Wildest Hearts

go about complaining about his incredible lovemaking. How did a woman tell a man he was too good in bed, she wondered wryly. “Nothing. I was just thinking about us.”

    “I'm glad to hear it. That's exactly what you should be thinking about tonight.”

    Annie heard him get out of bed. He crossed the gray carpet without making a sound. The next thing she knew his hands were on her shoulders. He pulled her gently back against his hard, solid body and wrapped his arms around her, pillowing her breasts on his forearms. She felt his warm breath in her ear.

    “I will never forget tonight as long as I live,” Oliver said as he kissed the curve of her shoulder.

    “I won't either.” She melted instantly beneath the warm sensuality of his words. The scent of him reassured her on some primitive level. So did the strength in his arms. Some of her uneasiness faded.

    She leaned back and slowly relaxed into his warmth. She told herself she was getting upset over nothing. So Oliver had as much control over his sexual passions as he did over everything else in his life. Why should that bother her? What else had she expected?

    “You're cold.” Oliver dropped another small, tantalizing kiss on the nape of her neck.

    “Not really.” Not now that he was holding her like this, warming her with his powerful body. It was going to be all right, she thought.

    If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that she knew why she had overreacted to this latest demonstration of Oliver's amazing self-control. It was because deep in her heart she wanted to be the one person on the face of the earth who could make him lose it.

    “Annie?”

    “Hmm?” She nestled against him. The hair on his chest was crisp and a little rough on the skin of her back.

    Oliver nibbled gently on her earlobe. One of his hands found its way inside the edge of the shirt and drifted down over her belly. “What did you and Sybil talk about at lunch?”

    Shock hit Annie like a shaft of lightning. She froze. An instant later outrage washed over her in an icy wave. “You son of a bitch. You bastard. Howdare you?” She clawed at his arms, trying to free herself.

    Oliver released her immediately. “Annie? What the hell is the matter with you?”

    “What's the matter with me?Me ?” She whirled around and took two quick steps back so that she was just beyond his reach. “Who do you think you are? What kind of a sneaky, low-down, underhanded trick was that?”

    Oliver's eyes narrowed. “Calm down.”

    “No, I will not calm down.” Annie swung around and began striding furiously back and forth in front of the window. She clutched the unbuttoned edges of his shirt, holding them tightly closed across her breasts. “That was despicable. Unconscionable.”

    “I asked you a simple question.”

    “Oh, sure. A simple question, my foot. That was not a simple question. You were trying to trick me into answering it. You were trying to seduce me into telling you about my conversation with Sybil. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

    “I thought we had an agreement,” Oliver said very softly. “You promised not to lie to me.”

    She shot him a scathing glance. He was standing with his feet braced slightly apart, his hands on his hips. He seemed completely unconcerned that he was stark naked. Of course, with a body like his, why should he be concerned, Annie thought resentfully.

    “I gave you my word,” she said proudly. “I won't ever lie to you.”

    He smiled slightly. “Then tell me what happened between you and Sybil this afternoon.”

    “What happened between me and Sybil,” Annie said grimly, “is none of your damned business.”

    “Whatever happens in this family is my business, Annie.”

    “Not necessarily. In any event, I certainly do not intend to discuss this particular issue with you. Not now.”

    “What about your promise to me?”

    “I am not lying to you,” she raged. “I am simply refusing to tell you about a private conversation I had with someone else.”

    “It's the same thing.”

    “No, it's not,” she retorted. “In any event, I more or less let Sybil think I would not discuss the matter with you. She's trusting me to respect her privacy. I would do the same thing for you. I don't intend to tell her about any confidential conversations you and I might have.”

    “If you ever do, there will be hell to pay.”

    Annie glared at him in frustration. “Tell me something, Oliver. Why are you so hostile