TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,96

at him quizzically, wondering at the expres¬sion on his face. It looked pained. Beginning to worry, she raised a hand to caress his cheek. "Are you all right, Bastien? Is something wrong?"

He blinked, as if coming out of a trance or back from deep thought, but rather than answer her, Bastien kissed her again. This time it wasn't the gen¬tle coaxing kiss of a moment before, it was desperate and a little rough. Caught by surprise, Terri fell back a step, coming up against the edge of the desk. Bastien immediately eased up slightly, but didn't stop kissing. Not that she wanted him to. After a week of having him at her side every waking moment, the last two days had been distressing. Terri had missed him--his company, his laugh, the way he gestured with one hand when emphasizing something, the way bis eyes sparkled when he was teasing, the half grin he always got on his face upon first spotting her. She'd missed talking to him, and listening to him. And though it had only been two days, it felt like for¬ever since they had been together like this, in each other's arms, bodies pressed close together, mouths meshing.

Bastien thrust his tongue into her mouth, and Terri eagerly devoured it, her arms twining around his neck. She arched into him. She felt his hands slide down her back, but was startled when he caught her behind the thighs and lifted her up to sit on the desk.

Except for those evenings in nice restaurants, jeans and casual tops had been her uniform for the major¬ity of this trip, but today was an exception. Knowing they were eating in the office, Terri had borrowed a dark blue skirt from Kate. She hadn't wanted to look like a bum among all the Argeneau employees in their business clothes. She'd also borrowed a match¬ing blue silk blouse. Bastien reached between them and set to work on the buttons.

He was very good with them, Terri noted absently as he undid the last reachable button and tugged the top out of her skirt to get the remaining few. Once that was done, he pulled the shirt open and broke their kiss to look at what he had revealed. His fingers immediately moved to run lightly over the upper curve of her breast and the top of her white satin bra.

"Beautiful," he murmured, and Terri glanced down. Her breasts rose pale and round from the white material, framed on either side by the edges of her blue top. Then Bastien pushed the top off of her shoulders, and reached behind her to unsnap her bra. It too slipped away.

Terri groaned as his hands replaced the lacy cups, her eyes dropping half closed as he caressed her breasts. She watched for a moment, her breath com¬ing faster with every passing second, then she reached for the buttons of his shirt. She wasn't as practiced as Bastien apparently was. Terri was also slightly dis¬tracted by what he was doing to her, but she managed to undo his shirt. She let her hands slide over his skin, shifting them around to his back, when he suddenly knelt to first lick and then suckle at one of her breasts.

"Bastien," she breathed, arching into his attention. Terri loved the things he did to her. She loved how he made her feel. She loved the way he made her laugh, the way he made her feel safe. She loved him.

The thought caught her by surprise, and Terri blinked her eyes open, staring blindly at the office be¬yond his shoulders. Bastien continued to caress her. Her stunned mind grappled with her feelings, trying to wrap itself around them. Did she love Bastien?

The question was pushed from her mind as he slid one hand up along the top of her leg, pushing the skirt before it. When his hand shifted, slipping be¬tween her legs, Terri released a groan. It was cut off by Bastien's mouth as he freed the nipple he was suckling and raised his lips to claim hers. She kissed him frantically, gasping into his mouth and arching on the desktop as his fingers slid beneath the edge of her panties.

Bastien was moving so quickly it was leaving her dizzy, but dizzy with want. How had he done this to her so fast? she wondered faintly, but in the next mo¬ment she didn't care. He slid one finger into her. Terri sucked on his tongue desperately as he slid the finger out,