Read Online Flawed Beauty by LR Potter - Free Book Online Page B

nodded but didn’t turn
around. She banged her forehead against the wall when she heard the door being
pulled shut behind him. She winced when she hit the raised bump already on her
head.
    She jumped and turned when she heard
the door bang back open.
    “Screw it,” he glared.
    He crossed the room and tangled his
hands in her hair. Backing her slowly up against the wall, he lowered his lips
to hers and kissed her as if his life depended on it. He stroked her lips with
his tongue until she opened her mouth to him. He pulled her even closer into
his body and moved his hands down her back, molding her body against his. 
She ran her hands up his back and clung to him as he devoured her lips. The
flames of desire licked up her spine and seemed to settle in the pit of her
belly. With dexterous hands, he untied the sash of her housecoat and slipped it
off her shoulders, leaving her standing in her nightshirt and panties.
    He gave a strangled oath at her
skimpy attire and ran his hands down further to cup her firm bottom within his
grasp and brought her up tighter to his hard body. She slipped her hands up
under his shirt and around to his bare back and kneaded his muscles there. He
began to raise the hem of her shirt when sanity and fear filtered through her
consciousness. She began to pull away from him.
    “No, stop. We have to stop. Jace , I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t,” she murmured
through deep, soul-wrenching kisses.
    Little by little, control returned
to him and he slowly pulled away from her. Finishing as he’d started, he again
captured her face within his hands, but this time, he kissed her softly and
sweetly. Drawing back and walking backward, he said, “Tonight. Seven o’clock.
I’ll pick you up. Be ready.”
    Jerkily, she nodded.
     
    §§§
     
    Tate would have liked to have slept
in once Jace left, but she had her self-defense
class. But tiredness and a simmering headache stopped her from working out. As
she rode her bicycle home, even with her ailments, she had to admit, she was…
happy. The thought filled her with a terrible forebode. She’d never wanted a
man like she wanted Jace Staton ;
but he was so much more experienced than she. He was a doctor, for goodness
sakes. He came from a decent family and didn’t seem to have anything bad in his
life other than a brother in jail, while she had… terrible things. Maybe she
should just tell him and get this over with now instead of going through the
motions of a relationship. She’d grown up with people knowing the travesties of
her life and judging her because of those travesties. She didn’t want anyone
here knowing about her past… especially Jace . Pride
demanded she keep her mouth shut. She didn’t want Jace to think of her like that – the girl had by many, but wanted by no one.
    Feeling all riled up on the inside,
she swallowed a couple of ibuprofen, grabbed her camera, and hit the streets.
There was nothing she enjoyed more than capturing people doing the normal
things of life. Heading down to the park, she wandered aimlessly through the
trails, snapping pictures. She loved snapping a picture of something ordinary
and making it extraordinary. She caught several shots of leaves as they floated
across the sky on a gentle wind.
    She was excited to see a group doing
yoga in the middle of the park. They were all dressed in white shirts with
black yoga pants, with the exception of the instructor, who wore a red shirt.
The visual was spectacular as their movements were coordinated and in sync. She
got several great shots of all the participants with their arms raised to the
sun. Then, they all lowered them to lie down on the ground, their arms spread
out in front of them.
    She caught shots of couples as they
sat on their blankets, looking relaxed and comfortable. Tate found herself
staring at the couples. She wondered if she’d ever feel that comfortable with
someone to just sit and relax. She thought of Jace ,
but he made her feel anything