“I don’t know…” she argued.

“You want hearts and flowers and bells ringing.” He nodded. “Well, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you have to settle for practicalities. Tell me you don’t want to live with me, Meredith,” he challenged with a faintly mocking smile.

“That would be a lie,” she said, sighing, “so I won’t bother. Yes, I want to live with you. And I’m very fond of Sarah Jane. Taking care of her wouldn’t be any trial to me. But you’re still not going to let your emotions get in the way of a good business deal, are you, Blake?” she returned. “You want me, but that’s all you have to offer.”

“For a man, lovemaking is one big part of a relationship,” he said, choosing his words. “I don’t know much about love. I’ve never had any.” He lifted his eyes back to hers. “If it can be taught, you can teach me. I’ve never been in love, so you’ve got a good shot at it already.”

She sighed at his summing-up of the situation, despite the ache in her heart for something he might never be able to give her. He was locked up emotionally, and nobody had a key.

He leaned down, his face poised just above hers. “Stop thinking, Meredith,” he whispered. His mouth nibbled at her lower lip, smoothing over its delicate swell. His hands cupped her breasts, hot even through the fabric of her tank top and sensual as they caressed her. One long leg insinuated itself between both of hers and she felt it begin to move lazily.

“This isn’t fair,” she whispered shakily.

“I know. Unbutton your top again,” he whispered, and proceeded to tell her exactly why he wanted her to and what he intended to do when she unfastened it.

Her body tingled with heat. She wanted him. Her moan was pure surrender, and he knew it. His heart leaped as he felt her fingers working at the buttons. And then she was all silky warmth under him, her breasts soft and yielding under his searching hands, his hungry mouth.

“You aren’t…going to stop…this time, are you?” she whimpered as his mouth grew even bolder.

“That depends on you,” he said in a strange, thick tone. “I’d never force you.”

“I know.” Her mind tumbled while she tried to decide what to do. Part of her knew it was a mistake. But it had been so many years, and she’d done little else but dream of him, of lying in his arms and loving him.

His hand slid to the fastening of her jeans and he lifted himself so that he could see her eyes. “If I start this, I’ll have to finish it,” he said gently. “I’ll go all the way. You have to decide.”

Her fingers lingered on his. “I don’t know,” she moaned. “Blake, I’m afraid. It’s going to hurt…!”

“Only a little,” he whispered solemnly. “I’ll be as slow and tender as I can. I’ll do anything you want me to do to make it easier for you.” He bent to her mouth, touching it lightly with his. “Meredith, don’t you want to know all the secrets?” he asked huskily. “Don’t you want to see how much pleasure we can give each other? My God, just kissing you makes my blood run like fire. Having you…” He groaned as he kissed her. “Having you…would be unbearably sweet.”

“For me, too.” Her arms tightened around his neck, and she buried her face in his hair-roughened chest, savoring the smell and feel of him in her arms.

His hands smoothed down her hips and his weight settled over her, gently, so that he wouldn’t frighten her. His mouth trembled as it found hers, and he kissed her with exquisite warmth and tenderness.

“This is how much I want you,” he whispered as he moved sensuously against her.

She felt his need, and an answering hunger made her tremble. “Blake…what about…precautions?” she choked out. “I don’t know how.”

His lips lifted just above hers. “I’m going to marry you,” he told her roughly. “But if precautions are important to you, I can use something.”

Heat shot through her. She felt her nails digging into his back, heard her own wild cry as she lifted to him. His face hardened and she saw his eyes darken as his mouth came slowly back down to cover hers.

“We should…” she whimpered.

“Yes,” he whispered. But his mouth grew demanding, and his last sane thought was that creating babies with Meredith was as natural as wading in country streams and walking in the park. He closed his eyes, shaking with the need to join his aching body to hers and give her the same sweet pleasure he felt when he touched her.

Chapter 8

Meredith trembled, half blind with pleasure as Blake’s mouth became more demanding. It was almost enough just to kiss him, to feel the exquisite weight of his body on hers as his hand worked at the fastenings of her clothes.

“The light,” she whispered huskily.

He touched her mouth tenderly. “I know,” he said deeply, reaching for it. “You might not believe it, little one, but I’ve got more hang-ups than you have.”

The room was in darkness then, except for the faint moonlight seeping in through the white curtains. His hands smoothed down her breasts, savoring their warm fullness. She gasped and he searched for her mouth in the darkness.

“Meredith,” he whispered huskily.

“What?” she breathed.

“One of us needs to do something if you don’t want me to make you pregnant. You haven’t really answered me.”

She felt the heat in her cheeks. He was right, it was something they had to consider. She swallowed. “I’m not on the pill,” she confessed.

“Do you want me to take care of it?”

Her fingers touched his face, involuntarily running down the scar, while visions of his son in her arms made her tremble with hunger. “I…I don’t mind, either way,” she said unsteadily.

“God!” He buried his face in her throat and shuddered. It was so profound to hear her say that. It would be all of heaven to see her grow big with his child, to share the sweetness of raising it.

“Blake?” she whispered, uncertain.

“I don’t mind, either,” he said roughly. “Come here.”

He pulled her closer still and she melted against him with blinding hope as he began to tease her breasts with his hands. He trailed his fingers around the outer edges, feeling the tension in her body, the heat of her skin as he drew his caresses out, making her wait, building the need, until she caught his wrists and tried to make him touch her.

And he did, finally, so that it was like a tiny fulfillment, and she shuddered and arched into his warm, lean hands. He liked her reactions, delighted in her responses. She had to care about him, he thought dizzily as his hands smoothed away her clothing, to let him do these things to her and to feel such pleasure when he did.

He was slow. Deliberately slow. More patient than he’d ever dreamed of being. He loved the soft sounds that came whispering out of her throat, the way her hands were clinging to him. He loved the very texture of her skin, the sound of her quick breathing like a rustle in the darkness as he touched her more intimately.

He should be out of his mind with the need to have her, he thought in the back of his mind. But stronger than passion was the need for her to feel the same exquisite sensations that were rippling through his powerful body and making him tremble with each new touch, each soft kiss. He wanted much, much more than quick fulfillment. He wanted to touch all that was Meredith, to join his body to hers and feel the oneness that he’d read was possible between two people who cared for each other.

His lips smoothed over hers, barely touching, while his hands found her where she was untouched and gently, tenderly probed. She gasped under his mouth. Thank God for books, he thought while he could. He hadn’t known anything about virgins until he’d done some reading the other night.

“It’s all right,” he whispered tenderly. “I’m going to be very gentle, Meredith. I just want to make sure that what we do won’t be any more painful than it has to be.”