Mattie gasped as his hands gently rested against the soft inside of her thighs, allowing him unfettered access to the honeyed moistness of her femininity.

Then his tongue was playing games with that small bud, flicking across it until she wanted to scream with the exquisite agony that wanted release. Every so often, when he had taken her to the brink, he pulled back, waited for sensation to subside before starting again, tasting her, licking her, sending her to another planet, one she had never visited before.

Was it because he had had to wait for her to come to him that he felt so wildly and uncontrollably turned on? Dominic had no idea. Just looking at her, lying supine on the bed in all her glorious nakedness, had given him such a powerful charge that he had been momentarily bereft of thought.

And now, tasting her, feeling her move under him…

He eased his long body up and swivelled her so that she was lying on top of him. Her breasts dangled provocatively by his face and he captured one nipple in his mouth and sucked hard even as she sank neatly onto him, a tight, warm fit, moving with a perfect rhythm that matched his.

Their bodies were attuned to one another. United, as one, and when they finally soared upwards they soared there together in a shuddering orgasm that left him shaking.

Mattie collapsed onto him with a little sigh and eventually rolled off so that they were lying next to one another, then she turned to her side and propped herself up on one elbow so that she could look at him.

She could have feasted her eyes on him forever. Then she reminded herself that never was not a word that existed in her vocabulary, at least not when it came to him. Nor was it one she would give house room to. Young she might be, but stupid she most certainly wasn‟t.

Dominic turned so that they were looking at one another, and he gently pushed her hair back, then pulled her onto him, tucking her head just under his chin so that he could kiss her fine blonde hair.

„I suppose I should be thinking of heading back home,‟ Mattie eventually said. She made a few circles on his chest with her finger, then delightedly traced the outline of his nipple.

„Why?‟

„Because it‟s usually where I spend the night?‟

„Usually?‟

„Well, always.‟

„There‟s no need for you to go back there,‟ Dominic told her, and Mattie laughed.

„What, you mean ever?‟

She was teasing, he knew that, but even so the throw-away remark provoked a thought that flashed across his mind like a shadow, leaving as quickly as it had come, too quickly for him to reach out and take hold of it to analyse.

Dominic frowned slightly. „I mean…‟

„Don‟t worry, Dominic. I know what you mean.‟ Mattie‟s voice was dry but the reply was very quick and very unequivocal. She attempted to sit up and he tightened his grip so that she snuggled back down against him.

„Frankie‟s not there. All that‟s waiting for you is an empty house. Why go back there tonight? You can stay here, share my bed with me.‟ His voice was husky. „I may be an old man but my stamina would surprise you.‟

„You‟re not an old man. How old are you anyway?‟

Old enough to be cynical, Dominic thought. „Thirty-four.‟

„Ten years older than me,‟ Mattie said lazily. „The…‟ The perfect age gap, she nearly said, and then caught herself in time. Now, that would have been a dangerous observation, and she couldn‟t figure out why she would have made it anyway. „The age when most men are married off,‟ she amended. „Aren‟t your parents frantic for you to be settled and having a few grandchildren for them to coo over?‟

„Frantic is a strong word. These aren‟t the Dark Ages any more.‟ His voice was laced with amusement. „Keen, might be a better adjective. I‟m an only child. My father would like to see something being done about the blood-line continuing and my mother thinks that I need a woman to anchor me. From my past experiences, I can say with my hand on my heart that anchoring is the last thing a woman has managed to achieve for me.‟

Hence the perfection of their situation, Mattie thought. He had laid his cards on the table with her and now he could relax, safe in the knowledge that she wasn‟t going to pursue what was unattainable.

Which left her feeling just a little depressed.

„How is it that you didn‟t marry that boyfriend of yours?‟ Dominic asked. When he looked down, he could see the smooth line of her thigh curving across his and the push of her soft breast against his chest. He felt a moment of complete and pleasurable peace.

„Oh, just never got around to it,‟ Mattie said airily. „These aren‟t the Dark Ages, you know.‟ She threw his cliché back at him and felt the rumble of his laughter under her. It was a good feeling. Too damned good. „We ended up living together but then things weren‟t right between us. It would have been wrong to marry. My parents weren‟t overjoyed at us living together, of course, but they didn‟t press the issue.‟

„Perhaps they knew that he was wrong for you and were happy to wait for you to come to your senses.‟

„I‟d never thought of that before,‟ Mattie said slowly then she shrugged. All this talk of marriage made her feel as if she was somehow, without realising it, standing on quicksand. In a minute, she could start sinking. „Anyway, I really must go.‟ She pushed herself up and laughed when she saw the startled expression on his face, quickly followed by irritation.

„You still haven‟t explained why.‟

„And I don‟t have to.‟ She stood up and looked around her, then spotted her clothes, which she began walking towards.

From his position on the bed, Dominic followed her progress and tried to stifle his massive frustration at her leaving. Shouldn‟t it be the other way around? he thought, scowling.

Shouldn‟t the man be edging the woman away instead of the woman striding towards her clothes as if speed was now of the essence?

„I‟ll drive you back,‟ he grated, pushing back the rumpled bedclothes. „And before you launch into a speech about being perfectly capable of getting a taxi back to your house, forget it.

I‟m dropping you home and seeing you safely to your door.‟

Mattie paused and smiled sweetly. „A lift back would be much appreciated.‟

„Quite unnecessary,‟ Dominic continued to grumble, as they took the lift down and then walked out into the night air towards his car. He slung his arm around her shoulders and she linked her fingers through his. „What‟s the point of having freedom if you don‟t utilise it?‟

„By which you mean, accommodate you whenever necessary?‟ She disentangled herself so that she could slip into the passenger seat of his car, and buckled herself in.