“Did you? Or did I simply back you into a corner and take the choice away from you?” He lifted his head to search her eyes. “Will you mind if I made you pregnant?”
“There probably wasn’t much risk,” she murmured shyly.
“The way we made love that last time, there was most definitely a risk,” he said.
She nuzzled her face against him. “Will you hate me if that happens?”
“Never.”
“Babies can create problems.”
His arms tightened. “Babies are little tiny breathing miracles. Now shut up and go to sleep. I’m so tired, it’s all I can do to breathe, you insatiable little witch.”
“I’m insatiable?” she burst out.
He only grinned and folded her closer. “Go to sleep. If you’re able, I’ll make love to you again when we wake up.”
She sighed. “What a delicious incentive to sleep.”
“I thought so, too.”
It seemed like no time at all before the sounds of farm equipment outside the window brought her eyes open. She looked down at King, smiling at his nudity, at the vulnerability of his powerful body in sleep.
“It’s morning,” she whispered in his ear.
“Is it?” he whispered back, smiling. He opened his eyes and reached for her, his intentions obvious. “Are you up to this?” he asked solicitously.
She pressed down against him. “I want you,” she whispered before bringing her mouth to his.
He took a long time with her, despite his overpowering hunger, and it was late morning before he was satisfied enough to get up. He stretched grandly and looked down at her sprawled facedown on the bed.
“You miracle, you,” he breathed. “Roll over. I want to look at you while I dress.”
She did, smiling at him, watching him open drawers and the closet and get into jeans and a chambray shirt. “It’s even exciting to watch you put clothes on,” she confessed, laughing.
“I’d rather watch you with yours off, angel,” he murmured, bending to brush hungry kisses on her breasts. “I want you all the time, lately. It’s all I can do to stop.” He lifted his head, searching her eyes. “You flinched a little that last time,” he said gently. “It wasn’t comfortable, and you should have told me in time. I’ll leave you alone until you’re sure it won’t be an ordeal instead of a pleasure.”
“You’re very perceptive,” she murmured.
“You’re very generous,” he whispered. “So eager to please me, to put my desire first. But that isn’t what I want. It gives me no pleasure unless you share it.”
“Oh, but I want to give you everything, to make it sweet for you,” she said fervently. “I don’t care what I feel—”
He stopped her tirade with his mouth, smiling against it. “I care. Come on downstairs when you’re dressed, and I’ll take you for a nice, comfortable ride in the Lincoln. No horseback riding just yet.” He grinned, and she flushed.
“Okay.”
He lifted her hand to his lips, studying her over it. An innocent, and with all her inhibitions, and yet she’d given herself to him with wild abandon. She cared more than a little; he was almost sure she loved him. That thought was sweetly disturbing. Could she? He looked at her hungrily. All night, and still he wanted her. She was under his skin, driving him mad. Bess and his problems with her had faded to insignificance. Whatever he and Elissa had, it was something far removed from lust or infatuation. He wanted to take care of her, to be there when she cried. He sighed softly. What was he going to do about Bess? Or did he need to do anything, now that he was marrying Elissa? He thought about marrying Elissa and smiled slowly. She’d be in his bed every night, making magic with him. His chest began to swell.
She saw that look and smiled at him. “Don’t feel guilty,” she whispered. “I don’t.”
“Don’t you?” he asked quietly.
“Not in the least,” she said, ignoring her conscience.
“Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about guilt,” he confessed. “I was wondering if you loved me,” he added bluntly, watching her flush. “Somehow, I don’t think you’d be able to give yourself to a man you didn’t love. You’re not the type.” He touched her cheek, teasing her face up to his. “Don’t hide it,” he whispered, finding the evidence of love in her face wildly pleasing, exciting. His breath caught in his throat, and he wondered why it should suddenly matter so much that she loved him. “That was why you were so uninhibited, wasn’t it?” he asked slowly. “That was why