From the Heart

theory?”
    “Exactly.” She ran her hand through his hair. “Would you mind?”
    “In the interest of academia, I might be persuaded.” He swept her into his arms. “Didn’t it start something like this?” He slipped the key into the lock and carried her inside.

9
    S he was still asleep when he woke. Jordan immediately felt her warmth and the light tickle of her hair on his shoulder. The room was still dim, with the heavy curtains drawn over the windows, but a glance at his watch told him it was morning. He had a meeting scheduled in just over an hour. With a sigh, he looked down at Kasey.
    He’d never known anyone who slept so deeply. He brushed the hair away from her forehead. She didn’t even stir.
    He thought of how she had been the night before—the sleepy sexuality, the husky laugh, the heavy eyes. If he had been a fanciful man, he would have thought her a witch. There was something other-worldly about her. Every time he thought he had power over her, he found himself caught in hers.
    But now, as she slept, she might be any woman. Now she was just a woman sleeping off a night of champagne and loving. So how was it, he wondered, that she still pulled at him? As she slept, she couldn’t dispense her cockeyed charm or send out those looks that both invited and challenged him. And yet he was drawn to her, even as she lay there. He lowered his mouth to hers.
    Jordan kept his lips gentle, and Kasey didn’t stir. He had wanted this—to wake beside her. To wake her. Her lips were so soft, he felt he could sink into them. He murmured her name and kissed her again. Her face was pale withoutmakeup, and there was a light sprinkling of freckles over her nose. He kissed her cheek, and his hand sought her breast. She didn’t wake, didn’t stir, but sighed in sleep as though she dreamed of him. He found the pulse in her throat with his lips and felt it beat slowly. His own was already beginning to race.
    He stroked gently, feeling his passion build. Knowing the thrill of possession, he ran his hand down the length of her. The skin on the inside of her thighs was water-soft. He moaned, shattered by his need for her.
    He took his mouth to her ear, to her temple, then back to hers to part her lips urgently. Her response was slow as he pulled her from the dream, then her lips moved under his with a quiet moan. Her heart was suddenly pounding under his hand. He entered her before she was fully awake, spinning her into passion as delirious as his own.
    She was curled against him again, her arms tight, her head resting in its favored spot in the curve of his shoulder. She sighed and kissed where her lips could reach easily. “Good morning,” she murmured.
    She brought out something primitive in him which he wasn’t certain he was comfortable with. He’d never experienced the degree of passion she could draw from him. The laughter in her voice was irresistible. “Good morning. How do you feel?”
    “ Mmm, wonderful.” She snuggled closer. “And you?”
    “Fine, but I wasn’t teetering on my feet last night.” He shifted away just far enough to look at her. Her eyes were clear. The dimple at the corner of her mouth appeared as her lips curved. “No hangover? You’re entitled to one.”
    “I never have hangovers.” Kasey kissed him lightly. “I refuse to believe in them.” She rolled over until she was leaning on his chest looking down at him. “Do you realize how much trouble could be avoided if we simply didn’t believe it?”
    “An interesting theory.”
    “I have dozens of them.”
    “I’ve noticed.” He smiled and ran a finger down her cheek. “Your theory last night was particularly interesting.”
    Kasey laughed and dropped her forehead onto his chest. “It worked.”
    “Beautifully.”
    “Shall we tell Serena?” She lifted her head again, and her eyes were bright with humor.
    “I think not.”
    She kissed him again, lingering. “Do you remember I once told you that you had a terrific body?”
    “Yes. I recall being surprised at the time. But I didn’t know you as well then.”
    She sighed as she felt his hands lower to her hips. “I still think so.” Kasey rested her cheek on his chest. There was a contentment in her she had never felt before. “You have meetings today, don’t you?”
    “Yes. I’ve one in . . .” He lifted his arm to glance at his watch. “ . . . in about half an hour. I’m going to be late.”
    “If we were in Fiji,” she murmured, “we could