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By the time he turned the key in the lock and entered the foyer of his villa, Jules could smell the aroma of freshly baked apple pie with cinnamon. His favorite.
“Hey, beautiful.” Jules made his way into the kitchen and placed his luggage on the tile. He then snaked his arms around Amber’s waist. He placed a soft kiss on the side of her neck and she moaned with delight leaning into his body.
“Hi, Jules,” she said, turning around to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “How was your flight?”
“Hi, Jules? That’s all I get?” he teased her. “Well, I’ve been lonely without you.” Jules lowered his head to hers and kissed her gently. God, he loved the feel of her skin, the whisper of her perfume. It drove him crazy each and every time. And he enjoyed the feel of his hands on her fine, rounded, child-bearing hips. She was a healthy, proportionate woman. Curved in all the right places.
“Hmm, you smell so good.” He nuzzled her neck. He slid his hands over her behind and gave it a good squeeze. Amber’s body responded.
“I love when you do that,” she whispered as she arched her neck enjoying his silky kisses. “I…I’ve missed you.”
“Good,” he growled in a low voice. Just the sound of her soft, sultry voice drove him wild with erotic thoughts of pleasing her in every way, wanting to hear more of it as she cried out his name with ecstasy. Oh, the things he really wanted to do with her right now.
He’d been away from her for way too long. He just couldn’t wait to finally be with his wife. He’d been busy since the birth of their daughter and they never got a chance to be intimate, but then again, how many wives gave birth on their wedding day?
Her body had been sore and fatigued and she was feeling too overwhelmed then, adjusting to sleep-wake intervals of two hours at a time.
Damn, he’d waited so long already. He could tell by the way her body was responding to his, that she was more ready than she was before. It pumped him up as well and his fatigue faded.
He reached his hand up her blouse and underneath the material, feeling the skin on her back, gently caressing her body over her scars.
Just then, she pulled away from him.
“What is it, baby?” he asked gently. He hoped he hadn’t done the wrong thing. He wanted her to know that he loved her and that he appreciated everything about her, no matter what.
“It’s nothing, I…” she said, her voice trailing off as she hugged herself and looked out through the large kitchen window at the sunset. The view was breathtaking as the kitchen window overlooked the beautiful hills in the countryside.
He drew in a deep breath.
“I know what it is.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t understand.” Her gaze failed to meet his as she continued to look outside avoiding his eye contact.
“Whenever we get this close it’s always the same, Amber. You need to let go and just be okay. I love you, all of you, just the way you are.”
“I…I know.” She closed her eyes, breathing deeply then opening them again. “Sometimes, I just can’t help it, Jules. I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t be. The only person who should be sorry is the coward who did this to you and…your family. What happened to you is not your fault, Amber. But you’re still beautiful.”
“My skin is not, Jules. I know you’re just trying to be kind—”
“What?” Heat rushed through Jules’s gut and it had nothing to do with passion. He felt his heart squeeze in his chest. “What are you talking about, Amber? How could you think I’m being patronizing? You should know me better than that by now.”
“I know you are a perfect gentleman, Jules. You were raised right. But…”
He could see tears threatening to fill her eyes. He reached over to her and pulled her close. If he could only get his hands on the idiot who killed her parents and brother in the accident and sped off leaving his beautiful wife scarred for life, both in body and psyche. Damn it! It wasn’t fair. And the first guy Amber had trusted to sleep with, he let her down even worse, making her even more self-conscious and feeling less worthy, when in fact, she was ten thousand times worthy—she was precious like a rare flawless diamond and she meant the world to Jules.
Yeah, Amber meant the world to him. But would she let him inside her world, completely? If he was honest with himself, he’d admit he didn’t help matters much being away so much. He could have postponed some of his trips or have one of his senior executives take his place. But maybe he was just too overwhelmed with the changes in his life.
Jules already had his men on the job, looking into the accident case that was reopened recently by the Mayberry Hill Police Department. He had connections and they were already hot on to some leads. Apparently, there had been a witness who had recently come forth after a cold case files program was aired on the local network.
It was bad enough that Amber had to deal with the massive changes to her body during the childbirth process and the after effects of giving birth, but now memories of her past came back to haunt her as she watched herself every day in the mirror. Her more prominent scars since childbirth had her feeling less than sexy. She had already explained that to Jules and he’d tried hard to understand, all the while, feeling contempt for the person, or persons, responsible. He would find that suspect, even if it was the last thing he did.
He loved Amber, more than he’d desired any woman in his life. He couldn’t imagine his life without her. A vein throbbed in his temple at the mere thought of losing her again—even emotionally. They’d gotten so far in their relationship since they rekindled what they’d once had—and now this.
“I love you, Amber. I love all of you and I want you to know that you are the most beautiful woman I’ve had the honor of being with. You’re so caring and thoughtful, kind and have a heart of gold.” It was true and he loved everything else about her, too.
Her beautiful, large, almond-shaped eyes, framed with long, thick, dark lashes and her heart-melting smile, always ready to brighten a room or cheer up anybody who needed it.
“Not to mention, you’re the best mother in the world. You do your work with love and warmth twenty-four-seven. You’re amazing, you know that?” he said softly, as he tilted her chin up to look deeply into her eyes.
“Th-thank you, Jules. You’re wonderful. Sometimes, I feel as if I don’t des—”
“No. Don’t say it. You deserve everything good in life, Amber. God knows you’ve paid the price. Nothing good in life comes easy, remember that. I’m here for you. My family is here for you.”
“I know,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. “Jules, I’m just so…worked up right now…so on edge. I really want us to be…close but…I need to relax. I wish I had something to help me to relax, Jules. I just wish…”
“Listen, I’ve got something for you,” he said, pulling her gently in his direction. He leaned down and reached into the side of his luggage and pulled out a gift set that contained some sensuous body massage oils. He’d had this in mind while on his trip. Amber had always told him that she enjoyed massage therapy in the past but stopped doing it and right now, she didn’t trust anybody to get close to her body, to see her scars. There were times when she was okay with her body and other times when her body image issues got the best of her. “Let’s go to the guest room,” he said gently.
“But, you must be tired, jet-lagged. You just flew in.”
“Oh, please. When am I ever beat?”
“That’s true.” Amber grinned. “You’re all work and…all work.”
He chuckled. “Besides, I had plenty of time to rest and shower on the plane.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot, you executive folk travel on those Emirate-like flights with gold-plated faucets, private showers and boardrooms up in the sky while you conduct the next business deal…” she playfully teased him.
“And when you’re ready, you’ll be flying with me on my trips—you and Crystal. I want to take you all over the world on a sightseeing excursion. You said you wanted to visit every continent, remember?”
“You remembered that?” she gushed. The look of surprise on her face was priceless. Amber told him that when he’d first met her, a while back.
“Honey, I don’t miss anything when it comes to you. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I think you could use a little cheering up.”
She smiled appreciatively.
Jules led Amber into the guest room, a spare room actually, not far from the nursery, with a gorgeous backdrop of the countryside.
Amber got comfortable on the bed while Jules dimmed the light and powered on the musical stand. A romantic classical piece played over the speakers on low volume.
In spite of her inner doubts and bouts of insecurity, the feeling of desire for Jules overwhelmed her. His sexiness in his tailored dark suit unbuttoned and exposing his white shirt and the way his muscular chest filled out in his attire. She admired his broad shoulders and tall frame. Amber couldn’t wait to feel his naked hard muscles on his arms and chest again. This time, not stopping from going all the way. Her eyes explored his dark, sexy-as-sin brown eyes and her heart melted into a warm smile.
