And then he pulled back, cupped her face into his hands and kissed her while easing her back down on the bed, covering her body with his. She felt the ridge of his erection, powerfully aroused, press against the place where his mouth had left its mark, making her thighs tremble. The sensation of his tongue inside her mouth, kissing her deeply, had her moaning incoherently.

When he pulled back she opened her eyes and looked at him, saw the deep-rooted desire in his gaze. She also saw something else in the dark depths, something she couldn't put a name to. "Now I make you mine," he whispered, nudging her legs apart. With a primal growl he eased inside her while leaning closer and trailing the dampness of his tongue around her earlobe.

Automatically her hips arched and a sizzling groan poured from her lips when he buried himself inside her to the hilt. Their connection, their joining was absolute, complete and so unerringly whole. And at that moment she thought there could not be a more perfect union between two individuals.

"You okay?" he asked, going still to glance down at her.

"Yes," she said while her feminine muscles clamped him, clutched him and claimed him. The sensations she felt were almost more than she could bear. A growing tension, one she didn't understand, begin to stir within her, right there at her center. And as if he knew exactly what she needed, he began to move, rock into her, thrust back and forth, stroke her with a rhythm that made her entire body quiver, fulfilling all her secret desires, her most wanton needs.

Her climax, more intense than any of the others, slammed into her and she screamed his name. She was aware of him driving harder into her, sending her even farther over the edge. She closed her eyes and tightened her muscles around him, milking him and making him groan aloud. She wanted everything she could get from him, determined not to deny herself anything. She wrapped her legs around his waist and locked him in. She had waited too long for this. Too long for a man like him.

"Jocelyn!"

Bas screamed her name while fighting for control. Spasms of ecstasy began tearing through him, and the way her inner muscles were clutching him, draining him, was sending him over into the realms of oblivion. She had stolen his heart and now she was taking over his body, leaving him defenseless and filled with a need he could barely comprehend.

This was love, pure and unadulterated. He had never felt this way before. Nothing had been this intense, invigorating and pa.s.sionate. And when she let out another scream that split the air, he felt his body explode once again as sensations ripped through him, toppled him over into another world. He lost all sense of everything, except the acceptance that the woman beneath him, to whose body he was intimately joined, was in total possession of his heart, body and soul.

Jocelyn came awake to the sound of Bas's heartbeat. Lying with her head resting on his chest, with his arms wrapped securely around her, and their legs entwined, she felt totally exhausted. But who wouldn't after what they had shared? After making love again in the bed, they had taken the top covers off and moved to a spot in front of the fireplace where they had made love again before falling asleep in each other's arms.

It was still barely light outside and she figured she would have slept right through the night if the growling of her stomach wasn't a reminder that she hadn't eaten anything since lunch.

"Hungry?"

Jocelyn glanced up. Bas was awake and smiling down at her. The flames from the fireplace provided an austere glow to his features. The tone of his voice was sensual and in response to it, she felt a tightening in the lower part of her body. "Yes, I'm hungry," she said, trying to make her voice sound natural.

This was the first time she had awakened in a man's arms after hours of lovemaking. The last time, in college, she had asked the guy to leave her room as soon as it was over, thinking it had been a complete waste of time. But that hadn't been the case with Bas. With him nothing was wasted. They could have been like the Energizer Bunny and kept going and going and going.

"I better feed you or you'll think I'm not a very good host," he said, rising to his feet.

Jocelyn swallowed as she gazed up at him. He was stark naked, unashamedly so. He saw the way she was staring at him and flashed a teasing grin. "If you keep looking at me like that, you might not get dinner after all."

"Then what will I get?" she asked, deciding she might not be as hungry as she'd thought.

"Anything you want. I'm easy."

She moved her gaze lower to a certain part of him. A smile tugged at her lips. "No, you're not. Right now I'd say you're extremely hard."

He chuckled. "You noticed."

"Staring me right in the face, how can I not?"

"Should I apologize?"

She shook her head. "No. What you should do is come back down here and let me take care of it."

He slowly dropped to his knees and then crawled over toward her. "And what do you have in mind?" he asked huskily.

She leaned up and pushed him on his back, then straddled him. "Oh, trust me, Mr. Steele. You're about to find out."

"I can't remember the last time I ate a bowl of chicken noodle soup," Jocelyn said, taking another spoonful into her mouth.

A deep laugh vibrated from within Bas's throat. "Hey, I offered to take you into town to one of those restaurants and you turned me down."

She smiled. "Only because I'm not ready to put my clothes back on. No pun intended but I think we're on a roll."

And that, she thought, was the truth. After making love again in front of the fireplace, they had gotten into the hot tub and made love once more before deciding they needed to eat something to keep their strength up. Bas had let her borrow his robe and together they had gone into the kitchen, where, after checking his empty cabinets, they had found a couple of cans of soup amongst his fishing gear. While the soup had been warming on the stove she had taken the time to call Leah. Her sister hadn't been very talkative, and had, in fact, cut the conversation short, after a.s.suring Jocelyn she was all right.

Satisfied that she had at least spoken to Leah, Jocelyn and Bas had sat down at his kitchen table to enjoy soup and crackers and relish the aftermath of their enjoyment of each other.

Jocelyn figured if she never made love again in her life that would be okay because within the last six hours she had made up for whatever she'd missed in the past and stocked up on what might not be coming her way in the future. But a part of her couldn't imagine sharing anything so intimate with anyone but Bas. Everything the two of them had shared had been utterly amazing. He was definitely a highly charged s.e.xual man.

"Want some more?"

She glanced up at him and smiled. "Some more of what?"

"Jocelyn," he said warningly, "haven't you gotten enough?"

"Of what?" Her tone was innocent. "Soup or you?"

He was sitting across from her at the table wearing just a pair of jeans, and her gaze slid over his bare chest. He was as fine as fine could get and the memories of all those o.r.g.a.s.ms he'd given her had her body tingling inside out. She wanted to go to him, curl up in his lap, run her hand down his belly, inside his jeans and- "You're staying all night?"

She moved her gaze back to his face. "Is that an invitation?"

"Yes."

She took another spoonful of soup then asked, "What about clothes?"

"We never did take your luggage out of the car."

"How convenient."

He gave her a knowing look as a smile touched the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, I think so."

Leah finished folding up her laundry and decided that although it was still early she would go upstairs to bed. She heard the doorbell ring and sighed deeply, hoping and praying it wasn't Reese. They had nothing more to say to each other and she wouldn't be able to handle seeing him again that day.

Crossing the room, she wondered who it could be. At the door she asked, "Who is it?"

"Delivery for Leah Mason."

She glanced out the peephole and saw a man of about twenty standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Still, she had grown cautious over the years. "Do I need to sign for anything?" she asked through the door.

"No, ma'am."

"Please leave whatever you have on the doorstep." She watched as the man did as she requested then walked away. She moved to the window to make sure he got back in his van and drove off. Taking a deep breath, she walked back over to the door and opened it.

She couldn't help but smile upon seeing the beautiful arrangement of calla lilies, her favorite, and knew immediately who'd sent them. Couldn't Reese see what he was trying to do was useless? She would never be the woman that she used to be, a woman who'd enjoyed making love to him anytime and anywhere.

She picked up the bouquet and went back inside the house, locking the door behind her. She placed the arrangement on the table before pulling off the card.

When you hurt, I hurt. Give me a chance to take the pain away. Reese.

Leah continued to read the card, over and over. Why was Reese Singleton so stubborn? Didn't he understand what she'd told him earlier that day? Didn't he get the picture; she was incapable of allowing another man, even him, ever to touch her?

She almost jumped when the doorbell rang again. She went to the door and glanced out of the peephole and her heart began pounding. It was Reese.

A part of her wanted to ignore him, but she knew Reese refused to be ignored. Besides, he evidently hadn't comprehended what she'd been trying to tell him earlier. Maybe if she'd had the help of counselors or a support group earlier than she had, she would be a lot stronger now. But she hadn't. Instead of opening up and talking about it, she had tried to go through life without dealing with the rape, and in so doing she had erected this physical and emotional shield against all men.

Although she already knew the answer, she asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Reese, Leah. Please open the door so we can talk."

Telling him they had nothing to discuss would be useless. It was best to let him in so they could talk and then that would be the end of things.

She slowly opened the door and took a step back and Reese entered, closing the door behind him. She'd seen the look in his eyes the moment he'd gazed at her. The pity she'd expected wasn't there, but what she saw was what she remembered so many other times-desire. The thought that he still found her desirable, even after knowing about what Neil had done, was both flattering and frustrating.

"Why did you come, Reese?"

"Did you think I would stay away?"

No, she really hadn't thought that since he'd always gone after what he wanted. But she just couldn't understand why and how he could still love her after all these years. Especially now.

As if he'd read her thoughts he smiled and said, "Hey, don't even wonder about it, Leah. You knew you had my heart from the first."

She couldn't help but release a humorless laugh. "It was either me or Kristi Alford, and you deserved better."

He chuckled. "Yes, and you were definitely it. I have no regrets."

Neither had she. Still, all the good times they'd shared in the past could not wipe out everything that had happened.

"Leah, I-"

When he reached out to touch her arm, automatically she pulled back and fear jumped into her eyes as her entire body went rigid against his touch. She saw the surprise in his gaze and released a frustrated sigh. "I told you I get filled with revulsion at the thought of any man touching me, no matter how innocent. I think it will be better if you leave now."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not leaving and I'm not going to let you put distance between us. I understand the barriers you've put up, but I won't let it stop me from proving something."

"Proving what?"

"That to you I'm not a regular guy, Leah. I'm the man you loved and by your own admission, the man you still love. Somehow I'm going to remind you of that and break through those walls you've erected. I'm going to be the one man who'll make you want to be touched again."

She hugged her arms to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and glared at him. "You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

He smiled. "Yes, and I'm pretty sure of you. You could never resist me when I laid things on thick."

No, she couldn't, but things weren't the same anymore. "But that was then."

"And it could be now if you let it. I want us to get back together. I want to marry you, give you babies we'll both love, and I want to be there for you until the day I die."

The sincerity in his words touched her and she couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes. Whether he knew it or not, he was offering her a chance to reclaim her dream. But still...

"It won't work, Reese," she said quietly, again trying to make him see reason.

"How do you know if you won't give it a chance? Give us a chance. We can take things slow, start off by going out to eat, to the movies, take walks...and I promise to keep my hands to myself. In fact I will keep my hands to myself until you say you're ready for something more."

She lifted a brow. "No kisses?" She remembered how much they'd liked to kiss.

He smiled softly. "And as much as it will probably drive me crazy, no kisses."

They stared at each other for a long moment and Leah thought about his words, his offer. She met his gaze, studied the expression on his face, looked into the depth of his eyes. "Why do you want to do this? There are other women in town who'd jump at the chance to-"

"You're the one I want, Leah. You're the only one I've ever wanted. You spoiled me for anyone else." He chuckled quietly. "I didn't know just how messed up I was until you left. I haven't been able to get involved with anyone else and it's been a long time."

For him it was a long time, since she knew just how pa.s.sionate he was. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I couldn't imagine making love to anyone but you."

Leah wondered if he knew what that admission meant to her. But then, if he was putting all his hopes in her, he still might not be making love to anyone. "Reese, I-"

"No. Just say we can make a go of things again, Leah. We'll take thing slow but we'll still make a go. Although we enjoyed the time we were together, for us it was never just about s.e.x anyway. Remember?"

Yes, she did remember. The s.e.x had been good, but they had shared a special friendship, as well. "And you're sure you want to do this?" she asked, needing the rea.s.surance.

"Yes, I'm sure. Let's start off tomorrow. Early. Invite me to breakfast. I miss your pancakes."

She couldn't help the tiny smile that touched her lips. And with the memory she recalled a time when she had prepared pancakes at his place one morning, and how they'd got sidetracked and ended up with more batter over them than in the skillet. Of course they'd had to shower together and she remembered what had happened after that....

Leah blinked. That memory had been totally unexpected. It was the first time she'd been able to recall a man touching her body and not get sick at the thought. And on that particular day Reese had touched her all over.

"So are you going to feed me pancakes in the morning?"

His question reclaimed her thoughts. "Yes, I think I can manage that."

"Good. Well, I'll leave so you can go on to bed and get your rest. See you in the morning, Leah."

After Reese left, Leah felt an inner peace for the first time in a long while.