Read Online Spiral of Bliss 01 Arouse by Nina Lane - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nina Lane
Tags: Romance, Sex, Contemporary Romance, Lust, Erotic Fiction, Romance fiction, love, Nina Lane, Arouse, A Spiral of Bliss
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me. I parted my lips to draw in a breath.
“I… okay.”
He leaned across the console and lifted his hands to cup my face. His touch was gentle, still cautious, but the heat brewing in his eyes left me in no doubt as to his desire. We were closer than we’d ever been before, so close that I could see the darker ring of brown surrounding his irises.
For a moment, we just stared at each other. Then his hands tightened on me as he lowered his mouth to mine. And the world fell away the instant our lips touched.
CHAPTER FIVE
August 22
ix days have passed since I mentioned the idea of having a baby. A million thoughts are flying and twisting through my mind, but they don’t have anywhere to go. I’ve never been one for discussing personal details with my few girlfriends, and my mother would dispense lousy advice, even if I did know where she was. Not that I’d ever tell her anything either.
What sucks is that the one person I really want to have a conversation with—the man I’ve always been able to talk to about anything—is unapproachable right now. When he’s even home. He’s not outwardly cold or forbidding, but I sense his reluctance to discuss it further. And truth be told, I’m not all that eager to have a repeat of our previous conversation anyway.
Plus, that
question
(“Because you’re looking for something to do?”) is still running through my mind like a looped tape.
At breakfast, we stick to safe subjects like a news story about an art forgery that we’ve both been following, Dean’s upcoming semester, and my new job at the bookstore.
“Did Kelsey tell you about the banquet?” I ask after refilling our coffee.
“The one on Saturday?” Dean asks, as if he’s got a dozen banquets lined up. “Yeah. She said you don’t mind if I go. Of course, she didn’t ask if
I
mind if I go.”
He sounds a little affronted, which makes me smile. He doesn’t care for academic socializing, but he’s good at it and he’d do anything for Kelsey.
“At least now she’ll owe you one,” I remark.
Dean grunts into his coffee and flips a page of the newspaper. I focus on my own section of the paper, but the lines blur before my eyes.
The sudden distance between us is unsettling. Dean and I have always made each other feel good physically, and the fact that almost a week has passed without one of us making a move is… unusual.
I stretch my leg beneath the table and run my foot up to his inner thigh. He glances at me. I wiggle my toes against his crotch.
“Time before work?” I ask.
“Sorry.” He closes the paper. “Couple of meetings this morning.”
“Too bad.” I stare down at my coffee.
“Yeah.” He glances at the clock, then leans across the table to kiss my forehead. “I’ve gotta go to work. I’ll see you later.”
After he leaves, I sit at the table for a few more minutes. I wonder if he’s now worried that I’ll get all upset if he reaches for a condom when we have sex.
I go to put my cup in the sink. Okay, so I didn’t handle that whole “stopping birth control” conversation well at all. But I also don’t quite understand Dean’s evident relief over the negative pregnancy test. Wasn’t he the tiniest bit disappointed?
I head toward the bedroom, then stop in Dean’s office. I go in there to dust and straighten up every now and then, but mostly I leave it alone. Today, though, I look at the stuff on his desk—a stack of printed lectures, photos of Chartres Cathedral, a yellow legal pad covered with notes in his scrawled handwriting. There’s a framed picture of me next to the computer, and a photo of us together is on the bookshelf.
His computer is on, and I scroll through the contents of the hard-drive, then his Internet history. I’ve used his computer before, and neither of us has given it a second thought. Anyway, there’s nothing interesting—lectures, papers, PDF files, email, news websites.
I push away from the desk and go to get
“I… okay.”
He leaned across the console and lifted his hands to cup my face. His touch was gentle, still cautious, but the heat brewing in his eyes left me in no doubt as to his desire. We were closer than we’d ever been before, so close that I could see the darker ring of brown surrounding his irises.
For a moment, we just stared at each other. Then his hands tightened on me as he lowered his mouth to mine. And the world fell away the instant our lips touched.
CHAPTER FIVE
August 22
ix days have passed since I mentioned the idea of having a baby. A million thoughts are flying and twisting through my mind, but they don’t have anywhere to go. I’ve never been one for discussing personal details with my few girlfriends, and my mother would dispense lousy advice, even if I did know where she was. Not that I’d ever tell her anything either.
What sucks is that the one person I really want to have a conversation with—the man I’ve always been able to talk to about anything—is unapproachable right now. When he’s even home. He’s not outwardly cold or forbidding, but I sense his reluctance to discuss it further. And truth be told, I’m not all that eager to have a repeat of our previous conversation anyway.
Plus, that
question
(“Because you’re looking for something to do?”) is still running through my mind like a looped tape.
At breakfast, we stick to safe subjects like a news story about an art forgery that we’ve both been following, Dean’s upcoming semester, and my new job at the bookstore.
“Did Kelsey tell you about the banquet?” I ask after refilling our coffee.
“The one on Saturday?” Dean asks, as if he’s got a dozen banquets lined up. “Yeah. She said you don’t mind if I go. Of course, she didn’t ask if
I
mind if I go.”
He sounds a little affronted, which makes me smile. He doesn’t care for academic socializing, but he’s good at it and he’d do anything for Kelsey.
“At least now she’ll owe you one,” I remark.
Dean grunts into his coffee and flips a page of the newspaper. I focus on my own section of the paper, but the lines blur before my eyes.
The sudden distance between us is unsettling. Dean and I have always made each other feel good physically, and the fact that almost a week has passed without one of us making a move is… unusual.
I stretch my leg beneath the table and run my foot up to his inner thigh. He glances at me. I wiggle my toes against his crotch.
“Time before work?” I ask.
“Sorry.” He closes the paper. “Couple of meetings this morning.”
“Too bad.” I stare down at my coffee.
“Yeah.” He glances at the clock, then leans across the table to kiss my forehead. “I’ve gotta go to work. I’ll see you later.”
After he leaves, I sit at the table for a few more minutes. I wonder if he’s now worried that I’ll get all upset if he reaches for a condom when we have sex.
I go to put my cup in the sink. Okay, so I didn’t handle that whole “stopping birth control” conversation well at all. But I also don’t quite understand Dean’s evident relief over the negative pregnancy test. Wasn’t he the tiniest bit disappointed?
I head toward the bedroom, then stop in Dean’s office. I go in there to dust and straighten up every now and then, but mostly I leave it alone. Today, though, I look at the stuff on his desk—a stack of printed lectures, photos of Chartres Cathedral, a yellow legal pad covered with notes in his scrawled handwriting. There’s a framed picture of me next to the computer, and a photo of us together is on the bookshelf.
His computer is on, and I scroll through the contents of the hard-drive, then his Internet history. I’ve used his computer before, and neither of us has given it a second thought. Anyway, there’s nothing interesting—lectures, papers, PDF files, email, news websites.
I push away from the desk and go to get
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