Symphony In Rapture Read Online Free PDF Page B

of herself the previous evening, after all.
    “So, what happened?” Nick prompted, dipping a bite of lobster in melted butter.
    Michelle watched him carry the dripping meat to his mouth. She imagined him holding the tender morsel above her naked body, tracing buttery trails on her breasts, her abdomen. As his lips closed over the fork, she pictured them engulfing her rigid nipples. She reached for her steak knife, hand trembling slightly.Get a grip, she thought, shaking herself mentally. She tried to remember where she had been in her recitation.Oh, yes. Angela . She cut into her steak as she talked, continuing her story between bites.
    “Alex was furious. He thought I had tricked him. Accused me of not taking my pills, all sorts of things.” She frowned. “He definitely didn’t want children.” She looked at Nick. “I have to be honest. It wasn’t anything I had consciously considered, myself. But when I found out…I wasso happy. I hadn’t felt anything missing in our marriage until that moment. Then all of a sudden, I was like—thisis what I’ve been waiting for.” She sat for a moment, lost in thought.
    Nick studied her. He reveled in the knowledge that Michelle was becoming more and more aroused as the evening wore on. He’d seen her hungry eyes follow his fork, noticed her shifting anxiously as her nipples protruded ever more prominently with each passing moment. But a veil of sorrow had been drawn over her face. Obviously, she had very much loved her child. “What happened?” he asked softly.
    Michelle shook her head, and her eyes became moist. “I had a beautiful baby girl. Angela. Alex never accepted her. We divorced when she was two, but he had moved out a year earlier. She never even knew him, not really.”
    Nick waited, knowing something painful was coming; wanting to reach out and hold her, but afraid of disturbing the delicate balance of trust building between them.
    Michelle speared a bite of baked potato as she blinked back tears, determined not to cry. They concentrated quietly on their food for a while. Michelle appreciated the fact that Nick seemed willing to wait, to let her tell the story in her own time. She watched Nick surreptitiously as they ate. Any time he wasn’t looking at his food, his gaze was on her. Her eyes. Her hair. Her breasts. The attention was incredibly arousing, and languid warmth flooded her from head to toe. Suddenly, she wanted to get it over with—get the story of her life out of the way, so she could start learning abouthim.
    “Angela died.” She said abruptly. Nick’s features were solemn, sympathetic. She felt tears rising again, and blinked them away. “It was a car accident. Nobody’s fault really. A man had a heart attack, ran into us both while we were crossing the street to the school.” One tear fell, despite her best efforts, and Nick reached out. Michelle rested her hand in his. He rubbed his thumb gently across the back of it. Beneath the sorrowful memories and the residual guilt Michelle often felt over having survived the accident, a strong current of need raced. Feeling as though she had betrayed her daughter by allowing something so crass as sexual desire to infringe on a moment of remembrance, Michelle pulled her hand away and attacked the remainder of her food with angry zeal.
    Puzzled, Nick returned his attention to his meal, watching Michelle warily as they ate. After several minutes, Michelle set her fork aside. It wasn’t Nick’s fault she felt such a strong attraction to him, and he looked so worried she felt like she was punishing him.
    “I’m sorry,” she said.
    “No need to apologize,” Nick insisted.
    “Yes, there is.” Michelle thought for a moment. “I’m enjoying this, Nick. But I feel guilty about it. I know it’s not true, but I feel like I’m betraying my daughter any time I start to feel…” she paused, searching for the word, “…happy again.”
    Nick felt a warm glow of pleasure. “Are you?” he asked.