From the Heart

long ago.”
    With a smile, Kasey touched his cheek. “You’re a nice man, Jordan. I wasn’t certain.” She yawned and rested against his shoulder again. “You can put me down anytime.” With barely any effort at all, she could have been fast asleep again.
    “Kasey.” He noticed the pillow and blankets on the lounge chair. “Why don’t you sleep in the bed?”
    “Claustrophobia,” she told him drowsily. “Between the canopy and those bed curtains, I feel like I’m in a coffin. I’m going to be cremated.”
    “It’s a simple matter to change your room.” She snuggled against him and sent a shaft of desire through him.
    “No, it doesn’t matter. The lounge is fine, and the staff already think I’m eccentric.”
    “I can’t imagine why.” Jordan put her down on the lounge and sat beside her. “You always smell of violets,” he murmured. His mouth sought hers and found it soft and warm and giving. He knew the exact moment when sleep cleared from her brain.
    “Jordan.” Kasey was wide awake and throbbing. “You have me at a disadvantage.” She put her hands to his chest and held them firm.
    “Yes, I know. I wondered if I ever would.” He took one of her hands and pressed his lips to the palm. “I intend to take advantage of it, Kasey.” He trailed a finger over her shoulder, down her breast. He could feel the nipple strain against the thin material. “Tonight,” he murmured. “Now.”
    “Jordan.” The needs were churning, demanding satisfaction. “I told you before, there’s a matter of choice.”
    “You also told me, only a few hours ago, that you loved me.” He lowered his mouth to hers again. Good God, he wanted her. No woman had ever made him ache like this. Thedesire was in his blood, in his bones. She might have a choice, but she left him none.
    “I told you I loved you.” Kasey called out the last ounce of strength. “I didn’t tell you I would make love with you. You’ve got to leave me something, Jordan.”
    She couldn’t allow it to happen. She knew that once she shared herself with him, once she gave, she would tie herself to him completely. It wasn’t a simple matter of wanting to be touched or feel pleasure, it was a matter of needing to belong.
    Jordan studied her in silence, still holding her hand in his. She was defenseless again, as she had been when sleeping with the child. He wouldn’t hurt her; he swore to himself that he wouldn’t hurt her. But he couldn’t leave her. When he released her hand and rose to go to the door that adjoined Alison’s room, Kasey let out a quiet sigh. But he closed it and turned back to her. She sprang up, prepared to send him away.
    “Kasey.” He crossed to her but kept his hands by his sides. “Let me love you tonight. I need you. It’s the first time in my life I’ve needed someone else.”
    There was no sending him away. She might have resisted a seduction. She would have refused a demand. She was powerless against a need. Kasey drew him into her arms.
    His mouth was instantly desperate, crushing down on hers until they were both reeling. He held her close—tightly, as though he feared she would spring away from him. But what she had offered she would never take back. He tugged the nightgown from her shoulders, anxious to feel her skin. He thought again how thin she was, how he had to take care lest he snap her in two. But his hands refused to be gentle.
    Kasey felt no pain, only rocketing pleasure. She could sense the urgency bursting from him. She wanted him to need her. For now, it was enough. She pulled him toward the bed.
    And he was on top of her. She wanted his weight; she was impatient with the clothes that separated them. Her mouth hungered. She poured herself into him through the kiss. It grew long, deep, totally involved until his hands stopped searching for her. It calmed them both.
    Slowly, with care, he began to undress her. There was no longer a pressing drive for quick release. He wanted to savor her. He took his lips to her throat, and her sigh of pleasurerippled through him. Still seeking but no longer desperate, he moved to her breast. Kasey pushed at his robe until she could feel his skin under her hands. She found the strength she wanted.
    She let him take her deeper, slowly, with not so much tenderness as thoroughness; neither of them looked for tenderness now. That was for later, perhaps, when the heat was less intense and the strength was sapped. He nibbled at her breast, experimenting