Caress Part Two (Arcadia) Read Online Free

few items that couldn’t wait. The rest would have to. By the time I was done,
the food had arrived.
    I selected the most pungent of the various dishes I’d
ordered, a green curry, and spooned it into a saucepan that I set on the stove.
Regretting not having thought to install a microwave in the outdated kitchen, I
let it begin to simmer, releasing its aroma into the air.
    I assembled dishes and cutlery while wondering if my grand
plan would work. As it turned out, I didn’t have long to wait before finding
out. Almost as soon as the scent of curry began wafting toward the bedroom, I
heard the shower go in in the master bath. Not long after that, Emma herself
emerged, looking rosy and more than a little bashful.
    She was dressed in soft cotton drawstring slacks the same
fathomless blue as her eyes and a simple white shirt with short sleeves that
for all its seeming innocence hugged the curve of her breasts. Sensible clothes
for spending a day inventorying the apartment yet I couldn’t imagine her being
more alluring. Especially now that I had a much fuller appreciation of the
lovely, exquisitely responsive body beneath them.
    Made for pleasure.
    Made for me.
    Where did that come from? I’d never felt particularly
possessive about any woman I’d been with, although I did expect monogamy in an
ongoing relationship. Expected and gave it, that being only fair.
    Still, I’d never thought of a woman as mine . Not
until now.
    Briefly, I considered whether that was simply because I was
her first but I knew that wasn’t it. Emma herself was responsible for how I
felt, all of her, the beauty, the bravery, the way she came alive in my arms
and gave of herself so generously, without any restraint.
    My cock stirred. I ignored it resolutely and concentrated on
the food. We were going to sit down like civilized people and eat, have a
little conversation, whatever.
    And then I was going to fuck her again, please god.
    “Are you hungry?” I deliberately kept my tone
matter-of-fact, never mind what the sight of her did to me.
    “Starved,” she said.
    The sound of her voice rippled through me like hot, potent
wine. I dragged in a breath, stunned at how aroused I was already.
    Clearing my throat, I said, “I ordered Thai. You like that,
right?”
    “Love it.” She was staring at me as she spoke. The pink tip
of her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
    How could any woman look at once so endearingly
self-conscious and so provocative?
    “I thought we’d eat on the terrace,” I managed to say.
    She nodded. “Let me help.”
    I did simply because I wanted to get out of the kitchen as
quickly as possible. It was right next to the pantry and the dumb waiter that
she’d come hurtling out of that first day. All too clearly, I remembered the
feel of her body pressed between mine and the wall I put her against before I
realized that she wasn’t any danger.
    Holy hell, I’d been wrong about that.

Chapter Four
     

Lucas
     
    We carried the food and dishes around to the west side of
the wrap-around terrace where we could watch the sunset. The Hudson River was a
swathe of deep, dark water etched with the gray-green wakes of the boats moving
along it. The highways to either side looked like slowly flowing ribbons of
light as people made their way home.
    A breeze, hinting at the approach of fall, ruffled Emma’s
hair as I pulled out a chair for her. I caught the scent of honeysuckle and
jasmine--her shampoo, I supposed--and under it the lingering perfume of her
skin.
    An echo of remembered pleasure rolled through me, so
forcibly that I closed my eyes for an instant, the better to savor it.
    When I opened them again, Emma was staring at me.
    “Are you all right?” she asked softly.
    I took a breath, let it out, and manage to smile. “Me? I’m
fine.” More gently, I added, “What about you?”
    Her eyes darted down as an enchanting blush warmed her cheeks.
But a moment later, she looked up again and met my gaze squarely. “I’m