Her eyes darted over him and she looked away quickly as the heat grew in her face, but he turned her eyes back gently.

“I’m not a monster,” he said softly. “I’m just a man. Flesh and blood, like you. There’s nothing to be frightened of.”

She managed not to look away this time, and after the first shock, she found him beautiful, in a very masculine sense. He was looking, too, his eyes reconciling sweet memories of her five years ago with the reality of today.

“You’ve blossomed,” he said after a minute, and there was no masculine mockery or teasing in his tone. It was deep and soft as he searched over her swollen breasts, her flat stomach, the curve of her hips, the elegant sweep of her long legs. “You’re much more pleasing to my eyes than the Venus, Meredith,” he said huskily. “The sight of you knocks the breath right out of me.”

Her breath caught at the emotion in his voice. “You make it sound so natural,” she said with faint curiosity.

“Isn’t it?” he asked. His green eyes searched her soft gray ones. “We made love. I know your body as well as I know my own. We touched in more than just the conventional way, and you’re part of me now. Isn’t it natural that I should want to see the lovely body I’ve known so intimately?”

She colored, but she smiled. “Yes.”

“And to answer your other question, Meredith, no, I don’t think you’re easy.” He smoothed back her dark hair and his eyes slid over her face. “We both knew it wasn’t going to be a casual encounter. I knew you were a virgin.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the palm tenderly. “We’re going to get married and spend the rest of our lives together. That’s the only reason I didn’t pull away from you. If sex had been all I wanted, I could have had it long before now, and I wouldn’t have seduced you in cold blood for my own pleasure.”

She searched his darkened eyes. “It isn’t just because of Sarah that you want to marry me, is it? Or just because you wanted me—”

He stopped the words with his mouth. “You talk too much. And worry too much. I want to marry you.” He lifted his head. “Don’t you want to marry me?”

Her eyes softened. “Oh, yes.”

“Then stop brooding.” He got up, stretching lazily while she watched him with shy fascination. He dug in his chest of drawers and pulled out a set of navy silk pajamas. He tugged the bottoms up over his hard-muscled legs and snapped them before he carried the pajama top to the bed, lifted Meredith into a sitting position and eased her arms into the sleeves.

“It’s economical to share these,” he murmured dryly when her eyes asked him why. “I used to sleep raw, but I have to wear something now that Sarah’s here. Except that I never wear the tops.” He looked down at the soft thrust of her breasts, swollen and dark tipped in the aftermath of passion. He bent slowly and brushed his lips over them, tautening as the tips went hard involuntarily. “I’ve never felt more like a man than I feel when I touch you,” he said roughly, his eyes closing, his brows knitting in the most exquisite pleasure.

She held his dark head against her, loving the feel of his warm mouth. “Are we going to sleep together?” she asked.

“We have to,” he murmured, sliding his lips slowly over her breast. “I can’t let you go.”

She slid her arms around his neck as he lifted his head. “But, Sarah…”

“Sarah will be the first to find out we’re going to be married,” he murmured. “I’ll get the license. We can have a blood test on Monday morning and the service two days later. Will that give you enough time to close out your apartment in San Antonio and change your mailing address?”

“Yes.” She was breathless with his impatience, but not irritated. She wanted to live with him, and the sooner the better, before he woke up to what he was doing and changed his mind. She couldn’t bear it if he’d only proposed in the heat of the moment.

He read that fear in her eyes. “I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not going to back out at the last minute or decide that I’ve satisfied my hunger for you and I don’t need you anymore. I want you, Meredith,” he emphasized. “I want to live with you, and not in some modern way with no ties and no legal status. To me, living with someone involves a thing called honor. It’s a lost word in this society, but it still means a hell of a lot to me. I care enough to give you my name.”

“I’ll try to be a good wife,” she said solemnly. “You won’t mind if I just sit and stare at you sometimes, will you?”

He searched her eyes quietly. “Do you love me?”

Her lips trembled and she averted her gaze, focusing on his bare chest.

“All right. I won’t force it out of you.” He brought her forehead to his lips, his chest swelling with the knowledge that she did love him, even if she wouldn’t admit it. He could see it in her eyes, feel it in her body. Apparently love could survive the cruelest blows, because God knows he’d hurt her enough to kill anything less. He closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek against her soft dark hair. “I’ll take care of you all my life,” he promised. “Don’t be afraid.”

She trembled a little, because she was. Afraid that he didn’t care enough, that he might regret his decision. He might fall in love again someday with someone else like Nina, and what would she do? She’d have to let him go….

It was happening so fast. Almost too fast. She hesitated. “Blake, maybe we should just get engaged…” she began worriedly.

He lifted his head and searched her eyes. “No.”

“But—”

He put a long finger over her lips. “Do you remember what we said to each other when we came in here? About precautions?”

She colored. “Yes.”

“Marriage and children are synonymous to me,” he said quietly. “I think they are to you, too. I’m illegitimate, Meredith. I won’t let my child be called what I was.”

She sighed. “Does it really bother you so much?”

“I’d like to know who my father was at least,” he replied. “Half my heritage is lost forever, because I have no idea who he was or what his background is. I can’t tell Sarah anything about him. She’ll ask someday.”

“She’ll understand, too,” she replied. “She’s a very special little girl. She’s so much like you.”

His green eyes searched hers. “We could have another daughter,” he said. “Or a son.”

She held her breath while he touched her flat stomach under the long open pajama top. Her heart went crazy when he looked down, watching the tips of her bare breasts harden helplessly.

She tried to pull the fabric together, but he caught her hands and held them gently.

“No,” he said. “You can’t imagine the pleasure it gives me just to see you like that.”

Her breath sighed past her parted lips. “It’s hard.”

“I know.” He lifted his eyes back to hers, searching them in a long, static silence. “It was for me, too, believe it or not. But I let you look at me, and I wasn’t embarrassed.” He smiled faintly. “I couldn’t let Nina.”

She reached up and touched her lips to his. “I’m glad,” she said huskily.

He pulled her against him, nudging the pajama top out of the way so that her breasts brushed slowly against his hair-roughened chest, and she caught her breath with pleasure at the exquisite friction.

“We’ve got a lot to learn about this,” he said softly. “We can learn it together.”

“Yes.” She touched her mouth to his throat, his collarbone. He took her head and guided her lips to his own nipples, groaning at the pleasure that shot through him when he felt the moist suction of her mouth.

“God, that feels good!” he ground out, forcing her mouth closer.

“Let’s take our clothes off and experiment some more,” she suggested brazenly, teasing him for the first time.

It delighted him. “You hussy!” he accused, and tugged her head up. His eyes were playful, and his face had never looked less hard.

“You started it,” she pointed out, smiling back.