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“Yes” He backed her against the vanity, his hands cupping her shoulders His voice was rough, with the texture of wild honey “I’ht here”

She made a little sound as he bent and touched histo her? Her bones were turning to liquid; her skin was flooding with heat

His teeth nipped at the tender curve of her shoulder She whiainst his chest

“Cade,” she said shakily, “Cade…”

Was that all she was capable of saying? Just his naht her breath as his hands slid down her body, then slipped to the front of the tohere the knotted edges overlapped

“I need to touch you,” he said, and she gasped as he put his hands under the towel and curved thehs

“Oh,” she whispered, “oh…”

Cade kissed herhers

“Do you want me to stop?” he said thickly

Her gaze flew to his His eyes were dark, so dark she felt as if she ht drown and be lost in them

“Angelica?” His hands rose, cupped her naked buttocks “Shall I stop?”

She gave a little groan as she leaned into him Her arm snaked around his neck; she lifted herself to hiainst his

She clung to hiainst hers He put her on the bed, then ca her and devouring the sweet nectar of her mouth

His handthe curve of her breast, the sweet indentation of her waist, the rounding of her hip

“Cade,” she whispered

His eyes went to her face She atching him, her eyes wide and expectant Her face was flushed, her mouth already soft and swollen by his, and he wondered, with one last, brief flash of sanity, if he would be able to keep fro into her before he’d even explored the wonders of her body

“Angelica” He sed hard, took a deep breath “I—I need you,” he whispered “I want you so badly…”

With a groan, he fuers felt numb and clumsy They trembled with the nervousness of a schoolboy And it was hard to draw breath into his lungs as he slowly spread the edges of the towel apart

Everything that was happeningfor the first time

The breath sighed fros as he looked at her She was so beautiful Her breasts were sweetly rounded, her nipples as pink and delicate as the petals of a rose He lowered his head, kissing first one swollen tip and then the other, and her cries of pleasure were al

His hand slid to her waist, which was slender, then to her hips, which had surely been meant to fit the curve of his hands Her belly was silken, her navel sue to it and taste its sweetness, but first, God, first he had to touch those copper curls that framed her femininity, he had to move his hand over that softness and into what lay beyond

Angelica cried out as his fingers slid against her da at his shoulders, her body tre with desire

Could she have dreamed it would be like this? The touch of his hands, the feel of histo flame in his arms, desperate for his final possession

Possession? But how could she want that? It was a word she hated, a concept she abhorred

“Angel,” Cade whispered, “el”

He kissed her again, slowly and deeply, his tongue ainst her swollen flesh She was panting now, she could feel her sweatmix of emotions, need and desire and passion allthat transcended desire She wanted to touch him, to be touched, but she wanted more, she wanted—she wanted…

He kissed her, and her thoughts broke into a thousand separate pieces

“Yes,” she said against his mouth, “yes, please”

Cade looked into her face Her eyes were dark, the pupils so huge that her irises were visible only as a circular hint of e him for release, but she was no more desperate than he His , but he would not hurry this moment He wanted to pleasure her forever, touch her forever

But then she er

She watched through half-lowered lashes as he pulled off his clothing Surely, her heart would break with the aze swept over the powerful shoulders and arms, the muscled chest, the narroaist and hips that tapered into long, s His shaft arrowed fro, unasha

Angelica hesitated, then reached out and touched him

Cade groaned and caught her hand in his

“Don’t,” he said “If you do…” He kissed her and el,” he whispered, and when her eyes were hot on his, he lifted her to hi her tightness and her heat as her body welcomed his

She cried out his na, deep strokes that took her to the brink of release but never quite let her tue She could feel the cost of that taut control in his muscles as she clasped his shoulders, in the slick dalazed his skin

“Now,” she sobbed, “Cade, now, please…”