“Have you ever let any other man see you like this?” he whispered, because it was suddenly important.

“Only you,” she replied, and her eyes were warm and soft, almost loving as they met his. “How could I let anyone else…?” she asked huskily.

“Meredith, you’re exquisite,” he bit off. His fingers brushed over one perfect breast lightly, barely touching it, and she cried out.

The sound startled him. He stopped at once, scowling at her in open concern. “Did I hurt you?” he asked softly. “I knew you were delicate there. I didn’t mean to be rough with you.”

She stared at him curiously, biting her lower lip as she tried to control the tremors he’d set off. “Blake…it didn’t hurt,” she said hesitantly.

“You cried out,” he said, his eyes steady and honestly worried.

She colored furiously. “Yes.”

The scowl stayed as his hand moved again. His green eyes held hers the whole time while he stroked her gently, smoothed the hard tip between his fingers and cupped her in his lean, rough hand. And she whimpered softly and cried out again, her body shivering and lifting up to him.

“Damn Nina!” he whispered roughly.

Meredith was too drugged to understand what he’d said at first. Her whirling thoughts barely registered in her mind. “What?”

“Never mind,” he whispered huskily. “Oh, God, Meredith…!” His mouth went down against her breast, and she moaned, arching under him. The sound and her trembling drove him crazy.

He kissed every soft inch of her above her hips, savoring both breasts, nibbling at her creamy skin, dragging the edge of his teeth with exquisite tenderness over her stomach and rib cage. And all the while his hands caressed her, adored her. He made a meal of her, and long before he lifted his head, she was crying and pleading with him for something more than he was giving her.

He dragged air into his lungs, his eyes wild, his chest rising and falling raggedly as he looked down into her abandoned eyes.

Her face fascinated him. She looked as if he was torturing her, but her hands were pulling at his head, her soft voice was begging for his mouth. She moaned, but not in pain. And the most exquisite sensations racked his lean body as he poised over her. “You want me,” he whispered huskily.

“Yes.”

“Badly,” he continued.

“Yes!”

His hands smoothed over her breasts and she shuddered. His breath caught. “I never dreamed a woman could sound like that. I never knew…” He bent to her mouth and kissed it softly. “My God, she was suffering me, and I didn’t even have the experience to realize it.”

“What?”

He dragged himself into a sitting position, and when she made a halfhearted effort to cover herself he pulled her wrist away. “Don’t do that,” he said quietly. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I won’t hurt you.”

“I know that. I’m just…embarrassed,” she faltered, flushing.

“You shouldn’t be,” he said firmly. “The first intimacy I ever shared with a woman was with you. And your first one was with me. I know what you look like. I’ve seen you every night in my dreams.”

She relaxed a little, sighing as she sank back on the bed. “It’s just new,” she tried to explain.

“Yes, I know.” He brushed his fingertips over a firm breast and watched her shiver with pleasure. “That’s sweet,” he breathed. “That’s so damned sweet, Meredith.”

Her breath sighed out. “Blake…”

“What do you want?” he asked, reading the hesitant curiosity in her eyes. “Tell me. I’ll do anything you want.”

“Could you…unbutton your shirt and let me look at you?” she whispered.

His blood surged in his veins. He flicked buttons open with a hand that was deftly efficient even as he trembled inside with the hunger she aroused. He moved the fabric aside, and when he saw the sheer delight in her eyes at the thick mat of hair over impressive muscle, arrowing down to his jeans, he stripped the whole damned shirt off and threw it on the floor to give her an unobstructed view.

She held out her arms, and he groaned as he went into them, shuddering when he felt her nipples press against his chest as he crushed her into the mattress.

“Blake,” she moaned. Her arms clung and her lips searched blindly for his. She found them and kissed him with all her heart, feeling his mouth tremble as it increased its hungry pressure.

He slid over her. His hands found her hips and urged them up against his, moving them against his rhythmically, letting her experience the full surge of his arousal.

She was whimpering, and he felt his control giving. It would only take another few seconds…

“No!” he bit off. He jerked himself away from her and rolled over, but he couldn’t get to his feet. He lay there doubled up, while Meredith managed to get her trembling arms to support her. But she didn’t touch him. He was shivering and she wanted to cry because she knew it was hurting him that he’d had to stop.

“I’m sorry,” she wept. “It’s all my fault.”

“No, it isn’t,” he said through his teeth. He drew in sharp breaths until he could get himself under control. His body relaxed and he lay there for a long moment, fighting the need to roll over and strip her and submerge himself in her soft warm body.

“I wouldn’t have stopped you,” she breathed.

“I know that, too.” He finally dragged himself up and ran his hands through his damp hair. His eyes darted to her half-clad body, softening as they swept over her full breasts. “Button your top,” he said gently. “Or I’m going to start screaming my head off.”

She managed a shaky smile as she pulled her top together and buttoned it with trembling fingers. “You make me feel beautiful,” she whispered.

“My God, you are,” he returned. His darkened green eyes held hers. “I can’t begin to tell you what those sweet little noises you were making did for my ego. I didn’t know women made noise or looked like that when they made love.”

She searched his eyes. “I don’t understand.”

“Meredith,” he began heavily, “Nina smiled. All through it, all the time. She smiled.”

It took a minute for that to get through to her. When it did, she went scarlet. “Oh!”

“I hurt you, that first time,” he continued. “So I didn’t get any passionate response. I didn’t have any other experience when I married Nina, so I thought women were supposed to smile.” A corner of his hard mouth lifted ruefully. “But now I know, don’t I?”

Her face felt as if she might fry eggs on it. “I couldn’t help it,” she confessed self-consciously. “I never dreamed there was such pleasure in being touched by a man.”

He caught one of her hands and pressed its soft palm hungrily to his mouth. “The pleasure was mutual,” he said, his glittering gaze holding hers. “I almost lost it. You let me hold your hips against mine, and I went crazy.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I should have pulled away.”

“Are you supposed to be superhuman?” he asked reasonably. “I couldn’t stop, either. Together we start fires. I wanted nothing more in life than to feel you under me and around me, skin on skin, mouth on mouth, absorbing me into you.”

She caught her breath and trembled at the words, seeing the quiet pride in his eyes when he realized the effect they had on her.

“I want to make love to you,” he whispered roughly. “Here. Now. On my bed.”

“I can’t.” She closed her eyes. “Please don’t ask me.”

“It isn’t lack of desire. What, then? Scruples?”

She nodded miserably. “You know how I was raised, Blake. It’s hard to forget the teachings of a lifetime overnight, even when you want someone very, very much.”

“Then suppose you marry me, Meredith.”

Her eyes opened wide. “What?”

“We get along well together. You like Sarah. You want me. You’ve got a career, so I know you don’t need my money, and you know I don’t need yours. We could build a good life together.” He searched her shocked face. “I know I’m not the best matrimonial prospect going. I’m short-tempered and impatient, and I can be ruthless. But you know the worst of me already. There won’t be any terrible surprises after the vows.”