A Fine Specimen (25 page)
Alex nodded blindly, picked Caitlin up in his arms and
carried her into his office. He slammed the door shut with his foot and walked
over to his chair. He sank down with Caitlin still in his arms. He didn’t know
if he’d be capable of letting her go. Not yet. Not for maybe another hundred
years.
He caught her face between his hands. She was dead white,
her cheeks still wet with tears. A trickle of blood ran down her right cheek
from a shallow scratch.
She had never looked more beautiful.
He kissed her, wildly, crushing her to him as if to absorb
her very essence into his skin. His hands speared her hair, ran over her
shoulders, dug into her back. He kissed her endlessly, tasting her, reveling in
the fact that she was alive, alive and with him.
Forever.
Alex lifted his head, cupping hers between his hands.
“You’re not going anywhere, do you hear me?” he said fiercely. “You’re going to
stay with me!” Caitlin nodded, eyes locked with his. “You’re going to call up
that red-headed harpy and tell her you changed your mind about the apartment
and you want to break the lease. If necessary we’ll pay a penalty. You’re going
to tear up that lease and stay with me. Because I love you.” He gave her a
little shake. “Is that clear?”
Caitlin barely had time to whisper, “Yes, Alex,” and then
his mouth descended on hers again.
Alex’s chest swelled with an emotion that was so big and so
new it took him a moment to recognize it as happiness. He lifted his mouth from
Caitlin’s and laughed.
“What?” She smiled up at him, eyes gleaming, lips rosy and
slightly swollen. A little color had come back into her face. Her smudged glasses
had slid to the end of her nose. “What’s so funny?”
Alex carefully took her glasses off and placed them down on
his desk. His eyes circled her beloved face and he knew that the second half of
his life, the better half, had begun.
He sighed theatrically. “I’ve just realized that I’m going
to have to rent two tuxes for our wedding. One for me to get married in and one
for you to spill the cake on.”
Grant Falls
Captain Ray Avery put down the phone with an enormous grin
on his face.
He looked at the beautiful woman sharing his bed. She
blinked and opened her eyes, the pale blue of a summer sky. Her glorious golden
hair, streaked with silver, flowed over her shoulders. “Who was that, darling?”
she asked sleepily.
He put his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. He would
never tire of holding her in his arms. He blessed the day he’d met Linda
Summers, a fellow professor at St. Mary’s. She was the love he’d been looking
for all his life. He pulled away and smiled at her. She was in her fifties and
she was the most beautiful woman in the world. In his eyes, she grew more
beautiful every day.
Ray envied Alex the years he was going to spend with her
daughter, Caitlin. He wished he’d had them with Linda.
From the moment he’d met Linda’s daughter, he’d known she
would be perfect for the man he loved like a son. And now it looked as if he’d
been proven right.
“That was Alex,” he said and winked.
The sleepiness disappeared. Linda’s smile broadened. “And?”
“And…our plan worked.” Ray brought her hand to his lips.
“What would you say, me darlin’, to a double wedding?”
The End
Lisa Marie Rice is eternally 30 years old and will never
age. She is tall and willowy and beautiful. Men drop at her feet like ripe
pears. She has won every major book prize in the world. She is a black belt
with advanced degrees in archaeology, nuclear physics and Tibetan literature.
She is a concert pianist. Did I mention the Nobel?
Of course, Lisa Marie Rice is a virtual woman and exists
only at the keyboard when writing erotic romance. She disappears when the
monitor winks off.
Lisa Marie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
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Lisa
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Ellora’s Cave Publishing
A Fine Specimen
ISBN 9781419922077
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A Fine Specimen Copyright © 2009 Lisa Marie Rice
Edited by Kelli Collins
Cover design by Syneca
Cover photography by conrado/shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication March 2009
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