The Penance of Black Betty by Kelli Maine Page A

it to use on her—the one found around her neck by the police when she lay unconscious in his foyer.
                  He shook off the thought. This was a good evening. A bloody damn good evening and nothing was going to ruin it for them.
                  “Ready,” she called from the bathroom where she’d been preparing for their shower.
                  Alistair strode across the room and opened the door to a cloud of steam with a naked goddess standing in its center. He couldn’t imagine losing his memory. If this image ever slipped his mind…he shuddered to think.
                  She held her arms out to him and he walked into them, wrapping his own around her. So soft, so warm and fragile. In the light of the bathroom, he got a full view of her bruises. Her ribs and back were covered with black and blue welts. He knew she had a set of staples in her scalp under her hair. The red circle around her neck where her ex had choked her had almost faded completely, but Alistair would never forget what it looked like. He lifted a finger and traced it along the front of her neck.
                  He wanted to kill Trent. He’d find him and he’d kill him with his own hands.
                  “Hey,” she said, touching his face. “I’m okay.”
                  He took a deep breath. “Thank God.”
                  He quickly reminded himself that nothing was going to ruin this evening, took her hand, opened the shower door and led her inside. He held her against him under the hot spray of water, wanting to feel her heart beat, her chest expand as she breathed. She lightly ran her fingernails up and down his back. They were back in Cozumel and even if she never remembered one single thing from their past together, it was perfect. They had a future to look forward to.
                  “I’m so glad we’re here,” she said.
                  “I was just thinking the same thing.”
                  She looked up, got a spray of water in her face and they both laughed. He took a step forward, backing her out of the water as she wiped her eyes. “I want to forget anything happened,” she said, running a finger down his chest. “I know it’s not going to be completely possible, but I want to try. It doesn’t feel like I don’t know you even if I don’t remember being with you. You feel familiar to me—you feel…right. So, let’s have a good time, okay? A normal time. I want to get back to living my life—present day—however we usually do that.”
                  Normal and usual were going to be difficult considering she was one hundred percent a different person, but he wanted nothing more than to live their lives like they had been, to not let this derail them. “We can do that. I know we can. And even if it’s different than what it was, it’s a new normal for us.”
                  “But, I won’t know it’s different, so it’s all new to me.” She sucked in her bottom lip before putting on a brave smile.
                  “Every day with you has been something new.” He laughed. “So, I can take this all in stride. No problem.”
                  She smiled, then concern crossed her features. “What about your job? Shouldn’t you be getting back?”
                  What had she heard? “Don’t you worry about my job or anything else. I agreed that this trip is about us having fun and finding our normal—old or new normal. That’s all I care about.”
                  “But, won’t they need to have you on set to film?”
                  Alistair turned her back to the wall and leaned in against her. “I’ll be on set when I get there. Not another word about it.” He nipped her plump bottom lip with his teeth before kissing her, getting a shocked gasp and a giggle that buzzed