ever have with you, it will be enough. I’ll cradle the memory of the night in my mind like a lighted candle, and on lonely nights, I’ll take it out and unwrap it and live it all over again. I’ll live on loving you until the day I die...
His eyes were suddenly open, watching her. “Good morning,” she said hesitantly.
His fingers touched her mouth. “Come here and do it properly,” he murmured, smiling. She moved, letting her body fit into the now-familiar contours of his. She smiled under his hungry mouth.
“Better?” she teased.
“Much better.” He traced the straight line of her nose and smiled into her soft eyes. “How’s your back?”
“It doesn’t feel blistered anymore,” she admitted.
“How about the rest of you?” he murmured.
Her fingers tangled in his thick, dark hair. “The rest of me never felt better,” she whispered, leaning forward to brush her mouth against his. “I never dreamed it would be like that,” she breathed.
He chuckled deeply. “How did you think it would be?”
She shrugged, nuzzling closer. “I thought it would hurt,” she said honestly.
“It depends on the man, my love,” he murmured at her ear, “and whether he cares enough about his woman not to hurt her.” His fingers tightened at the nape of her neck and he sighed roughly. “My God, you can’t imagine how it felt, Nikki,” he growled unsteadily. “To hear those wild, sweet little noises you made and to know while I was having you that I was the first man, the only man...” His arms hurt suddenly as he drew her breathlessly close. “There’s never been a night like that for me.”
“You... I know you’ve had women,” she murmured.
He drew back and looked down into her misty eyes. “I’ve never had a virgin, Nikki,” he admitted quietly. “So, you see, last night was a first for me, too.”
“Did I really please you?” she asked, her eyes telling him how important that was.
“Yes,” he replied. His finger traced the long, sweet line of her lips. “Couldn’t you tell, you repressed little thing?” he chuckled.
Her mind vaguely recalled a harsh groan, accompanied by the sound of her name being repeated like a litany while he shuddered uncontrollably under her own taut body. Her eyes closed and she nestled against him.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Oh yes, I could tell. I wanted to give you even more...”
He drew her close, and his mouth burned against hers in a long, sweet kiss that left her aching with new sensations, new hungers. She looked up at him, pleading.
“No,” he whispered, pressing a finger against her lips, and the smile had gone from his face. “By some miracle I managed to keep my head enough to protect you last night. But I want you even more this morning, and I’m fresh out of magic.”
“Would you hate it so much if I got pregnant?” she asked daringly.
His face darkened. He drew away from her and got out of bed, stretching his huge frame jerkily. “You’d better get some clothes on,” he said as he pulled on his robe. “We’re flying out about nine this morning.”
She sat up in bed, gaping at him. “But you said we’d be here at least—”
He rammed his hands in the pockets of his robe and glanced at her, his eyes hot and possessive on the unconscious nudity of her torso. “I only have so much in the way of self-control,” he ground out. “If we stay here another day...” He turned away, muttering a curse under his breath. “Don’t argue with me.”
She watched him until he disappeared into the bathroom. Her green eyes misted with unexpected tears. So it had only been a means to an end. He’d wanted her, so he’d brought her here to make it easier. She closed her eyes and chewed unconsciously on her lower lip as a wave of humiliation washed over her. He wouldn’t have forced her, she knew that even now. But she’d given in without a struggle, poor little green fish, and now there was nothing left in her that he wanted.
She dragged herself out of bed and began to get her clothes together. When he came out, she’d have a bath, she told herself, making the thoughts come mechanically. She’d pretend that nothing had happened; she wouldn’t ask for what he couldn’t give. Tears bled helplessly down her flushed cheeks. What a stupid fool she’d been!
CHAPTER SIX
NIKKI SHOWERED AND changed into a yellow sundress that left most of her back bare, a concession to the blistering