Which made sense. This was sex the good old-fashioned way—between two people who wanted to be together for no other reason than that it was the right thing at the right time for both of them.

When what the mirror was showing grew wavy from tears that sprang to her eyes, she closed the sight of them off and turned her face into his shoulder.

Somehow, he managed to hug her and still keep up the rhythm.

As Marie-Terese pitched over the edge of pleasure and went into the kind of free fall she had only a vague memory of, she held on to the man responsible for the way she felt and let herself go. Her climax milked another one out of his sex and she felt utter satisfaction as he shuddered and kicked—

Except then everything went wrong. For a split second, she thought of what she had been doing for money, and that was all it took to ruin it: A cold gust blew into her chest and spread out from there until all her veins were frozen and her muscles drew tight against bones of ice.

Vin stilled as if he had sensed the change in her and he lifted his head from her hair. “Talk to me.”

She opened her mouth. But nothing would come out.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, catching her tears with his fingertips. “This has to be hard for you. Even if it felt right, it has to be hard.”

She struggled to catch her breath, not from exertion, but from the effort of not flying apart. “What if it all comes back every time I’m…”

With you, she wanted to finish, but that seemed a bit much. For God’s sake, she didn’t know whether she was still going to be in this town next week.

He kissed her. “Other memories will take the place of all that. It’s going to take time, but it will happen.”

She glanced at the mirror and thought of the way he moved. As she recalled the feel and sight of him, the cold retreated some, ushered out of her by a wave of warmth.

“I hope you’re right,” she said, running her hands through his hair. “I really do.”

CHAPTER
24

As they lay together, Vin covered Marie-Terese up with the best blanket he had: his own body. Damn, it felt good to be all crammed on his little bed with her, although he had to be careful with his hands and where they went. With so much exposed deliciously soft female skin so close to him…

After two orgasms, only one of which had been on time, he was still hard. And hungry. But he was not going to pressure her in any way.