Gift of Gold

in command in that corridor. I knew I didn’t have to worry about fighting off any garbage from the past. I was stronger than anything the residue off that pistol could throw at me. Dammit to hell, what a feeling of freedom. After all these years, I finally feel free, and I owe it all to you, lady.”
    “If you want to pay your debt, take me to bed,” she said fiercely.
    Jonas was so startled that for an instant he could only stare down at her in amazement. “What?” he finally got out.
    Her eyes were deep, mysterious pools in the shadows as she looked up at him. “Take me to bed. Now. Right this minute.”
    “Wouldn’t you rather talk some more? You had a hell of an experience tonight. Maybe you’d rather we discussed it. I can answer some of your questions. Not all of them, but a few. You must have thousands, considering what you’ve been through.”
    “You’re not listening to me. The questions can wait. I want to make love first. Right away.”
    “Uh, sure. You bet. My pleasure. I’ve been thinking along those lines myself. I mean, I’ve been wondering if you would be willing, but I thought I ought to give you a little time to…” He broke off, certain he had turned into a gibbering idiot. “Lady, sometimes you really take me by surprise.”
    She put her arms around his neck and pressed close. He could feel the firm roundness of her small breasts against him as she rose onto her toes and forcefully pulled his head down to hers. He could feel her nipples hardening beneath the pullover she wore.
    “When did you stop wearing a bra?” he demanded.
    “Never mind that. Kiss me,” she urged passionately.
    Jonas caught his breath, aware of the hot rush of blood in his veins. “Your wish is my command,” he tried to say with a small, mockingly gallant smile, but he never finished the sentence.
    Verity was assaulting his mouth while she pressed her body against him. Her lips were hot and demanding on his. When she thrust her small tongue between his teeth, Jonas’s already aroused body kicked into high gear. He was suddenly throbbing with desire, as frantic for Verity as she was for him. The knowledge that she wanted him with such demanding urgency had much the same effect as pouring gasoline on open flames. Jonas nearly exploded.
    But Verity seemed to be a couple of steps ahead of him. She was already in flames. Jonas was dazed by the hunger in her. She was all over him, peeling open his jacket and yanking at the buttons of his shirt, entwining her leg around his and arching her lower body into his thighs. Jonas groaned as the blaze of his passion mingled with hers. When her small, eager hand slipped down to his waist and stopped to unfasten his jeans, he came back to his senses long enough to free his mouth.
    “It’s cold out here. Let’s get to your cabin,” he ordered tersely.
    She blinked as if trying to clear her head for an instant and then she gave up the effort. “No,” she said, her fingers back at work on his jeans. “Here. Right now. Right here. I can’t wait. I want you, Jonas. I want you so much. I’ve got to have you. You must make love to me.”
    “Believe me, I will. As soon as we get inside where it’s warm.” He groaned, fighting for enough self-control to get both of them off the path and into the privacy of the cabin. When she refused to cooperate, he lost what was left of his patience. He captured her wrists and held them behind her back.
    She twisted, trying to free herself so that she could get at him again. “Let me touch you,” she begged. “Please let me touch you. I want to feel you. I want to hold you in my hands and watch you get big and hard and heavy and then I want to take you inside me. Deep inside me. I want to feel every inch of you. I want to drain you. Please, Jonas.”
    “Woman, you’re going to make me come right here in the middle of the path if you keep on talking like that.
Let
’
s go.
” He scooped her up into his arms and almost ran to the cabin. He was on fire and so was she. The heat in her was beating at him. The night was clear and cold but Jonas felt as if he were holding a small furnace in his arms.
    Verity gave up struggling and concentrated on clinging to him as he carried her. Her fingertips were tiny daggers sliding under the collar of his jacket and sinking into his shoulders. Her mouth was glued to his.
    “The door,” Jonas rasped when they reached it. “Open it, Verity.”
    With a soft, impatient moan, she did as he