The Ties That Bind

breath as he led her around the hood of the Porsche. She started breathing again when Garth guided her past his own front door and across the short distance to hers. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. What she actually felt was a little light-headed. They came to a halt on her front step, and Garth fitted her key into the lock. When the door swung open he looked down at her, studying her face in the dim front-door light. His hand lifted to touch her hair, and then he raised his other hand and wrapped his fingers warmly around the nape of her neck, cradling her head as he lowered his mouth to hers.
    Shannon murmured something soft and undefined, but the faint words were sealed behind her lips as she felt once again the heavy, leashed hunger in him. She had not imagined it earlier this evening when he had taken her by surprise in the ice-cream parlor. There was a driving desire burning deep inside this man, and tonight she was the focus of it.
    "Shannon, please invite me in." He spoke against her mouth.
    "For brandy?" Her voice was a tremulous whisper. She was vividly aware of the warmth of his fingers on her skin.
    "No, not for brandy. For bed."
    He found her mouth again with his own and under the persuasive, relentless pressure. Shannon's lips parted. Garth groaned thickly as he deepened the kiss. His hands slid slowly down Shannon's back, urging her more closely against him. Shannon wasn't even aware of the way she had already slipped her arms around his neck. She could feel the warmth and the strength in him and nothing had ever felt so right.
    "Shannon?"
    He wasn't coming inside the cottage without an invitation tonight, she realized. It would be simple enough to refuse him. He wouldn't fight her decision. Perhaps it was symbolic. She had been the one to issue all the invitations so far in this relationship. Perhaps Garth wanted her to issue this one, too. The knowledge should have given her a small sense of feminine power. It might have if Shannon hadn't been so deeply aware of her own desire and need. She tilted her head back against his arm and looked up at him.
    "I wouldn't want you to feel under any sense of, uh, social obligation," she said.
    "Don't tease me, Shannon. Not tonight. Even if I deserve it." His voice was husky. "Just tell me I can come inside and make love to you."
    She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Come inside and make love to me. Garth," she whispered.
    His arms tightened around her, and she felt the relief and masculine anticipation leaping through him. Then Garth was leading her inside the cottage, closing the front door and locking it. She heard him play with the loose lock for a moment.
    "This thing must have been installed forty years ago. You should get something more secure put in."
    Shannon felt a kind of gentle amusement at the thought that he could notice something as mundane as her door lock after having kissed her with such passion. "I'll think about it," she promised softly, instantly forgetting the whole matter as he pulled her closer.
    Garth didn't reach out to turn on the hall light. In the darkness he kissed her again, his mouth heavy and warm and lingering.
    "I've wanted you since that first day but I made such a mess of things that night after your dinner party. I've regretted it ever since."
    She silenced him by standing on her tiptoes and brushing a feather-light kiss against his lips. "It's all right, Garth."
    "I want to explain."
    "Later. You don't have to explain now."
    He shuddered heavily, gathering her into his arms. "I'll make this good, sweetheart. I promise."
    Her mouth curved faintly in a soft smile. "I told you, I don't want you to feel any sense of social obligation."
    "You're a tease," he growled, pushing aside a sweep of dark hair to kiss the delicate place behind her ear. "I wonder why I didn't realize that before."
    "You're still getting to know me."
    "True. But by tomorrow morning, I'll know most of your secrets."
    "Will you?"
    "I'll make it a priority. You're trembling," he observed, running his palms down to her hips and back up to her shoulder. "Are you nervous, honey?"
    "Yes," she said honestly.
    "Don't be," he ordered softly. "This is right. I can feel it."
    "I know." She was as certain of it as he seemed to be.
    Garth brought his mouth back down on hers, lifted her into his arms and started down the short hall. When he came to a halt beside the first door, Shannon shook her head against his shoulder.
    "No," she