Can't Stop Loving You Read Online Free PDF Page B

did some fancy sidestepping to keep
from getting tangled in the dog leashes.
    “Now stop that,” she said to her pets.
    But they would have none of her commands.
Giddy with joy, they gave their former master a tongue bath that
showed
they
at least were delighted with the game he was
playing.
    The combined weight of the Great Danes was
too much for Helen to handle. She went down in a heap, landing
sprawled on top of Brick with her face merely inches from his.
    “You insufferable rake,” she said. “You
blackguard. You... you...”
    Helen sputtered to a stop, trapped not by
anger but by emotions much deeper, much more disturbing. The gleam
in Brick’s dark eyes was the one she’d seen so many times before,
the unmistakable gleam of passion... and the feelings that coursed
through her were the unmistakable ones of response.
    It had been so long. Two years. Two years
without the quick, hot flash of desire, the endless delight, the
joy of rushing into the arms of a man she had loved more than life
itself.
    Had loved,
she kept reminding
herself. She no longer loved Brick Sullivan. Couldn’t afford to
love him. Wouldn’t let herself love him.
    His eyes were black and deep and lit from the
inside by the glow that had been only for her. Her lips
trembled.
    Lord, don’t let me cry. Not here. Not
now
.
    “Helen.”
    His whisper stirred the hair at her temple as
he reached to touch her cheek.
    “Helen.”
    Again, he whispered her name. There was
wonder in his voice, wonder and a terrible pain. She closed her
eyes, allowing herself the small forbidden luxury of his touch. His
touch was light, exquisite, the stuff of dreams. His fingertips
skimmed across her cheekbones, down the side of her throat, then
back up to her lips.
    A small tear slid from underneath her eyelid,
unaware. She heard his quick intake of breath, felt the tremble in
his hand.
    His body was long and lean and hard,
perfectly fitted to hers. They had always said so. Late at night
cuddled together in the middle of their curtained bed, they used to
marvel at their perfect fit, marvel and laugh, then love again just
to be sure they hadn’t been mistaken.
    How beautiful their love had been, how
magical, that combination of love and laughter that lingered in the
heart and spirit and soul even when they were separated, that
wondrous bonding destined by fate and smiled upon by the gods.
    Brick slipped his finger between her lips and
brushed lightly against the moist, satiny inner lining. The
pleasure was almost more than she could bear.
    Run,
her mind said, even while her
heart said
stay.
    Powerful currents raced between them. The
tempo of their breathing changed.
    Lord, don’t let me fall in love with this
man again
.
    But she knew it was useless to pray for the
impossible. She had always been in love with Brick, from the
beginning of time, through wars and holocausts and whirlwinds, from
ancient Rome to the courts of French kings, from the savage
frontier to the far eastern boundaries of the world. He was her
heart and she was his. Wherever they were, whatever they did, they
would recognize each other... and yearn.
    Memories of their love filled her so that she
could not move. The people standing around them ceased to exist.
There was only the two of them and the explosions of love they
detonated in each other.
    From a far-off place she heard Marsha giving
commands, felt the movement of the Abominables as they were led
away, heard the shuffle of feet as the stage cleared. Clifford’s
statement, “That’s enough for today,” seemed redundant.
    But it was not enough. The soft touch of
Brick’s hand on her cheek, the solid feel of his chest against
hers, the long, sweet tangle of legs... none of it would ever be
enough. She longed for the miraculous joining of their spirits, for
the feeling of soaring higher than eagles, wings touching, held
aloft by a love so rare that only a fool would cast it away.
    “They’ve gone,” Brick said, his voice still
soft with