Bare Facts by Katherine Garbera

bra. But he stopped then, letting his fingers rest against her left breast. Anticipation had her arching her back, offering herself to him. But he held still, waiting for something she couldn’t define.
    She looked up at him and their gazes met. Her breath left her in a rush and something passed between them.
    “Take off your shirt,” she said. She’d been longing to see his chest since that first little aikido encounter in his hotel suite. There was strength in Daniel—real strength. She’d been going out with senators and businessmen for too long.
    No one like Daniel. She wanted to experience everything she could in the short time they had together. And she didn’t kid herself about that. They were essentially too different for this to last.
    She started to pull back, to draw away from him, but then he shifted his weight to his left arm and reached between them, the backs of his fingers brushing her breasts as he unbuttoned his shirt. She shook from the brief contact and bit her lip to keep from asking for more.
    His chest was hairless and free from tattoos or piercings but it wasn’t smooth. There were scars. One long, jagged one ran over his left pec. She traced the rough skin where it looked like someone had tried to cut out his heart.
    She lifted her eyes to his, questions burning on the tip of her tongue, but he quieted them with his finger on her lips. “Not now.”
    She lifted her head and found the tip of that scar with her tongue. She pushed against his shoulders and rolled to his side, lying next to him on the bed. She traced the scar with her finger and then feathered light kisses over it. It was thick and she knew from experience that it would have been deep and painful.
    “Knife wound, right?”
    “Yes, how did you know?” he asked, his fingers on her face while she caressed his chest.
    “Tough cookie, remember? And I have one like this,” she said.
    “Show me.”
    She tugged her blouse from the waistband of her skirt and lifted the hem so he could see. She’d gotten the wound her first night in Kobe, but she didn’t want to dwell on that. As soon as she lifted her blouse, Daniel rolled her under him again.
    He skimmed his fingers over her scar and then lowered his head to taste it. He used the edge of his teeth as well as his tongue, and for the first time ever she found her scar to be sexy and desirable.
    She didn’t dwell on the fact that she was starting to believe that Daniel might just be the kind of man who accepted her—really accepted every part of her.
     
    Daniel concentrated on seducing Charity and tried to ignore the pain he felt at the thought of her being knifed. He knew she could handle it. She’d proved throughout the day that she was tough as they came, but a part of him…okay, all of him, wanted to find the bastard who had hurt her and rip him apart.
    What the hell was that? He wanted her in his bed because she was gorgeous and he wasn’t in the habit of denying himself anything he wanted. Why did he care about her? Hell, did he care about her?
    He looked down into those crystalline gray eyes of hers and knew he did. He tried to force himself back into the moment, but even sex couldn’t detract from this. He didn’t care about anyone. Not really, but suddenly here she was, and he did.
    Not now, he thought.
    “Daniel?”
    “Hmm?” he said, lowering his head to kiss the base of her neck. He hated talking, especially now. The scent of her skin was like a potent aphrodisiac and he breathed her in.
    He imagined he was inhaling her strength and beauty. Imagined that he was taking her into his skin and making her his own. And that was the only place she could really stay with him—in his imagination. He was meant to walk a solitary path in this life.
    He unbuttoned her blouse, running his finger down the center of her body. Over her sternum and between her ribs. Lingering on her belly button and then stopping at the waistband of her skirt.
    He slowly traced the same path