From the Heart

“I’ll admit it makes me nervous, but that’s a personal problem. Don’t you think that money tends to isolate the individual from everyday emotions?”
    “All right.” He pulled her against him. “Let’s test your theory.”
    His mouth came to hers. It was not the kiss she had expected from him. It was hungry and possessive and demanded a complete, unquestioned response. For a moment she resisted it. Her mind was set firmly against surrendering. But her body began to heat. She heard herself moan as she drew him closer.
    There was something almost savage in the way his mouth took hers. There was no gentleness, no seduction. He sought her response, thrived on it and demanded more. She gave. Her own needs left her no choice.
    His lips left hers a moment, and she drew back, trying to clear her thoughts. “Oh, no.” He kept her tight against him. “Not yet. I’m not nearly finished yet.”
    He exploited, he ravaged, he possessed. He was pulling something from her that she was not yet ready to give. She wanted to regain herself, break free, but her arms were around him. Her mouth was determined to have more.
    His hand was rough when he took her breast. His fingers were long and lean and made her skin burn at the touch. It was more than pleasure, more than passion. Those she had felt before. Here was something beyond her experience. It frightened her, made her ache, made her answer his demand with more fervor. Then, when she knew the border of sanity would be crossed, he released her.
    She stared up at him. Thoughts and emotions shuddered through her. She could still feel the needs. His flavor still lingered on her lips.
    “This is the first time I’ve seen you at a loss for words,” Jordan murmured. He slipped his hand around the back of her neck. His fingers caressed. Kasey felt a new surge of desire shoot through her.
    “You took me by surprise.” She slid out of his grasp and moved away from him. She was going to have to give this a great deal of thought, but now wasn’t the time. She needed to find her balance again.
    He watched her. It pleased him to note that he had unsettled her. But then, she had unsettled him as well. He hadn’t been prepared for the intensity of the desire he had felt at the first taste of her.
    “I’ll have to make a habit of surprising you.” She turned and faced him.
    “I don’t surprise easily, Jordan. And I don’t plan to have an affair with you.”
    “Good. That should make things more interesting. I plan to have one with you.”
    I miscalculated, she thought to herself. He isn’t as bound by social conventions as I thought. There is a strong ruthlessness under that social veneer. She would have to be more careful. She forced her voice to sound calm as she asked, “Wasn’t I about to show you a picture of a shaman?”
    He took the book from her hand and closed it firmly. “First things first. How would you like to take tomorrow off and go sailing?”
    “Sailing?” Her tone was wary. “Just you and me?”
    “That’s what I had in mind.”
    The offer of freedom after days of being stifled in the house—the chance to be with him away from the work—was tempting. Too tempting. She shook her head. “I don’t think it would be wise.”
    “You don’t strike me as a woman who always does what’s wise.” His hand slipped up over her cheek into her hair.
    “I’m making an exception. I really wish you wouldn’t do that.” She could feel her pulse beginning to hammer.
    He kissed her gently on the temple. “Come with me, Kasey. I need a day away from this room, away from these books.”
    Perhaps just this once, she thought.
     
    The boat was everything she had expected: sleek, luxurious and expensive. It had pleased her to watch Jordan handle the fifteen-foot sailing yacht with an ease that spoke of long experience. She sat at the bow so she could watch the boat slice through the ocean. This is his escape when that world he’s locked himself into becomes too much for him, she mused.
    Kasey watched him at the tiller. He was stripped to the waist. There was power in his arms and in his eyes. What would it be like to make love with him? She curled her legs under her on the padded bench and studied him carefully. Hehad marvelous hands. Even as she sat with the wind whipping around her, she could feel the touch. He would be a demanding lover, she decided, remembering the aggression of his kiss. Exciting. But . . . there’s a but, and I’m not sure yet