masculinity of him made her turn her head away from the lean,
bronzed body. She moved backward a step, coming up against the white wall of
the shower.
"What's the matter, Lacey?" he rasped softly, reaching
out to pull her close as the water beat down on them. "Do you need a
little help in getting your new life-style off the ground? Let me show you how
it's done."
He tilted her chin and slowly, mesmerizingly lowered his
head. Lacey's fingers curled into her palms and her eyes squeezed shut against
the reality of what was happening. Her reservations and arguments both for and
against an affair with Holt Randolph began to evaporate, leaving only a sense
of the inevitable.
She stood very still as his lips brushed her closed eyes
and then traced little patterns across her slickly wet skin to the edge of her
cheek.
"It's not hard at all, Lacey," he grated, sliding
one hand down her slender back to the base of her spine. "The trick is to
forget about tomorrow and the rest of your future. You live for the moment and
learn to take what's offered. You'll get the hang of it. You're already
convinced it's what you want, aren't you?"
"Holt, please . . ." Her voice was a shadowy,
breathless sound. "I don't want a one-night stand. You know that . .
." She drew in her breath as he urged her lower body closer to his own.
His hair-roughened thigh pressed against her with a kind of insistent, gentle
aggression.
"It won't be a one-night affair. We have the summer,
remember? As I recall, that should be all the sense of future you need to
satisfy the remnants of your small-town conscience."
He was right, she tried to tell herself, but something in
his voice mocked her. She felt his teeth nip gently at the lobe of her ear and
then the warmth of the tip of his tongue as it found the shell-shaped interior.
It was hotter than the water cascading over her body.
"You forced us both into a decision tonight, my
reckless little Lacey. But that's the nature of the kind of life you want Instant
decisions and instant gratification. I told you earlier this evening that I
know something about this sort of thing. Relax. I'll be happy to show you how
it works. . . ."
"But you don't approve of me!" she wailed as his
fingers went to work on the fastening of the swimsuit She pressed her face into
his shoulder, her hands coming up to splay across his chest
"I approve wholeheartedly about certain aspects of
you." He chuckled deeply. "Don't worry about that!"
Her nails sank slightly into his skin as she felt the
bathing suit stripped slowly, sensually down to her waist. The touch of his
hands and the feel of his body were rapidly reviving all the restless need she
had known earlier that evening. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? This
undisguised passion and desire were the qualities she had been missing in her
life. It was being offered to her at last. Only a fool would turn it down.
"Holt, do you love me a . . . a little?" She
could have bitten her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. That wasn't
what she had meant to say at all! Where had the stupid, vulnerable words come
from?
She felt him stiffen for a few seconds, felt his hands
tighten at her waist and then he relaxed, nibbling sexily at the nape of her
neck and the curve of her shoulder.
"Love you? That's the wrong question, Lacey," he
told her relentlessly. "That's the sort of question you might ask a man
back in Iowa. Not out here. The answer is, I want you."
And that should be enough, Lacey told herself resolutely.
It was all that was necessary in an affair. Want and need. Passion and desire.
Anything else was a sham, anyway. Hadn't she learned that by now? Men like
Roger Wesley and the psych professor had talked of love and it had meant
nothing. No, this was what she was looking for. Why did she hesitate?
She wound her arms around his neck with a soft sigh,
piercingly aware of the feel of curling hair on his chest as it grazed her
nipples. With a quick, gliding movement, the swimsuit
bronzed body. She moved backward a step, coming up against the white wall of
the shower.
"What's the matter, Lacey?" he rasped softly, reaching
out to pull her close as the water beat down on them. "Do you need a
little help in getting your new life-style off the ground? Let me show you how
it's done."
He tilted her chin and slowly, mesmerizingly lowered his
head. Lacey's fingers curled into her palms and her eyes squeezed shut against
the reality of what was happening. Her reservations and arguments both for and
against an affair with Holt Randolph began to evaporate, leaving only a sense
of the inevitable.
She stood very still as his lips brushed her closed eyes
and then traced little patterns across her slickly wet skin to the edge of her
cheek.
"It's not hard at all, Lacey," he grated, sliding
one hand down her slender back to the base of her spine. "The trick is to
forget about tomorrow and the rest of your future. You live for the moment and
learn to take what's offered. You'll get the hang of it. You're already
convinced it's what you want, aren't you?"
"Holt, please . . ." Her voice was a shadowy,
breathless sound. "I don't want a one-night stand. You know that . .
." She drew in her breath as he urged her lower body closer to his own.
His hair-roughened thigh pressed against her with a kind of insistent, gentle
aggression.
"It won't be a one-night affair. We have the summer,
remember? As I recall, that should be all the sense of future you need to
satisfy the remnants of your small-town conscience."
He was right, she tried to tell herself, but something in
his voice mocked her. She felt his teeth nip gently at the lobe of her ear and
then the warmth of the tip of his tongue as it found the shell-shaped interior.
It was hotter than the water cascading over her body.
"You forced us both into a decision tonight, my
reckless little Lacey. But that's the nature of the kind of life you want Instant
decisions and instant gratification. I told you earlier this evening that I
know something about this sort of thing. Relax. I'll be happy to show you how
it works. . . ."
"But you don't approve of me!" she wailed as his
fingers went to work on the fastening of the swimsuit She pressed her face into
his shoulder, her hands coming up to splay across his chest
"I approve wholeheartedly about certain aspects of
you." He chuckled deeply. "Don't worry about that!"
Her nails sank slightly into his skin as she felt the
bathing suit stripped slowly, sensually down to her waist. The touch of his
hands and the feel of his body were rapidly reviving all the restless need she
had known earlier that evening. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? This
undisguised passion and desire were the qualities she had been missing in her
life. It was being offered to her at last. Only a fool would turn it down.
"Holt, do you love me a . . . a little?" She
could have bitten her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. That wasn't
what she had meant to say at all! Where had the stupid, vulnerable words come
from?
She felt him stiffen for a few seconds, felt his hands
tighten at her waist and then he relaxed, nibbling sexily at the nape of her
neck and the curve of her shoulder.
"Love you? That's the wrong question, Lacey," he
told her relentlessly. "That's the sort of question you might ask a man
back in Iowa. Not out here. The answer is, I want you."
And that should be enough, Lacey told herself resolutely.
It was all that was necessary in an affair. Want and need. Passion and desire.
Anything else was a sham, anyway. Hadn't she learned that by now? Men like
Roger Wesley and the psych professor had talked of love and it had meant
nothing. No, this was what she was looking for. Why did she hesitate?
She wound her arms around his neck with a soft sigh,
piercingly aware of the feel of curling hair on his chest as it grazed her
nipples. With a quick, gliding movement, the swimsuit
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