Page 29 (1/2)

He grinned "No way I’ you I want to see if you can come with me inside of you"

As she had experienced exactly one serious sexual encounter in her life, she wasto play "Tell s"

An excellent quality in a ot up and stripped off the rest of his clothes But before htstand drawer and pulled out a condom

Claire’s stomach clenched Protection It’s what any sensible person would use, under the circumstances But it reminded her of the last time, when he hadn’t and the fact that there was a teeny, tiny chance she was pregnant

She pushed the thought from her mind Noas not the time to deal with that, she told herself as he knelt between her legs He braced himself with his arms and slowly slipped inside of her

It was ht as she parted more for him He filled her all the hich was incredibly intiain, he straightened and, while still inside of her, reached between their bodies and began to touch her

His fingers found her center and rubbed it He circled and pressed in a steady rhythhtened her roan

"You can feel that?" she asked

"Oh, yeah"

Cool She liked that she could , then the tension increased and it was ood she felt

He touched her with a sureness that allowed her to relax She closed her eyes and gave herself over to theinside of her She felt htly and nored the sound

Over and over, he touched her Circling, brushing, ain and again She got closer, then had the urge to ainst hihtly, then pushing back in Closer, she thought frantically She was getting closer and closer She strained to part her legs more, to have him touch all of her She rocked her head fro inside her went still again

There was a single heartbeat, then she shattered into her clax He continued to touch her, whileher forward on a tide she couldn’t control She groaned her release, breathing his naain

Then he wasn’t touching her with his fingers He’d knelt over and began to fully move in and out She hadn’t knohat to expect…but what stunned her as in rhyth to kill her, but what a way to go

She was still claxing when he shuddered and was still He collapsed on his side, pulling her with hi hard, holding on to each other as if they were never going to let go

THE SUNRISE STARTED shortly before six Claire knew because she and Wyatt were already in the kitchen,coffee She wore one of his soft, war else She felt sexy and wicked and more satisfied than she’d ever felt in her life

She leaned against the counter while he turned on the machine, then put his hands on her waist and drew her close"You’re always beautiful," he "

"Thank you," she said, knowing she wasn’t Not really But if he thought she was, she wouldn’t do any co

He slipped his hands under the shirt and touched her bare waist She began to tingle in anticipation But instead of exploring further, he released her and tucked her hair behind her ears

"You’re going to have to be careful when you go back to New York," he said

"Go back?"

"Won’t you? Eventually?"

She’d never thought about it specifically "I guess My apartment is there My career" Her life had been, until recently Now she was less sure

"You’ll need to learn how to protect yourself You’re going to be dating and when the o out with find out about your financial success, you run the risk of thee of you You’ll need to be careful"

Claire didn’t knohat to say There were so many assumptions in his little speech, where was she supposed to start?

"I don’t know that I’ll be dating," she said, finding that the easiest one to address

"What man could resist you?" he asked

Good answer, but still "Why would I pick so that they’re bastards"

"You’d never wantabout uy? Because they weren’t going to be going out anyuy you met on vacation I live in Seattle I have a kid You live in New York and travel the world"

Meaning, what? They had nothing in common? It would never work? She felt a sharp pain in her chest and it had nothing to do with being scared or worrying about a panic attack

"I want the best for you," he told her "I don’t want you to get hurt or have regrets"

Too late for that, she thought, as the truth crashed into her She was already in a world of pain Wyatt had been straightforith her fro and take care of her It didn’t occur to hih to insist she stay, no istics Someone ould love her…the way she loved him

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

NICOLE DID HER BEST not to spend thestuck in the house, tired of being the one left behind Last night Claire had gone off to conquer her fears so she could return to her exciting life in New York She’d also had fabulously hot sex with Wyatt It wasn’t that Nicole cared about Claire sleeping with Wyatt specifically, it’s just that she was soon-to-be divorced, unlikely to trust ato ever have sex again She wasn’t the type to si All she had to show for the last three , backstabbing baby sister and two ugly scars

She slumped down on the sofa and tried to tell herself the neasn’t all bad She and Claire had reconciled"Now that I like her, I know she’s going back to New York," Nicolecrabbier by the second "Then I’ll be all alone again"

She hated feeling like this and illing to risk watching daytie her mood But before she could reach for the clicker, she heard a knock at the door