It Had To Be You

said stop, I meant stop.'

His eyes darkened with regret. 'Phoebe…'

'If I ever say stop to you, I mean stop. Always.' She drew a deep breath. 'No questions. No second-guessing. I'm not your ex-wife, and sexual violence isn't a game I play. With me, stop means stop.'

'I understand, and I'm sorry.'

She knew she would burst into tears if she had to listen to another basket load of regrets from him that would only make her feel even more inept.

'About this kissing allergy.' He rubbed his chin, and she thought she detected amusement in his eyes. 'What if the two of us decide to kiss each other again. And you have this allergic reaction, and you say stop. Am I supposed to stop then?'

She looked down at the bedspread. 'Even then, I guess. I'm not going to send out any more mixed signals.'

Reaching forward, he brushed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. 'Promise?'

'Promise.'

She had intended to get up and put on her clothes, but now as he touched her so gently, she couldn't move. She felt his warmth as he came closer and knew he was going to kiss her again. She was no longer afraid. Instead, the slow heat of desire rekindled inside her-not a raging fire, but a small, cozy flame.

'You don't like my underwear,' she whispered against his mouth.

'No.' He nibbled at her bottom lip. 'But I like what's inside it a whole lot.' His fingertips trailed along the bumps of her spine as his mouth settled over hers.

The kiss was both gentle and passionate, full of sizzle and sweetness. At that moment she wanted to make love with him more than she'd ever wanted anything. His tongue invaded her mouth. Her hands slipped to his arms, but then she wished she hadn't touched him there because she didn't want to be reminded of his strength, only his gentleness. How did she know he would stay gentle?

'Dan?'

'Uhmm.'

'I know you said you didn't want any-you know-any kinky stuff.'

She could feel him stiffen, and she almost lost courage as he drew away. Sinking back against the pillows that bunched at the headboard, the spread still clutched to her chest, she spoke in a rush. 'This isn't all that kinky. Really, it's not.'

'Maybe I'd better be the judge of that. And I'm warning you-I'm getting more conservative every day.'

Her courage left her. 'Forget it.'

'We've gone this far; you might as well get it off your chest.'

'I was just-Never mind.'

'Phoebe, if things keep progressing at their current rate, it's about eighty percent guaranteed we're going to be intimate before this night's over, so you'd better tell me what's on your mind. Otherwise, the whole time we're going at it, I'll be waiting for you to bark like a dog or tell me to call you Howard.'

She gave him an unsteady smile. 'I'm not that imaginative. I wanted to ask-I mean, would you mind very much if we-' She got stuck and tried again. 'If we pretend I'm a-'

'Lion tamer? Prison guard?'

'A virgin,' she whispered and felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

He gazed at her. 'A virgin?'

She dropped her eyes, mortified at what she'd revealed. 'Forget it. Forget I said anything. Let's just do it.'

'Phoebe, darlin', what's going on here?' He brushed his index finger over her lips.

'There's nothing going on.'

'You can tell me. I'm sort of like a bedroom priest; I've pretty much heard it all. Have you ground out so many miles between the bedposts that you want to turn back the odometer a little?'

'Something like that,' she murmured.

'I don't have a whole lot of experience with virgins to draw on. Matter of fact, I don't recall that I have any. Still, I's'pose I could use my imagination.' And then his eyes narrowed. 'I don't have to pretend that you're sixteen or anything, do I, because that kiddie stuff turns me off.'

'Thirty-three,' she whispered.

'That old?'

He was teasing her, and she knew it, so she tried to sound offhand. 'Why not? Maybe one of those dried-up women who's secretly afraid of men. Somebody like that.'

'Now this is getting kinda interesting.' His thumb brushed along the very top of her breasts, just above the edge of the bedspread. 'I don't suppose a woman like you would let me have another look at what you've got hidden under here?'

'As long as you don't say anything nasty about them.'

'I wouldn't do that.'

'You did. You told me to show you my-'

He pressed his finger over her lips. 'That wasn't me. Only a real jerk would talk like that.'

She loosened her grip on the spread. Slowly, he lowered it, letting the cover fall to her waist.

'Now a man like me would appreciate a sight like this.' Despite his words, he didn't even look. Instead, he was studying her face.

Before she knew it, she was the one touching him. She ran her palms over his arms and along his shoulders. She was entranced with the contrast between his iron-hard muscles and the gentle way he nuzzled her neck. He trailed kisses along her jaw, nibbled her chin, the corner of her mouth. Finally he drew back and looked down at her breasts.

They had been painted by Flores and viewed by multitudes, but she felt as if they were being seen for the first time. He touched her. Just the pads of his thumbs on the very tips of her nipples, and the feeling was so exquisite that she sighed, an expression of desire and pleasure that spread all the way to her toes.

'Lean back,' he whispered.

She sank into the pillows. He continued to touch her like that, just the very tips of her nipples, until she didn't think she could bear it any longer. She had never experienced desire like this, so warm and liquid with no place for fear. He slipped his hand farther into her panties.

'Stop.'

He immediately withdrew.

She smiled. 'I want to see you.' Going up on her knees, she reached for his zipper, then found the courage to slide it down over the heavy bulge that strained the denim.

'Hold on a minute, darlin'.' He stilled her hands before she could go further and got up from the bed to disappear into the bathroom. He reappeared a moment later.

Her lips curved as he tossed a handful of foil-wrapped condoms on the table at the side of the bed. 'What an ego.'

'How would a maiden lady like you even know what those are?'

'Public television.'

Now he was the one with the grin, and she realized this was the first time she had ever laughed in bed with a man. Until this moment, she had never imagined that laughter and sex could go together.

'Where were we?'

She was amazed at her own boldness as she reached for the open V of his jeans. 'Right here, as I remember.' She couldn't believe how urgent her need was to see him. Instead of being afraid, she was experiencing a heady mixture of curiosity and lust.

'Don't faint on me.'

'I'll try not to.' She pushed the denim away and then swallowed hard as he sprang free from a pair of white cotton briefs.

'Oh, my.' Her gasp wasn't feigned.

He chuckled. 'Take deep breaths.'

'Maybe it's just because your hips are so narrow. The contrast…'