he knew that if he persisted, he could overwhelm her senses and make
love to her. She was too innocent to think about consequences.
One of them had to think about tomorrow, and he knew it was up to him
to stop now.
He pulled her arms away from his neck and took a step away from her.
'I shouldn't have done that, ' he said gruffly.
Dazed, she watched him walk away. 'I'm glad you did, ' she
whispered.
'I wanted to know what it would feel like . . . ' He turned back to
her. 'I'm not an experiment, Jessica.' She could see the anger in his
eyes and in his stance. She took a step toward him, then stopped.
'No, you're not. It's just that I've wanted to kiss you for a long
time.'
'Yeah, well, it isn't going to happen again.'
'Why not? ' He couldn't believe she had to ask. 'You do know what
kissing leads to, don't you? ' She slowly nodded. 'I'm pretty sure I
do, but since I've never . . . ' He cut her off, for the topic was
making him ache with his need to touch her again, and if he did that,
he knew he wouldn't stop.
'We're just going to have to stay away from each other. You got
that?
' She nodded, then shook her head. 'How in heaven's name are we going
to be able to do that? We're traveling together.'
'Just keep your hands to yourself.' After giving her the command, he
laughed harshly.
Never before had he said those words to a woman, and he couldn't
believe he'd said them to Jessica.
It's the damned badge, he thought to himself. It had made him noble.
She folded her hands. 'If that's what you want, I shall of course be
happy to accommodate you.' He was suddenly furious with her. 'No,
that's not what I want. I want to take your clothes off, toss you down
on the ground, and do all the things I've been dreaming about.' Her
eyes widened. 'You dreamed about me? ' 'Let it go, Jessie.'
'I dreamed about you too. Cole do you want to make love to me? ' 'No,
