Free Branded Sanctuary by Joey W. Hill Page B

never have to close her eyes and give herself to the cold, deadly dreams of the reality she couldn‟t face.

    In the long, searching pause that followed, her heart dipped into apprehension.
    Whether or not he asked for more than she could give, she feared he already saw more than she could bear him to know.
    Then he began the first yearning bars. Closing her eyes, she held on, his untrained voice soothing her nerves like a lullaby.

Chapter Five
    They lay in the bed and talked for four hours, as if they hadn‟t talked most of the previous night. She learned more about his drama classes and swimming, and gave him anecdotes about Tea Leaves and her comfortable, large family who lived up in New England. She talked about the wide variety of characters she‟d met through her job at the piercing kiosk, as well as a hundred other small adventures.
    He listened, let her go on like an idiot, but it was as if a dam had broken. For the first time in a long while, she could talk about anything and nothing. She felt no pressure to act like nothing was wrong, covering the obvious fact it was with inane, babbling chatter. Nor did she feel like he was ignoring it for his own comfort. Rather, she felt his understanding and acceptance of where she was right now, giving her complete ownership of the choice of when to talk about it. It made her feel almost…free.
    Of course she realized the miracle of it was possible for a couple reasons. They were here, quiet and sequestered from the rest of the world, no outside triggers to those dangerous poison clouds of memory drifting inside her. The other reason was the man himself.
    Amid the conversation, they‟d pulled together a meal. She still had a loaf of the French bread she‟d made a couple days before. With that and some honey butter, a few sliced fresh tomatoes he‟d gone out and pulled from her garden, he‟d seemed perfectly happy with the light fare. They‟d eaten it in her bed, keeping the lights off.
    There‟d been more kissing. During the meal and after. Lots of kissing, until she thought she could have come from that alone. But stretching out and facing one another, her still naked and him with his jeans on, her toes playing on the denim over his calves, they made a new game of it. Who could do the hottest kiss without moving the lower body or using the hands below the throat. Goddess, he‟d brushed her collarbone once and she reacted as violently as if he‟d touched her clit, making him groan fiercely in response, though he‟d kept his hands there, not taking advantage of the moment.
    When they finally agreed to call it a draw, they lay side by side, hands tangled in a loose knot on the mattress, their unreleased bodies damp with perspiration, touched by the breeze through the open window. Shudders twitching the muscles so they‟d grinned at one another like spasmodic children. As she closed her eyes, Brendan‟s fingertips whispered over her mouth, and she knew the look lingering on his face was far from that of an adolescent‟s. A man‟s desire, a man‟s emotions.
    He had an unprecedented ability to stay on the innocent side of lust she craved, indulging that side without pressure. Everything she wanted and did to him, he responded just the right amount, so artfully she only felt a twinge of guilt here and there, knowing she was keeping him in a state of arousal and liking it far too much.
    Even in his aroused state, though, he had a subtle skill for gauging the level of her own desires so he never pushed on them too hard, never allowing his own to overrule hers. She was fairly well versed in sexual matters, but she‟d never experienced anything like this. It was fucking sexy as hell and crazy unreal. Some part of her wondered how long he could manage such a miracle, but somewhere along the journey, she stopped worrying about it and just enjoyed.
    He put his arms around her, and she easily adjusted her body into the curves of his, the joy of spooning. It was only a