In Bed with Beauty by Katherine Garbera

and Sarah took a sip from a wineglass. He watched her quietly for a few minutes not knowing what to say. His mind was chaos, a turmoil he hadn’t been able to quiet since meeting her. A thousand different scenarios spun in his mind and he knew if he could just sort them out a solution would present itself. But there was a desperation inside him toward her. And he thought maybe this was what his father experienced with each new love affair.
    “Sarah?” he called, tired of hiding even if it was only from himself.
    She shifted on the sofa and stood. There were only shadows in the room. Brief flashes of illuminating light and he knew he should feel better that he couldn’t see deadened emotions in her eyes but he didn’t. The Sarah he’d come to know deserved a man who was comfortable in the full light of her affection. Not someone who ran from it. Not a man who hid from it and from her.
    He crossed the room carefully. He didn’t know how to offer comfort. But he’d try. He’d offer to hold her and to help her sort out whatever was troubling her. And if he was the problem, then dammit, he’d leave and let her get on with her life.
    “Stop,” she said. Her naturally deep voice, husky.
    He froze in his tracks. But she said nothing. Took another sip from her wineglass.
    “I helped myself to a glass of wine. I hope you don’t mind.”
    “I don’t. I’m later than I planned to be.”
    “That’s okay. I chickened out.”
    He raised one eyebrow at her in question and then realized she couldn’t see him. “How?”
    “I was trying to be more like the women you usually sleep with, but I…I’m sorry.”
    “About what?”
    “This whole seduction thing. I tried, really I did. But it felt weird.”
    “What’s weird about you and me?” he asked. He walked closer to her. He needed to touch her. To hold her. If he made the wrong step now, she’d be gone. And he needed her to stay. Needed her to never leave and he wasn’t sure he had the right to ask her to stay. Even if only for this night.
    “Nothing. It just felt like I was trying to be someone else.”
    “Don’t do that,” he said. He stopped when a few inches separated them. Her floral fragrance surrounded him, enraging his senses. He covered her lips. They trembled under his fingers. He caressed her, rubbing his thumb against her bottom lip until she turned her head and dropped a kiss in the center of his palm.
    “Do you want me?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said.
    “Then take me to bed and have your wicked way with me.”
    She laughed and his heart felt lighter. He refused to think any more tonight. Tonight was about Sarah and her needs. This was the one place where he felt qualified to take care of her. Bending, he scooped her up in his arms and started for the bedroom.
    “I thought I was in charge.”
    Now he could see the sparkle in her eyes. He bent and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “You are. I just felt like being your white knight.”
    “Oh, Harris. You always are.”
    She cupped the side of his face, her fingers rubbing over his stubble and Harris wondered if he should shave for her. To make sure he didn’t leave a mark on her. But then he realized he wanted to mark her in every way he could. To somehow let the world know that she was his. The thought staggered him but he didn’t stop. He forced it to the back of his mind.
    Sarah could never be his, he reminded himself.
    “Only in your eyes,” he said when he could speak.
    “Aren’t mine the only ones that matter?”
    “Tonight they are,” he said, bending to take her mouth in his. It felt like a lifetime since he’d tasted her. Since he’d drunk from her until his blood pounded heavily in his veins and his erection strained against his inseam. It felt like a lifetime since he’d caressed her soft skin and tickled the sensitive place behind her ear.
    It felt like a lifetime since he’d been home and like a man afraid to believe in tomorrow he ignored that feeling and made love