"Don't worry, Rivka." Alex gave Sarah a steady gaze. "I'll keep your sister firmly in hand."

Now Rivka turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "What's going on between you two?"

"None of your business, Rivka, me love." Mick gave her a stern look. "Leave them alone. They're jesting with you."

Rivka appeared about to say more, but her husband silenced her with a kiss and a squeeze.

"All right! Meeting adjourned. I just remembered some business we have at home."

The meeting was over, just like that. Rivka and Mick cleared out like their tails were on fire, and even Martin left with little delay. Promising to lock up, Sarah and Alex were the only two left in the gallery.

"So," she said slowly. "Do you want to talk about food?"

The tension was nearly visible in the air between them.

"I'd like to talk about eating."

"Why talk?" Sarah's eyes were aglow with blue ice and her voice a husky intimation. "When you can do?"

Then there was nothing more to be said.

CHAPTER 5.

The caramel wasn't hot enough to burn her skin, but Sarah definitely knew exactly where Alex was dripping it. It made a sticky puddle on the soft curve of her stomach and oozed lazily down her sides. The more she wriggled, the faster it slid across her skin. Unfortunately, the things Alex was doing to her with his hands and mouth made it impossible for her to stay still.

"Now for the best part," he murmured and paused in his exploration of her body to reach for the cardboard container beside him.

She nearly shrieked as the ice cream landed first on one breast, then the next. Her nipples rose like iron spikes. Sarah let out a wheezing, shuddering laugh at the sensation.

"It's cold!" Her complaint wasn't very fierce. The frosty dessert was already melting on her pa.s.sion-heated skin. "When you made me promise not to move, you didn't say anything about freezing me to death!"

"I told you I wanted to make upside-down sundaes and you agreed." Alex bent his head to suckle the dripping ice cream off her nipples. "First we did the cherry, then the whipped cream. Then the caramel..."

She forced a solemn expression to her face. "Then the ice cream. You've made a mess of me."

The glint in his eye promised l.u.s.t. "I'm going to clean it up. Starting right now."

True to his word, Alex moved his mouth along her entire body and paused at every place he had dripped or slathered with food. First, he suckled and laved her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and nipples clean of vanilla, moving from one to the next until she had to physically clench her hands together to keep from clutching his head.

The rules to Alex's game had been very simple. She was not to use her hands until he allowed it. Sarah hadn't asked what the punishment might be, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her word as he inched his way down her body.

After caressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, Alex slid his tongue down to her stomach. Pressing gentle kisses along the slope of her hip, he moved to the curve of her thigh. His every touch was a fire of sensation. Sarah moaned, shifting her hips beneath his kiss. She was on fire, and it was obvious he knew it.

As if he could no longer wait, Alex parted her thighs and dipped his head to the spot where she ached most for his touch. He smoothed apart the soft tangle of her hair to expose her completely to his every motion. As he stroked her with his tongue, Sarah jumped beneath his touch.

"Alex!" She forgot her promise and wrapped her fingers in the lush darkness of his hair. Nothing mattered except his tongue and fingers working their magic upon her.

His lips suckled her as he had her nipples. Exquisite pleasure rocketed through her. The world faded away to mere blurs of red and black as she raised her hips to his mouth. The pleasure grew stronger and stronger, moving ever inward. The tight ball of her impending o.r.g.a.s.m folded, tighter and tighter, in upon itself in every nuance of ecstasy as Alex continued making love to her with his mouth.

Alex slid his hands beneath her b.u.t.tocks, and the heat of his fingers brought another delicious torture to her flesh. Pulling her closer to him, he moved his mouth away from her burning center. Though she whimpered, he merely blew a soft gust of cool air across her. Her thighs quivered.

Sarah was poised on the edge of an incredible, tremendous o.r.g.a.s.m. Aching with sensation, her entire body trembled. Alex puffed again, the air caressing her so delicately she would not have felt it had she not been so incredibly aroused. She wanted--no, needed--his lips and tongue on her again, but something held her back. She wanted to beg, but could not.

"Sarah." The thrum of his whisper nearly sent her over the edge. "Open your eyes and look at me."

She couldn't look at him; she just could not. Not when he had reduced her to such a quivering bundle of nerves. Sarah moaned lightly, her fingers kneading the sheet.

"Sarah."

Sarah opened her eyes. His hazel gaze didn't flicker as he met hers. Suddenly, it didn't matter to Sarah if her voice cracked with desire when she spoke. Shame had no place in their lovemaking, nor did embarra.s.sment. Nothing they did together could harm either one of them. All they shared was pleasure, nothing more. And if it gave him pleasure to have her speak, then she would do it.

"Yes, Alex," she murmured. "Please."

With a groan, he dipped his head back between her thighs. One kiss, then another, and she was undone. The tight ball of sensation that had been growing within her could no longer hold together. It shattered, driving a cry of sheer ecstasy from her throat.

She cried his name again, and he pulled her on top of him, unmindful of the stickiness left over from the caramel. She slid onto his length like he was coated in oil and cried out again from the sheer pleasure of him filling her. Alex rested his hands on her hips, but Sarah needed no guidance. She rocked with him, moved in the rhythm they both set.

She could see nearly every inch of him as he lay beneath her. Now it was Alex's turn to close his eyes, and Sarah liked watching him that way. His jaw was set fiercely in his arousal. The cords of muscle on his arms stood out as he clutched her hips nearly hard enough to hurt. The smooth ripples of his stomach rolled with each thrust of his hips.

"You feel so good." He opened his eyes. "I love making love to you."

Alex slipped one hand around between them so his thumb could press against her where she needed it most. She was going to climax again. Their rocking sped up. Wanting at the last moment to feel his lips against hers, Sarah bent forward to crush her mouth to Alex's. He moaned inside her mouth as his thrusts became ragged with the force of his pa.s.sion.

The tingling ecstasy burst through her again just as Alex shuddered beneath her and cried her name over and over. She could feel him throbbing inside her, the sensation sending another, final inferno of feeling through her. Then she collapsed on him as his hands curved around her back to hold her close.

"Wow," Alex said a few minutes later when Sarah had rolled off him to snuggle against his side.

Sarah laughed. "My thoughts exactly."

"I don't think this is what your sister had in mind when she wanted us to work together on the food."

"You don't know my sister." Sarah ran a finger down his side. "She'd probably be more excited than I am about this."

He tipped her face until she was forced to meet his eyes. "Are you excited about this?"

Though he tried to shield his expression, Sarah still saw the uncertainty lingering in his eyes. It touched her. She knew and understood her reasons for fear because William had certainly given her reason to be wary of handsome men. That Alex might be as uncertain of her was a surprise, but a poignant one.

She reached her mouth up to press a gentle kiss to his. "Alex, you are the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time."

He didn't answer her. Instead, he drew her close to him again and pressed his face into her hair. His silence didn't bother Sarah. His actions had meant more than words could ever have.

Alex woke to the sound of the shower running. Even before he opened his eyes, he knew where he was. Sarah's bed. Her scent, like fresh flowers and baby powder mingled with caramel, lingered on everything.

He stretched a little, and the sheet stuck to his leg. More caramel. Alex tossed the covers back and saw in the light of morning just what damage he'd done to her linens. The delicate flowered pattern was spotted disastrously with gooey caramel and bits of maraschino cherry.

From the doorway, Sarah gave him a stern look. "I hope you're satisfied." She wore the largest, most shapeless robe he'd ever seen, and an equally bulky towel completely covered her hair. She looked captivating. "Those were my very best Laura Ashley sheets."

He grinned, unable to help himself. "I'll wash them."

With a cry of mock fury, Sarah launched herself across the room at him. Thankfully, the huge expanse of terrycloth surrounding her cushioned her landing. She pummeled his bare chest, laughed and met his mouth for a kiss. "You'll wash them. You'll get every last speck of caramel off those sheets, or I'll..."

"You'll what?" He pinned down her flailing hands. "Spank me?"

Sarah laughed again, relaxing against him. "You'd love that."

"Maybe."

She felt so good, lying on him the way she was. Not even, Alex noted with

small surprise, in a s.e.xual way. Not that her kiss hadn't caused him to stir, but she just felt nice when she was near him.

"Penny for your thoughts. Fifty cents to act them out." Sarah tickled his side.

"You seem so ... comfortable." That was it. It seemed as though they'd been lovers for years. He sensed no awkwardness from her. More surprisingly, he felt none himself.

She looked seriously at him, her blue-ice eyes seeming almost violet in the

morning light. "I don't do things half way, Alex."

"No, you don't." It was something he'd guessed about her right away. "You don't feel ... weird? Having me in your bed, I mean."

She shook her head. The towel fell off and she didn't replace it. Her tangled

curls fell over her face, and she impatiently pushed them behind her ears.

"I don't feel awkward about having you in my bed because I invited you into it. I told you before, Alex. I slept with you because I like you. Why would I feel awkward about seeing someone I like?" She appeared to think for a moment. "Is it awkward for you?"

He decided to be honest with her. "I don't usually stay over."

Her lovely brow furrowed. "Oh."

At once, he wanted her to see, as he did, what a good thing that was. "I never

wanted to wake up next to any woman before. Not until you."

She seemed pleased. "Oh!"

"I think I'd like to do it more often." Alex found himself saying things like that

around her. Here, in her bed, with the bright morning light streaming in, it

didn't seem like such a crazy thought.

Sarah frowned slightly, pulling away. "Alex, it's too early in the morning to have this talk. You hardly know me."

"I know enough. I like the way you laugh. I like that you brought me flowers. I like that we can talk for hours. Isn't that enough?"

She picked fretfully at a thread on her robe. "It ought to be."

"It is."

Their conversation held such irony. In his experience, he had always said the things Sarah was saying now. He understood her reluctance because he'd been there so many times himself.

Sarah sighed. "I have fun with you. Even though we don't have anything in common--"

"You keep saying that." He took her hand away from her robe and captured it with his.

"Because it's true."

Alex sighed and dropped her hand. "We have lots in common."

She quirked her brow at him, but granted him a smile. The grin, slight though it was, eased his mind.

"You drink coffee. I drink tea. You like westerns. I prefer horror. You like ham and cheese. I like matzo ball soup. You like running, and my idea of exercise is walking to the kitchen for a doughnut to go with my tea and my horror novel."

"Those are small things." Alex cupped her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "We both like to laugh. We both love our families. We both have jobs we love. Aren't those more important?"