Sarah's Child Read Online Free PDF

finally broken the ice that surrounded her and found that she wasnt cold at all. He wanted to do that again. The thought of bringing her to passion interfered with his breathing and made his loins grow heavy.
    To take his mind off his growing desire, he looked around the condo and was again surprised. There was no glass or chrome, only comfortable textures and soothing colors. Her furniture was all sturdy and overstuffed, inviting to a tired body. He wanted to stretch out on her sofa, which was long enough to accommodate his long legs, and watch a baseball game on television while idly munching on freshly popped, salty popcorn, with a can of frosty beer in his hand. The room was that soothing, that comfortable. This was where she let her hair down, literally, he thought, surveying with pleasure the pale tumble of her hair. When she pulled it back into the tight, severe twist she wore at work, she subdued all hint of curl, but now he could see that her hair wasnt weed-straight. The weight of it pulled most of the curl out, but the ends had a tendency to form frothy, bouncy curls. She was so blonde, it was startling.
    I like this room, he said, his eyes on her.
    Sarah looked nervously around, aware of how much of herself was revealed in the atmosphere shed created for her private lair. Here shed made a home that gave her the warmth and security she craved and had lacked all her life. Shed grown up in a home that had provided physical comfort, but left her out in the cold when it came to love. The house had been immaculate, and done to perfection by a hideously expensive interior decorator, but the coldness of it had made Sarah shiver, and shed invented excuses, even as a child, to escape it. The coldness had reflected the hostility of the man and woman who lived there, each of them so bitter at being trapped in a loveless marriage that there had been no warmth or laughter for the child who, though innocent, had been the chain that held them together. When they finally divorced, only a few weeks after Sarah had entered college, it had been a relief for all three of them. Never close to her parents, since then Sarah had drifted even farther from them. Her mother had remarried and lived in Bermuda; her father had also remarried, moved to Seattle, and was now, at fifty-seven, the doting father of a six-year-old son.
    The only example of warm home-life Sarah had known was that provided by Diane, first with Dianes parents, then with the home shed made with Rome. Diane had had the gift of love, a warm outpouring of affection that had drawn people to her. With Diane, Sarah had laughed and teased, and done all of the normal things that a teenage girl did. But now Diane was gone. At least, Sarah thought painfully, Diane had died without ever knowing that her best friend was in love with her husband.
    Suddenly she collected her manners and scrambled to her feet. Im sorry. Would you like something to drink?
    A cold beer, he thought. And salty popcorn. Hed bet anything he had that Sarah wasnt a beer drinker, but he could picture her curled by his side, sipping on a soft drink and delving her hand into the bowl for popcorn. She wouldnt talk during the game either, but during the commercials hed tip her head back and kiss her slowly, tasting the salt on her lips. By the time the game ended, hed be so wild for her, hed take her there on the sofa, or maybe on the carpet in front of the television.
    Sarah shifted uneasily, wondering why he was watching her so intently. She put a hand to her cheek, thinking that she could dash into her bedroom and do a fast cosmetic job on her face. Anything would be an improvement over nothing.
    I dont suppose you have beer? he asked softly, not taking his eyes from her.
    Despite herself, she chuckled at the question. Shed never bought beer in her life; all she knew about it was the catchy jingles on television. No, youre out of luck. Your choice is limited to a soft drink, water, tea or milk.
    His eyebrows rose