The single phrase lingered in the air between them, as did the warm glow from the fireplace. Before sense prevailed, Chad leaned forward and took the gla.s.s from her hand. And then, ever so softly, he pressed his lips to hers.

Something flared within him, spiking high like a surge of electricity, leaping up before settling down again into the normal pattern.

Except that he wasn't settling.

He drew his head back before he was tempted to go forward. Without thinking, he ran the tip of his tongue along his mouth.

"I can taste the wine on your lips." He watched her mouth curve in response. "I said I wasn't going to drink tonight."

Veronica's eyes never left his. "I don't think what you find on my lips is going to impair your judgment any."

He laughed softly. "I'd rethink that if I were you."

A spark flared in the fireplace, hissing as it fell back. Startled, she turned to look at it, her hair brushing his cheek. He felt his stomach tighten and realized that he didn't have a s...o...b..ll's chance in h.e.l.l of walking away from her at this moment.

The way he knew he should.

Instead, he weakened and gave in. Chad took her into his arms and brought his lips to hers a second time.

Chapter 12.

It was meant, when he looked back at it later, to be a simple unguarded act of comfort. Though he had weakened, it was only supposed to be a soft kiss, nothing more. But the instant it began, it turned into something so much more. For both of them.

It was like touching a match to a long string of dynamite. The fire that ignited didn't extinguish. Instead, it traveled, moving faster and faster, to something that was far larger, far more encompa.s.sing than Chad had dreamed.

The stirrings he'd been vaguely aware of, trying to bank down and ignore, woke up.

Before the kiss flowered into something he wasn't completely incapable of handling, he caught hold of himself and drew his head back. His pulse slightly unsteady, he took hold of her shoulders. He looked into her eyes and found himself capitulating before he formed the first word.

This wasn't right.

"Maybe I'd better not stay."

Being alone last night had been almost more than she'd been able to bear. The thought of being alone again tonight drove shafts of panic through her. Her fingers tightened on his arms as she looked at him. "Don't go. Please."

"If I stay..." His voice trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

She knew what she was asking. Knew what would happen if he remained. But she needed his comfort, needed to have him here. He understood more than anyone what she was going through. If there was a price to pay for that later, so be it. She'd pay it. As long as she didn't have to be alone tonight.

"Please," she repeated quietly, her eyes eloquently supplicating.

He knew he should walk away. Here, now, he should just get up and leave.

But he couldn't.

The look in her eyes wouldn't let him. It held him prisoner.

His mouth went down on hers again, erasing the word that had lingered on her lips. He didn't want her to plead, didn't want her asking for something he was, heaven help him, so willing to give.

In less than a heartbeat, soft kisses gave way to pa.s.sionate ones, and gentle touches grew into urgent caresses. It was as if there was a cauldron inside him, simmering for so long and now suddenly whatever had been within had expanded, boiling over. Drenching everything it came in contact with. Drenching him.

Chad tightened his arms around her as an urgency began to hammer away at him.

She hadn't been with a man since before her husband had died. Eighteen months.

The responses that had suddenly woken up within her caught Veronica by surprise.

Desires sprang up, demanding to be recognized. To be fed. As if she'd been on a prolonged fast and was now hungry beyond all understanding.

As his mouth fed hungrily on hers, as his hands, first gently, then possessively, pa.s.sed over her body, a pa.s.sion rose within her that made her head spin.

Veronica didn't recognize herself or what was happening to her. This was utterly new. She shivered as she felt his lips pa.s.s along her collarbone, his tongue lightly touch the tip of her ear as his breath set her on fire.

She had thought, until this moment, that she and Robert had had a satisfactory love life. She had thought that she knew all about lovemaking. But she was beginning to realize that she had only scratched the surface of what could be.

She'd never felt her entire body ignite before, burning like a wild ember in the center of a raging fire.

All she could think of was that she wanted more. Needed more.

Her heart was slamming against her rib cage as he pulled her sweater up over her head, then tossed it aside. Having his eyes on hers made it that much more thrilling, that much more exciting.

The desire she saw in his eyes almost made her heart stop beating altogether.

Twin flaming arrows shot through her b.r.e.a.s.t.s as his palms rubbed just the tips of her nipples through the light fabric of her bra. They peaked, hard, tight, filling her with wanting. Wanting to feel his strong, capable hands take possession of her.

The next moment, the material between them disappeared with an adept movement of his thumb and forefinger. Her bra landed in her lap. Veronica's eyes fluttered shut as she absorbed the sensation of his skin against hers. She bit her lower lip to keep back the moan.

And then he was on his feet, carrying her in his arms. He crossed to the stairs.

If there was a protest, it never had a chance to surface. His mouth was pressed against hers. Her head swirling, she had the vague sensation of being carried upstairs.

Entering her room, Chad set her down again, letting the length of her body brush his before her feet touched the rug. Then, slowly, methodically, as if this was a ritual that her station in life demanded, he removed her skirt and panties.

Her breath was coming in short s.n.a.t.c.hes. With sure fingers, she grasped the edge of his shirt, pulled it away from his trousers and pushed b.u.t.tons out of holes. She dragged the shirt from his shoulders a beat before he dragged her mouth to his, caressing her hair, pressing her body to his.

Together they tumbled onto the bed.

Pa.s.sion exploded, rocking her as she felt first his hands, then his lips exploring her body like some undiscovered terrain. A kiss here, a caress there, heightening her excitement without cutting the edge off it until she felt like a mindless, pulsating ma.s.s of needs.

She twisted and turned beneath him, limp with pleasure and wild with antic.i.p.ation.

He made her feel things she had never felt before. And mercifully he blotted out her mind as she was reduced to nothing more than pa.s.sion and pleasure.

Quickly, outracing his thoughts before they could catch up to him and force him to stop, Chad dispensed with his trousers. He could feel his body heating to temperatures that couldn't be measured by instruments invented by man.

All he could think about was making love with her.

He knew he was breaking every rule he'd ever made for himself, but knowing didn't seem to help. He couldn't pull back, couldn't stop. Not even if his life depended on it.

It was as if he'd been waiting for this moment, this woman, this feeling all his life.