And kissed her…and kissed her.  He kissed her gently, passionately, tasting the intoxicating sweetness of her, drinking it in. At first, she was so shocked she couldn’t react. Then response set in and she found herself kissing him back. His lips were like velvet, warm and smooth as they explored her lips. Her lips that were hungrily seeking his, opening so he could slide his tongue in the dank cavern and dance with hers.

Nick’s arms held her even closer, his lips sliding across her jawline, finding the hollow behind her ear. His tongue teased her, flicking and tasting her skin, and she felt her knees threaten to buckle. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck to support herself and let her hands delve into the depth of his hair.

The sensations that swam through her blinded her from all sensibility. She forgot he was a cop, a man she had no desire to become involved with. She forgot she had basically sworn off men after her last disastrous relationship, and she’d lost her common sense.

It wasn’t until his hands slid down her spine and gently cupped her ass that reality set in. God, she wanted him desperately, but she needed to resist—she couldn’t do this.

A moan broke from her lips as she forced herself to pull away from him. God, it was hard to stop kissing him, experiencing the magic of his mouth.

“Nick, I can’t do this.” She sounded breathless, unconvincing.

Nick paused, obviously trying to catch his breath. He looked into her eyes, and that was almost her undoing. She couldn’t deny the pain that shot through her chest.

He took hold of her hands and walked to the couch. He sat, then pulled her down on his lap.

“Let’s talk,” he said, his arm falling around her waist.

Darcy took a deep shuddering breath and laid her head on his shoulder, avoiding his piercing eyes.

“Angel, I don’t blame you for feeling the way you do. The only relationship you have had with a cop ended traumatically and changed your life forever.” He started out slowly, all the while stroking her rusty waves. “But you’ve been so brave, so courageous. You’ve come out strong. You’re not a weakling, baby.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“But you don’t trust yourself. Your brain’s telling you one thing, your heart another. Your brain’s jumping way ahead. It’s determined that if we get together, you’ll end up married to me, following in your mother’s footsteps, just waiting for future catastrophes to descend on us.

“Honey, I hate to tell you, but I haven’t asked you to marry me. You’re looking for trouble before it gets here. I want you. You want me. That’s what it boils down to.”  He tipped her chin up to face him. “Are you going to deny us that because of what might be one day? Because of problems that may never arise?”

Darcy looked into his eyes, the intense silver-blue seeming to pierce into her soul. Live for the moment, live for today, she’d always told herself. But now she was backing off on those beliefs. She was afraid of an unknown future, of what might happen. That wasn’t like her.

He was right. She knew he was right. She had no idea if a night of making love with him would lead to a permanent life together. She was running away from a problem that didn’t exist.

But something inside of her told her that once she fell into Nick’s arms, she would never want to leave them. There had been something about him from the very first that intrigued her, called her to him. Like a snake charmer magnetizing his prey, she was being pulled in, lured closer and closer to disaster.

Lord, she wanted him, though. Every nerve in her body twanged with desire. Every cell hungered for his touch, to be kissed by him. How could she say no?

That’s when she made her decision. She wasn’t going to live in fear of what might come. She wasn’t going to deny herself this one thing she wanted so achingly. Especially when the specter of Pasquale hung over her. All seemed well and safe here in their private little world, but the reality was she was the target of a killer, a madman who wanted her dead. When they went back to the real world, which they had to do soon, she might be finished. He or one of his henchmen could kill her any day. It wasn’t just Nick who could die young. She might not live to see next month.

That stark reality slapped her in the face. Did she want to die without knowing the intimacy of being with Nick, without sharing that magical journey with him even if it was only one time? No, no she didn’t. She wanted his touch, craved his body, yearned to feel his bare skin burning against hers.

She looked him deep in the eyes and raised her hands to slide them through his hair.

“No, Nick, I’m not going to deny us this night. I want you.”

He tenderly kissed her lips, once, twice, three times.

“Are you sure, angel?” His voice was full of questions, his eyes full of concern.

“Positive,” she whispered and then she pulled him to her, kissing him passionately, sliding her tongue into his mouth, swirling and venturing through the damp canyon.

Nick groaned and gathered her closer to him as she sat on his lap. His hands were on her back, one behind her shoulder blades, one cupping her hips. Her breasts crushed into his chest, nipples budding. She felt a flood of moisture spring between her legs.

One of his hands slid upward into her wealth of curls, tugging her head slightly back to give him access to her slender neck. He nipped a trail down her throat to the hollow on her shoulder, his tongue flicking over the sensitive skin there.

Darcy grabbed his shoulders and pulled them both down on the overstuffed couch, her back flattened against the seat cushions. She ran her hand beneath the hem of his tee-shirt and stroked his firm, satiny skin.

Nick matched her actions and worked his hands down her front, lingering over the swollen nipples then sliding underneath her top. His palms sizzled over her skin, seeming to brand every place he touched. When he pushed at the material to expose her pink lace bra, she helped him pull it the rest of the way off. His hands quickly undid the snap of the bra, and her naked breasts looked golden in the light from the flickering fire.

“You are so beautiful, angel,” he moaned, studying her body. “So incredible. I need to taste you.” With that, he lowered her back, and his lips took a jutting nipple into his mouth, suckling gently at the flesh. His tongue lashed across its peak, twirling and skimming across it.

Darcy clenched her hands in his hair, arching her back with desire. When his teeth nipped playfully at the bud a spasm of pleasure and pain shot through her core and landed deep in her uterus. She couldn’t stop the cry that burst from her lips.

Now he was working at her jeans, unzipping the fly and undoing the button. Darcy grabbed at his hands and slowed them, pushing them away so she could tug at his shirt and remove it. God, he was so handsome, his shoulders so broad, his abs ripped.

He grinned and went back to working at her jeans, sliding his hand beneath the tiny bikini panties she wore. His fingers slid across her abdomen, awakening a surge of flutters in her pelvis. When he began to tug at her pants, she lifted her hips to help ease their removal. At last, she was free of the confining garments and let her legs fall open freely.

Nick ran his hand down her thigh then back up it. He swirled around the head of her labia, teasing, playing until she thought she was going to drown with desire. At last his fingers plunged between her pouting lips, slipping and sliding in the pooling juices there. He found the magic button and ran his thumb over it, circling the throbbing blossom. His finger dipped into her moist cavity, then a second one eased in beside it.

The sensations streamed through Darcy, pouring over her like ribbons of colorful satin wrapping her up in a cocoon of feelings. She was drawn inward, twisting and turning, and then suddenly exploding like a caterpillar erupting as a butterfly. Wings of ecstasy carried her high, higher, bursts of light everywhere, and then brought her floating down, gently spiraling back to earth.