No Holds Barred (9 page)

They hadn’t had phone sex for the past year. What they’d had was phone dating. They’d laughed over their lives, commiserated over their troubles and fallen in love long-distance. When he’d called her
Ella my love
it had seemed normal, playful, just something Jake would do. She’d gone into the week thinking of it as a pocket of pleasure she could remember, had waited for the signal to run, expected it and given in to the familiar pattern. It was time for a new pattern.

She went to the spa and had the works for a day—facial, manicure, pedicure, highlights, massage and makeup. It wasn’t for him, it was for her. She was totally, blissfully in love and she was going to experience every wonderful minute of it. Jake had seen her in her rawest form and she could still remember the look of absolute adoration in his eyes. All she’d had to do was show up.

She spent the entire hour before she saw him again smiling into every mirror she passed and if she really wanted to feel good, she played his phone messages back while she did it. Every time he said she owed him the rest of her life she started thinking about all of the experiences they’d yet to explore.

He sent a car, a black limo. He could have sent a rickshaw and she’d have gone even though the October mist would have kinked her hair into a thousand unruly curls. It wouldn’t have been anything he hadn’t seen before.

She arrived at Snap!, the same gallery where they’d met, wearing the same black dress but this time she’d added a red silk embroidered shawl with a fringe the exact color of the ties she’d used to bind him during their five days of unbridled-no-hold-barred-anything-goes sex. The doorman nodded and opened the door for her.

Ella’s three-inch heels clicked on the tiled entryway, echoing down the dimly lit narrow hallway into the main room. She stopped and caught her breath. His tux was classic black, his tie, the blood red of her shawl. He was smiling that Viking marauder
you’re mine
smile that made her crazy with lust, standing in the center of the softly lit room, a familiar determined glint lighting his blue-gray eyes. She’d missed him so much.

“Happy Birthday, Ella,” he said, his deep voice echoing through the room where she’d first seen Jake
Truhorn
.

The main room of the gallery where they stood was lined with paintings of her, reclining nude on the lovely antique chaise, lounging in a Roman bath, naked in a meadow, sunshine illuminating her like some woodland goddess. There were large ones, small ones, long narrow ones, all wearing the same smile. He’d gotten her mouth right. He’d gotten everything right and if he wanted to show them to the world, she couldn’t be prouder.

“They’re so beautiful.”

“I wanted you to have something to remember this birthday by. Something you could look at when I’m obsessed with a project and forget to tell you how much I love you.”

She hadn’t planned on crying. The truth was she rarely cried. Tears clogged her throat and she shook her head. “I see that in every painting here. No one has ever seen me the way you see me, Jake
Truhorn
. And no one has forced me to take a good look at myself in a very long time. How did you get so wise?”

“I wanted to be prepared when the chance of a lifetime showed up—so I paid attention.”

She looked up at him and wiped at her tears, smearing her perfectly applied makeup, smiling.

“
You’re
the chance of a lifetime, Jake. A year ago I thought you’d make a great birthday present. I got so much more. I’ve been waiting two weeks to tell you that I should have trusted my instincts and stayed with you in that hotel room. I shouldn’t have run this last time either. I was like an addict looking for any excuse to run, for the fix that would make me feel strong, safe.”

“And now?”

“The only thing that kept me from running back to you was that you wanted the two weeks. From now on, I’ll always be running to you, not away.” She stepped closer, put her arms around his neck and smiled. “I’ve never felt stronger and I can’t imagine a safer place to be than with you.”

“It’s about fucking time,” he growled before he kissed her, softly at first, then her Viking marauder showed up, grasping her as if she was still the prize he wanted.

Public sex was something they decided not to try but they barely made it back to her apartment. Just inside the door they were tearing each other’s clothes off and she had his braid undone, his long hair spilling over her as he lifted her onto his legs and took her against the door hard and fast, promising the second time would be better. She started laughing as he slipped out of her, remembering another time, another promise.

She led him naked to her bed, smiling at him, smiling into the mirrors they passed and drew him down, holding him as if she’d never let go as he slid into her. “You are so beautiful,” she said and he laughed and rose up on his elbows.

“Look me in the eye when you say that, Ella.”

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Ellora’s
Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

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