something rougher, something more satisfying than these maddening little tortures of kisses.
“What do you want?” he whispered in a low, tender tone, his voice sensuous with triumph, with pleasure.
She realized only then that she was reaching up on her tiptoes, trying to capture that warm, elusive mouth, her eyes narrowed to slits, her breath choking her.
“I want you to kiss the breath out of me,” she whispered back, the hunger in her voice, her eyes.
“I may do that,” he murmured as he wrapped her body up against his, parting her lips with a curt, hungry pressure. “And then I’ll put it back again...”
She was barely aware of the night sounds all around them, of the music drifting up from the patio, of anything except the feel of Cal’s big, hard-muscled body against hers, of the massive arms that were swallowing her.
She’d never felt this kind of hunger before, not with Ralley, not with any other man. It was new and devastating, and she wanted the kiss to go on forever, to never stop. All she wanted from life was the hard, warm hunger of that ardent mouth on her own, and the sweet ache it was kindling in her slender body.
His nose rubbed softly against hers as his mouth lifted to nibble at hers. “It isn’t enough, is it?” he whispered gruffly.
“No,” she murmured, only half-aware of what she was saying. Her fingers tangled in the thick hair at the nape of his broad neck. “Don’t stop...” she whispered into his mouth as she brought it back down on her own.
“I was hoping you might say that,” he murmured sensuously, and all at once he began to deepen the kiss past her shallow experience, to make of it an intimacy beyond any simple joining of two mouths. Nikki clung to him, moaning softly at the unexpected reserves of passion he was drawing from her with his expertise.
“What kind of men are you used to?” he asked in a tone that mingled amusement with impatience. “For God’s sake, don’t expect me to do it all.”
“Then, you’ll just have to teach me, Mr. Steel,” she whispered at his lips.
He drew back, staring down at her with narrowed eyes that blazed with unsatisfied desire. “Teach you?”
She sighed, watching his face grow even harder. “I hate to ask, but do you have some deep-seated fear of virgins?”
His chin lifted slightly and his hands contracted where they rested on her narrow waist. “You were engaged, you said,” he probed.
She nodded. “I was. But to a man I managed very easily to keep at arm’s length through the very few weeks before he ran away with my best friend.” She sighed softly, “I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t even tempted.”
“You’re tempted with me,” he said. “More than tempted.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’m hoping that once I’ve got over that hurdle, you’ll discover that I’m irresistible and you can’t live without me.”
He released her with a jerky motion and turned away, ramming his hands into his pockets. “Nikki, the world lost all its color when I lost my daughter,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to get involved again. I don’t want children, and I don’t want a woman. Not in the way of loving. I’ve never met a woman I couldn’t walk away from. So let’s draw back and do some serious thinking before we take that irrevocable step, Nikki.” He turned, his eyes turbulent, and stared at her. “I’d hate to see you hurt,” he replied softly.
“Thanks so much for all your consideration,” she said with evident sarcasm, filled with hurt and disappointment. She was deliberately pushing him now, and she realized it, but she was somehow powerless to stop. All that monumental control of his, that cool, arrogant confidence, suddenly irritated her. She was offering herself to him—and he wanted to wait?
“Don’t do it, Nikki,” he warned quietly.
“Don’t do what?” she asked innocently. “Don’t presume to question you? Excuse me, I’m sure you aren’t used to people doing that, Mr. God Almighty Steel. You give the orders, don’t you?”
He moved toward her like a springing cat, so quickly that she didn’t even see him coming until his rough hands caught her upper arms and slammed her into the muscular wall of his body.
“You only want me so long as you can walk away when it’s over,” she said deliberately, tingling with apprehension and excitement.
“Nikki,” he said, and she watched the control snap, watched the dammed-up fury break loose and darken his eyes, tauten his