Read Online No Holds Barred by Paris Brandon - Free Book Online Page B

to get lost in the mindless lust between them but even her body wouldn’t let that happen. She reached for her orgasm, closed her eyes, tried to focus and cried out in frustration when it eluded her.
    Until she felt his fingers, circling her clit, working her as he slid into a faster rhythm, the sensation sending her over the edge into the abyss where he caught her as she tried to fall and dragged her back against him, shouting her name as he came.
    “Open your eyes, Ella. Look at what’s staring you right in the face,” he whispered raggedly as he pulsed inside her. He held her around the waist, snug against his chest, nuzzling her ear.
    “This isn’t a fantasy, Ella. This is what people wait a lifetime for and never understand that all they have to do is reach out and take it.”
    “It’s not that easy,” she said because she desperately wanted it to be.
    “It’s as easy as you want it to be, Ella. I already know you’re not married, not involved with anyone else and you know that I want more than a lifetime of stolen moments. I love you Ella. I want forever.”
    In the back of her mind she knew that’s where she’d placed Jake—a stolen moment, totally out of character, a test. She had waited for the panic to set in, was still waiting for it. “You scare the hell out of me. You walk into a room and women want to touch you, it’s just the way you are,” she said, hating herself for her insecurities.
    “Do you need me to tell you that yours is the only touch I want? You have to know that’s true.”
    She hung limply in his arms, caught, unable to fall. “No. I need to believe that I won’t turn into one of those women who cling, afraid that someone prettier, smarter, younger will catch your eye. That you’ll want to paint them nude or play sex toy poker, that I’ll be tempted by the latest diet or surgery that I’m convinced will help me keep you—it’s pathetic and I hate being pathetic.” She watched herself, wide-eyed, and Jake, fierce and determined.
    “You’re not pathetic, you’re in love. And so am I.” He stated it as if it were a fact she should have realized already and he was surprised that she hadn’t.
    “I’m in so much trouble here,” she murmured to their reflection and he kissed her ear. “I absolutely believe every word you’ve said. I do love you and maybe I’m just too worn out to panic but I don’t have an overwhelming urge to run.”
    She wanted to be relieved but like an addict waiting for her next fix she expected the panic. The fear that she loved him so much that one day she’d allow herself to succumb to being his “project”, too afraid he’d be attracted to someone younger, prettier, smarter, not to.
    “Just keep believing,” he whispered as he slid from her, still holding her up.
    They showered, washing each other between kissing and exploring as if they’d left a desire still covered and were desperate to find the elusive hiding place where it lay in wait like a treasure. He drained the bath because she joked they’d drown if they tried to finish the fantasy and instead ended up curled around each other in his big bed, waking once in the night to make long, slow love before drifting off to sleep with him still inside her.

Chapter Six
     
    Ella woke up alone and stretched, rolled over and buried her face in his pillow. No one smelled as good as Jake Truhorn . The man was entirely delicious and probably making coffee at this moment.
    The coffee was cold and he was nowhere to be found. He hadn’t eaten anything either because the kitchen was still clean. She made a fresh pot of coffee, poured two cups and went searching.
    He was in his studio, standing in front of a very large canvas doing a preliminary sketch using several smaller sketches propped close enough for her to see when she came through the door. He smiled sheepishly when she walked in.
    “I couldn’t sleep. I got the idea for this last night and I can’t remember the last time I’ve