Grand Passion

feminine power and at the same time made her feel infinitely generous.
    “I'm on my knees,” Max assured her softly.
    She met his gaze in the mirror and knew that the power she was feeling was inextricably linked to the power in him. It could not be savored to the fullest unless it was in the presence of an equal and opposite force.
    Max radiated his own power, and she was as bound by it as he was by the power in her.
    “So am I,” she whispered.
    Max's mouth curved in a smile that made Cleo's knees weak. “That should make it even more interesting.”
    It also created a bond between herself and Max that was unlike anything she had ever known. She wondered if Max felt the strength of the connection.
    Cleo raised her hands and removed her shirt with a gentle shrug. It pooled on the floor at her feet. She saw the rosy crests of her own breasts in the mirror and felt the heat of Max's gaze.
    “Imagine that I'm touching you,” Max said.
    Cleo met his eyes in the glass. “But you aren't touching me.”
    “Look into the mirror and pretend that I'm standing right behind you. My hands are on your breasts. I can feel your nipples beneath my palms. They're small and firm, like raspberries.”
    “Raspberries?”
    “Raspberries and cream. Very sweet,” Max said. “Very fresh. I want to taste them. Can you feel my tongue on you?”
    A wave of heat flowed through Cleo. Her nipples became hard and full. She closed her eyes, but the sensation only intensified. “Yes. I can feel your mouth on me.”
    “What does it feel like?”
    Cleo concentrated. “Hot. Wet. Powerful.”
    “You make me powerful, Cleopatra. Where do you want me to touch you next?”
    “Lower.” Cleo opened her eyes again and stared at her slightly unfocused image. “I want your hands to go lower.”
    “There, between your legs?”
    “Yes.” She shuddered as she felt the coiling, tensing sensation radiating up through her.
    “You feel so good, Cleo. Soft and warm.” Max paused, as if he were actually exploring her with his fingers. “You're getting wet for me, aren't you?”
    “Yes.” Cleo felt the dampness between her thighs. She looked into the mirror with a knowing expression. “You're getting hard for me, aren't you?”
    “I'm going out of my mind,” Max said. “Put your hands on top of my fingers.”
    “Where are your fingers now?”
    “Wherever you want them to be.”
    “Here,” Cleo whispered. She brushed her fingers lightly over her silken panties. Then she drew them up across her belly. Slowly and deliberately she cupped her breasts and offered them to the man in the mirror.
    “I think I've had about all the fantasy I can handle tonight,” Max muttered. “I don't know about you, but I need the real thing very badly.”
    “So do I.” Shivering with her need and excitement, Cleo turned away from the mirror and walked over to the bed. “There's something that I've been meaning to tell you, Max.”
    He looked up at her with eyes that were dark with soul-shattering desire. “What's that?”
    “I love you.”
    Without a word, Max reached up and pulled her down on top of him. He captured her head in his hands and crushed her mouth against his own.

    Cleo awoke hours later, aware that she was alone in the bed. She turned her head on the pillow and saw Max across the room. He loomed near the window, a ghostly shadow silhouetted against the blackness of the night. She knew from the angle of his body that he had both hands folded on top of the hawk on his cane.
    “Max?”
    “It's all right, Cleo. I'm just doing some thinking. Go back to sleep.”
    “I can't sleep with you prowling around the room,” she grumbled. “Is something wrong?”
    Max was silent for a moment. “I don't know.”
    She had never heard that tone in his voice. Cleo sat up quickly. “What is it, Max?”
    “Remember the feeling you said you had that day when someone stalked you in the fog?”
    “I remember it,” she said. “I believe it's called a sense of impending disaster.”
    “It's also called having the sensation that someone just walked across your grave.”
    “My God, Max.” Cleo was unnerved. “Is that how you feel right now?”
    “Yes.”
    She wondered gloomily if her declaration of love earlier had caused this disturbing air of unease around him. He had never responded to her confession, although he had made love to her with an intensity that had shocked her senses.
    It had been a risk. She had realized that at the time. Max was