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  “Zachary . . .” Her voice had gone husky. “We made all those resolutions . . .”

  “Very wise of us, too.” His finger slipped into her ear and circled its contours. “Very wise, indeed.”

  She knew just where she’d like those fingers to go next. “We should think of something to talk about, something safe.”

  “Good idea.” The devilish finger moved to outline the rim of her lips. “How about the weather? Looks like snow.” His hand moved over her hair, then cupped the back of her head.

  “Zachary . . .” The pressure of his long, slender fingers awoke cravings that had lain dormant for three years. The tingling currents, still rippling beneath her skin, moved down her body, tickling the hardening tips of her breasts, dipping to tantalize the center of her womanhood.

  “Or maybe we could talk about old times. Do you remember the weekend we spent at my cabin in Vermont? We had snow there, too. Lots of snow, perfect ski conditions. But, as I recall, we never did put on our skis. Or much of anything else.”

  “This isn’t fair . . .” Her hand, against all orders, rose to explore the sculptured elegance of his face.

  “We had that roaring fire and took turns crawling out of the sleeping bag to throw on a log.” His other hand moved to rest on her knee. How could such a simple touch send jolting tremors through her whole body?

  His face was very near hers, those dark, velvet eyes inveigling, caressing. She should pull away, put a stop to this. She tried to force her mind from the indescribable pleasure of the scene he was recounting. Maybe she should try counting sheep now, the ornery little devils might divert her attention. His hand moved, ever so slightly, on her knee, and she had to stifle a gasp. “I don’t think this falls within the guidelines of friendship.”

  His white teeth gleamed in the night lights. “Oh? It seems very friendly to me.” The smile faded. “Oh, Ashley, it’s been so long.” His strong arms pulled her to him as his mouth captured hers.

  Ashley leaned into the kiss with the grateful relief of a lost wanderer finally home. His lips moved hungrily on hers and were met with greedy ardor. She could feel all those wise resolutions melting under the heat of the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She couldn’t believe this was real. Was it, perhaps, one of the nighttime dreams or daytime fantasies that had so often invaded the past few years? Her fingers inched up into the thick, wavy hair, and she savored the feel, soft and clean and so familiar. Oh, this was real, all right, real and so very right. She was finally back in his arms where she belonged.

  He raised his head, just a little, his lips brushing her temple. “Damn.”

  She pulled back, her eyes wide with surprise. “What?”

  “We’re on the street where you live.”

  She giggled. “Oh, how sweet, you’re talking to me in love lyrics! When we get out, will you sing that song to me?”

  His chuckle was low, sexy. “I can promise you one thing: if I did, you’d wish I hadn’t. One thing I do not do well is sing.”

  “It must be the only thing. I can’t recall any others. No, none at all.”

  “Are you flirting with me?”

  “Oh, yes, most definitely.” The cab stopped in front of her building. Ashley glanced down at his arms still encircling her. “Unless you let go, I can’t get out.”

  “That’s the whole idea.” His eyes had the texture of midnight sky, black and mysterious and very inviting.

  “You folks getting out here or what?” The cabbie’s impatient voice broke the mood.

  “Yes, we are.” Zach reached into his pocket and fished out his money clip.

  Ashley took the momentary distraction to counsel herself sternly against inviting him in. “Are you sure you’ll be able to get another taxi?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I can walk.”

  “You might get mugged.”

  He shot her an offended look. “Me? One karate chop and the guy is mincemeat.”

  The cabbie handed Zach his change and accepted his tip. “Thanks. Y’know, I wouldn’t take no chances if I was you. Some’a the guys on the street’re animals.”

  Zach reached across Ashley to open the door. “Thanks for the kind advice, but I’m not worried.” He gave a short chopping motion with his hand. “Believe me, mincemeat!”

  “Okay. S’yer funeral. G’nite.” They slid out and shut the door, laughing as he pulled away.

  Ashley looked up at him reproachfully. “That poor man, I do believe he thought you were serious.”

  One of his black eyebrows rose. “What makes you think I’m not?” He gave the same chop motion, his forehead creased into scowling ferocity. “Mincemeat!” The doorman waited at the entrance, trying to be unobtrusive. Zach motioned toward him with his head. “It’s your move. Aren’t you going to ask me in?”

  Ashley glanced over at the door, then up at the handsome face. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Actually, she thought it was a wonderful idea but was making a last-ditch effort to nudge some discipline into her character.

  “You mean you’re going to leave me out here, alone and defenseless? Don’t you know some of the guys on the street are animals?”

  “What happened to the old ‘chop-chop’ mincemeat number?”

  “It gets very messy, and this is a new suit.”

  The giggles were again threatening eruption. Ashley shook her head in surrender. “I’d almost forgotten your weird sense of humor. Yes, do come in. You may have a nightcap and then call a taxi to take you safely to your hotel.”

  “What a woman. You’re all heart.” As they walked inside, Ashley gave a friendly greeting to the patient doorman. When they entered the elevator, Zach amended his statement. “No, I take that back. There is definitely far more to you than just heart.”

  Ashley pushed the button for the third floor. “Are you flirting with me?”

  “Most flagrantly.” He leaned down to place a kiss on the side of her neck.

  She could almost feel the flesh singeing under the touch of his lips. She counseled herself against letting him inside her apartment. She should kiss him good-night before unlocking the door, assure him she’d call a taxi for him and send him right back down in the elevator. He pulled aside the collar of her coat so he could kiss the sensitive spot just below her ear. The elevator stopped. Ashley looked up into those beguiling eyes and handed him her key. “We shouldn’t be doing this; I think we both know that!”

  He turned the key in the lock, opened the door and stood back for her to enter. “But you’re wrong, Ashley. Don’t you know it’s terrible luck not to offer hospitality to an old friend and even worse luck for the old friend to refuse it?”

  “I never heard of that.”

  “You’d better bone up on your superstitions. It’s far more dangerous than black cats or ladders.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “How did a partner of a prestigious law firm, a man with a high-class social background, ever become such a con artist?”

  “Now see, that question just proves how naive you are. Most of the so-called social elite have at least one robber baron in their ancestry, and everyone knows how shady lawyers are, so on both counts I come by it naturally.” He slid her coat off her shoulders, his fingers leaving hot trails down her arms. While she hung her coat in the closet, he tossed his overcoat on the chair in the entrance hall, glancing around in the process. “My, my, these are much fancier digs than what you used to have.”

  She moved into the living room, acutely aware of his nearness as he followed. “Yes, I know. I still feel more a visitor than a resident. How do you like it?”

  “Well, as my Aunt Phoebe would say, it’s really rather swell. But I have to admit a slight preference for the old place. It seemed so much more . . .”

  “Cluttered?”

  “Intimate was the word I had in mind. But yes, clutter was p
art of its charm.” Zachary moved around the room, looking at the highly polished wood floor, partly covered by a spectacular Navajo Indian rug, the deep-cushioned, pale rose sofa with two chairs in complementary patterns, the wide expanse of sliding glass doors leading out to a small balcony. He stopped by the piano and ran his hand over the smooth surface. “And here is the center of it all. Much more elegant than that little beat-up upright.”

  “Oh yes, I’ll never forget it. It had such a lovely finish — early black-pitted.”

  “It may not have been beautiful, but it did real well by you. I still remember you sitting there, in that crowded corner, plunking out a melody while you set words to it. I always thought how awesome that was, the way the words just flowed out of you in exactly the right sequence. I really admired that ability; it’s quite a talent.”

  She turned and looked at him, surprised. “I didn’t know that — that you admired it. I thought you just resented it.”

  He crossed the room to her and took hold of her shoulders. “Oh, Ashley, what an ass I must have seemed, always jealous of your incredible craft because it was such an insurmountable rival. Of course, I admired it, and I also resented it. I wanted to be the source of your riches. I wanted to give you a beautiful home and your first taste of luxury. I wanted to hand you the world on a silver platter. But that wasn’t the world you wanted. The one you wanted could only be gained by your own talent, and it made me feel so . . . empty-handed. That’s what comes of being hopelessly old-fashioned.”

  The heat from his hands sent streams of warm comfort down her arms. Just having him here, touching her, made her feel completed. “I only wanted one thing from you, Zach. I only wanted your love.”

  “You had that. In fact, you still have it. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. You can love and still have to walk away.”

  “Did you have to walk away?” She stopped and leaned her forehead against his chest. “I’m sorry. We’re getting into old territory we swore we wouldn’t enter.” He kissed the top of her head, which imbued her with a heightened sense of well-being. It had always made her feel protected, secure, and it did now.

  His voice was muffled in her hair. “This seems to be a night for breaking resolutions.” He tipped up her chin. “I’d like to break at least one more.”

  He was so near. His face mere inches away, those firm, tantalizing lips so close. Her whole body signaled its yearning, and as his arms enclosed her, she leaned into the embrace, desperate to close any gaps, to connect completely and irrevocably with him. As soon as his mouth met hers, the last torn remnant of her defensiveness slid away to join the rag pile of sensible vows. Her lips opened, and his tongue slid past them to join a circling, probing, winding reunion with hers. The kiss deepened as they longed for the ultimate closeness.

  “Ashley.” Her name from his lips thrummed through her throat, surged through her pulsing veins to her heart. She rejoiced in the taste of him, wanted to consume and be consumed, to devour and be devoured. She moaned her need for haste, as his fingers moved to the zipper on the back of her dress. Without interrupting the kiss, he slid the suddenly constricting garment off her shoulders, down and down till it dropped to the floor. Frantic to be naked, to be flesh to flesh with him, her shaking fingers moved to his belt, awkwardly undid the buckle, the zipper, pushed at the intrusive pants until they, too, fell.

  Zachary stepped back and quickly shed his clothes while Ashley impatiently kicked off her shoes and took off her slip and panty hose. Within moments, their clothes lay in two heaps on the floor, and they faced each other, he clad only in shorts that betrayed his arousal and she in lace bra and bikini panties.

  His eyes caressed her, inch by inch. “I have held the picture of you in my mind. But it doesn’t compare to the reality.” He reached over to undo the clip and parted the bra to display her full, smooth breasts. “God, Ashley, you’re so perfect.” He leaned over to kiss the top of each curve, then on to gently nip the taut nipples.

  Ashley gasped as shock waves of incredible pleasure careened through her body. How had she lived without this, this exquisite torture? Her greedy hands pushed at his shorts, but their descent was stalled by a significant barrier. As she worked them free, she heard a low growl of reaction from her too-long missing lover. His body was still as magnificent as ever: wide-shouldered and muscular, sinewy, taut and lean. The ruggedly smooth skin with its perpetually lingering tan. She was intoxicated with craving.

  He looked down at her, his eyes smoky with desire. “Where’s the bedroom?”

  She gave a weak wave of her hand. “That way.”

  He grinned, that lopsided smile that gave him such a devilish air. “Shall I carry you, like the triumphant warrior come to collect his due?”

  “Oh, yes.” Her voice was a mere whisper, stilled by the hoarseness of passion. “I’d like to be your prize. I want to be ravished.”

  With a rumbling chuckle, he swept her into his arms with an ease that reminded her of his immense strength, garnered on playing fields and rolling oceans. Everywhere they touched felt tingling hot; the rest of her ached for the warmth. He carried her into her bedroom, over the deep-piled rug to the king-size bed, where he lowered her to the soft quilt cover. His hands moved over her silken body, over each curve, leaving delicious shivers in their wake. He hooked his fingers over the edge of her bikini and eased it off, bending to kiss the triangle that lay revealed.

  Ashley was one seething cauldron of smoldering desire. As Zach stretched out beside her, she turned toward him. “Zachary, I want you so.”

  “My love.”

  A muffled cry escaped her as his lips took her nipple, his tongue sliding and circling, sending spasms of ecstasy streaking through her. His tongue teased, moving back and forth, back and forth, while his talented fingers explored the contours of her form, making their way slowly, maddeningly, to the nub of her need. She felt the danger of explosion when they reached their goal, gently probing, arousing her to a pandemonium of passion.

  She wound her arms around his neck, sighing in pleasure as her palms explored the familiar feel of smooth skin covering hard muscle. Her fingers danced over the short, curled hair on his chest, moved to touch each ridge and ripple of taut muscle.

  When his relentless fingers strayed down to nip the electrified flesh of her thighs then return to the torment of her throbbing core, she reeled under the volcanic burst of her senses.

  “Zachary, Zachary, I need you so.”

  With a low groan, he slid on top of her, his mouth grinding hers with the ferocity of ignited passion. Her mouth opened, wanting total intrusion, offering total submission as her hands slipped downward to enclose the hot shaft of his need. A deep growl accompanied the spasm of his body.

  “Please, darling, please. Now!” There was pleading desperation in her tone.

  He breathed her name deep into her mouth as he entered her, joining love to love, need to need. She felt at once complete, whole. The undulation of their combined bodies, gyrating in rhythm with their quickening pulses, beating harder, faster, until, with a synchronized cry of release, they bucked and arched in the agonizing splendor of climax.

  They lay, totally spent, their breathing slow and satisfied. Although a master of words, Ashley couldn’t possibly have described how she felt at that moment. Such sheer, unadulterated contentment defied simple syllables. Zach shifted his weight slightly, and she whispered, “Umm, that feels good.”

  “Everything feels good. There isn’t a spot on my body, inside or out, that is not sated with pleasure. Oh, my sweet, this feels like heaven. If aery visions in gossamer and wings should flutter by, I won’t be the least surprised.”

  “You’re right, that’s just where we are. And they say you have to die to go to heaven. Should we pass the word that it’s not true?”

  “Uh-uh. If word of this ecstasy got out, crowds would gather, lines would form. It could lead to a riot
. No, we’ll keep it to ourselves, hoarded and safe.”

  “Can you stay right here with me for the night? I couldn’t bear it if you went away. I’m sure I’d plummet straight back to earth, and that’s a very long fall. I shouldn’t think you’d want to be responsible for the injuries.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. But now that you bring it up, of course that’s true. I could never stand to have such a calamity on my conscience, so I’m ready to make the supreme sacrifice of staying right here in your arms.”

  “What a guy.”

  “I’ve always had philanthropic tendencies; they’re bred into my genes.”

  “They’re not the only wonderful things carried in your jeans.”

  He hoisted himself to his elbows and gave her a sardonic scowl of mock disapproval. “Tch, tch. What would your mother say?”

  Ashley laughed. “By this time she’d be far beyond speech.” Her forehead wrinkled in thought. “No, I take that back. As long as it’s you here, indisposing me, she’d probably say, ’Atta girl, Ashley, way to go!’”

  “Your mother is a woman of profoundly good judgment.” He settled back down, his head on the pillow beside hers.

  “True. She was terribly put out with me when I told her I’d broken our engagement.”

  “She wasn’t the only one.” A touch of sadness played through the jesting tone.

  “Zach . . .”

  “What, my love?”

  “Did your parents mind at all? I mean, were they the least bit disappointed, or do you think they were just relieved?”

  His head came up again, his dark blue eyes warm with his love. “Ashley, of course they were disappointed. They’d come to care very deeply for you, and had already mentally added you to the family.”

  “Had they really?”

  “Does that surprise you?”

  She sighed. “I have to admit it does. I’m afraid I never got past being a little intimidated by them.”