Part 286 (1/2)

”Do I?” Emma paused and gave Katherine one of her rare smiles. A memory

drifted back-Johnno sitting on her bed in her room in Martinique. When

it's with someone you care about, it's almost holy. ”I don't suppose a

degree is required to puzzle that out.”

”No.” Pleased, Katherine leaned back against the cus.h.i.+ons. ”Are you

comfortable, physically, with Michael?”

”No. But it's a wonderful kind of discomfort.”

”Exciting?”

”Yes. But I haven't been able to ... initiate.”

”Do you want to?”

”I don't know. I think-I'd like to show him. I suppose I'm afraid of

doing something wrong.”

”In what way?”

Baffled, Emma lifted her hands and let them fall. ”I'm not sure, just

that I might do something to annoy him, or ...” Impatient with

herself, she turned back to the window. ”I can't shake Drew, and the

things he said to me about how stupid, how useless I was in bed.” She

hated that, knowing she was still allowing him to control some part of

her life.

”Have you considered that if you were inadequate in bed, it was due to

your partner and the circ.u.mstances?”

”Yes. Up here.” Emma touched a finger to her temple. ”I know I'm not

cold and unresponsive. I can feel pa.s.sion, desire. But I'm afraid to

move toward Michael, afraid I might spoil something.” Pausing, she

picked up a crystal pyramid and watched the colors run through it. ”And

it's the nightmares. I'm almost as afraid of him now as I was when he