Full Circle Read Online Free PDF Page B

paused, letting the
gravity of his words fill the empty space. “You say you’re ready
for all of me, but are you really? Do you really know what you’re
saying you’re ready for? Because sometimes I’m not even sure I’m ready.” His body shivered, and he quickly pulled her
against him, tucking his face against her neck. “You make me want
things I haven’t wanted in a long, long time, Karma.”
    They’d gone from playful to profound in less
than a minute. But this was how Mark was. He was a study in
extremes. He could shift gears faster than a racecar driver.
    For Karma, the personality fluctuations were
invigorating. She felt they were part of Mark’s spiritual
evolution, as if the more he vacillated from one extreme to
another, the more it meant he was finding his way back to who he
really was. To the man he’d been before Carol left him at the altar
all those years ago.
    She took comfort in the sharp turns his moods
took. As long as it meant he was, indeed, finding himself, she was
more than fine to endure his severe swings.
    And, clearly, he was still finding himself.
She wasn’t sure what he meant when he said that sometimes he wasn’t
even sure he was ready, but, obviously, there were still things he
hadn’t shared with her. Things that, for whatever reason, he still
withheld.
    “We’ll get there together,” she whispered,
combing her fingers through his short, thick hair. “There’s no
rush. But when you’re ready, I’m ready.”
    “And that’s why you have my heart.” His lips
brushed her skin as he spoke. “You don’t push.” A gentle breath
escaped his mouth as his cheek rose against the bottom of her jaw,
so she knew he was smiling. “You take me as I am and make me
stronger without expecting me to open up too fast.” He pulled back
so she could see his eyes. “Which makes me want to open up more.
So, I have to wonder if it’s you and not me engaging in some kind
of conspiracy. Some kind of magic that makes me addicted to you.
Because . . . I am addicted.” His gaze danced over
her face as if he were looking at a mystical faerie and couldn’t
quite believe it.
    “No conspiracy here, Mr. Kidnapper. I assure
you, I’m innocent on all counts.”
    Unadulterated joy broke over his face, and he
leaned back in his seat again, pulling her with him. “You are most
certainly not innocent, Miss Mason. If you were, I wouldn’t be so
captivated by you.”
    “And here I thought it was my innocence you
found captivating.”
    “It was . . . in the
beginning. Now, though . . . ?” He brushed his palm
down the side of her face. “Now I’m captivated by the way you make
me feel. Just being around you makes me feel . . .”
His gaze searched the air past her shoulder as if he could find the
word he sought there.
    Mark always presented himself so eloquently
that to see him floundering for the right word was somewhat
amusing. “What?” she teased. “How exactly do I make you feel?”
    Their eyes met a split second before he said,
“Powerful. You make me feel powerful.”
    “Powerful?” That wasn’t what she’d
expected.
    The way his eyes narrowed and his mouth
quirked thoughtfully made it clear he still wasn’t sure that was
the right word, either, but he was sticking with it.
    “Karma, you make me feel like there’s nothing
I can’t do, as long as you’re with me.” He frowned. “I’ve never
felt that before. I’ve never felt like the definition of who I am
relied so heavily on another person. It’s like I’m rediscovering
myself with you.” The idea seemed to baffle him. His gaze drifted,
and a hint of confusion crossed his expression before he smiled it
away and locked gazes with her again.
    “Well, you are rediscovering yourself, aren’t
you? At least, that’s the way it sounds to me.”
    He nodded tightly, gaze lowered. “Yes, I am.
You’re right.” He pulled her down so her head rested on his chest.
His heartbeat thumped heavily against her ear.
    She