Wes’s mouth moved away and she wanted to whimper. Hell, she did whimper.

“Now would be a good time to breathe,” Wes murmured, her lips skimming Evyn’s as she spoke.

“I don’t think I need to,” Evyn whispered. “I think your kiss might be all that’s required.”

Wes laughed and kissed her again. A little bit firmer this time. More certain. Wes’s confidence grew and Evyn lost her grip. Still their bodies remained separated. The few inches of air between them vibrated through Evyn’s clothes and into the heart of her. Wes’s lips were smooth and hot, lush and full. Evyn eased the tip of her tongue forward, seeking just a tiny taste. When she did, Wes moaned deep in her throat and Evyn’s muscles turned to jelly. She sagged against the wall, a groan unlike any she’d ever made escaping her throat. Then Wes’s hands were on her shoulders, pinning her in place.

“Is this all right?” Wes asked, her mouth on Evyn’s throat.

“Oh yeah,” Evyn said. “Really, really all right.” She grasped Wes’s waist, holding her lightly, careful not to disrupt the cotton-towel barrier between them. Wes would take it off if she wanted, and if she didn’t…I’ll probably die. Beneath her fingers, Wes’s body was firm and strong, like her. Evyn ached to touch more. “But what exactly is this we’re doing?”

“Had to do it,” Wes muttered, kissing her way down Evyn’s throat. She’d reached for Evyn thinking she knew what she would find—strength and understanding. She’d been right, but there was so much more. So much more than she’d ever dreamed. Evyn tasted like winter—sharp and tangy—and underneath the wild rush, a sweetness like the promise of spring. Evyn’s pulse raced beneath Wes’s mouth, vibrating with power, drawing her deeper into the mystery that was Evyn. She’d never in her life taken a step she hadn’t planned, and rarely, even in the midst of an emergency, made a decision when she hadn’t anticipated the outcome. Now she was flying blind. Evyn felt too good, sounded too beautiful to turn from while she analyzed, deduced, outlined, and planned. “Don’t know what’s happening, but I can’t stop.”

Evyn tilted her head back against the wall, giving herself to Wes’s mouth. “Then don’t. Please, don’t.”

“There’s something you should know,” Wes murmured, pushing the jacket down Evyn’s arms. She got distracted by the warm, soft skin at the base of Evyn’s throat and left the jacket tethering Evyn’s wrists behind her. “I love the way you taste.”

“Your mouth is so hot.” Evyn rolled her head restlessly from side to side. “You make me burn.”

Wes pulled at the jacket, got it off somehow, and pushed Evyn’s T-shirt up her torso—searching for flesh. She slid her palm over Evyn’s belly and gasped at the quick contraction of muscles beneath her fingers. She loved feeling Evyn’s body respond to her touch. She traced the edge of Evyn’s abdominals with her fingertips, over and over. Evyn bowed under her hand. So beautiful. “You might have to help me out.”

“Doing fine so far,” Evyn said thickly.

“I’m getting into unknown territory here.” Wes lowered to her knees and kissed the strip of skin above Evyn’s jeans. Hot, silky skin. She sucked lightly and eased both hands higher, grazing the undersides of Evyn’s breasts. She’d touched thousands of bodies, but never like this. Never like this.

“God, Wes,” Evyn gasped. “You make me feel so good.”

“I want to touch you everywhere.”

“Yes, yes.”

Wes looked up. Evyn was watching her, her lids hooded, her eyes hazy. Her lips were slightly parted, a little swollen. Her breasts rose and fell rapidly. She had done this to her—she had stirred Evyn’s body with her touch. A wave of awe and power rushed through her and her head went light. “I’ve never felt anything like this.”

Evyn smiled crookedly. “Neither have I.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Evyn’s hands came into her hair. “Just keep doing it.”

Wes rose and pulled the towel from her body. She dropped it on the floor and pressed full-length against Evyn. She kissed her again, deeper, seeking the heat she knew would warm her beyond the icy reach of the water and the terror of the dark and the years of solitude. She pulled back. “You make me warm.”

Evyn laughed. “I want to make you hot.”

“That too.”

“I’d have a better chance if we were in bed.”

“I’ve never done this before.”

The blood rushed from Evyn’s head and her stomach tightened. “Okay. Well. That’s really scary, because you’re really, really good. If it’s all right with you, I’d like you to just keep doing exactly what you’re doing.”

“So would I.”

Evyn took Wes’s hand and tugged her toward the bed. “I want to touch you all over too. With my hands. With my mouth. Can I?”

“Yes. Please. Anything.”

Evyn finally let herself look at Wes. At all of her. She’d been wrong, in her fantasy. Wes was far more beautiful than she’d imagined—her skin a tawny gold, her nipples small tan disks, every muscle sensuous and smooth. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Can we take your clothes off?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that.” Evyn met Wes’s eyes. Now was the time for her to take back control, to lead as she always had. To pleasure from a safe distance. “Why don’t you undress me.” She held her breath and willed her legs to keep her upright.

“This isn’t me,” Wes murmured, opening the top button of Evyn’s jeans. Her fingers trembled. Her hands never shook, not even when she was sliding an intravenous needle into the only remaining vein on some trauma victim, knowing if she missed, she’d lose him.

Evyn’s fingers curled around Wes’s wrists, gently stilling her. “Then maybe you should take a minute.”

Wes looked up so Evyn could see what she knew must be in her eyes—wonder, desire, need. “I’m sorry, I said that wrong. This is more me than anything I’ve ever experienced—I’ve just never done anything without knowing what would happen next. I feel like I’m walking off a cliff.”

“Let’s fall together, then.” Evyn threaded her fingers into Wes’s hair and tugged her mouth close. The kiss was hot, urgent, hungry. “Oh yeah.”

The need kindling in Wes’s stomach burst into flame and she grabbed Evyn’s shirt and pulled it up and off. “I want you under my hands.”

Evyn moaned. She was as tremulous as a virgin, and her first time was so long ago she didn’t remember—but she knew it’d never been like this. She’d never wanted so much to be taken, needed to give herself so completely. “Hurry.”

“I don’t want to,” Wes muttered, her mouth against Evyn’s chest. She kissed the slope of Evyn’s breast, brushed her cheek over the tight peak of her nipple. Evyn moaned again and Wes shook inside. She took a nipple into her mouth and pushed down on Evyn’s jeans.

Evyn’s hands clenched in her hair. “That’s so good. God, Wes, I need you to make me come.”

Wes’s heart leaped into her throat. She couldn’t breathe around the swell of desire, and she didn’t care. She’d live without air as long as she could taste Evyn. She shoved Evyn’s jeans lower. “Off. Get these off.”

Evyn braced her hands on Wes’s shoulders and kicked her boots and pants aside. She pushed Wes back onto the bed. “More. I want your mouth on me more—everywhere. If I don’t come soon my head is going to explode.”

Wes stretched out on top of her, the first press of Evyn’s body sending shock waves rocketing through her. She entwined her legs with Evyn’s, felt the hot caress of skin against her clitoris. Leaning on her forearms, she gripped Evyn’s wrists in her hands, holding Evyn beneath her. She stared into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen, fathomless and vulnerable. “You’re so beautiful. I don’t ever want to move.”

“You better—God, you better.” Evyn arched, her legs tightening around Wes’s thigh. Evyn’s wetness slicked Wes’s skin. “I want to come, so close.”

“Yes.” Wes thrust, watching pleasure flow across Evyn’s face. “We’ll go slow the next time.”

Evyn caught her lip between her teeth as she struggled not to come.

“Don’t hold back,” Wes murmured, pressing harder between Evyn’s thighs, raking her teeth down Evyn’s neck. “I need to feel you. I want to hear you. I need it. Please. Trust me.”

Trust me. Wes asked for so much. Terrifying words. Evyn couldn’t say no. Not now. She wrapped her arms around Wes’s shoulders and pressed her breasts to Wes’s chest. She brushed her mouth over Wes’s ear. “Yes. Yes, please. I can’t…I have to…”

“Now.” Wes groaned at the pleasure flooding through her. “Now, please…With me.”

Evyn cried out and buried her face in Wes’s neck, losing herself for the first time ever.

When Evyn’s fingers dug into her back, Wes let go. She stepped off the cliff not knowing where she would land, only knowing she had to let go or lose something more precious than safety. Soaring, tumbling, exploding, she pulled Evyn to her.

“Fall with me.”

“Yes,” Evyn cried. “Yes.”

Chapter Twenty-two

At five a.m. Blair poured two cups of coffee from the urn the valet had wheeled into Lucinda’s office in the West Wing. A minute later Lucinda walked in. Wordlessly, Lucinda hung her snow-dusted black wool coat on the coat tree just inside the door, draped her scarf over the collar so it hung down along the lapels, and placed one glove into each front pocket. She crossed to her desk and put her overstuffed briefcase on the floor beside her chair. In deference to the blizzard, she wore stylish brown boots beneath her chestnut pants instead of her usual low heels. The hems of her tailored pants were damp—she’d walked a ways in the snow.

Blair placed a coffee cup along with utensils and a small crystal bowl of sugar cubes in the center of the desk. Balancing her own cup and saucer—no mugs in sight—she turned one of the centuries-old stuffed chairs to face Lucinda, sat down, and took a sip of coffee. She closed her eyes for a moment of thanks. The White House kitchen made great coffee. She waited until Lucinda stirred in one sugar cube and took her first swallow. “Morning.”