Pulling the car door open, she slid into the front seat beside James, still wondering why she had never recognized her yearning for the company of a male.
Because it wasn’t there. Not until I met Simon. It’s him. I don’t want just any male.
Damn it, it was true. She knew it. There was something about Simon that called to her, beckoned her to bring him closer, so close that she may very well get burned. Nevertheless, the lure was there and it was seductive, Simon’s come-hither vibrations were enticing and impossible to ignore.
Why am I so drawn to him? We’re nothing alike.
Shaking her head against the supple leather of the seat, Kara admitted to herself that in some superficial likes and dislikes…they were different. But in many ways…they were so very similar.
After being burned by Chris, she was wary…just like Simon. The causes might be different and she was fairly certain that Simon’s were much more traumatic, but the two of them circled each other like frightened children, not quite sure if they wanted to be friend or foe, whether they wanted to trust or not.
She knew Simon had given her a valuable gift when he had trusted her enough to take her without his usual procedure of bondage and blindness. She just wished she knew what caused his distrust. And why the blindfold? The man had a body to drool over.
She shivered and shot a weak smile at James as he pulled the vehicle into traffic, weaving his way slowly toward the condo.
She blew out a long, shaky breath, desperately hoping that she wasn’t inadvertently putting her head on the chopping block by getting so involved with a man like Simon.
Just go with it. Relax. Enjoy what you have while you have it.
She bit back a self-deprecating laugh. She didn’t relax, she didn’t roll with the flow and she had never, ever lived in the moment. Those were all difficult things to do for a woman who needed to worry about where her next meal was coming from and if she could scrounge up enough money to pay her rent every month.
But you don’t need to worry about that now.
No…she didn’t. It might not last very long, but for a brief time, she knew she had a bed to sleep in, a roof over her head, and plenty of food to eat. Because of Simon, she had time and space to actually breathe.
Her heart stuttered as she pictured him, as he was last week on the couch, vulnerable, yet so very strong. How could she not admire that strength and determination to beat whatever phantoms of the past were haunting him.
He did it for me. Because I wanted it.
Drawing power from her memories, Kara gathered her backpack. She was home. James had delivered her to the front of the massive building. “Thank you, James.” She gave him a sheepish grin, suddenly noticing that she hadn’t spoken a word to the driver on the short trip home.
“You’re most welcome, Ms. Kara. As always. Have a nice evening.”
“You, too.” Sliding out of the seat, backpack in hand, she closed the door and jogged toward the entrance.
She would have a nice evening. How could she not? She had a dark, sexy, handsome man waiting for her. He might want dinner, but she was determined to give him something more than just food. It was time to give back to Simon. After all, he had trusted her, sheltered her, made her feel like she was someone special.
She hoped he was hungry, and not just for food.
Waving at the watchful doorman, she slipped silently into the elevator that went to the penthouse.
Live in the moment. Don’t think about the future.
It might feel totally alien to her, but she going to try.
Chapter 4
Simon cursed as he wrapped a white towel around his waist, pissed off at himself for forgetting to bring clean clothes. After his workout, he had headed straight for the shower that was attached to his gym, completely forgetting to grab something to wear from his bedroom. The damn towel barely covered his family jewels.
He scowled at his sweaty, stinking workout clothing. There was no way he was putting them back on after he had just washed the stench from his body.
Kara wasn’t home yet. He should have time to make it to his room. Finger- combing his wet hair, he opened the bathroom door, ready to sprint down the stairs and to the master bedroom.
Cold air blasted him as he left the steamy bathroom behind. Shit. The gym was freezing. He’d cranked the temperature down for his workout, and he was feeling the chill.
“Simon, are you-,”
The light, feminine voice startled him. Halfway across the gym, he froze, his heart thundering as Kara came breezing into the room.
He flinched as her eyes roamed over him, ready for her look of distaste…or worse. The scars on his chest and abdomen were glaring, something that he went to great lengths to hide from the world…especially from women.
He tried to get his feet to move, to turn around and take him back to the bathroom. But as his eyes met Kara’s, he was paralyzed.
She advanced slowly, her eyes huge and round, but she didn’t look appalled. She looked…hungry. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she said reverently, “God, you’re huge. Muscular. I knew you were ripped, but you make male strippers look like a joke.”
Simon swallowed hard as she reached him and dropped her backpack on the floor. “I’m scarred.” Fucking brilliant, Hudson . Like she hadn’t noticed?
She was close enough that Simon could smell her sweet scent. He inhaled, his c**k rising as she craned her neck to glance up at him with a look of longing that slammed into his gut like a freight train.
Her voice trembled as she said in a breathy whisper, “Please don’t ask me not to touch you, Simon. I need to touch you. I think I’ll die if you don’t let me.”
He’d expected any number of reactions from her, but not this. His whole body flooded with heat, with the need to feel her small, capable hands on his body. How could she look at him with this sort of need?
“I don’t like to be touched,” he said, his voice husky.
“Don’t like it, or aren’t used to it?” she queried softly.
Fuck. He was such a liar. There was nothing he wanted more than Kara’s hands on his body right now. Right. Fucking. Now. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly, shaken by her reaction to him.
“You have a beautiful body, Simon,” she told him as she lifted her hands to his chest.
He braced himself as her hands caressed his chest lovingly, gliding over his skin, setting his whole being on fire. The contact felt like pure sex, so erotic, so sensual. Gritting his teeth, he willed his body to relax…but it wasn’t listening. Her fingers slid slowly over his abdomen and he heard her breath catch.