Her eyes were huge on his. “What?”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re still in the driver’s seat. I know how important that is to you.”

He’d been only teasing, but she frowned, seriously considering. “I’m okay. I think.” She looked at him. “More.”

“Mmm. Aggressive.” He stroked his hands down her hips, past her thighs, to the hem of her skirt, then skimmed them back up again, beneath the material now, to…ah, those legs. At the feel of lace, then soft, bare thighs, he groaned.

She squirmed and looked defensive. “They’re more comfortable then regular nylons.”

“Thank God for comfort.”

“And they don’t seem to snag like the others-”

“And thriftiness, too.”

“They’re very practical, you know.”

He laughed. “You can’t be thinking I don’t like them.”

“I-You do?”

“I do. Is it okay that they turn me on?” He had to laugh again when she considered.

“Why don’t you just enjoy the reaction you’re getting from me…?” He slid his hips to hers and lowered his lips to her ear. “Feel what you do to me.”

She gripped him tight and nodded.

“More, Amber?”

“Yes, please,” she whispered politely, making him crack up again. He’d never in his life laughed while trying to get a woman naked. He liked it. And her. Very much.

“Still so in control…” He continued to stroke her, determined to shatter her restraint. “Touch me back,” he urged.

Her hands slipped beneath his shirt, streaking over his bare back. “Dax-” Her hips undulated against his. “Where’s my more?”

That needy, whispery voice nearly brought him to his knees. “Here.” His voice was rough. “Skin to skin this time, I want to feel you, all of you.”

Apparently in agreement, she tore off his shirt, then sucked in her breath. “You didn’t tell me how beautiful you are.” Her fingertips slid over his chest, her eyes wide with awe.

“Not like you.” He had his own ogling to do now as he undid the buttons on her blouse, then slid it down to her elbows. At the sight of her, he let out his own shaky breath, then bent to her. “Oh, baby, not like you.” Opening his mouth against her, he scattered hot little nips over her quivering skin. “Amber…you still okay?”

“What?” Dazed, she lifted her head, her arms still trapped by her blouse.

Through the white lace of her bra, her nipples were puckered and begging for attention, which he intended to give. “I asked if you were all right. You didn’t want to lose yourself, remember?” Cupping her breasts, he let his thumbs glance over the tips, back and forth as her eyes glazed over. “I don’t want to take this further than you want.”

“I…” She closed her eyes when he continued that movement with his thumbs, then slid her hands up around his neck, and squeezed him so he could scarcely breath. “I’m fine. Just don’t stop.”

He might have grinned, but he was having trouble with his breathing. The feel of her in his hands…

“Give me my more, Dax.”

Laughing softly he tugged her shirt completely off. Hunger and need pumped through him. It wasn’t comforting to realize that he would be only partially sated by making love with her tonight.

The fire was roaring, warm and enticing, and they sank to the thick rug in front of it. He expected some hesitation when he opened his arms, but she came right into them, fitting there as if she belonged forever.

Forever.

What a thought. He’d never believed in forever, at least not for himself. “Still okay?” he asked, running a finger down her body.

She sucked in a breath when he slid off the rest of her clothes, then his. “Yes.”

“Just wanted to make sure.” He played with her belly button, her hipbone, then her inner thigh, which had her letting that air back out again, through her teeth. When he lingered there, she made that needy little whimper deep in her throat. “You’re still in control, right?”

“Dax?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

He grinned, then leaned over her.

The kiss was long, wet, hot and left him aching for more. Levering himself up on his forearms, he cupped her face. “I want you, Amber. Want me back.”

She arched up. “Yes.”

He felt the wetness between her legs which she spread to accommodate his, but he needed the words. “Tell me.”

She licked her dry lips and writhed against him, encouraging him to sink inside her, still saying nothing.

“Tell me.” He stroked himself against her and her eyes went opaque.

“I want you, Dax.”

He had a second to wish she’d said she needed him, but his body was hard and pulsing, poised for entry and aroused beyond the point of no return. When she reared up and hugged him to her, his heart squeezed.

“I have a condom this time,” he said hoarsely, and when he finally managed to get it on, he drove them straight to paradise.

AMBER STIRRED first. Her body was a stranger to her, languid and lazy and newly tender in spots she’d almost forgotten about.

Oh, and she was wrapped in warm, solid arms.

It was still dark. Dax lay beside her, his breathing slow and deep and even.

For one weak moment, she let herself sink into him, into the heat and warmth and joy of his big body, enjoying the feeling of being secure and cared for.

In that moment she didn’t have to be strong, she didn’t have to be in charge, and she reveled in the letting go.

But she didn’t fool herself; it couldn’t last.

In the end, she had only herself to depend on. No matter how much Dax insisted he wanted to be there for her and Taylor, she could see fear lurking deep in his gaze.

A fear that matched hers.

He’d been so right, she thought, her heart hitching. There was no road map when it came to matters of the heart, no directions to follow.

And God help her, she was hopelessly lost.

10

WHEN DAX WOKE UP the next morning, he had an armful of warm, naked woman, a raging erection and a grin on his face.

“I could get used to this,” he murmured, turning, tucking Amber beneath him. They were in her bedroom, in her bed. He’d carried her there himself sometime during the middle of the most erotic night of his life.

As her eyes fluttered open, he made his move, swooping down to take her mouth before she could utter a word. A sensuous, sleepy murmur escaped her throat and she rubbed languidly against him, returning his kiss with such heat and passion he groaned.

At the sound, she went perfectly still.

Dax raised his head. “Hey there.”

She blinked slowly, looking confused, her usually perfect hair wild and willful.

Because he couldn’t help it, he went for that creamy skin at the base of her neck. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?” he asked.

She lay sprawled and gorgeous, a feast for his eyes. While he nibbled at her neck, his fingers found a velvety nipple that quickly responded to his touch. “Mmmm. You taste better than breakfast.”

Her eyes closed again, her head fell back. Her breath came in little pants, quickening when he switched to her other breast. He took his time there, as well, and skimmed a hand down her belly and lower. Finding her deliciously hot, and so wet he moaned, he sank a finger into her. He played in and out of that slippery heat, his eyes crossing with lust when she clamped her legs around his hand, holding him to her.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised, kissing her lips, her jaw, her ear. He took the sensitive lobe into his mouth and bit gently as his fingers danced over her.

She arched up into his palm, whimpering every time he withdrew. “Yeah,” he whispered. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Dax?”

“I’m right here, Amber. Always.”

Her eyes flew open again. “Dax?”

Hadn’t they already established that? “Still me.” He rose up on an elbow to study her. “Amber, are you awake?”

Again that slow blink. “I had this dream that we…” She licked her lips. “I guess it wasn’t a dream.”

She was adorable, he decided, slowly shaking his head. And most definitely not a morning person. “Not a dream.”

She groaned.

“Regrets?”

“I don’t feel comfortable with this type of a relationship.”

“You felt comfortable enough during the night,” he pointed out. “Three times, in fact.”

She blushed and looked away. “Five,” she muttered.

“Well then…” He grinned. “Why don’t we go for an even dozen?” But when he leaned close with wicked intent, she put a hand to his chest.

He sighed and sat up. She had the entire sheet-who knew what had happened to the rest of the bedding-which left him stark naked, but he didn’t care. “You still have a problem with us.”

She darted him a glance. “When you say ‘us’ like that, it makes me nervous.”

“Join the club.”

“You don’t look nervous, you look…” She paused, and in an unusually revealing gesture of vulnerability, she bit her lower lip. “You look hungry. As if you could eat me up for breakfast.”

“In one bite.”

“We’re very different,” she said softly. “I need time to think.”

“No, you need time to control your emotions. To distance yourself from me. It really scares me how easily you can do that.”

“And it scares me how much of me you see, how much you understand.”

“Yeah, I understand you. Maybe someday you’ll understand me back.”

Eyes stricken, she opened her mouth, but Taylor chose that moment to cry out.

“She’s my alarm clock,” Amber said with a shaky laugh. She still held the sheet to her chin, and somehow managed to get out of the bed and keep herself covered. “She’ll need to be changed and fed. I’m sorry, Dax.”

It was beyond him how she could look as ravaged and luscious as she did, yet so prim and proper at the same time. The heady combination threatened his sanity. “I’m sorry, too.”