Free Forever Spring by Joan Hohl Page A

said, meeting his gaze. “You have the appearance of a born-with-the-silver-spoon aristocrat. There’s an aura of breeding and elegance about you that conflicts with the idea of any kind of physical labor. Not that you look incapable of labor—it’s just that you’ve never had to perform it. And that’s why I was surprised to find you repairing the shutters.”
    “I see.” His breakfast forgotten, Paul stared at her for a few tense moments. Then a smile twitched his sculpted male lips. “An aura of elegance, hmm?” He arched one dark eyebrow very effectively. Karen gave way to a grin.
    “Yes. A definite aura of elegance.”
    “You find this, er... aura attractive?”
    Karen’s grin curved into a wry smile. “I always believed that actions speak louder than words,” she murmured, obliquely referring to her eager response to him the night before.
    “You were satisfied with my nocturnal labor?”
    A warm flush began at the base of Karen’s throat and crept upward to her cheeks. Yet, even flustered, she caught the hint of uncertainty in Paul’s tone. Could he possibly harbor doubts about his own prowess? she wondered, examining him more closely.
    Paul’s expression could only be described as austere, but there was a tenseness about him, as if... Karen searched her mind for a fitting phrase that would define the emotion she sensed emanating from him. Then it hit her. It was as if he was waiting for a life-or-death verdict to be handed down!
    Forgetting her embarrassment, Karen obeyed an impulse to reach across the table and slide her hand over his. “Yes, Paul, I was satisfied, deeply satisfied,” she admitted in a soft, steady voice.
    The slow movement of Paul’s chest revealed the soundless sigh he expelled. “So was I,” he said, turning his hand to glide his palm against hers. “I was deeply satisfied in more ways than you can imagine.”
    Karen was both intrigued and confused by his cryptic statement. Satisfied in more ways? she repeated to herself. What— The forming question was washed from her mind by a flood of sensations activated by the feel of his fingers lacing with hers. Biting back an exclamation of pleasure, she raised her gaze to his darkening eyes.
    “Paul?”
    “I want very much to experience the satisfaction again.” His voice was low and warm and fantastically sexy. Excitement warring with trepidation inside her, Karen blurted out the first thought that jumped into her mind.
    “But we haven’t even finished breakfast!”
    “Karen..Paul’s voice dropped to a crooning, heated whisper. “The hunger clawing at me cannot be appeased by food.” Lifting her hand, he bent to brush his lips across her fingers, and Karen felt the heat from his mouth in every nerve ending in her body.
    “It’s...it’s morning!” Karen’s voice was reedy, her breathing uneven.
    “Yes.” Paul’s lips explored her knuckles.
    “The sun’s shining!”
    “Yes.” His tongue slid provocatively between her fingers.
    “Paul.” His name sighed through her slightly parted lips.
    “I want to be with you, a part of you, now, in the morning, and here, in the sunshine.”
    Karen surrendered, simply because she wanted to. “Yes.”
    Retaining his hold on her hand, Paul stood and moved around the table to her. Smiling into her widened eyes, he dropped to his knees. With a gentle tug, he drew her down next to him. Moving carefully, as if she were constructed of the most delicate spun glass, he lowered her to the carpet. Looming over her, he captured her gaze with his dark eyes and the hem of her sweatshirt with his fingers. Swiftly, smoothly, he drew the shirt from her body, exposing her unfettered breasts to his heated gaze. A shiver rocketed the length of her spine as he lowered his head to her breasts.
    “Paul. Oh, Paul!” Karen cried his name huskily, twisting and arching her back in response to the pleasure he created by flicking his tongue over one tingling crest. As his lips closed around the