Free Un-Break my Heart: Book 2 (The Heart Trilogy) by Audrina Lane Page B

didn’t need to talk about that, or explain my scars to anyone new. It was safe, it was easy and unfortunately I knew that he loved me. I tried my best to love him, but I could never forget you. I hid the St Christopher in my jewellery box, my diary and our letters in the attic. I boarded up the broken pieces of my heart to protect it.”
     
    I looked across and realised it was nearly four in the morning but I knew I needed to just keep going for a little while longer.
    “So Mark and I got married a little after Sarah and Chris and then I fell pregnant wit h Charlotte. I knew as soon as she was born that she was the daughter I should have had with you so I named he r Charlott e after Charlie in Top Gun. She bought so much joy to my life and then fate stepped in again and took Mark away from me. I was so numb already, so alone since 1988 that I just shut my thoughts about that period away too. I poured my life into Charlie. I gave her everything she wanted or needed, loved her with a fierceness that I hadn’t felt since the day we finished” I paused, and wiped the tears away once more.
    “I guess in a way I felt ashamed that I was so relieved at Mark no longer being in my life. Living a lie with a smile on your face is the hardest acting job I have ever had to do, but that’s what I did and that’s what I still have to reconcile now”
     
    It felt good to have opened up to James even though I knew that I still had a long way to go with the whole healing process. I still felt like damaged goods, unworthy of any depth of feeling. I was still afraid that falling for James would just lead to more heartbreak but I also knew that being there with him now was like being rescued from a stormy sea. James was my life raft and I hoped he could cope with me clinging to him. Getting off the bed I headed for the bathroom and washed my face. I looked across at the bath and the pool of moonlight that was shining on its surface from the skylight above. I turned the tap on and started to run the warm water. On the side was a bottle of bath oil and I added that and let the scent of lavender fill the steam.
     
    James must have followed me for I turned to find him standing naked in the doorway, gazing at me with love burning in his eyes.
    “Do you want to join me, I don’t think I can just go back to sleep after all that” I murmured. I crossed the cool tiles and laid my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around him and holding on tightly. I never wanted to be anywhere else for the rest of my life. Once the bath was full we stepped into the warm water together. I lay back against James as he ran his hands over my neck and shoulders, trying to rub away all the tensions in them.
    “You shouldn’t feel guilty about how you felt about Mark, I should know as I speak from the same but slightly different position. My marriage was anything but happy with Felicity but I tried to make the best of it for my boys. When she left I felt relieved and happy but I still found you in my thoughts and dreams”
     
    In the pause we both looked up into the night sky above us, stars twinkled there in the darkness.
    “I could hardly believe it when Mitchell bough t Charlott e home; it felt as though I had gone back in time. Apart from her green eyes she is the spitting image of you. I could hardly believe it when Mitchell told me you were single and I knew then that I had to try and make things right between us. It was my chance in a million to have you back in my life again” he breathed.
    “And here I am” I replied “Back in your life”
    “I don’t think I ever want to let you go now” James said. I could feel his finger tips dip beneath the water surface and down to my nipples. He caressed them gently and then his hands slid down over my stomach and then between my thighs.
     
    I closed my eyes and gave myself to the feelings deep inside me, they were pushing to the top and even though the bath water had cooled it felt so hot around our