Death is Forever

rather a lot of you,” she said, watching him through thick, lowered lashes.
    “You noticed,” he said dryly.
    When Erin realized where she was looking, she blushed to the roots of her hair. “You’re making this hard for me.”
    “No. That’s what you’re doing to me. Again.”
    “I noticed,” she muttered.
    He laughed, surprised as always by her combination of wariness and humor. The laugh ended as his breath came in with a soft, ripping sound. Erin’s hand was on his leg, her fingertips light against his skin as she traced the edge of the bandage.
    “That’s dangerous territory, honey.”
    “It’s all I can reach from here.”
    “If I get any closer, I’ll be in bed with you. Is that what you want?”
    “I…” Her voice died. She swallowed and tried again. “I don’t know. All I know is I like touching you. I like looking at you. I like it when you hold me. I like it when you kiss me. I like the taste of your skin. I like the feel of your hands on me.” She looked at him in unconscious appeal. “I want you more than I ever thought I’d want any man. Is that enough?”
    “It’s a hell of a start,” he said in a low voice. “Move over, honey. Let’s find out what else you like.”
    Wondering if she’d made the right choice, she moved over. She felt the mattress give deeply as his weight settled on it. Torn between fear and desire, she closed her eyes and waited for him to pull her into his arms.
    When he didn’t, she opened her eyes. He was unbuttoning his shirt and watching her with an intensity that made her breath shorten.
    “Cole?”
    “Whatever you want,” he said simply, throwing the shirt aside. “But you have to tell me, Erin. I won’t take a chance on guessing wrong and frightening you.”
    She gave an odd laugh. “Some of the things I want with you already frighten me.”
    He smiled slowly. “Sounds interesting. Should we begin with them or save them for last?”
    “I think…a kiss.”
    As she spoke, she looked at his mouth with an unconscious hunger that made Cole as hot as a physical caress. Desire wedged in his throat, in his gut, ripping at him. With a silent curse, he hoped that his self-control was as good as he’d always thought it was.
    Deliberately he lay on his back, laced his fingers together, and put his hands behind his head. “Then why don’t you come here and kiss me?” he said.
    Surprised, she hesitated. Even after Cole’s statement about not frightening her, somehow she’d expected him to quickly take the lead. That he hadn’t both reassured and tantalized her, for as he lay on his back there was no doubt of his own arousal.
    Slowly she turned onto her side and bent down to Cole’s mouth. The kiss was gentle, almost chaste, until she ran the tip of her tongue along his lips. The taste of him was even better than she remembered, hotter. The feel of his tongue caressing her own made streamers of sensation uncurl in the pit of her stomach.
    She didn’t know how long she kissed him before both of them were breathing quickly and she was making small sounds at the back of her throat with each deep, slow stroke of his tongue. At every breath, every heartbeat, she joined her mouth more deeply with his, lured by the hot pleasures of his kiss. Slowly her hands began to explore his arms, from his strong wrists to the hard swell of biceps and shoulders to the surprising, exquisite softness of the hair beneath his arms.
    For long moments she savored that unexpected silkiness. Then her fingers moved on, exploring. She threaded through the intriguing fur on his chest, stroking and kneading the flesh beneath, silently telling him just how much she enjoyed his masculine textures and strength, and drawing a nearly soundless groan of pleasure from him when her fingers skimmed the flat disks of his nipples.
    “Did you like that?” she asked, touching his nipples again, feeling them change as they drew into tight beads.
    “I’m not sure,” he said in a low voice. “Why don’t you try it five or ten more times?”
    For an instant Erin didn’t understand. Then she did, and laughed. “You’re teasing me.”
    “I would have sworn it was the other way around,” he said. “But I’ll forgive you if—”
    Cole’s voice broke as her hands skimmed down to the elastic band of his underwear. And stopped. When she reversed direction and went stroking back up his chest, he had to bite back words of disappointment. Slowly she bent and tasted first his neck,