From the Heart

emotions. They simply give. There’s a purity to it we lose when we grow up. Alison’s waiting to love someone again.”
    He looked down at the hand that lay on his. Thoughtfully, he turned it over and studied her palm. “Do you put conditions on your emotions?”
    Kasey’s gaze remained level. “Once I give them, no.”
    He studied her a moment with a small frown of concentration in his eyes. “You really care about Alison, don’t you?”
    “Yes, of course I do.”
    “Why?”
    Kasey stared at him in honest confusion. “Why?” she repeated. “She’s a child, a human being. How could I not care?”
    “She’s my brother’s child,” he returned quietly. “And it would seem I haven’t cared nearly enough.”
    Touched, she lifted her hands to his shoulders. “No. Not understanding and not caring are totally different.”
    The simple gesture moved him. “Do you always forgive so easily?”
    Something in his eyes had warnings hammering in her brain. He was coming too close to the core of her again. Once he was there, Kasey knew she’d never be free of him. “Don’t canonize me, Jordan,” she said glibly. It was her most successful defense. “I’d make a dreadful saint.”
    “You’re not comfortable with compliments, are you?” She started to drop her hands, but he placed his on top of them to keep them on his shoulders.
    “I love them,” she countered. “Tell me I’m brilliant, and I turn to putty.”
    “Oh, compliments on your intelligence. You’re used to them, I imagine.” He smiled. “On the other hand, if I were to tell you that you were a very warm, very generous person whom I find difficult to resist, you’d reject that.”
    “Don’t do this, Jordan.” He was too close, and the door shut them off from the rest of the house. “I’m vulnerable.”
    “Yes.” He gave her an odd look. “That, too, is a surprise.”
    He lowered his mouth to taste her. At the first touch, he felther fingers tighten on his shoulders. Then she relaxed and gave. For the second time that day, Kasey fell in love. She felt the loss of her heart as a physical sensation, painful this time. He’ll hurt you, her mind warned, but it was already too late.
    “You smell of soap,” he murmured as his mouth roamed over her face. “And there are a dozen freckles on your nose. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted another woman.” His voice grew husky. “Damn you, I can’t understand it.”
    When his mouth came back to hers, Kasey could taste the flavor of anger. His tongue probed deep as he pulled her closer. For the first time in her life, Kasey gave all—body, heart, mind.
    When his hands reached for her, she offered no resistance but let them roam. Reason, she knew, would return all too swiftly. She pulled him closer, wanting to fill herself with the taste of him. Her fingers combed through his hair, then wandered down to the muscles of his shoulders and back. She wanted his strength—a strength to match her own.
    He slipped both hands under her shirt to cup her breasts. Her skin was impossibly soft—as soft and warm as the inside of her mouth. He heard her moan as his thumbs brushed over her nipples. It was madness, he knew, but he wanted nothing else but to have her. Desire was pushing him as it never had before. There was a temptation to pull her to the floor and take her, quickly, fiercely, and be done with it. Would sanity return then? Would his life become his own again?
    He pulled her away abruptly and stared down at her. Her breathing was quick, and the vulnerability she had claimed was all too apparent in her eyes.
    “I need you,” he said tersely. “And I don’t like it.”
    “No.” She nodded, understanding the feeling all too well. “Neither do I.”
    “And if I come to your room tonight?”
    “Don’t.” Kasey pushed her hair back from her face with both hands. She had to think, yet thinking was impossible when she could only feel. “We’re not ready, either of us.”
    “I’m not sure we have a choice anymore.”
    “Maybe not.” She took a deep breath and felt her balance begin to return. “But for a while, why don’t we stay out of bathrooms together?”
    He laughed and caught her face in his hand. He had never known anyone else who could so easily make him laugh. “Do you really think that’s going to help?”
    Kasey shook her head. “No, I’m afraid it isn’t, but it’s the best I can do at the moment.”

4
    A lison sat on the pink satin spread and watched