StrangersonaTrain Read Online Free Page A

an ache kindled
in her gut. He’d called her on her own lie and he’d been right. Of course she
wanted more. She just didn’t believe any man would want to give it to her.
    She turned to her back and met his gaze. A reflection of
patience, understanding and acceptance drew tears to her eyes. She sniffled and
blinked to push them down but his index finger traced the trembling corner of
her mouth. This man saw through her in a way that left denial useless. Drops
trickled down her cheeks, one on each side as her eyes remained fixed on his,
unblinking, baring her soul and praying he would accept it.
    He swiped the tear with his fingertip and lifted it
reverently to his lips. He licked it off and savored the taste while holding
the serious expression of a lover devoted to turning even the smallest of
gestures into an act of worship.
    Impatient to reestablish physical contact, Charlotte pressed
two fingers against his sealed lips and began to trace their outline. Still, he
managed to remain as still as if her touch left him unaffected.
    She withdrew her hand. “I hate being so obvious. You a
shrink or something?”
    He placed his palm over her cheek, his gaze so adoring that
it melted a cold knot in the pit of her stomach. “Just a man who respects his
woman.”
    His woman. The words and the tone left no doubt that
when he claimed possession of a woman, the relationship was based on trust and
surrender that went both ways.
    He lifted up his head and brushed a kiss on her mouth. It
was the kind of kiss a man gave to a woman he’d known for a long time.
    She settled back into his embrace, her cheek against the
side of his ribs, his arm protective on her shoulder, holding her to him. On a
deep breath, she drew in his scent. Traces of food prepared in the dining car
still clung to him, but the warmth of his body also held the smell of male.
    It was easy just to lie in his arms and smell and feel him
with her, allowing herself not to judge, nor expect, nor hope. The movement of
the train kept the sense of time in place even though it finally stopped
mattering.
    She let out a deep breath and hugged herself tighter to him
only to worry if she was being too clingy. Before she could draw away, he held
her in place so that the scope of his strength began to contrast against the
fragility of her own body.
    “It’s okay. I’m staying right here.”
    Lethargy drifted through her mind and heaviness settled in
her body. She wanted to submit to it as one would submit to flying in a dream.
Her breath had already settled and her body wanted to stay exactly as it was.
She observed her awareness drift away until even the sense of him next to her
and her in his arms faded.

Chapter Three
     
    When she opened her eyes, his arm still hugged her shoulder.
Her hand still rested over his heart. Careful not to wake him, she lifted up
her head and came face-to-face with that blue-eyed gaze that had hypnotized her
from the moment she’d first seen him.
    She yawned. “How long was I asleep?”
    “About an hour.”
    His gaze remained trained on hers, his expression deep,
accepting and expectant.
    “And you’ve been awake the whole time?”
    She sensed a shift in him and half anticipated a proud smile
but it didn’t come. He didn’t have to answer. She read the answer on his face.
    He had been awake, holding her while she slept, and he would
have stayed for as long as she slept, even if it had taken all night. Propping
herself up, she kissed his chest and inhaled him deep into her lungs. Arousal
simmered in the air, waiting for a spark. In that moment, his promise that
things would not be fake between them couldn’t have been more true than the
reality of his body next to her own.
    She kissed his collarbone, his neck and jaw and when her
lips took the position above his, she hovered there. Meeting his gaze, she
wished that he could read her mind and know that things couldn’t possibly be
simpler and more right.
    Her lips ensnared the luscious