Raven's Prey

urging she needed to send her over the edge, Honor shuddered in his arms and gave herself up to the finale of their passion.
    “Judd, oh, please, Judd….”
    He could resist no longer. With a half-stifled shout of exultant satisfaction Judd followed her over the brink and into the drifting velvet beyond.
    It was a long time before Honor came back to her senses. She floated blissfully for a while, luxuriating in the warm dampness of the male body against which she was curled. And men slow contentment carved her mouth and filled her sleepy eyes.
    It had all been worth it The risk of building the bridge of understanding on a foundation of passion had worked. She knew it had worked. There was no way a man and a woman could share what she had just shared with Judd and not wake up the next morning with an indestructible tie between them.
    He had been as caught up in the rapture as she had been and he had shown her the tender, responsive side of his nature, the side he kept so well concealed most of the time. Judd Raven could not fool her any longer, she decided in wise, gentle, very feminine amusement. He was a man of passion and sensitivity. He had given all of himself, determined to satisfy her completely.
    She had never felt so close to a man in her life. Who would have guessed that beneath that cold, controlled facade there was such elemental, sensual need? Yes, it had been a risk allowing him to sweep her off to bed like this, a risk she had feared from the beginning. But it had paid off in terms of commitment and understanding.
    For neither of them, she knew, could ever go back to where they had been before. Judd was no longer the hunter from the sky come to carry her off to destruction. He couldn’t be. The two of them had just forged the most fundamental sort of bond. From this moment on Judd would be able to trust her. How could he unite them so completely and not be able to trust completely also?
    For the first time in weeks a sense of welcome relief settled on Honor as she lay beside Judd. She had been facing the crisis so long and had been so alone that it seemed like a miracle to at last have an ally.
    “What are you thinking, honey?” Judd asked softly, stirring slightly beside her.
    “Oh, Judd. I feel as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. You can’t imagine what a relief it is to feel so close to you now. I was so afraid of you.”
    His hand caught her shoulder and squeezed. “I don’t want you [_to _]be afraid of me, sweetheart. Not ever.”
    “No.” Her voice was lazy with contentment. “In the morning we can talk.”
    His grip on her shoulder tightened. “That’s right, honey. We’ll talk in the morning. We’ll get everything straightened out.”
    Her fingers trailed lightly along his chest and she yawned daintily. “That first night…”
    “Hmmm? What about that first night?” His voice sounded somewhat distant, as if he were sorting through his own private thoughts.
    “I’m just wondering what it would have been like if you’d gone ahead and made love to me,” she confessed.
    “I’ve wondered the same thing,” he murmured with a trace of amusement in his voice. “I’ve wondered like hell! But I couldn’t have guessed it would be this good. Nothing’s ever been this good for me, Honor.”
    She tried to resist but couldn’t. The temptation was too much and she was feeling too lighthearted and close to him. “Not even kissing your airplane?”
    That brought her a small, sharp slap on her naked rear end. “One of these days, Honor Knight, you’re going to go too far with that lousy joke.”
    “I can’t wait,”
    “You enjoy baiting me, don’t you?” he asked, not sounding upset by the notion, merely interested.
    “Sometimes. It’s a way of getting a response from you. A human response.”
    “Now you know there’s another way, don’t you?”
    She could sense that he was smiling and lifted her head to check. She saw him smile so rarely. He was. Not a huge, laughing, masculine grin, just a small, upward tilt to his hard mouth, but it was there and it was real. And it was also in his eyes. That fact pleased her most of all.
    “Yes,” she agreed with rash pleasure. “Now I know there’s another way.”
    “Good. Go to sleep, honey. We’ll talk in the morning.” Trustingly she obeyed, curving her body close to his and relaxing into the promised security of his arms. In the morning everything would be all right.
    “There’s not much room on