“You didn’t deserve all of that, Clara. A great number of the media would have printed shit, that’s true, but there are still honest journalists out there. Men like Baker.” I paused and shook my head. “Did you know his editor informed him the interview he did with you wasn’t worth the paper it was written on because there was no real ‘dirt’ in it?”
She shook her head. “No. I didn’t even know when it was supposed to come out. To be honest, when I saw you get out of your car in your sexy suit, my first thought was you’d read the story and had come to see what else you might get.”
“Sexy, huh?” I said, unable to keep from grinning though the story she’d shared was as far from amusing as one could get. Still, the words had begun to cut through the tension, slicing through the shroud of ugliness that had descended upon the telling of her story. I was determined to keep slicing until every last piece of it was gone.
“And, it didn’t really matter what the press thought I deserved. I was so ashamed at all the things I’d done, I suppose I felt the need to punish myself. So, when I say I understand why people don’t trust me anymore, it’s true. How can they when I’m not sure I trust myself.”
“I trust you,” I said softly. “I’ve trusted you the entire time.”
This time when she looked up to meet my eyes, she lifted her hand and placed it against my cheek. “It’s taken me a long time to learn to trust anyone again, but I trust you, Alek. My life shifted again the day you appeared. No matter what happens now… on stage or between us, I want you to know, I will always treasure the moment you pulled into my driveway and offered me another chance.”
There was a lusty, heavy atmosphere surrounding us. It had been brought on by Clara finally opening up to me. I had never wanted to push her to do it, and now I was glad for that because I think she respected me more for letting her come to me on her own terms. Probing might have gotten me the basics, skimmed the surface of what had happened. But by waiting until she trusted me enough to reveal the darkest details, she’d shared the memories that had caused her so much physical pain as well as mental and emotional distress. And then, when she told me that her life shifted when I appeared in it, something incredibly powerful altered within me as well.
I pulled back for a second, just wanting to take a moment to check that Clara really wanted to do this. I didn’t want her to be swept away by lust like our first encounter on the stage, or worse, be engulfed in the memories of a past that was too sordid to think about.
“Don’t,” she said softly.
“Don’t what?”
“Look at me like I’m broken. I was at one point, but I’m not any longer. I’m proud of the fact I’ve worked my ass off to heal myself, and you have been part of that healing. You see me in a way no other man has. You see the real me… not the shell of a woman I once was. Please don’t treat me like a fragile flower.”
And she wasn’t. She was a petite woman, so much tinier than me. Every time I took her hand, I was amazed at how small her bones were, and yet I’d seen her dance with the beauty of a gazelle and the strength of a lioness. Treating her differently now simply because she’d been brave enough to share the ugliness would be doing her a major disservice. Bending forward, I cupped her face in my palms.
“You are the most unbroken soul I’ve ever met.”
I bent down for a deep and erotic kiss. I knew her now, inside and out, and I still wanted her. Even her darker side did nothing but enhance all the good. I understood her mistakes. I knew where she was coming from, and I still wanted to be with her. None of that bothered me at all. All I really cared about was Clara and the woman she was today. In fact, when it came to me and what my body wanted… it was the woman with those dark edges. I wanted the devil inside of her to emerge to dance and cavort with the one inside of me.
Lifting my head, I murmured, “You are strong.”
Closing that fraction of an inch, I kissed her and lifted my head again.
“You are beautiful.”
This time I pushed my tongue into her mouth to dance and play with hers until I swallowed her soft mewl of desire. Withdrawing my tongue, I took her bottom lip between my teeth and nipped.