Wildest Hearts

to lunch. She asked me to keep quiet about it.”

    “And you did as she asked.”

    “Well, yes. I felt a little sorry for her if you must know the truth. I think you frighten her.”

    “Do I frighten you?”

    “Of course not.”

    “I see.” He continued to brood over the sand. “If I asked you to do something for me, would you agree as readily as you agreed to go along with Sybil's request?”

    “Depends what you ask of me,” Annie whispered.

    She could feel the stalking tension in him now. It pulsed silently across the room, reaching her, sinking into her, wrapping itself around her insides. She realized with a start that she could no more have walked out of the study at that moment than she could have flown.

    “I would like you to promise me that you will never lie to me, Annie. Not even to protect someone else.”

    The odd, melancholy tone in his voice nearly broke Annie's heart. She suddenly understood that Oliver knew only too well that the members of his own family, the family he had struggled so hard to protect, frequently kept things from him out of fear of his reaction. He knew it and hated it. But he was helpless to figure out how to make the people he cared about trust him with their secrets. He had isolated himself emotionally and he had no clue how to break through the self-imposed barriers that kept him from communicating properly with his family.

    “Oh,Oliver .” Annie put down her cup and leaped to her feet.

    She dashed across the room to where he stood with his back turned toward her. Wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, she hugged him with fierce tenderness. It was like hugging a live leopard. He was all sleek sinews and warm muscle. The masculine scent of him inundated her senses.

    “I swear I will never lie to you, Oliver,” she said into his shirt.

    He turned around abruptly, taking her by surprise, and framed her face in his strong, calloused hands. Annie shivered beneath the heat and the sheer intensity in his eyes. She could feel the strength in him, but far from alarming her, it sent a thrill of knee-weakening desire through her.

    “Thank you, Annie,” Oliver said. “In return, I swear I will never lie to you. Do we have a deal?”

    “Yes.” She knew he was going to kiss her. She wanted his kiss more than anything else in the whole world.

    That was when Annie finally admitted to herself that she was in love with Oliver Rain.

    And then she could not think clearly at all because his mouth was on hers, blotting out everything else around her except the knowledge that he wanted her and she wanted him.

8

    Annie knew she was going to let him make love to her the instant he took her into his arms. No, she thought, she had known what would happen even earlier when she carried the tea into his study. She had made her choice.

    It wasn't just because she wanted him in a way she had never wanted any other man. It was because she knew somehow that he needed her as much as she needed him.

    Even as his mouth moved slowly, powerfully on hers, she knew better than to hope he would put his feelings into words. It was too soon for that. Such an admission would be far too threatening to his all-important sense of self-control.

    Annie had a hunch that deep inside Oliver had probably decided that as long as the words were unspoken, they could be safely ignored. If he were ever forced to acknowledge his need aloud, Oliver would have to confront that need. He would probably see it as a weakness.

    It was better this way, Annie told herself as she twined her arms around his neck. For now she would do the surrendering for both of them.

    For her there was no sense of weakness, simply a great joy in being able to bestow the gift of herself on a man who deserved some happiness.

    “Annie?” Oliver kissed the corner of her mouth and then her ear. His hands glided down her spine to her waist.

    Annie shivered. The urgency in him was an enthralling drug that was setting fire to her blood. She stroked her fingertips along his sleek hair and then touched his hard face. “Yes. Oh, yes, please, Oliver.”

    Satisfaction flared in his gaze. Oliver scooped her up in his arms without another word. The strength in him was greater than she had realized. He cradled her effortlessly against his chest as he carried her across the room to the long window seat. Images of Persephone being carried off into the Underworld danced in Annie's head.

    He set her down amid the black and