Free A Minute to Smile by Ruth Wind, Barbara Samuel Page B

tossing sea and her lush figure, the bright moon glowing in the sky as if to illuminate the source of all womanly power…
    He remembered her kiss in the garden, the flash of sensual heat in her eyes as she lazily opened her palms to spread lavender oil over her flesh, then casually, teasingly, offered the long white neck to him. He’d gone to her easily, his senses hungry for the taste and feel of her.
    But the passion that had exploded within him at the taste of that smooth skin had stunned him. And when his tongue had found the hollow of her throat, he’d seen her nipples bud into taut, eager points below her dress, evidence of her own desire.
    He’d been so instantly, vigorously aroused that he had worried he would frighten her away. Instead, she’d received him as naturally as if he were the rain and she a thirsty stand of lavender.
    Even now, hours later, the memory of her luxuriant form cushioned against the hard angles of his own was enough to arouse him virulently.
    Fleeting, lusty liaisons had never been his style. Like all men, he’d certainly experienced his share of wild hungers, but he’d found his mind, as well as his body, had to be engaged. Susan had been his match intellectually as well as physically and he had supposed that he was lucky to have found it once in his lifetime.
    Yet in less than a month’s time, Esther had completely captivated him. He wanted her with a force that put any previous acquaintance with the word to shame—wanted her in his bed for weeks of nights spent tumbling and tangled, days spent resting for the night to follow. An aura of erotic promise surrounded her as completely and naturally as her red hair and smooth pale skin.
    God help him.
    For if it had been only that allure, he might have indulged the wish. Few men, after all, could contemplate that ripeness without seriously considering seduction at some point or other.
    Tonight, he’d realized her effect upon him was deeper than the volatile chemistry between them. She intrigued him, made him laugh, took nothing too seriously.
    He’d also learned she was not comfortable with her sensual nature, at least where it concerned men. For that reason alone, if no other, he couldn’t run the risk of hurting her in an affair based on passion that would burn itself out eventually.
    Piwacket jumped from the bed to curl around Alexander’s feet, meowing in hopes of a midnight feeding. He glanced down distractedly as he considered the problem. No one with the exuberance she displayed should have to hide her true nature. It was practically a crime against nature.
    For it was Esther’s complete adoration of the moment at hand that made her so irresistible. Whether it was hugging the body of a child or watching a karate match or admiring a rose, the instant in time that she occupied received her complete and undivided attention. It was a rare quality.
    He smiled to himself, thinking how much his students would like her. Somehow, he would find a way to free the Esther within before she traveled on her way.
    There was danger in the task, a danger his dream of her had spelled out very clearly. The very power he sought to free might ensnare and wound him.
    But as if he’d already been bewitched, a ribbon of memory unfurled against the dark of his imagination, igniting sensual memories of Esther in the sweetly scented garden. On his tongue, he tasted her lips and satin skin. His hands burned with the feel of her hair. His ears reproduced her throaty sound of pleasure.
    Against the onslaught of such vivid memories, the danger seemed very small.
    * * *
    Tuesday morning, Abe minded the shop and her children while Esther went to class. It was a perfect solution in many ways, she thought. Abe needed to be out, to work and feel valuable, but his physical problems made it difficult for him to find work elsewhere. She was surprised she hadn’t thought of asking him to fill in for her before this.
    The class began at 10:30. Esther walked to the