Free Legacy by Jayne Ann Krentz Page B

woman's apartment waiting to see who will bring her home. I was there for nearly two hours, trying to imagine how I would handle the other guy."
    "What… what would you have done if I'd been with someone else?"
    He groaned and pulled her fiercely against him. "Don't ask. Finding out you'd been followed by some punk in a pickup truck was even more of a shock, though. I don't like your living alone. It's dangerous."
    "Yes, I know." She made the comment into his dark shirt, and Conn knew she meant it to cover him as well as stray hoodlums in black trucks.
    "Don't be afraid of me, Honor."
    He didn't know how to counter her caution with words, but Conn did know that he needed to touch her more intimately. The scent of her was tantalizing, beckoning, full of womanly promise.
    "I couldn't resist you tonight even if I wanted to try. And the last thing I want to do is try," he grated. He slid his palms down her back to the rounded curve of her hips. She murmured something into his shirt as he pulled her lower body against his own. Conn knew from the way she tensed and then softened that she was now fully aware of his arousal.
    "Conn, we should talk…" Her voice trailed off beneath his mouth.
    "In the morning," he promised when he released her lips. "We'll talk in the morning. We'll settle everything in the morning."
    "Will we?" Her eyes were questioning, luminous pools in which a man could get lost.
    "Please trust me tonight, Honor." Was that him pleading for a woman's trust, Conn wondered vaguely.
    Tomorrow when he was more rational he would probably be shocked at the husky words. But tonight he longed only for an affirmative response.
    "Can I trust you, Conn Landry?"

    He moved abruptly, lifting her up into his arms.
    "Yes, you can trust me!" The vow was ground out with a force that amazed him. She seemed to accept the rough promise. Her arms wound around his neck and surrender flickered through her body, making her even warmer and gentler than he had imagined.
    Conn left the lights off in her bedroom as he carried her through the door. The pale glow from the hall provided all the illumination he needed. Standing her carefully on her feet he fumbled for the fastenings of her bright-magenta dress. When she leaned against him, her head nestled on his shoulder, he wondered what the hell had happened to his normally coordinated hands. His fingers never trembled like this.
    It seemed to take forever before the silky garment obligingly gave way and fell into a frothy heap around her feet.
    "Honor," he murmured wonderingly, drawing his hands lightly around her shoulders and down to the curve of her breasts. He touched the lacy edge of her bra, sliding one finger underneath to find the peaking tip of her nipple. "Honor, I want you so much."
    She said his name into his shoulder, her nails sinking into the fabric of his shirt. "You make it impossible for me to even think tonight. Why is it like this with you, Conn?"
    With a small, impatient gesture he unsnapped the front hook of her bra. His palms slipped over her breasts. "I don't know," he heard himself say with unexpected honesty. "I could ask you the same question. Why do I feel like this with you? I never meant—"
    "Never meant what?" She raised her head to look up at him through her lashes.
    "Never mind. Don't think about anything other than tonight, sweetheart. Heaven knows you're all I can think about at the moment." He framed her face with his hands and kissed her druggingly, glorying in the vibrant response he received. "Take off my shirt. Let me feel your hands on my body," he ordered thickly.
    She obeyed willingly, her fingers shaking faintly as she struggled with the buttons of his shirt. But in a moment she had it off and then she tugged awkwardly with the buckle of his leather belt.
    Trying not to hurry, but knowing he could barely contain his need, Conn finished undressing her. He slid his hands down the length of her, dragging off the satiny underpants and the gossamer