Excerpt:
Back home, Erin
fixed them a nightcap. The ‘sultan’s bed’ remained as Jason had left it
the night before, so he took a seat in one of Erin’s padded chairs. She
shunned another chair and sat next to him on the floor. He took her free
hand into his.
No words were
necessary. They listened to music Erin had selected and lost themselves
in their own thoughts.
“It’s been a busy
day, princess,” Jason finally said to her. “And I know tomorrow will be
even busier. We could sit up and talk all night, but I’m going to let
you get your beauty sleep, even though there is no improvement
necessary.”
“No, Jason. I want
you to be with me. I mean…if you’ll have me. I don’t want to hurt our
friendship. You might think badly of me…wanting you so soon after my
parents’ funeral. It’s just that—”
Jason put his
finger to Erin’s lips. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me—ever.
I’d like to be with you. I’ve wanted that for years, but are you sure
it’s what you want? You owe me nothing.”
“You may find this
hard to believe, but I haven’t been with anyone since before I came to
New York.” She rose to her knees and took Jason’s hands in hers.
“There’s no one but you that can make me right. You’ve shown that you
care. I want someone who cares. I want you tonight.”
She leaned into
him and they kissed. The moment his lips made contact with hers, sexual
yearnings, long dormant, raced through Erin. It sent her head spinning
like a kite in the wind. Almost of their own accord, her fingers slid up
and lost themselves in the waves of his thick, black hair.
Jason’s affection
was what she wanted, what she needed more than anything. They held each
other tightly in the subdued light of her living room, both of them
under the spell of the music and one another’s body language. His touch
soaked into her skin. She took Jason’s hand. He followed her into her
bedroom like a lumbering shadow.
