TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,73

pain so much as to get his attention. And they did; he pulled back to peer at her, his ex¬pression startled. "Terri, honey?" he asked.

"I need you," she said on a plaintive note. "Please."

Much to her relief, the desire in Bastien's eyes flared at her raw admission. Catching one hand in the hair at the back of her head, he pulled her forward for a kiss and the tables suddenly turned. Where there had been gentleness, now he was masterful, his tongue thrusting into her mouth with a passion un¬leashed, and the pressure of his lips forced her head back. Only then did Terri understand that he had a passion to more than match her own, but he had been holding back, perhaps not wanting to shock her.

Bastien wasn't holding back anymore, however, and a smile widened Terri's mouth beneath his at this sign that she affected him as deeply as he did her. Then she stopped thinking altogether, and simply lost herself in what was happening as he thoroughly ex¬plored every nook and cranny of her mouth.

Just as Terri thought she might drown in his kisses and be happy in the dying, his mouth left hers on a quest. She gasped and sighed, shuddered and trembled as his lips and tongue moved across her skin: first to her ear, her neck, then to the hollow of her throat. His teeth grazed her collarbone and she shivered with excitement, her hands curling in his hair again. When Bastien finally returned to her breasts, Terri didn't protest; she arched and cried out his name as he both fondled and suckled first one, then the other.

His warm hand drifted down her stomach, and Terri's muscles jumped and tightened by turn. She felt a tug on her jeans as Bastien found and worked at the button. He was shifting farther down her body as he worked and, afraid he would soon be out of reach, she gave up her hold on his hair and grabbed his sweater, tugging it upward with determined hands.

Getting the message, Bastien straightened enough to grab the hem of his sweater and tug it over his head. Terri reached for him as it hit the floor not far from her top. She placed her hands open-palmed on his beautiful, broad chest, then sighed happily as her fingers moved over the soft curls there. She caressed him lightly, pausing to run the tips of her fingers lightly over his small tight nipples.

Bastien allowed it for a moment, then caught her hands. Raising first one, then the other to his mouth, he kissed each palm, then shifted his hold to her up¬per arms. He turned her body and laid her down on the couch lengthwise, then came down on top of her, one knee sliding between her legs. Terri felt his thigh press against the center of her, and shifted eagerly against the unintentional caress. When he next shifted, so that his hips rested between her legs, there was no mistaking the hardness between her thighs.

Where his leg had been firm, this was rock-hard de¬sire that ground against her, the action matching the thrust of Bastien's tongue in her mouth.

Terri didn't realize Bastien reached between them to work at her jeans until she felt cool air touching her lower stomach. The zipper worked down, and Bastien's hand followed, sliding over the skin there and across her panties.

She gasped and nearly bit down on his tongue, sur¬prised, then caught herself and began to kiss him more desperately instead. Muscles were clenching and unclenching all over her body. Her heart beat out a tattoo as his hand moved even lower. When he fi¬nally cupped her sex through the thin white lace of her panties, she bucked violently, her legs spreading farther to accommodate him.

Bastien broke their kiss, took the time to nip and suckle lightly at her bottom lip, then lifted away from her. There was no exploring of throat or chest, no gentle teasing of her stomach. He moved himself right away to sit on the edge of the couch, his eyes on hers as he grasped her jeans and dragged them down her legs.

Suddenly aware of her naked breasts, and self-conscious, Terri raised her arms, crossing them over her chest. Bastien smiled at this sign of shyness but didn't stop. Her jeans were soon a pool on the floor next to the rest of their clothes. Her panties followed.

Terri was completely naked now, exposed and vul¬nerable to his view. And he