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“Well, Dr. Chapin and his wife really loved my music.” Kianti smoothed her hands up and down her arms as memories resurfaced. “They came to all the shows I had in the area back when I was just starting out.” She stopped to lean against the railing along the walkway where they strolled.
“Later, I found out they had all my CDs—even the little promotional ones I put out when I was trying to get noticed.” Her dark eyes held a poignant gleam as she stared out at the Pacific crashing against the rocks below. “They left me the house. His foundation got all the scientific equipment and the youth home they supported got all the furnishings.”
“Nice.” Therin appreciated the artwork lining the wall along the walkway. “Very nice,” he added when they entered the studio.
“I do most of my practicing here. It’s one of the few places where I don’t feel pressured.”
Therin watched her fingers graze the glossy top of the baby grand piano. “You’re lucky. There aren’t even a few places I could claim.”
“Must be nice to be needed.”
“It’s been nicer.”
Kianti leaned against the piano. “Do I sense another career change?” She braced her elbows back on the baby grand and regarded him with playful suspicion. “Just exactly what do you do for a living?”
He chuckled, smoothing a hand down a sideburn. “Guess I do whatever I damn well please. But I choose to torture myself for a worthy cause. Basically, I connect people with similar interests.”
“Interests here being educational.”
He nodded. “I know a lot of philanthropists who not only like giving money to various endeavors but appreciate knowing about others who share their interests in those endeavors.” He shrugged and strolled around the piano. “My family and my work put me in contact with many of them. I spend a lot of time bringing them together for worthy causes.” He frowned, not wanting to speak much about work when he was with her.
The feeling of serenity he’d experienced backstage with her after the concert, and again the next morning, had returned. He only wanted to savor the moment and cast out all the rest.
“May I make a request?” He motioned toward the piano.
Kianti’s grin sparked the faint dimple she possessed. “Your request, sir?” she asked once she’d rounded the Baby Grand and claimed her place.
“Do you know ‘Skating’?”
Her laughter filled the room at his mention of the Peanuts tune by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. “Take a seat.” She waved in the direction of the navy-and-tan living set across the room.
The performance began. Therin was, of course, captivated, mesmerized by the eloquence with which she played. Gradually, his attention turned from the playing to the woman. Instead of relaxing in the living area, he propped an elbow to the top of the piano and watched her. Her body was tiny albeit curvaceous beneath the lounge dress, which hadn’t ceased driving him out of his mind since she’d returned to the living room wearing it.
He enjoyed the look of her coarse hair piled in a high ponytail. The locks bounced about her lovely face like a storm cloud.
“Is that what you had in mind?” Kianti asked once the piece had ended.
“Almost,” he said and leaned down for a kiss.
She whimpered before his mouth even touched hers. She clenched her hands, praying for the will not to grab him for fear that he might back away. She let him command the kiss, giving in more eagerly as she stood and he drew her flush against him.
A low sigh of male satisfaction left his throat when Therin straightened and drew Kianti snug against his chest. Resting against the side of the piano, he deepened the kiss thrusting his tongue slowly yet unrelentingly.
Kianti’s hands kneaded his forearms and biceps to test the strength at rest there beneath the dark fabric of his shirt. She moaned in the midst of suckling his tongue. Arching closer and rubbing herself against him in shameless abandon, she cursed the dress covering her skin.
Back off… Therin told himself, but chose to set aside the order for a few seconds. He wanted longer to indulge in just a bit more of her. The serenity she radiated took on a more potent aura during their second kiss. He had no will or intention to stop it.
Somehow though, he did resist—a feat in itself considering her moans told him not to stop. Her voice was soft, helpless yet deliberate. The tone sent the strength right from his legs causing him to lean more fully into the piano.
Kianti shuddered and snuggled deeper into the embrace as she assumed a more controlling role in the duel being fought between their tongues. She gripped his shirt as though it were her lifeline while inhaling the appealing scent of his cologne. There was that familiar voice in her head still singing its same old song. It told her to end this, but how could she when this was so sweet and so dearly missed….
