Brazen Virtue

house should be. When it was done, I was going to find the right woman. I didn’t know what she’d look like, but that wasn’t so important. She’d be sweet and patient and want me to take care of her. She’d never have to work the way my mother did. She’d stay home and take care of the house, the garden, the kids. She’d like to cook, and iron my shirts.”
    Grace wrinkled her nose. “She’d have to like doing that?”
    “She’d love doing that.”
    “Sounds like you’d have to find some nice Nebraskan farm girl who’d been out of touch the last ten years.”
    “This is my fantasy, remember?”
    Her lips curved again. “Sorry. Go on.”

    “Every night when I got home, she’d be waiting. We’d sit down, put our feet up, and talk. Not about my work. I wouldn’t want that to touch her. She’d be too fragile. When it was time for me to retire, we’d just putter around the house together.” He stroked a hand down her hair, then cupped it under her chin. As the seconds passed he simply studied her, the strong bones, the big eyes and flyaway hair. “You’re not that woman, Grace.”
    She felt one very strong, very sharp moment of regret. “No, I’m not.”
    “But you’re the only one I want.” He touched his lips to hers in the soft, gentle way that made her pulse flutter. “You see, you screwed up my plans. I’ve got to thank you.”
    She wrapped her arms around him and settled in.
    G RACE AWOKE IN ED’S arms at dawn. The sheets were up to her nose and her head was nestled against his chest. The first thing she heard was the slow, steady beat of his heart. It made her smile. Soft and hazy, the light trickled in the windows, sweetened by the first birdcalls of morning. Her legs were tangled with his so that the warmth and security reached all the way to her toes.
    Turning her head, she pressed a kiss to his chest. She wondered if there were a woman in the world who wouldn’t want to wake this way, content and secure in her lover’s arms.
    He stirred and drew her a bit closer. His body was so hard, the power so controlled. Where her flesh rested against his it was hot and damp and sensitized. Before the last mists of sleep had cleared, she was aroused.
    On a sigh, she ran her hands over him, exploring, testing, enjoying. Still lazy, she let her lips skim over his flesh. When she felt his heartbeat accelerate, she murmured in satisfaction. With a half smile, she turned her head to look at him.
    His eyes were intense, dark, then everything blurred when he pulled her up to cover her mouth with his. No gentleness this time; only demand and desperation. The strength was as raw as the need. Grace was swept away on a wave of panicky excitement.

    The control he had always relied upon was gone. He was a man who moved carefully, all too aware of his own size and strength. But not now. They rolled over the bed as if chained together and he took exactly what he wanted.
    She was trembling, but not weak. With each second that passed, her passion grew, so that she met demand with demand. He’d shown her tenderness and a deep-seated respect she could only marvel at. Now he showed her the dark and dangerous side of his love.
    With his arms braced on either side of her head, he drove himself into her. Her fingers, slick with sweat, slipped down him, then found purchase and dug in. In the end they found more than release. They found deliverance.
    She was still gasping when he lowered himself to her. His head nestled between her breasts, her hands tangled in his hair. “I think I found the substitute for coffee,” she managed to say, then began to laugh.
    “Nothing funny about caffeine,” he muttered. “It’ll kill you.”
    “No, I was just thinking if this keeps up I could write my own training manual.” Stretching her arms over her head, she yawned. “I wonder if my agent could market it.”
    He lifted his head so that the tip of his beard tickled her skin. “Stick to mysteries.” He started to say something else, when the radio beside the bed went on with a blast of rock. “Christ, how can you wake up to that?”
    “No one gets the blood moving like Tina Turner.”
    Ed picked her up, turned her around, and laid her against the pillows. “Why don’t you get some more sleep? I’ve got to get ready for work.”
    She kept her arms around his neck. He was so cute when he tried to pamper. “I’d rather take a shower with you.”
    Ed switched Tina off in midhowl, then carried Grace into the