From the Heart

her mind so effortlessly, plunge her back into a world that was all keen emotion and sharp sensation.
    Everything would magnetize, from the bare brush of a fingertip to the bruising pressure of lips. Jessica thought she could feel the individual threads of the sheet against the naked flesh of her back. The whispering tick of the clock was like thunder. Pale sunlight danced, gray and ghostly. She could see it fall over his hair, accenting its dark confusion as she dove her hands into it.
    In her ear he whispered something poetic and foolish about the texture of her skin. Though the tone was almost reverent, his hands were aggressive—arousing and drugging in turns. Murmuring, she told him what she wanted. Shifting, she offered what he needed.
    When he took her, Slade took her slowly, watching the flickers of pleasure and passion on her face in the thin morning light. Savoring the sensations that rippled through him as she moved, he nibbled on her parted lips. He tasted her, and himself, before he roamed over her closed lids.Fragile, he thought, her skin was so fragile. Yet all the while her hips urged him to take, to take quickly. With iron control he kept the rhythm easy, prolonging the ultimate delight.
    “Jess.” He could hardly form her name between labored breaths. “Open your eyes, Jess. I want to see your eyes.” The lids fluttered, as if weighed down by the pale gold lashes. “Open your eyes, love, and look at me.”
    He wasn’t a man for endearments. Even through the haze of needs and sensations, Jessica recognized it. A new warmth filled her—pure emotion—to double the physical ecstasy. She opened them.
    The irises were opaque, rich amber filmed over with passion. As he moved inside her, the lashes flickered, threatening to lower again. “No, look at me.” His voice had dropped to a rough whisper. Their lips were close so that their breath merged, shudder for shudder. Jessica saw that his eyes were dark, dark gray and intense, as if he would look into her mind and read whatever frantic thoughts raced inside. “Tell me that you need me,” he demanded. “I have to hear you say it, just once.”
    Jessica struggled to form words as she climbed higher toward delirium. “I need you, Slade . . . you’re the only one.”
    His lips crushed down on hers to muffle her cry as he drove her swiftly to the peak. His last rational thought was almost a prayer—that the words he had demanded would be enough for him.
    Strange that his body felt more rested, more relaxed now than it had upon waking. Slade slid down to press a kiss at the hollow between her breasts before he shifted from her. “Now, get some more sleep,” he ordered, but before he could rise, Jessica had her arms locked around his neck.
    “I’ve never been more awake in my life. What’re you going to do with me today, Slade? Make me fill out more of those silly cards?”
    “Those silly cards,” he said as he slipped a hand under her knees, “are a necessary part of any organized library.”
    “They’re boring,” she said defiantly when he lifted her.
    “Spoiled,” he decided, carrying her into the bathroom.
    “I certainly am not.” The line appeared between her brows as he switched on the shower.
    “You certainly are,” he corrected genially. “But that’s all right, I kind of like you that way.”
    “Oh well, thanks a lot.”
    He grinned, kissed her, then set her down in the shower stall. Jessica let out one long surprised scream. “Slade! It’s freezing!”
    “Best way to get the blood moving in the morning.” He stepped in with her, partially blocking the spray. “Well, second best,” he amended, then cut off a stream of abuse with his lips.
    “Turn on the hot water,” she demanded when he let her breathe again. “I’m turning blue.”
    He picked up her arm, giving it a light pinch. “No, not yet,” he disagreed. “Want the soap?”
    “I’ll go take my own shower, thanks.” Huffily, she tried to climb out only to find herself tangled with him under the icy spray. “Let go! This is police brutality.” She lifted her face to glare at him and got struck fully with the cold needle spray. “Slade!” Sputtering, she blinked her eyes to clear them. Her body was pressed against his, frigid and tingling. “You’re going to pay for this, I swear you are.”
    Blinded by the water and her own streaming hair, she struggled to free herself. With one arm keeping her prisoner, Slade took his free hand over her,