Page 55 of Baby Bodyguard

Her breasts moved in a frantic rhythm with each give-and-take of her breath, signaling her arousal. It was his turn to reach out, to slide his index finger from the hollow of her throat to the tip of her breast. The rosy center puckered, asilent plea for his caress, and her groan echoed his, frantic and needy, ademand and an appeal all at the sametime.

Slowly, she released him, the leisurely glide of her fingers an exquisite torture. “Does this mean you’re staying?” she whispered.

His capacity for speech deserted him. He burned for this woman, his desire desperate and immediate, riding him harder than anything that had come before. Where was his ability to consider and analyze? With one touch this woman had pirated his reason, transforming him into something primitive and feral. His fist closed around the scrap of lace that concealed her fromhim.

“Take it off or I will,” he warned.

Her smile took on a wild edge. “Do it.”

The sound of rending cloth ripped away the last of his control. He tumbled her back onto the bed, shedding his trousers as he joined her. Tracing her body, he explored lush swells and soft indentation, drifting from sleek curves to moist hollows. Where once she’d promised to give him bedroom kisses, he bestowed them on her, edging her relentlessly toward a shattering completion.

She shuddered in his hold. “Please, Noah. Ican’t take any more.” Tugging him into position, she locked her legs around him, encouraging his possession. “Now, Noah. Take me now.”

He wanted to. He wanted to more than she could possibly know. But he couldn’t. Not like this. “Not yet, Sami.”

“Why?” she cried. “Noah, please.”

“I can’t.” Lust bound them. And lust couldn’t satisfy him. Not anymore. “You have to say the words, sweetheart. Let me know this means more than satisfying a momentary urge. Ican’t give you casual. It’s not in my nature.”

Sami stared at Noah. Harsh color scored his cheekbones and his eyes were fixed on her, blazing with a dark desperation that could only be assuaged in one way. He wanted her, wanted her as frantically as she wanted him. But he held back, refusing to take her physically unless he had an emotional commitment, aswell.

Everything he’d said to her, all that had taken place since he’d walked into her life solidified in that moment. The past blended with the present into a single pathway, while the future forked dramatically ahead.

The first trail offered easy passage, smooth and rock-free, though there’d only be room for one traveler. She could traverse it untouched by pain, but girded by fear. The other could only be reached by throwing herself off a jagged cliff—one that had blocked her way for more years than she cared to count, one that forced a fall that would be long and hard and terrifying.

The only consolation was Noah standing at the bottom of that cliff. Waiting. Hoping she’d trust that he’d catch her. Trust. Commitment. Fear. Love. The words shrieked in her ears, battling within hersoul.

“Noah!”

“I’m here, sweetheart. Ihave you.”

She closed her eyes and wept. “I can’t do it. Ican’t.”

“It’s okay to be afraid. It’s not the fear that’ll hurt you.”

“It’s the fall.”

“It’s not the fall. Ipromise that won’t hurt you, either. It’s walking away that will hurt. Don’t walk away, Sami. Fight for what you want.” He pushed a tumble of pale curls from her face. “Say the words, Sami. Take the risk.”

“What happens if I won’t?”

His forehead touched hers, his words feathering across her mouth. She could feel the tension build in him, feel him gather his impressive control. “It’s all right, sweetheart. Nothing happens if you walk away. Nothing at all.”

Nothing, except he’d leave her alone in the bed, unfulfilled and hurting. Take the risk! Her eyelids fluttered open and she stared up at him. Taking a deep breath, she leaped. “I love you, Noah. Ilove you more than life.”

She fell then, tumbling freely. The tears spilled down her cheeks, but this time Noah simply smiled. For a man who didn’t “do” tears, he seemed to be handling them remarkablywell.

“I love you, too, Sami,” he said, gently wiping the dampness from her cheeks. “You’re everything I’ve ever looked for in a woman. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

He cupped her face, drugging her with the intoxicating kisses she’d described in such vivid detail a short time ago—long and slow and deep, vibrating all the way to her toes. But the craving she’d felt before couldn’t begin to compare to this. Perhaps it was the freedom that came from opening her heart. Or perhaps it came from her absolute trust in the man who held her secure in hisarms.

Every tender sweep of his hand, every whispered endearment, every brush and scrape and caress expressed such intense rapture she finally understood what her mother had lost all those years ago. The tears came again. Tears of regret that she’d almost missed experiencing such grace. That she’d tried to push something so wondrous from her life. That she’d have dared to believe creating a child without such a bonding would have been acceptable.

Noah quieted her remorse with compassionate concern, his understanding absolute. “It’s all right,” he murmured. “Everything will be all right now.”

“Make love to me, Noah. Show me how right it is,” she pleaded.

He responded instantly, gathering her close. Each kiss drove her to a new plane of passion, each touch became a benediction, each whispered promise a commitment that bound them as one. Settling between her thighs, he joined with her so completely she slipped beyond words, beyond rational thought, his lovemaking unlike anything she’d known before. He gifted her with life and she opened herself to him, giving Noah the one thing she’d never offered another man. The only thing she had available to offer.

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