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Alex’s hand tightened around her waist. She might look like a fully-fledged swan tonight, but she still had an ugly duckling psyche he needed to break through. ‘So am I. Do my scars turn you off? I hate my damaged voice too. Should I stop talking? Lock myself away? Become mute?’
Isobella started. To never hear the rub of his voice again would be a sin against nature. ‘You…you don’t like your voice?’ she asked incredulously.
Alex shook his head. ‘It’s soft and scratchy. I used to have a voice that could freeze an intern at fifty paces. Now just raising it hurts. Why?’ he asked, looking at her shaking her head at him as if he was talking utter drivel. ‘Do you?’
Isobella gave a half-laugh, not quite able to believe that Alex had any insecurities, or that she was about to admit what she was about to admit. ‘Oh, my Lord. All you have to do is open your mouth and I practically come on the spot.’
Alex blinked, momentarily shocked by her bald statement. And then he laughed. And kissed her hard on the mouth. He pulled away, winging one eyebrow. ‘Really?’
Her head spun from the kiss as his sexy voice rumbled around her and her toes curled.Drat the man. Advantage Alex. ‘Yes.’ She blushed. ‘Really.’
‘Man, I can’t wait to put that one to the test.’
She saw his look as he realized the power she had handed him on a platter and knew she was doomed. ‘Seriously, Alex—’
Alex sighed and pulled back from her slightly. He reached out for the tie of her gown. ‘May I?’
Isobella hesitated. She placed a hand over his.
‘Please, Isobella. It’ll be okay. I promise.’
She saw the sincerity shining from his eyes. He was asking her to trust him. Maybe it was time to take a leap of faith. Her hand fell away.
Alex felt his heart swell with love and pride. He knew what this was costing her. He pulled the tie and the belt came undone, the edges of her gown loosening. He knelt before her, his gaze never leaving her face as he slowly parted the material.
His hands came into contact with the warm skin of her abdomen and a gasp fell from her throat.
‘It’s okay,’ he murmured, his eyes never leaving her face. He smoothed his hands over the flat planes of her stomach, resting them at the curve of her waist
He slowly looked away from her face, his gaze travelling down until he could see the purple marks branding her skin. He pressed a kiss to her stomach, just above her navel, and felt her muscles undulate beneath his lips, her hand burrow into his hair.
‘I know you hate them,’ he whispered against her skin, rubbing his nose, his mouth against the scars, kissing them lightly, laving them with his tongue as he had done her neck. ‘But I love them—all of them.’ He looked up at her. ‘Because they brought you to me.’
Isobella felt more tears brim in her eyes, and she whimpered at the sensation of his mouth and the rumble of his voice against her stomach.
‘I don’t care if they mean we can’t conceive. We’ll take it one step at a time and we’ll do what we have to do. Okay?’ He looked up at her.
She nodded, her vision completely blurred, a lump choking her throat, making words impossible.
Alex turned his attention back to her belly, rubbing his cheek against the soft skin there. ‘I would give anything to be able to go back to that day and stop what happened. Not because of these—’ he stopped and kissed her stomach reverently ‘—but because the thought of you going through that experience, that pain, makes me physically ill.’
‘Oh, Alex,’ she murmured.
‘These are a part of you. Part of who you are. And I wouldn’t erase them even if I could. Let me show you. Let me spend my life showing you how much I worship your body. You helped me see that not all women are Sonyas. Helped me see that the love of one woman is far superior than the fancy of many. Let me help you see what a beautiful woman you still are.’
Isobella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The man she loved, loved her back. Accepted her, warts and all. Scarred, screwed-up and potentially infertile. What was she waiting for? Wasn’t he the one she’d given up hope was even out there? The one who could see the swan beneath the duckling? The one she had never truly believed existed?
She swallowed against the ball of emotion choking her throat. ‘Okay.’
Alex’s lips stilled against her stomach as her voice reached him. He looked up. ‘Really?’
She nodded through her tears. ‘Really.’
