TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,49
cleaning the lobby, the reception peo¬ple, a couple of guests, and at least one street person." Bastien punctuated each witness he listed with a kiss of her neck, then caught her head, turned her face back to his, and looked her in the eye. "This is New York. I'm sure they've seen couples snogging before."
He tried to kiss her again then, but Terri pulled back. "Snogging?" she said.
Bastien blinked, then smiled. "It's a British term. It means kissing, making out."
"Yes, I know! I live in the U.K., remember?" she said, but was more interested in the fact that she now had a clue to the accent she'd been trying and failing to place. "So, that's the hint of an accent I hear. You're British."
He hesitated, then shook his head. "No. I lived there for a while, though."
"When?" You said--"
Apparently unwilling to discuss it further, Bastien cut her off with a kiss. He didn't try any other per-suasion but his lips. Terri went still at first, and after a moment realized she was waiting for something--the usual groping. But it never came. Bastien's hands shifted from her upper arms to her back, but didn't roam. All of Bastien's attention and focus was on her mouth, his lips moving over hers with hunger and passion, his tongue sliding in to dance with hers. After a moment, his accent, the fact that they were out¬side, and their audience were all forgotten.
Giving another sigh, Terri allowed herself to be swept up on his passion once more and pressed her¬self against him, her hands creeping up to rest on Bastien's shoulders. There they curled in the material of his shirt, pulling in an unconscious effort to get closer still. Terri couldn't possibly get closer, though; she and Bastien were as close as two people could be without actually making love.
Time passed in a kaleidoscope of color and sensation for Bastien. All he knew or cared about was the woman in his arms and the lips beneath his own. Terri was soft and sweet in his embrace, pressing her body into his, clutching eagerly at his clothing. She was making passionate little mewling sounds deep in her throat, which both pleased and excited him. Bastien hadn't felt so alive in centuries. He hadn't felt so desperately hungry ever. But he was also very aware of the woman he held. Terri wasn't just any¬one. She might be his life mate.
His eyes opened and skated across the glass front of the Hilton. There were three people working the check-in desk. Only one was busy with a customer; Bastien could have a room in minutes if they went in. He actually considered it briefly, then let the idea slip away. Terri wasn't the type to go for that sort of thing. He knew it instinctively. The time he had al¬ready spent with her and his own knowledge of women gained from four-hundred-plus years of life told him that. If he tried, he'd scare her off so fast that he'd be wondering how the girl in his arms had turned into a dust trail.
These thoughts crossed Bastien's mind several times as he kissed Terri. And each time he came to the same result. No. It was a bad move to rush things. But eventually it got to the point where he soon had to stop or he would try to take her in and rent a room.
He kissed her gently one last time, then again, then broke off altogether to tuck her head under his chin and just hold her. For a moment Bastien smoothed his hands soothingly over her back, allowing his body the time it needed to regain control of itself. At last he said, "We should go home."
"Home," Terri echoed, and there was a sadness in her voice that made his arms tighten around her. It told him that she didn't want this to end, either. His gaze slid to the revolving doors of the Hilton, but danced away from temptation just as quickly.
"Yes." She sighed, running her fingers lightly back and forth over a small patch of his chest in an action he suspected she didn't know was rather distracting. "We should head back. It's almost daylight."
His gaze shifted to the lightening sky, then to his watch, and Bastien grimaced. It was five-thirty in the morning! It would be full daylight soon. They'd been sitting here making out like teenagers for over an hour.
"Come." Urging her backward, he caught her hand and stood, pulling her with