Sanctuary

the sharp intensity of them, the pure gray edging toward black.
    Helpless, she matched his pace, her breath hitching and tearing when he quickened the tempo. Her hips pumping when he began to thrust inside her, hard and fast.
    When his mouth came down on hers, she could do nothing but surrender to it. When her body spun finally and completely out of control, she could do nothing but let herself go.
    And he could do nothing but let himself follow.
     
     
    SHE didn’t know if she’d slept. She almost wondered if she’d simply slid into a coma. But it was full dark when she opened her eyes. That, Jo thought hazily, or she’d been struck blind.
    He lay over her, his head resting between her breasts. She could feel the rapid beat of his heart, hear the quiet sigh of the wind fluttering through the window screens.
    He felt her shift, just slightly. “I’ll stop crushing you in just a second.”
    “It’s all right. I can almost breathe.”
    His lips curved as he brushed them over the side of her breast, but he rolled over. Before she could move, he’d wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. “Flan, my ass.”
    She opened her mouth, certain that some pithy comment would come. But there was only laughter. “Maybe I’ve just been off desserts for a while.”
    “Then you’ll just have to have seconds.”
    She snuggled up against him without thinking. “If we try for seconds, we’ll kill each other.”
    “No, we won’t. We’ll get to those steaks first, and I’ll get you a little drunk. Which was my original plan, by the way. Then we’ll have seconds.”
    “You planned to get me drunk?”
    “That was one of my ideas. Then there was the one about climbing up the trellis to your balcony. Sort of the swashbuckle scenario.”
    “You’d have broken your neck.”
    “Nah, Brian and I used to monkey up and down that thing all the time.”
    “Sure, when you were ten.” She rose onto her elbow, shook her hair back. “You’re about a hundred pounds heavier now, and I doubt you’re as agile.”
    “This is no time to call my agility into question.”
    She smiled, lowered her brow to his. “You’re absolutely right. Maybe you’ll surprise me one night.”
    “Maybe I will. But now ...” He gave her hair a tug before he sat up. “I’m going to cook you dinner.”
    “Nathan.” She smoothed a hand over the wrinkled spread while he searched for his jeans. “Why are you going to so much trouble for me?”
    He didn’t speak for a moment. He couldn’t be sure of his moves, or his words. After tugging on his jeans he studied her silhouette in the dark. “It only took seeing you again, Jo Ellen. That’s all it took. It knocked the wind out of me, and I still don’t have my breath back.”
    “I’m a mess, Nathan.” She swallowed hard and was grateful for the dark so he couldn’t see her face. The longing that had geysered inside of her had to show. “I don’t know what I think or feel about anything. Anyone. You’d be better off shaking loose.”
    “I’ve taken the easy way a few times. It usually ends up being dull. So far you’ve been anything but dull.”
    “Nathan—”
    “You’re really wasting your time arguing with me while you’re sitting naked on my bed.”
    She dragged a hand through her hair. “Good point. We’ll argue later.”
    “Fine. I’ll just go dump more charcoal on the grill.” And since he planned to have her naked and on his bed again before the evening was over, he didn’t think they’d have much time to argue.

TWENTY-ONE
    “ S TAY.” Nathan wrapped his arms around Jo’s waist, nuzzled the back of her neck. Her hair was still damp from the shower they’d shared. Smelling his soap on her skin aroused him yet again. “I’ll fix you breakfast in the morning.”
    She hooked her arm around his neck. It amazed her how easy it was to be this close. “You don’t have anything to fix.”
    “Bread. I have bread.” He spun her around so he could feast on that wonderful curve of neck and shoulder. “I’m terrific at toast. I’m famous for my toast.”
    “As incredibly appetizing as that sounds ... Nathan.” With a sound caught between a laugh and a moan, she tried to wiggle away from his roving hands. “We really will kill each other, and I have to get back.”
    “It’s barely midnight.”
    “It’s after one.”
    “Well, then, it’s practically morning, you might as well stay.”
    She wanted to. As his mouth found hers, persuasively, she