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Her entire body roared to life with need for hiht of him When he shoved his hands under her T-shirt, she quivered with delight as his long fingers stroked her skin She arched her back, pressing her hips against hi a new path along her jaw and the cord of her neck She shivered again as she felt the slightly rough rasp of his unshaven cheeks on her skin, and welcomed the feel of it

He made her feel vital, female, desirable When his lips traveled back up her throat and recaptured her ive hiently swept her lips before probing deeper

And then, suddenly, awfully, it was all over Saed thelittered like rain-washed slate He let her go and took a step away She wanted to protest, to reach for hiain To relive what they’d just shared, but it was all she could do to stand on her oo feet without collapsing

“We shouldn’t—” he started

“No! Don’t! Don’t say we shouldn’t have done that,” she said as firth she possessed, she sht, for us, at the time Let’s leave it there, shall we?”

She couldn’t bear to hear his denial To have him reduce what they’d just shared to a s to move, to take her away from him and from the temptation he offered

Soherself better than her hormones

Six

Erin was a jangle of nerves by the ti roo a hole in the carpet before she made herself sit down and take stock of what had happened

She’d never been so forward before in her life and her behavior both shocked and thrilled her Even thinking about it now, she didn’t regret for a minute what she’d done But did Sam?

She hadn’t wanted to hear him say they shouldn’t have done what they did, but the words still echoed silently in her head Maybe it rong Maybe she had taken advantage of hirief Now there was a turn around froht Wasn’t it supposed to be e in that way?

She shook her head at herself She was so wound up now she’d never get any rest, at least not unless she found sorip Maybe a deep, relaxing soak would help Erin drove herself to her feet She’d check on Riley and then draw herself a bath She was almost sorry to see he was still sound asleep in his crib—his little fists flung wide on either side of his head Her heart clae of love that swelled within her She loved him so very much Would lay down her life for him, without question

How could any mother not feel the same way about their child, she wondered This fierce protective instinct was as natural to her as breathing Not for the first time, Erin wondered why her own mother had not been prepared to love and protect Erin the way Erin was prepared to love and protect Riley The old fa away her hard-won confidence and belief in herself

Had she really been so very unlovable that her own mother had screamed at her, over and over, that she’d wished Erin had never been born? Erin bit hard on her lip to stop the sharp cry that built in her throat She closed her eyes and dragged an uneven breath into her tortured chest

Even her own husband hadn’t loved her as she’d yearned to be loved They’d slid intopassion for each other Was that it? Had she craved the wildness of passion? The sheer indulgence of giving in to want and need, and to hell with the consequences? Was that why she’d taken the opportunity to kiss Sauest under her roof?

From the moment she’d first seen him she’d been aware of a visceral consciousness of hiain It was an intoxicating sensation, frightening and exhilarating at the same time She was attracted to hi hiain Kiss, and everything that came next Did that make her a bad person? She had no answers

Erin let herself out of Riley’s room before her uneasy presence disturbed his sleep and went through to her bathroom She twisted the old faucets open over the deep tub and let the water run; a cloud of steam soon filled the air So bath crystals They’d been a farewell gift froo and she’d shoved the to use the, noas the time