And compassion.
She had experienced that herself.
And he awaited her answer. Would she grant him an intimacy she had never granted any man?
Drawing an unsteady breath, she closed her eyes, unable to bear the heat in his gaze and her own uncertainty. She had no need to fear that he might lose control over his unpredictable male hunger. He was clearly in complete control of himself, as he had been all along.
It was her own reactions that alarmed her.
“Nick,” she whispered, “I... I haven’t been entirely honest.”
“I find that hard to believe.” He wasn’t mocking her; his voice was serious.
“It’s true.” She opened her eyes, swallowing hard. “When I said I was still a little afraid of you, it’s... it’s not you that I’m afraid of.” Confessing brought a cascade of heat to her cheeks. “It’s me.”
He smiled as if he understood. “What is there to be afraid of, Samantha?”
“Well, when you... kissed me, I felt so...” She struggled to find words for what she had experienced, felt embarrassed by the memory. Her senses had simply scattered to the winds at the first brush of his lips over hers.
“As if you were hot and cold at the same time?” he murmured, kissing her again, the lightest touch of his mouth this time. “And hungry and thirsty all at once?” He kissed her a third time.
“Yes.” The word came out as a sigh, her lashes drifting downward as she experienced the same breathless, almost dizzy sensation she had felt before. “It’s like a ticklish flutter in my stomach. And—” Another kiss interrupted her explanation. “A funny ache in my throat.”
“And you feel as if you’re melting?...” His hand moved lower, touching her abdomen, his fingers burning her. “Here?”
Her eyes opened wide. “Yes,” she gasped, feeling something powerful unfurl within her, there where he touched her.
“That’s all part of it, angel.” He brushed a kiss through her hair. “Part of every woman and man, part of you. And me.”
The deep, husky tone of his voice sent shivers through her. She gazed at him, felt as if she were seeing him for the first time, found herself noticing things she had never noticed before—the way his beard emphasized the sharp angles of his cheekbones, the deep creases at the corners of his eyes, a small scar on his temple, the stubborn tangle of hair that fell over his forehead.
And his eyes. They held hers the way his hands caressed her cheeks—boldly but gently. Staring into his dark green gaze, she sought any hint of deception but found none. “You mean that you feel these same feelings?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him askance, barely able to believe it. In the pool, in his embrace, she had felt herself very close to losing control... yet he seemed so in command of himself.
“Whenever you’re close to me,” he explained when she didn’t speak. “Whenever you touch me... especially the way you did in the cave.”
“Th-that was purely for medical purposes.”
“I didn’t see a cloth in your hand that last time,” he chided, flashing a particularly wicked smile. “You seemed to be enjoying it.”
She dropped her gaze, mortified.
“It’s all right, angel.” He caught her chin on the edge of his hand, tilting her head up. “It’s all right to enjoy touching each other.”
“I-I don’t... I...” Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie.
“You think you shouldn’t enjoy it?”
Was that the reason? For six years, she had lived her own life by her own rules, going and doing as she pleased. The word shouldn’t had become a part of her past the day she became an outlaw. After so much time on her own, she was used to being in charge of her life, her fate, her feelings. She had come to like being in control.
But now it felt as if her confidence had vanished, as if she didn’t even know herself anymore. Nick was no longer a stranger, but now she seemed like a stranger to herself.
Even her fear, her wariness, her caution, so much a part of her for so long, was... missing.
She felt like the earth had disappeared from beneath her and she was falling, tumbling through the night.
And the only solid thing she had to hold onto was... him.
“Nick, I don’t know. It’s... so...”
“New. It’s all new to you, angel. But it’s a natural part of who you are. You’re meant to enjoy it, just as you enjoy the moonlight and the wind.” He smiled. “Maybe more.” He leaned closer, nuzzling his cheek against