Free Intimate Strangers by Danielle Taylor Page A

that he might try and take Ruan with him when he left, and unease fizzled in her brain, sending heavy-as-lead anxiety through her veins.
    “Well, what if–” She stopped herself short there. No good would come of a suggestion like the one inside her head right now. Plus, neither of them was ready for that kind of commitment. They probably never would be. Despite being strangers, who shared a night of intimacy most people only dream of, they were like two opposing flames, both trying to take over the igniting source.
    “What if what?” he pushed softly.
    “Mm-mm.” Her head shook. “Nothing, I-I wasn’t thinking.” She was thinking, actually, however that idea had trouble written all over it.
    He studied her through those whiskey brown eyes. “What would you say if I suggested the three of us–” Tiaan motioned to the sleeping little one on his chest, “–go on a little trip together?”
    “I-I don’t have that kind of money – you should know this.” Her eyes stung with unshed tears.
    Tiaan waved her off. “You heard what Mac said – I’ve got an account, just like him. Sitting around, waiting to be used. I’ve…I’ve not had a chance to touch any of it in a while. And Chelsea, despite my actions and my words to you since I came back here, I don’t hate you. Could never hate you. I’m just…” A shuddering exhaled breath later, he shut his eyes and shook his head. “I’m messed up. It was…” His forced swallow was discernible, the anguish he must be feeling was palpable. “I thought about you often. All those days and nights, you were the only thing that kept me going. If it wasn’t for that time we spent together, if it wasn’t for you, I-I…I don’t know if I’d still be here.”
    His words, the quivering of his voice as he made the admissions, it caused her throat to grow tight with emotion. A sob choked its way into her mouth and she did her best to suppress it. What she wanted to do was take him in her arms, offer herself to him, become his solace and salvation. But she was scared. Frightened that if she gave in to her desires, he might vanish again and leave her empty and broken-hearted once more.
    “I guess I’m trying to apologise to you and making a complete mess of it. I really am sorry for treating you the way I have, and saying that every wire in my brain is now crossed from what that bast– erm, evil man did to me is a pretty lame excuse.”
    Lacking in hesitation, Chelsea met his questioning gaze and placed a hand on his knee. “No, of course it gives you a reason, Tiaan. I can’t even begin to imagine what you must have gone through.” She pushed her other hand to her throat, a vain attempt to keep herself from breaking down for the pain he must have suffered. “I only had a baby and I can’t keep my emotions together when I do get a full night’s sleep.”
    His eyes whipped down to the top of Ruan’s head, covered in a thin, downy layer of dark hair – like his, like his father’s. Tiaan inhaled deeply and a smile spread over his face. “I knew he was my son the moment I laid eyes on him, you know that, hmm?”
    “N-no, I didn’t.”
    “Mmm. He looks just like me at this age. I wish I had a photograph I could show you.” He sounded overly morose at that.
    She was about to squeeze his knee when she thought he might have some scarring there and stopped herself in time. “Why don’t you?”
    In a matter-of-fact voice, Tiaan replied, “The shortest explanation I can give you is that my parents were constantly at each other’s throats. They died in a car accident and I was so pissed off with them for being so damned selfish as to leave me behind that I tossed everything and joined the military.” He quickly filled in the blanks about his suspicions as to the reason for their accident. “I’ve been mad at them for so long, blaming them for the way my life turned out. And now…
    “Chelsea, that day when I said I never wanted a child, it was because of