All Through the Night by Shannon McKenna, Lori Foster, Suzanne Forster, Thea Devine Page A

this pleasure could not go on forever, she also knew that she had changed. Her body had changed, simply from this one act of possession. Her mind, her spirit, everything had been changed in some way, and she could never go back.
“Our journey isn’t over, Kerry.”
It will never be , she thought. And when he turned her on her back, she reached for him. They rushed to reconnect in the most intimate way possible, clinging mouths and yearning limbs, all pining for unity and oneness, and she told herself then that he would never leave her. If he felt anything like she did, he never could.
The first time she woke up, she realized they were still on the floor, and he was holding her. “We can’t stay this way,” he said. “Let me take you to bed.”
“No, not the bed, the rocker.”
“You want to be in the chair?”
“Yes, with you. We can cover ourselves with blankets and rock until we fall asleep. Please.”
He gathered her up and gently settled her in the soft leather cradle, then got a comforter from the bedroom and joined her. When they were all bundled up and she was blissfully pressed next to him, her leg draped over his thighs, she wondered if this was what it was supposed to be like between men and women. She’d never had anything like this. She felt whole for the first time in her life.
He’d said he was missing something. It had to be this.
She couldn’t ask the question that meant everything— Are you free, Jean? Did it work? But fortunately, there was another one.
Her mouth was so dry it was hard to speak. “You said there were things that men could only learn from women. What things, Jean?”
He shivered as she lightly raked her fingers through his chest hair.
“How to touch like this?” she asked. “How to be tender?”
He rested his chin against her forehead, and she could hear him breathing. She could almost hear him thinking.
“It’s not about giving as much as it is about receiving,” he said. “Women teach men how to receive tenderness— and other things, like love.”
His mouth must be dry too. His voice was grainy and thrilling.
“You taught me something important tonight, Kerry.”
“I did?” She looked up at him, aware that she couldn’t swallow. It was virtually impossible to swallow. Could you die from that? she wondered.
“It’s not about success or personal power or even courage,” he said. “Those things keep a man enslaved. It’s about love. That’s what sets his soul free.”
It’s about love.
Now she didn’t need to ask the other question. It must have worked. He must be free of the curse, and she had been a part of it. She’d given him the key to unlock the cage. Now, for the first time in her life, she could sleep through the night in a man’s sheltering embrace, dream in his arms, and believe that he would be there.
The journey was over. Her life had only begun.
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Chapter Seven
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Several moments passed before Kerry knew where she was. The gentle rocking motion conjured thoughts of a boat, anchored in a harbor… and then she opened her eyes. Her living room was cast in a bluish haze, but it was light coming from the window, not a TV or computer screen.
Dawn, she realized. The sun was coming up, not going down.
And she was alone.
She pushed off the comforter, wondering if Jean had gone to the kitchen for something to eat. The unsteadiness she felt as her feet hit the floor brought a vivid reminder of the surreal experiences of the night before. She was still shaking; it was that intense. She could hardly believe it had happened. Certainly nothing like that had ever happened to her before.
Her pink robe was in a heap on the floor, but she didn’t bother with it. She was too anxious about where he was. Too anxious even to call his name. Please don’t let him be gone again , she thought. Don’t do that to me. It would be too cruel, like tormenting an animal at the zoo .
Her kitchen was hazed with blue, too, and a pinprick of fear touched