First Impressions

beyond the reasonable and into the impossible. One fed the other, driving higher and faster until they found the apex. Together, they clung to it, shuddering.
    How long he lay still, Vance was unsure. Perhaps he even dozed. When his mind began to clear, he found his mouth nuzzled against Shane’s throat, her arms wrapped around him. He was still inside her and could feel the light pulses of lingering passion deep within her. For a moment longer he kept his eyes closed, wondering how it was possible to be both sated and exhilarated. When he started to move, thinking of her comfort, Shane tightened her hold to keep him close.
    “No,” she murmured. “Just a little longer.”
    He laughed as his lips grazed her ear. “Can you breathe?”
    “I’ll breathe later.”
    Content, he snuggled back into the curve of her neck.
    “I like the way you taste. I’ve had a problem with that since the first time I kissed you.”
    “A problem?” she said lazily, running experimental fingers over the muscles of his back. “That doesn’t sound much like a compliment to me.”
    “Would you like one?” He pressed his mouth to her skin. “You’re the most exquisite creature I’ve ever seen.”
    Shane received this news with a snort of laughter. “Your first compliment was a bit more credible.”
    Vance lifted his head and looked down at her. Though her eyes were still sleepy with passion, they were amused. “You really don’t see it, do you?” he said thoughtfully. Did she really have no notion what big velvet eyes and satin skin could do to a man when combined with her kind of vivacity? Didn’t she realize the kind of power there was in striking innocence when it was offset by a sensual mouth and an open, honest sexuality? “You might lose it if you did,” he said half to himself. “What if I said I liked your nose?”
    She eyed him warily for a moment. “If you say I’m cute, I’ll hit you.”
    He chuckled, then kissed both dimpled cheeks. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you like this?”
    “From the first moment in the general store.” She smiled when he lifted his head to stare down at her. “I felt it too. It was as though I’d been expecting you.”
    Vance laid his forehead on hers. “I was furious.”
    “I was stunned. I forgot my coffee.”
    They laughed before their mouths met. “You were terribly rude that day,” she remembered.
    “I meant to be.” He lured her lips back to his. “I wanted to get rid of you.”
    “Did you really think you could?” Chuckling, she nipped at his bottom lip. “Don’t you know a determined woman when you see one?”
    “I
would
have gotten rid of you if I’d been able to close my eyes at night without seeing you.”
    “Did you really? Poor Vance.” She gave him a sympathetic kiss.
    “I’m sure you’re very sorry I lost sleep over you.”
    She made a suspicious sound. Vance lifted his head again to see her bottom lip caught firmly between her teeth. “I would be sorry,” she assured him, “if I didn’t think it was wonderful.”
    “I often wanted to strangle you at three o’clock in the morning.”
    “I’m sure you did,” she returned soberly. “Why don’t you kiss me instead?”
    He did, roughly, as banked passions began to smolder again. “That day when you sat in the mud, laughing like a fool, I wanted you so badly I hurt. Damn you, Shane, I haven’t been able to think straight for weeks.” His mouth crushed down on hers again with a touch of the anger she remembered. She soothed the back of his neck with her fingers.
    When he lifted his head, their eyes met in a long, deep look. Shane lifted her palm to his cheek.
    So much turbulence, she thought. So many secrets.
    So much sweetness, he thought. So much honesty.
    “I love you,” they said together, then stared at each other in amazement. For a moment, they neither moved nor spoke. It seemed even their breathing had halted at the same instant. Then, as one, they reached out, clinging heart to heart, mouth to mouth. What started as a desperate meeting of lips softened, then sweetened, then promised.
    Vance closed his eyes on waves of relief and towering pleasure. When he felt Shane’s shudders, he drew his arms tighter around her. “You’re trembling. Why?”
    “It’s too perfect,” she said in a voice that shook. “It frightens me. If I were to lose you now—”
    “Shh.” He cut her off with a kiss. “It
is
perfect.”
    “Oh, Vance, I love you so much. I’ve been