Exposure - Kelly Moran Page 0,89

her head and pushed her hair from her face to cup her cheeks. His blue eyes scanned her face, worry and remorse etched in the icy depths. After a moment, his lids fell closed and he shook his head, pulling her to him. "We'll sell the island. Anything you want. Just??on't be upset." His arms tightened around her back, a desperate quality emanating from the gesture.

She burrowed into his embrace, even though her emotions were rioting. Breathing in his cinnamon scent, she clutched the lapels of his coat and rested her cheek on his chest. "Why'd you do it? Why did you buy this place?" And name it after me? Put it in my name? Deep down, she knew the answer. It was obvious, really. But she needed him to spell it out.

His sigh ruffled her hair. "I guess, subconsciously, I knew we'd end up here. That I loved you on a much deeper level than I'd believed." He ran his fingers through her hair. "At the time, I told myself I put it in your name just in case, as added protection from Rizzoli. The truth is, Raven, everything about this place reminded me of you."

She was beginning to feel like an ungrateful bitch, but why couldn't he have just talked to her, instead of springing this all at once? She didn't need diamonds and islands. She just needed him??nd a little time. "How does it remind you of me?"

He rested his chin on the top of her head. "The quiet strength. After all the elements, the island's still here. The landscape reminds me of your gallery and how you designed it with nature in mind. It's isolated from everyone, but close enough to the mainland to observe the melee."

Was that really how he viewed her? Quiet and strong? Isolated? She closed her eyes, suddenly drained.

"There's a spot just on the other side of this rock wall. The first time I stumbled upon it, Hoan wanted to capture you there on film." He swallowed. "I still do, if you'll let me. It's an image that haunts me, never abating." His voice deepened, his chest rumbling against her cheek. "I don't care if anyone else sees it, or if you don't want it sold. I need that photo for me, baby. Let me show you how I see you."

She'd encouraged him to take pictures at Aubrey's Castle, and it had given her insight to the sexual need in him. But this was different. Hoan Dwell captured women, in various stages of undress, in nature settings. He peeked right into their soul and exposed it to the world. Whether anyone saw them or not, she didn't think she could handle what he'd uncover.

Yet his words, and the deep emotional timbre with which he spoke them, called to her. Something inside him was always searching for her, for everything she could give. One day, she was going to disappoint him to the point they'd never recover. A man like Noah, who had so much honor and strength and love to offer, should never settle for someone who was incapable of returning half as much. She was trying. Damn it, so hard she was trying.

Bowing down as his muse she could do. She lifted her head and looked at him, at the raw emotion in his eyes. "Yes."

His jaw unclenched as he grabbed her nape. "Yes?" he rasped, unbelieving.

"Show me this mysterious location." She smiled, her heart hammering at his happiness. "I'm not exactly dressed for this. I'm not even wearing makeup."

"I want you raw, natural. I would've asked you to remove any cosmetics anyway." He kissed her forehead and drew back to look at her. "Are you sure?"

Standing, she brushed the snow off her knees. "Very. I've been dying to meet Hoan for years." Back at Aubrey's Castle, it had been Noah, her lover and best friend, who'd taken those pictures of her. She suspected Hoan was an entirely different person.

He rose slowly, his hands flexing as if itching for the camera in his bag slung over his shoulder. After a beat, he picked up the blankets and sleeping bag, and headed toward the rock wall. She grabbed the cooler and followed.

They rounded an eight foot wall, where a small cave, no deeper than ten feet or wider than six feet, cut into the rock. Just on the other side was a slope that descended into a shallow valley. Boulders and snow covered the hill. Birch trees sprinkled the small area. In