Their Million-Dollar Night by Katherine Garbera

into that.
    â€œYou can’t fool me. Nothing scares you,” she said, trying to keep the focus off herself.
    He hugged her tightly to him and bent his head so that he spoke right into her ear. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to keep you.”
    â€œI’m not a Learjet, Max. I’m not a possession.”
    â€œBut I want to possess you,” he said, shoving his hands through his hair. “I know that I sound…well, not exactly rational. But I am rational. If you know nothing else about me, Blondie, know that I’m the kind of man who thinks every decision through.”
    She didn’t know how to respond to that. No man had ever wanted her, her father had left before she was born, no boy had asked her out in high school and once she’d started dancing the men who’d asked her out had always left. All except Alan, who’d scared her with his possessiveness.
    She wanted to tell him that she’d be his. “I’m not ready for you.”
    â€œNo? What about physically?”
    She shrugged. Every time he touched her she felt the bonds between them strengthening. She tried totell herself it was just sex but she was beginning to believe it was so much more.
    â€œI bet you are.”
    He lifted her in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. That lamp on the nightstand was on again and she knew that this time he wasn’t going to let her slowly remove her clothing and pretend that he wasn’t seeing the scars.
    And she didn’t want him to have to treat her as though she was fragile, to have to factor in how to get her out of her clothing without her flinching like some frightened virgin. So she took a deep breath, untied the belt of her robe and slowly let it drop to the floor.
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    Max appreciated the strength it took for her to stand there in the lamp’s light and drop her robe. He had to be honest and say that once she was naked he wanted to forget about everything except making love to her again. But he couldn’t ignore the sadness in her eyes. This was a woman who had once felt pride in her body, and he wanted her to again.
    â€œI thought I was supposed to be convincing you,” he said, moving toward her.
    She held her hand up and he stopped when less than a foot of space separated them. “You already did. Now, I want to do something for you.”
    â€œI think we’ve covered that. Why don’t we do something that’s for each other?”
    â€œThat’s why I’m standing here naked. But first I want you to look at me. Really look at me.”
    â€œI am.”
    â€œNot my breasts.”
    â€œWell, they are gorgeous.”
    She stared at him for a minute and then smiled, her expression so tempting that he felt his erection twitch in reaction to it.
    He took her hand in his and led her to the mirror that stood embedded in the wall in the dressing area. He hit the light switch.
    Roxy wrapped her arms around her waist and tried to shrink her body. He stood behind her, pulling her arms from her body and holding them out to her sides.
    â€œLook in the mirror.”
    She hesitated for a second and then looked up. Their gazes met in the mirror and he bent and kissed her shoulder. Drew his mouth and teeth along the expanse of skin there until she shivered in his arms and tipped her head, offering him the long column of her neck.
    He nibbled at her neck, working his way up to her ear. He sucked the lobe of her ear into his mouth and bit it delicately. “Look at your body.”
    She shook her head. Max wondered if he was pushing too hard. If he should just back off. But he didn’t want Roxy in his bed feeling as though she had to hide part of herself. He wanted her free of her inhibitions.
    â€œThen I’ll look at you and tell you what I see.”
    He cupped her shoulders and she lowered her arms to her sides. “Your arms are so feminine yet at the same time muscled and strong. I like the way