One Night with Sole Regret 05 Tie Me by Olivia Cunning Page A

go.”
    She grabbed his thigh before he could climb from the bench. “This song does similar things to me,” she whispered. “I can’t stop thinking about sex.” She stared at him, all beautiful and beguiling, and his cock jerked. “I can’t stop thinking about sex with you .”
    His mouth went dry.
    “I’ve never gotten aroused while composing a song,” she said, “so it must be the company.”
    Her hand slipped up his thigh, and his belly clenched. If she touched him there, he was going to explode.
    “Don’t leave. I need to see where this takes me and I’m afraid if you go, I’ll never finish.”
    When she removed her hand and placed it over the keys, he groaned.
    “I’m sorry to be selfish,” she said, “but I have to keep going. I’m consumed by the melody now and I don’t want to stop until I’m finished. I hope you understand.”
    Kellen understood perfectly. He never stopped until his partner was finished. At least, when he’d actually allowed himself to have partners, it had been that way.
    Her fingers flew across the keys, drawing so many positive emotions from Kellen that he could have kissed her in gratitude. The song was a celebration of sensuality, and it had been far too long since he’d celebrated. The enraptured expression on Dawn’s face as she worked through the composition over and over again made him want to drag her to the floor and claim her. Lose himself in her body. He’d already lost himself to her passion.
    A flash of lightning illuminated Dawn’s lovely face. An instant later, they were bathed in darkness. The storm seemed to grow louder as the humming appliances and the air conditioning system fell silent.
    “I’ll try to find candles,” Dawn said. “I think there are some in the kitchen.”
    Kellen reached out to touch her and found the warm skin of her hand resting on her thigh.
    “We don’t need light to hear the music,” he said, “or to feel it. Don’t bother.” Plus, he really didn’t mind sitting with her in the dark while the heavens battled outside. He could get as aroused as he liked, and she wouldn’t be able to see it. Too bad the lights hadn’t gone out before he’d revealed his not-so-little secret. Before he’d been so absorbed in the sight of her and the music she created that he’d lost his mind and drawn attention to his painfully hard dick.
    Lightning flashed, giving him a quick glimpse of her contemplative expression.
    The rain lashed against the windows and wind howled through the rafters. The entire house swayed slightly on its sturdy stilts. Even so, Kellen was so fixated on the woman beside him that the most pronounced sound for him was her breathing.
    Dawn turned her hand, still resting on her thigh, until her palm met his and held his hand in a loose grip.
    “You’re right,” she whispered. “We don’t need light. Just sound.”
    And touch.
    Kellen’s thumb stroked her skin. Why did holding her hand feel so intimate? Why did it feel so right?
    “Kellen?” she said.
    “Yeah?”
    “What was her name?”
    His heart twisted, and he tugged his hand free of hers. He focused on the rivulets of rainwater flowing down the windowpanes against a background of distant flickers. “Sara,” he said around the lump in his throat. “Her name was Sara.”
    “Sorry,” Dawn said. “I shouldn’t have brought her up. It’s just…” She took a deep breath. “If I had a man who loved me even half as much as you obviously still love her, I’d consider myself blessed.”
    “I don’t feel blessed.” Damned. That’s how he felt. Damned.
    Dawn leaned against his arm, and her free hand slid along his lower back. Kellen held his breath, not wanting to be comforted by her simple gesture, but he was. It felt wonderful to relax against her and allow himself that small bit of feminine contact.
    “So why are you single, Dawn O’Reilly?” he asked. “A beautiful, sexy, talented, intelligent, successful woman such as yourself should be