Free Golden Goddess by Unknown Page B

alone.
    She had never been tempted to repeat it until tonight.
    But tonight she would have an element of safety, Hannah assured herself as her arms stole around Jarrett's neck. Tonight there was no possibility that she was in love. How could there be? She had only known him a couple of days, and he had hardly been courting her during that time!
    Jarrett Blade would probably be incapable of courting any woman, Hannah thought fleetingly. He had no use for gentleness or tender persuasion. He would not make himself vulnerable to a woman.
    And this was the man with whom she was contemplating a brief vacation affair? But his very lack of loving desire was one of the elements which gave her safety, Hannah tried to tell herself. He would make no emotional demands on her, and she could keep her heart free even as she indulged her crazy fantasy.
    "Oh, Jarrett, it's all so confusing," she whispered into his shirt as he lifted his mouth from hers. Unable to meet his eyes, she clung to him, trembling.
    "No, it's not," he growled huskily, his hands roaming down her back to the curve of her hip. "Between you and me it's all very simple. I want you tonight and I think you want me. Relax, honey, and let it happen."
    "But there's no love between us," Hannah said bleakly, her words muffled by his shirt. She felt his hands tighten on her waist.
    "Don't you think you could learn to love me tonight?" he asked deeply. "Just a little, Hannah?"
    Startled that he should even want such a response from her, Hannah's head came up sharply and her wide, anxious eyes searched his gaze. "Is that what you want, Jarrett? Really?"
    "I want you completely. If you have love to give, even a little, then I want that, too."
    She shivered, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his words. Dare she take them at face value?
    "It's so dangerous, Jarrett." For me .
    "Not if you're honest with me, honey. Not if you surrender with no ulterior motives. I'll be as honest with you as you are with me. Fair enough?"
    "It sounds crazy. All wrong somehow. Jarrett, I don't understand you or myself tonight."
    "You don't have to understand. Leave everything to me," he soothed. Then he gently twined his fingers into the coiled braid of her hair and pushed her face against his chest so that she could not speak.
    Oh, God, she wanted him, Hannah thought over and over again. She wanted him in a way that was so new to her. His fingers began to loosen the coronet of twisted hair and she heard his soft sigh of pleasure when the fine mass of cognac-brown came free in his hands, cascading down her back.
    "I knew it," Jarrett rasped softly against her throat as he tangled his hands in her hair. "You don't really belong in the twentieth century at all, do you? With your hair down like this you look as if you stepped out of another world. And when I have you completely naked in my arms I think you are going to seem even more primitive."
    Hannah took a deep breath, aware of how significant the act of taking down her hair had been. It left her feeling as if he'd already moved to claim her, as if he'd exerted a right over her that she hadn't been aware of giving him.
    Dangerous. Primitive and dangerous. And irresistible.
    With a sigh of surrender, Hannah let her body soften against Jarrett's lean strength. This was what she wanted, regardless of what the morning brought in the way of regrets. Tonight she would let herself experience the mystery that was Jarrett Blade.
    "Sweet Hannah," he growled, sensing her unspoken surrender. "There's nothing left to think about tonight.
    Just let yourself feel. Just give yourself to me." He held her a little distance away, intently searching her face for a long moment.
    Wordlessly she returned his searching gaze, knowing her growing desire must be showing in her eyes.
    Then he moved a hand from her waist and deliberately fitted it to her breast. Another small act of possession, she realized, just as taking down her hair had been. Was that what making love with