“Would you kiss me?” she pleaded, needing the fire of his mouth on hers, his tongue tangling with hers. That would chase away the last of her fears. She knew it would.
He turned her in his arms and took a long time simply gazing into her eyes before slowly covering her mouth with his own. It was a sweet, gentle kiss for about a heartbeat. Then the familiar hunger and need kicked in and Kathleen’s fears fled, just as she’d predicted. Instead, all she felt was the rising urgency, the powerful pull to have Ben’s hands all over her, teasing and tormenting until she was writhing beneath him.
Now she was the impatient one, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, tugging at the buckle on his belt, reaching for taut, hot skin that felt totally masculine, totally alive beneath her fingers. The textures, the masculine scent inflamed her. She had something to prove...to him, to herself.
“I guess slow and easy is out of the question,” Ben commented, laughing.
“Yes,” she said, skimming her hand over his abdomen, reaching lower until she felt the hard, reassuring thrust of his arousal against her palm.
It wasn’t a lack in her—had never been—she exulted, when she felt that solid evidence of her power to stir a man. She was enough woman for any man, for this man. It was a heady, exhilarating discovery. The last of the tormenting doubts from her marriage vanished. If nothing more came of this night, she could be grateful for that.
But there was more. Ben wasn’t satisfied to let her do all of the exploration. His restless hands stroked and teased, first through the silky fabric of her dress, then against bare skin until her whole body was humming again, her flesh so sensitive that the slightest touch could make her soar.
When her knees went weak, he scooped her up and placed her in the center of the bed, where she was bathed in moonlight. The look of awe and wonder in his eyes was something she knew she would cherish for years to come.
“Do you have any idea what your body does to a man?” he asked. “Those beautiful breasts, those slender hips, those long, long legs? You’re incredible. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”
His words filled her heart, but it was the reverent way he touched her that made her fall in love with him yet again. That touch chased away already fading memories of the past and gave her the future.
“Come to me,” she said, unafraid.
He knelt over her, his gaze warm, his smile gentle, and waited, giving her time, she knew, time to accept his body, time to yearn for him.
“Really,” she said softly. “Come to me.”
He kissed her then, stroked her everywhere, and when the fire was at its peak, when her blood was thrumming through her veins, he entered her with a sure, deep thrust that stole her breath.
Again he waited, patient as ever, and only when her hips moved restlessly did he begin to move inside her, leading her to the top of an incredible precipice, then waiting for her yet again.
And then, when her heart was pounding, her pulse racing and her whole body aching with the sweet torment of it, he carried her over the edge into magic, just as he’d promised he would.
13
Ben lay in bed, Kathleen cradled in his arms, sunlight now spilling over them from that amazing skylight in her bedroom ceiling. He was filled with an astonishing range of sensations that he’d never expected to experience.
Desire, of course. He hadn’t stopped wanting her for a single second all night long. No matter how many times they’d made love—and he’d lost count of that—he’d wanted more. He wished he could attribute that to the long, dry spell in his love life, but that wasn’t it and he knew it. It was all about Kathleen and what she did to scramble his senses.
Then there was the raging possessiveness she inspired. He wanted her to be his and his alone, even though he knew that he was incapable of making the same level of commitment. Sooner or later he was going to have to face facts—he couldn’t have one without the other.
And then there was the flood of protectiveness that nearly overwhelmed him. He would die before he let anyone hurt her ever again.
And finally fear, because despite all the rest, he wasn’t sure he was brave enough to risk his heart, to chance another loss. Kathleen deserved nothing less than a man who could share himself completely and without reservations, and he could lose her because he couldn’t give her what she needed.
Mack had been wrong. Getting her into bed wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot.
She stirred against him and that alone was enough to make him forget the fear for now. There would be time enough to worry about that when he was back out at the farm, alone, his equilibrium restored.
“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up,” he murmured against her ear.
“Mmmm?”
“It’s morning.”
She moaned and snuggled more tightly against him. That was no way to get them both up and out of this bed, Ben concluded. Most of the ideas raging around in his head, in fact, involved this bed and a long, leisurely day spent right here. That was probably not a good idea. If he stayed now, he might never want to leave. History told him that as soon as he wanted anything that much, wanted anyone that much, he was doomed to lose them.
He forced himself to ease away from Kathleen and sit on the side of the bed, ignoring her little whimper of protest. It was harder to ignore the sneaky hand that reached unerringly for a part of him that had no thought processes at all, only feeling. He’d spent the whole night listening to that part of his anatomy. It was time for his brain to kick back into gear.
“Oh, no, you don’t, you wicked,
