but lost. His mouth hovered, then blocked the streak of silver moonlight on her face. Cool and smooth, his lips covered hers lightly. A kiss of softness, of hello, of simple sharing.
    Slow and shy, her hands gradually moved to his waist, seeking something to hold on to. Laura, don’t be a fool. She heard the voice and ignored it. Owen was warmth and strength; this was just a lost moment in time; and as long as she felt nothing sexual…it was all right. Surely there was nothing so terrible in needing to be held?
    His lips strayed from her mouth to her cheek, into her hair. The wind died; the rustle of leaves stilled above their heads. The hush was sudden and soft and…alluring. The tips of her breasts just grazed his chest; her skirt brushed his thighs, teasing her into awareness. Then his lips pressed against hers again, this time not quite so gently. This time he deliberately made her aware of the shape of his mouth, the taste of him, the coaxing seductive power of a man who knew how to kiss.
    Once, she had, too. Once, she’d blithely invited kisses, the primal tease and parry of tongues. Once, she’d believed herself a vibrantly sexual woman, relieved to be married, so she could unashamedly express that secret well of sensuality without fear.
    She knew better now. She knew better than to relinquish an ounce of control over her emotions; it was easier to feel nothing. But Owen…his lips kept rubbing over hers, coaxing a response she knew wasn’t there. She didn’t want it there, yet her heart was suddenly pounding, an ache welling up inside her that was impossibly huge and thick and painful…
    She was no child, no virgin anymore. She knew what he wanted. His mouth was hungry, lonely, reminding her that nights alone could be endless. Her hands climbed his arms, tightly clutched his shoulders, and suddenly she was wildly kissing him back. Trembling lips sought the security of his, possession by his. Anything that would make that terrible ache go away.
    Owen’s tongue drove deeper