Cherry Crush Read Online Free PDF Page A

Feel no misplaced guilt for their actions.”
    He tenderly wiped a tear away from one eye with his thumb and cupped her face in both hands.
    “You are beautiful.”

    She stared into his golden eyes for a moment, seeing only truth there, and smiled through her remaining tears.
    After helping so many women deal with physical and emotional abuse, Chan had guessed what she was thinking and knew just what to say to ease her pain.
    “I got you all wet,” she murmured as if in apology.
    Chan only nodded as he dropped the sponge and climbed from the stall. Laney watched as he quickly stripped down to his shorts and pulled on a thick terry robe that hung behind the door.
    All while he was undressing, the last traces of her nightmare vanished, obliterated by the sheer beauty of Chan’s unclothed form. Oblivious to her perusal, Chan grabbed a bath sheet from a low shelf and carefully lifted her from the stall.
    “I want to look at the knife cut, Kitten,” he told her as he settled her on top of the closed lid of the toilet.
    He retrieved some towels from the heated towel rack and briskly rubbed her dry, chuckling a little as he wrapped her head completely in the soft, lavender-scented folds.
    She snatched the towel away from her eyes and glared at him.
    In response, he bent down and placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose before opening the medicine cabinet and removing an oddly shaped green bottle.
    The shallow cut had not reopened she noted, but he gently smoothed some sort of greenish brown cream into it before carrying her back into the bedroom.
    He noted that she was staring at the ointment jar from the medicine cabinet, and smiled.
    “It’s something that my father taught me to make.” He dabbed one last bit onto the wound and, almost instantly, Laney felt the nagging heat that indicated where the cut was dissipate. “It is good for cuts and bruises. It contains marigold petals, mugwort, and foxglove, along with a few herbs and plants I doubt you would recognize.”
    He bowed his head and appeared to whisper a little prayer before he placed a small kiss on the wound and rose to his feet.
    “Time for you to get some rest,” he spoke quietly as he lifted her slight weight into his arms. “I will leave you to your dreams.”
    Alone? Laney thought. He was going to leave her alone? The thought of being in that big bed by herself gave her shivers.
    “Please stay with me tonight, Chan,” she implored softly, gripping the sleeve of his robe as he placed her on the bed. “I don’t want to be alone.”
    She didn’t know where the courage to ask that came from, but she knew that she would be okay if her Chan was with her.
    “Ok, Kitten,” he replied, trembling as he closed his eyes in thought. Something agitated him, and Laney hoped he wasn’t spooked by her request, but she really needed to feel his body beside her tonight. She needed the comfort that only he could offer.
    She examined his beloved face, the way his damp hair framed it and brought attention to his large nose and the sharp masculine plane of his chin.
    That face, that unique and wholly masculine face never failed to send a tremor of electricity through her body, even now when she felt her foundations had been shaken.
    “Just let me dry out some,” he finally spoke. “And get you something dry to wear….”
    Laney gasped when she suddenly realized that she was dressed in nothing more than a towel. She had been crying on his shoulders and baring her soul… totally naked! She was naked in front of Chan, the thing that she had been dreaming about for months, and she never realized!
    How could she be so comfortable with the man in her nude state, especially after what had happened in the alley?
    But damn she felt safe and secure with Chan! If anything, the fact that she was talking and not taking the typical sci-fi solution to confront problems—when in danger when in doubt, run in circles scream and shout—was just another indication that she had