Free From the Heart by Nora Roberts Page B

sapped. He nibbled at her breast, experimenting with textures and flavors. She slipped the robe from his arms, and then he was as naked as she. He flicked his tongue over her nipple, then made a leisurely journey back to her neck. The flavor there was dark and heated, drawing him.
    She let her hands roam where they pleased, testing muscles, exploring the outline of ribs, skimming over hard, narrow hips. She was lost in the feel of him. He was everything she had wanted, and his lips on her neck were sending her into a delirium of pleasure. Wanting his taste again, she murmured to him so that he brought his mouth back to hers.
    A storm was building. She could feel it in the texture of the kiss. Her body was already answering, moving under him, agreeing, demanding. The breath moaned out of her lips and into his. He slid his hand over her breast, down to her hip. Her thighs were slim and strong. Her fingers gripped his shoulders, her body ached with passion. She opened for him, already shuddering.
    She was hot and moist. He wanted to see her without control. His own was ebbing quickly. Too quickly. He didn’t want to end it. He wanted to keep touching her, tasting her. He wanted to keep hearing her moan his name. It aroused him to near madness. His blood was pounding, but still he lingered, letting his lips brush over her hip, his tongue trace over her stomach. He could hear her breathing—quick and short. She moved under him with complete abandon. She was totally his. He needed to know it and didn’t question the reason.
    When he brought his mouth back to hers, he knew she had lost all restraint, all control. He felt a surge of power knowing that he and he alone held the key to her. Then she took him and drew him inside her. His thoughts shattered. He was hers.
    * * *
    Kasey curled up against him and drifted in the afterglow of drugged contentment. She felt no regrets. She loved. She knew only that she had found the man she had waited for her whole life. She would have him for as long as she would be allowed. Tomorrows could be dealt with when they came. Tonight she had everything she wanted.
    Jordan lay quiet in the darkness. His body was relaxed. He hadn’t realized the tension he had subjected it to over the past weeks. But his mind . . .
    It’s never been like that before, he thought, a bit dazed by the knowledge. I can’t say that to her. She’d never believe it. I’m not sure I do myself. She pulls at me; I shouldn’t let her. He closed his eyes and tried to sweep his mind clear. But she was warm and soft against him, and her hand was on his heart. Sweet Lord, I’ve just had her, and I want her again. She’s like a narcotic. He wanted to be angry, to resent what she was doing to him, but he couldn’t fight his way past the simple need for her. He heard her sigh and felt her head move as she looked up at him.
    “Jordan?”
    “Yes?” Before he could prevent himself, his hand reached down to stroke her.
    “I completely forgot about the canopy. Isn’t that odd?”
    Glancing down, he saw the shine of laughter in her eyes. All the doubts and strain slipped out of his mind as he smiled. There was no resisting her. “A cure for claustrophobia?”
    “Definitely.” She rolled on top of him. “But a scientist always tests her theory several times. Would you be willing to donate your body to the experiment?”
    “Definitely.” He pulled her mouth down to his.

6
    “ T he Nomadic tribes of the high plains lived almost completely on the buffalo. They had no agriculture and did little fishing.” Kasey yawned and sat back in her chair. “Sorry.” She smiled over at Jordan. ”I had a late night.”
    Her casualness this morning wasn’t a pretense. She was at ease. She had told him she loved him, she had acted on that love and she had no regrets. The tension she had felt before had come from fighting her own instincts and concealing the truth. “I wonder, Jordan, if I could momentarily abandon my values and