was a bachelor, after all. Maybe he ate all his meals out.
"So," he said as they returned to the living room, "what do you think?"
"It's very nice." She made a broad gesture with her hand. "I think I like the den the best."
"Yes, it's my favorite, too."
Leanne crossed the floor to the picture window that overlooked the backyard and pulled back the heavy curtains. A full moon hovered low in the sky, bathing the grass and the outbuildings in shimmering silver.
"Is your horse here?"
"Yes."
"Could I see it?"
"If you like."
Taking her hand, he led her out the back door and down a narrow flight of steps. They followed a narrow winding path edged with ferns and willow trees until they reached a large corral.
Jason whistled softly, and a dark shape materialized out of the shadows.
"Hello, Lucifer," he murmured, scratching the big black horse between its ears. "I've brought someone to meet you."
Leanne held out her hand, and the stallion danced away, its nostrils flaring, its eyes showing white.
"I don't think he likes me," she said, disappointment evident in her voice.
"We don't get many visitors here," Jason remarked. Slipping through the rails, he walked up to the horse, and stroked its neck.
Like all animals, the stallion had been wary of him in the beginning, but Jason had used his dark power to overcome the animal's instinctive fear.
Now, he vaulted lightly onto Lucifer's back and rode around the corral, guiding the stallion with the pressure of his knees.
Leanne clapped her hands in delight. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed, charmed by the fluid grace of the horse, the sheer masculine beauty of the man. They looked as though they'd been made for each other, the devil black horse and the raven-haired man.
Jason rode effortlessly, his body in complete harmony with the stallion's. Like a dark angel, he rode bareback in the light of the moon.
After a few moments he rode toward the gate and slipped the latch. Riding up to Leanne, he held out his hand.
"Don't you need a bridle or something to control him?" she asked dubiously.
"No. He responds to my voice and the pressure of my legs."
The stallion's ears twitched as Jason lifted Leanne onto its back, and then they were riding down a sloping path that led to a trail into the hills.
Jason breathed in Leanne's scent as they rode through the quiet night, the only sound that of the horse's muffled hoofbeats and the chirping of crickets.
His thighs cradled her buttocks, his arm circled her waist, the fall of her hair brushed his cheek. He had only to lean forward to press a kiss to the side of her neck, and as he did so, he felt the longing to sink his fangs into the soft skin of her neck, to taste the warm rush of her blood over his tongue.
She leaned against him, her back pressing against his chest, her nearness sparking the embers of desire that were ever present when she was near.
"Jason?"
He grunted in response, unable to speak past the loathsome need rising swiftly within him, the need to drink of her sweetness, to possess her fully.
"Could we stop here for a while?"
He glanced around. They were in a small glade surrounded by tall trees. Wordlessly, he slid from the back of the horse, then reached up to help Leanne dismount. His hands lingered at her waist, and he drew her up against him, letting her feel the evidence of his desire, afraid she would refuse him, more afraid that she might not.
Leanne took a deep breath. It was all happening so quickly. She felt the pull of his gaze, felt herself falling helplessly in love with a man she hardly knew?a man she wanted to know better.
"Jason, tell me I'm not dreaming, that the magic between us is real and not just something I've imagined because I want it so badly."
"It's real. Never doubt that."
His eyes were dark, the blue-black before a storm. A lock of hair, as black as ink fell across his forehead. For a moment she felt as if he were a part of the night, a dark phantom who had stepped out of one of her dreams.
Compelled by a need she never thought to question, she reached up to touch his cheek, to assure herself he was real.
"Leanne." He murmured her name in a voice filled with longing, and she had no thought to deny him.
She lifted her face, eager for his kiss, her eyelids fluttering down as his head bent toward hers.
He