Part 10 (2/2)

When his gaze fastened on hers once more, Kate felt a slow flush of heat coloring her cheeks. She wished she'd been fully awake and aware of what was happening that night, for, although his hands had touched only her ankle, the look in his gray-crystal eyes said he'd known her, in those few moments, very well indeed. And she felt as if they'd shared something very special and very intimate-more intimate than any other experience she'd ever shared with a man.

Lowering her gaze, she twisted her fingers together in her lap as she tried to imagine saying thank you for something that . . . Well, somehow it didn't seem like the thing to say.

A second later, though, another thought occurred to her, and her gaze flew back to his. ”Francis,” she whispered. ”Sam, did you . . . ?”

He arched an eyebrow. ”What do you think?”

”Dear Lord,” she breathed, the chill of shock racing over her skin. ”And you were able to heal him because his deafness was the result of a virus. If it'd been congenital-”

”It's a sure bet he'd still be deaf.” Sam glanced away, grumbling a little as he added, ”But I'd have tried anyway. I mean, how could you turn your back on a kid with a smile like that?”

Kate blinked at the tears stinging her eyes.

”I hope you won't think you've got to tell your sister.”

She shook her head. ”No, of course I won't tell Cressie or Steve. I won't tell anybody anything you've told me. I promise I won't. Oh, Sam, I could-”

She hesitated all of two seconds. Then, with the tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, saying, ”This is for Francis . . . and this is for Cressie and Steve . . . and this is for me.”

But when she pulled back from the third kiss, Sam's arm clamped around her waist, his gaze holding hers fast.

”And this is for me,” he said. ”For listening.” Then his head angled and dipped, and his lips caught hers in a kiss that spoke of things far more potent than grat.i.tude.

She trembled as his mouth moved across hers, his lips shaping hers with a firm, persuasive pressure. Her hand resting on his forearm tightened its hold, fingers digging in as her senses filled with the sound of his breathing, the soapy scent of his skin, the warmth of his breath on her cheek. The first easy touch of his tongue skimming the seam of her lips made the b.u.t.terflies go wild inside her. But it also sent warning signals shooting through every nerve in her body.

She tried to pull back. ”Sam . . .”

”Hush, now.” He s.h.i.+fted forward on the fallen tree far enough to plant his feet on the ground. Then, tugging her off her perch, he drew her around in front of him, nestling her thighs between his. Their faces were level, and he reached up to thread his fingers through her hair, gathering a handful of the long waves. ”No more talking,” he said as he pulled her close, his lips grazing her temple, her cheek, the line of her jaw. ”We've both been wanting this. You know that.”

Yes, she knew it. But she also knew she'd been afraid of it, and the instant his mouth slid, open and seeking, onto hers, she knew why. In less than a heartbeat she was quivering with excitement, and her safe world, her pa.s.sionless world, was in danger of being set to flames. Not even if she had pushed him away in that instant would she be able to settle for pa.s.sionless again. Which was reason enough, since it was too late, anyway, simply to give in.

On a moan of yearning, her hands rode up his arms to cling to his shoulders, her lips parted to match the shape of his, and her body leaned into his with a lush, giving softness that made him suck in a sharp breath, then swear, then fold her into a kiss that quickly taught her she'd never really been kissed before.

Kisses as she'd known them were perfunctory things, a preliminary that led to something else. Sometimes they were pleasant, sometimes merely okay. But they were rarely genuinely exciting. And they were never anything at all like this.

His mouth took hers in deep, wet, voluptuous strokes that grew more so with each pounding heartbeat. The low, throaty sounds he made told her that he was as staggered and as aroused by the erotic intensity of the kiss as she was. He left no doubt about his arousal when his arm moved low around her hips and he pulled her tight against the front of his jeans. He was hard, rubbing against her, and so close to the aching place between her thighs he was made to fill. Their clothing kept them from consummating the act, but his mouth said open up to me, give yourself to me, come with me. And she felt no other joining could have been more intimate than that hot, l.u.s.ting mating of their lips and teeth and tongues.

Oh, but hadn't she known it would be this way? Yes, just as she'd known she wasn't ready for it. Yet now that she knew what she'd been missing, she didn't want to stop. Not yet.

He clearly wasn't thinking of stopping. With one arm still holding her to him, his other hand began to sweep over her thighs and hips, up over her waist and ribs, then down again. Each pa.s.s he made grew more thorough in its exploration, until finally his fingers slipped under the bottom edge of her oversize s.h.i.+rt to splay against her back. She arched into him, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s crus.h.i.+ng softly against his bare chest. When he slanted his mouth to take even deeper possession of hers, she honestly wondered if she might faint-but she gave him what he wanted because it was what she wanted, too.

His hand roamed over her, fingers trailing down the curve of her spine to dip below the waistband of her jeans. But as his hand rode up again to her shoulders, unhindered, and he finally realized that the only fabric between them was her s.h.i.+rt, he went utterly still. An instant later, with a hoa.r.s.e ”Oh, Katie . . .” he slid his palm around to cover the side of her bare breast.

His action stole her breath away. She knew she should stop him, but her heart raced at the thought of him touching her breast, and she couldn't resist letting him push them a little closer to the limit. He did it in slow degrees, his fingers sinking into the pillowy softness of her, tracing the upper curve, dipping into the warmth and satiny smoothness beneath. Then, s.h.i.+fting his chest away from hers slightly, he took the full weight of her breast into his palm, cradling it, stroking it, groaning at the discovery that the firm mound spilled beyond the boundaries of his large, long-fingered hand.

Lifting his mouth so their lips barely touched, he muttered something that made a rush of liquid heat spill into that empty, aching channel inside her. She knew she had to stop before she couldn't anymore, before he couldn't anymore, before they wound up making love in the middle of the woods with the earth beneath them. But as she tried to draw a gasping breath to speak, his mouth claimed hers again-at the same instant, his fingers captured the swollen tip of her breast.

Shards of electrifying pleasure raced through her, controlled with exquisite finesse by the tugging, rolling movement of his fingertips. Slicing downward from her taut nipple, the current of pleasure centered in the hot, wet, quivering place between her thighs, setting her hips into unconscious motion against the hard bulge of his erection. When he s.h.i.+fted his denim-clad thigh between hers and pressed upward, she tore her mouth away from his and let out a moan.

Her head fell back, her eyes drifting closed to block out the sky above her. His mouth trailed to the base of her throat, and for a moment she was lost, panting and shaking, in a cloud of sensual pleasure. But when the cloud began to split apart and she felt the first tiny tremors of fulfillment ripple through her, her eyes flew open in shocked awareness.

”Sam . . . stop.” Kate's fingers fluttered against his jaw, sifted through his hair as she tried to lift his head. But he didn't seem to have heard her hoa.r.s.e utterance. His mouth slid downward, and she realized with alarm that his goal was her breast. She hadn't even been aware that he'd raised her s.h.i.+rt to bare it.

”Oh, no . . . Wait.” Her hands moved frantically to nudge at his shoulders, and this time he got the message.

It was clear he didn't like it. Pausing, his lips brus.h.i.+ng the upper curve of her breast, his breath caught on a ragged note.

”Sam, please . . . don't,” she breathed, knowing what she was asking of him-what she was asking of herself.

He hesitated an instant longer; then his arms went around her, crus.h.i.+ng her to him, flattening her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s to his bare chest, as his mouth came back to hers for a quick, hard kiss. With his lips still on hers, he spoke in a rasping whisper.

”Katie, honey, what's wrong?”

”Nothing,” she panted. ”Nothing's . . . wrong. It feels wonderful.”

”But . . . ?”

Her breath came out in a quick rush. ”But I'm not ready for this. It's . . . Sam, you're going too fast for me. Please.”

A couple of seconds pa.s.sed without either of them breathing. Then his eyelids lifted halfway, and at a distance of mere inches, he met her hazy brown gaze. When he realized she meant it, he let out a long, resigned sigh, and, catching her lower lip between his for a last sensual tug, he ended the kiss.

Still, when she drew her s.h.i.+rt down to separate their bare skin and started to pull away, he said, ”No,” and levered himself away from the tree trunk to stand. Keeping his arms around her, one hand rose to hold her head against his chest. ”Stay here for a minute,” he urged, his voice raw. ”Just be still and let me hold you.”

She wasn't ready to let go, either. With a small sigh, she rested her head against his scarred chest, listening to the racing of his heart as she tried to will her body to calm down.

Minutes pa.s.sed. Gradually, his heartbeat slowed. Eventually, her body ceased to tremble. One by one, tiny distractions began to seep into Kate's awareness-the wind stirring the withered leaves of the fallen maple, the lyrical call of a thrush some distance off in the woods.

She squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, wis.h.i.+ng the sounds would go away, wis.h.i.+ng she could stay where she was forever. But wis.h.i.+ng wouldn't make it so. In all likelihood, the amount of time she might have with Sam could be counted in days. She shouldn't let herself feel too good, or too cared for, as she stood wrapped in his embrace. Still, when she opened her eyes to face the real world, it was with a pang of regret that she didn't have the kind of nerve it took to live for the moment, for she was very sure she'd just pa.s.sed up the best chance she might ever have to experience the pleasures of being a woman.

The words she spoke were a reflection of her ambivalence. ”I'm sorry.”

There was a split second's hesitation before his gruff reply.

”Sorry? What in G.o.d's name do you have to be sorry for?”

”I'm just not, well, used to . . . to . . .” She closed her eyes, unable to tolerate hearing herself stammer.

Sam finished for her, and to his credit, not a trace of amus.e.m.e.nt was evident in his tone. ”You aren't used to being kissed like that?”

She nodded, her head moving against his chest.

”Katie, are you a virgin?”

Her eyes blinked open. ”What?”

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