"Fun-hah!" She sought refuge in mockery. "All you want to do is lecture me."

"That's not all I want to do and you well know it." The hands that pressed her insinuatingly against him elaborated meaningfully. "I love you, Alanna. I'm not afraid to say it. Nor am I afraid to show it." With that he swept her into his arms and sauntered toward the hallway leading off the living room.

"Alex!" she cried, squirming only until his arms tightened. "Aren't you being a little overdramatic? I mean, I can walk."

"Just setting precedent, love. I'm going to enjoy carrying you to bed over the years."

"Alex ... you agreed not to push...."

Her feet touched the thick pile carpet of his bedroom. "So I did," he drawled quite unrepentantly. "Now don't move!" He moved to adjust the lights until a single recessed fixture cast its gentle illumination around the room. Alanna had time only to absorb the masculine aura of the bold chocolates and whites of walls, rugs and furnishings before he deftly flipped back the dark-patterned bedspread and returned to her. His hands framed her face as he kissed her long and hard, stealing her breath with the force of his emotion. "Now," he crooned deeply, drawing his head back far enough to let him encompass all of her in his gaze, "I intend to show you exactly how much I love you."

"How much you think you love me," she returned in a whisper, referring to their earlier argument. At her smile his eyes narrowed, small crinkles of mischief radiating out from their corners.

"That's not even worth an argument, Alanna. But you keep telling yourself that. Maybe it will temper your response...."

There was something challenging in his tone and in the dark charcoal-gray beams that seared into her intensely. "Are you trying to tell me something that I don't already know, Alex?"

"What I'm doing," he rejoined without pause, "is daring you to keep that upper lip steady. I'll just bet you can't lie before me and be passive. Though if you don't love me it shouldn't be that hard to resist a response."

"Come on," she chided, "you know that the body has a will of its own, Alex."

"But your will is strong, love. If you work hard enough to show me that your feelings for me fall short you should be able to stay still, regardless of what I do."

"You make it sound dangerous," she quipped nervously.

"Are you up to the bet? While I show you how much I do love you, you can show me how much you don't love me."

"This is foolish."

"Ready to give in already?"

"No way!" She stiffened her spine, driven by frustration to resist him. "You aren't all that irresistible, you know." With a deep breath she drew herself up even straighter. Chin tilted at a bold angle, hands fallen loosely by her sides, eyes lit in defiance, she waited, offering herself as a willing opponent. If for no other reason than to take him down a peg or two, she was determined to withstand the sensory onslaught that she knew would follow. Unfortunately she had underestimated the force of his determination.

Alex was the consummate master, speaking volumes with his eyes as he moved to within inches of her, leaving her shaking before he'd even touched her. His hands were gentle as they tipped her face up, his lips sweet in possession. She relaxed instinctively against him, then caught herself up short. His mouth opened wider, consuming her lips with thorough care, seeming to drain them of every bit of the rigidity she tried to instill. When her lips parted limply his tongue plunged within to probe the recesses of her inner warmth. Alanna steeled herself against the tantalizing foray, but darting tongues of desire licked at her nerve ends in a passion now far beyond her control.

Still she resisted. She reminded herself of his challenge and of what was at stake. But Alex's kiss taunted her for her futile attempt at concentration, tugging at her lips one final time as he drew back to look down at her. The pale light gentled his features, imbuing him with an aura of innocence.

"Not bad, owl-eyes." He grinned his compliment to her marginal success. He seemed undaunted and undisturbed, not in the least discouraged. Oh, yes, she mused, Alex Knight thrived in the ring! Reaching up, he removed her glasses and placed them carefully onto the shelf that comprised the headboard of the bed. Alanna watched his lazy motion, sensing in his languor its intended sensuality. His every move was smooth and fluid, athletic prowess in his every step. Helplessly she surveyed his lean frame, appreciating anew his head-to-toe virility, then telling herself of her immunity to it-between traitorous palpitations of her heart.

He took great pains with her hair, removing each pin, gathering them in a cluster in his palm and placing the lot on his dresser before finally combing the spill of blond silk with his fingers. As though enchanted he spread the strands about her shoulders.

"You seem to be operating in slow motion tonight. Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked evenly, dismayed when the indifference she had tried to inject into her voice emerged as impatience.

Alex grinned wickedly. "Every ... last ... minute."

Plunging his fingers into the thickness of her hair, he brought her lips to his once more. And this time he kissed her with a passion that left her dizzy. Dizzy and feeling heady. For with the knowledge that she could draw this man out to his fullest came pure delight. In this state of satisfaction Alanna responded reflexively.

"Uh-uh," he chided against her lips. "Giving up already?"

"No. No!" She caught herself up once again. "Just relaxing for a minute. It won't happen again."

"Don't let it," he drawled in warning, "or you'll never make it. You've got to be strong!"

She tried. Oh, how she tried! She tried to ignore the lips that tickled her neck and throat. She tried to ignore the fingers that reached for the zipper of her dress. She tried to ignore the eroticism of his long, drawn-out siege as he slid it slowly down, his fingers feathering along the line of her spine. It was very, very difficult.

He had to feel the wild beat of her heart when his hands slid beneath the fabric of the dress and around her shoulders, coaxing the fabric down, following to hold the fullness of her breasts. This time she gasped aloud.

"So soon, love?" he goaded her mischievously. "This is nothing!"

Nothing? Nothing the faint roughness of his fingertips as they crept under the lace of her bra to tease her nipple to arousal? Nothing the thumbs that then dipped beneath the straps to lower them and allow her taut, round breasts to fall free? Nothing the mouth that trailed down her neck and nibbled at her shoulder blade before taking those hardened tips, first one, then the other, within?

Alanna barely stifled another cry. When Alex drawled a smug accusation she was quick to explain the hands that clutched his shoulders. "I'm not responding," her singsong tone wavered. "I'm only trying to hold myself up."

"No need." Nudging her backward, he followed her easily onto the bed, covering her body with his. As he kissed her again he purposely let her feel the weight of his body. Alanna balled her fists in frustration. She ached to run her palms along the length of him, to feel the swell of his muscles and the texture of his skin against her fingertips. She wanted to kiss his flesh and taste the tang that was his alone. All she could do, however, was to lie in muted agony, breathing in his manly scent, struggling not to give in to the piercing arrows of need. When his lips finally left hers she moaned.

"Throwing in the towel, love?"

"Oh, no," she gasped. "No."

His mouth silenced her as his hands went back to work, dispensing with her bra and her remaining clothes with a haste that hinted at a certain gratifying wear and tear on his composure. Dress, slip, panty hose-all fell to the floor in the flurry. Then, his chest heaving slightly, he stood back to savor her.

"Your hands are clenched, Alanna. Is something wrong?"

Alanna was ready to explode from within. "No, no. What could be wrong? What could be more natural-"

"-than to lie naked before your lover?" he finished for her, expressing her unwilling thought precisely. His eyes caressed her beauty, beaming a molten heat along her skin.

Alanna swallowed thickly. She hadn't pictured herself as a sacrifice to the gods, yet here she was, helpless. Infinitely vulnerable and frantically clutching at the last straws of control. Was there, as Alex claimed, more to the attraction than the purely physical?

In a move that was subliminally arousing, Alex deftly shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it casually over a nearby chair. Alanna's throat constricted as she watched lean, male fingers draw off an already loosened tie. Those same fingers moved over the buttons of his shirt, releasing each, pulling the tails from his pants, tossing the shirt aside. His chest was a bold expanse of bronze lightly hazed with brown; his arms were sinewed and strong. She wanted to throw herself at him then; only his relentlessly watchful gaze restrained her.

Her mouth was dry. Absently she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. She watched helplessly as his hands moved to his belt, unbuckling it, unfastening his trousers. Within moments he stood before her, as nude as she. And then he approached. Propping himself on flattened palms, he leaned with maddening grace toward her.

"How can you be so cruel?" she rasped hoarsely, nearing the end of her tether.

"Cruel?" He feigned hurt. "It's not every day that I strip for a woman."

"Thank heaven!" she whispered, then waited for him to lower himself further. "Well...?"

His grin was a knowing one. "Well what?"

Pride slipped inexorably through her whitened fingers until she was left with only the agony of wanting him. "Aren't you going to come to me?"

"In time." His answering whisper was low.

"Alex..." It was half warning, half pleading, inspired by her awareness of the bronzed perfection looming over her. He was inches away ... yet too far. At that moment she knew him to be the key-the key to release the lock that barred her from fulfillment. It no longer mattered that, prior to meeting him, she hadn't even known the lock was in place. What mattered was that she needed him now.

With that realization went the last shreds of her tattered control. Reaching for him, she bridged the distance in an instant and stretched against him, coiling her arms tightly around his neck. Her weight, light as it was, brought his body down on top of hers, but not his head. That was tipped back so that he could see her clearly.

"You admit defeat?" He baited her one last time.

And Alanna reveled in that defeat. "I lose, I lose!" she declared with a conviction that was replaced by urgency when she touched him. Her hands hungered and devoured, making up for what seemed a lost eternity. To her further joy her loss of control triggered his. With a deep and soulful groan he made her his. The heat of the union fused them together, binding them as they moved to the age-old rhythm of passion. Forgotten now was the game they had played, its outcome secure from the start.

Alanna responded to Alex with the fullness of her womanhood. She drew on her intuitive resources to drive him to higher and higher peaks of ecstasy. And he had no intention of leaving her behind. She went with him avidly, her damp body clutched tightly to his. When at last the moment of ultimate delight exploded within and between them it cast its love-glow to enhance the climactic beauty they shared.

Their paired breathlessness slowly receded before Alex attempted to speak. His husky whisper was offered against her brow as he rolled onto his side and drew her against him. "You didn't lose after all, did you, love?"

There was no need for an answer. Her satisfied smile said it all.

7.

No, she certainly hadn't lost. But what had she won? She had won long moments of shimmering ecstasy, then utter fulfillment. She had won the joy of having satisfied Alex as well, of feeling his body, warm and content, against hers. And she had won another night of deep and uninterrupted sleep. Wrapped in Alex's arms she felt replete and protected. A sweet serenity filled her through those hours, a sense of peace which held her even when he woke her with a kiss the next morning.

"Rise and shine, love. Time to get up." His voice tickled her ear with its early morning huskiness. Lazily, she burrowed closer.

"What time is it?"

"Six-fifteen."

"Six-fifteen?" Her brown eyes widened. "Why so early?"

Alex seemed amused. "We're going swimming. Remember?"

"Oh, no! That's right! Alex, what are we going to do about the IAT study? We didn't settle anything last night!"

His drawl was suggestive. "I wouldn't say that. I seem to recall that you lost a certain bet...."

"You're darned right I lost! It just shows you how taken I am with your body!" She grinned, knowing that she was skirting the issue but shooting for the diversion nonetheless. Alex saw right through her.

"Don't give me that, Alanna. You love me. Say it."

"What's in a word?" She shrugged with feigned nonchalance.

"A lot. Now say it. You love me."

Alanna nestled lower against him, helplessly admiring the soft skin just under his arm. When she touched it with a slim fingertip he squirmed. "You're ticklish!" she exclaimed, pleased to have found another diversion. But again Alex was determined to have his way.

He shifted lithely to capture her hands in one of his and immobilize her against his body with the other. "I'm very ticklish and even more in love." His eyes, gray and keen, repeated the demand he'd already made twice this morning. She knew what he wanted to hear, but couldn't quite say it. It would mean the commitment she had always feared.

"What is love?"

His answer was ready. "Love is when you want to do for and give to and put another's welfare ahead of your own. Love is when your life's meaning comes to revolve around that other person."

"And yours has?" She eyed him skeptically.

His grasp loosened, but without granting total release. "I know that you refuse to believe this, but it has. On the surface I have everything most people want-a successful business, an apartment in the city, a home in the country, enough money to satisfy me. In a nutshell, I have every material thing I could want." She sensed what was coming. "But it's not enough. There's that awful emptiness that I've lived with for years. Frankly, I'm tired of it."

"So I'm a stopgap measure?"

"You know you're not, Alanna." He raised himself solemnly on one elbow. "And this is no time for joking. I've already told you some of the things about you that I love. Well, here's another. You've awakened in me a kind of protectiveness, a need to devote myself totally to one woman. I've never felt this way before."

As his eyes blazed their intensity toward her Alanna felt at war with herself. One side of her wanted to still his confession, to capture the thoughts and emotions he had roused and put them into a more easily controllable dimension. But the other side wanted to hear every word and more; this side hungrily savored his evident devotion. The battle raged within as Alex mused on.

"I'm thirty-nine years old, Alanna. I suppose I've been ready for a wife and family for a long time, but it's never appealed to me until now. I want you as my wife. I want you as the mother of my children. But mostly I want you with me every day, to share the business, this apartment, that house in the country."

The gentleness of his hand as it outlined her features was in contrast to the fire in his eyes. "Do you know what I want to do?" She couldn't tear her gaze away; mutely she shook her head. "I want to bring you breakfast in bed on the weekends and sit here beside you reading the paper. I want to drop you at work in the morning and pick you up at night and spend every possible minute in between making you happy."

"You're crazy," she whispered, but her smile held undeniable affection.

Alex lay down flat once more and pulled her head to his shoulder to continue the dream. "I may be, but it is how I feel. I want to buy you things-little extravagances that you'd never buy for yourself-and take you places. I'd like to travel with you to all the exotic spots you've never taken the time to visit."

"I'm not exactly deprived," she argued feebly.

"I know that! No doubt you could easily afford to take those trips yourself. Why haven't you? For one thing, you won't leave that job of yours for long enough because you're afraid that some ambitious man will steal it from you. For another, though you may not be willing to admit it, it's no fun to travel alone."

Alanna couldn't lie. She'd thought often of travel and had vetoed it for just those reasons. "I admit it," she conceded softly.

"Then," he continued more gently, "why won't you admit that, together, we could have a lovely life."

"Because I'm just not sure of that yet."

"Even after last night?"

"Yes. Lovemaking is still a physical act. Love entails more. Don't you see, Alex?" She raised herself on an elbow to look down at him beseechingly. "I've lived my life alone for so long. I've been totally independent. I rely on no one. Love has never been a high priority with me."

His voice was even. "Then you don't love me?"

"I don't know."

In the silence that followed, Alanna acknowledged, for the first time, that she could easily come to love Alex-if she didn't already do so. As she recognized the vulnerability in his face now her only impulse was to soothe it. Yes, in many respects, if Alex's definition was apt, she was in love. She did want to give to him, to share with him, to do for him. Yet there was still that other life....

He sighed deeply, studying her confused expression for a moment longer. Then he smiled, that broad, white-toothed smile that set her heart to beating double-time. "Now we're getting somewhere. An 'I don't know' is far better than an outright 'No'!" He threw back the covers and got out of bed, turning to face her with no thought at all to his nudity. "I'll get to you yet, Alanna. You may think you have it all now, but you'll be thinking differently soon. I'll show you."

Alanna half believed him. To her perplexity, she half wanted to believe him. He was, in so many ways, not the least of which was the image of bold masculinity he presented to her now, a divine creature. Her gaze luxuriated in his body for a final moment as she lay in bed. Then, without warning, his hands whipped off her covering and curved under her, lifting her from the bed and setting her upright just outside the bathroom. His release was slow; her body slithered sensuously down his in poignant remembrance of the passion they'd shared the previous night. He kissed her deeply, his lips inviting her waiting response.

"We'll never get anywhere at this rate," he finally growled against her moist lips. "You go in there; I'll use the other one. We'll meet in the living room in ten minutes. Can you do it?"

"Anything you can do I can-"

"All right, all right! Just be there!"

Such playfulness was a rarity in either of their early-morning experiences. Alanna pondered it with pleasure as she dressed quickly, then joined him for the drive to the pool. An hour later, as they sat down to breakfast, they talked of the IAT study. It was Alex who voiced their shared opinion.