Page 30

She walked—or did she float?—across the parquet floor, scarcely feeling her shoes upon the shiny surface, hardly hearing the rapping cease when her footfalls fell on the plush Turkish carpet. Suddenly feeling awkward and unsure, she stood beside him and tilted her mouth into a self-conscious smile.

“You play with such emotion, Ansley. I hear it in the chords, and it sends little shivers over my skin.” Well, that reaction mightn’t have been caused by the music. “I profess to adore listening, for I don’t play an instrument.”

Two dogs raised their heads, but upon recognizing her, resumed their slumber.

Without warning, he swung those strong legs she’d so admired around the side of the bench, and grasping her waist, settled her on his lap.

She inhaled a soft gasp and immediately shot her attention to the cracked doorway.

“Ansley. We cannot be caught like this.”

That was twice she’d addressed him by his given name. It felt so natural, and none of the expected self-reproach assailed her about the breach of decorum.

“You’re like oxygen to me, Willow. I can scarcely breathe without you.”

Then he was kissing her, wrapping one sinewy arm around her back and cradling her head with the other as he laid her against his shoulder. This wasn’t the tender whisper across her lips she’d experienced in his study.

This was a ravenous man. His kisses wicked and wanton. As if a dam of self-control had broken, and he could no longer hold his passion in check. He plundered her mouth like a man long-starved, taking and giving. Exploring and seeking. Probing and nipping.

And Willow couldn’t resist—had no desire to resist.

She wanted—must have—this wonderfulness every bit as much as he did. Moaning, she relaxed into the support of his arms and, threading one hand into the smooth hair that she had so longed to touch these many weeks, opened her mouth to him.

Their tongues played together, dueling and parrying. The coiling in her belly, spreading ever more intense outward until every pore sang with the need for him.

Ansley. Ansley. Ansley

How could she ever leave him?

How could she possibly stay?