again.
“Zelda? Why are you doing this?”
“Just living up to expectations,” she replied innocently as she skimmed a finger across his mouth, tracing the outline of his lips.
“Expectations?” he echoed weakly.
“Sure. I’m still wicked, untamed Zelda Lane, right? Daughter of the town’s most eccentric lady.” She emphasized her words with a slow, deep kiss that left them both trembling. She nodded in satisfaction. This was working out rather nicely. She was enjoying herself. So was Taylor, if his dazed expression was anything to judge by. Just to make sure he didn’t get to thinking too hard about what was happening, she kissed him again, molding her mouth to his, teasing his lips with her tongue until the whole world tilted.
When she could finally manage to speak again, she added nonchalantly, “Might as well enjoy myself, right?”
As bemused as he was, as badly as his traitorous body ached for her, Taylor couldn’t ignore the sad, wistful note in her voice. There was a lot of hurt behind that jaunty comment, a hurt he didn’t begin to understand, but which touched him deeply just the same.
It also made him feel like a heel for allowing her to go on this way,
for enjoying it, damn it!
He admitted the latter to himself only after some deep and troublesome soul-searching. He was tempted, all right, tempted to play this scene straight through to the end.
Only the knowledge that they would both hate themselves in the morning—and Caitlin’s inconvenient presence in another part of the house—kept him from giving in to the wild sensations Zelda’s determined touches were arousing in him. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her away, putting a much needed inch or two of space between them. No more, he noticed ruefully. He could still feel the heat radiating from her, still catch a whiff of some subtle, exotic fragrance.
Ignoring the rebellious glint in her eyes, he smoothed her hair back from her face with one hand. He caressed the pale shadows under her eyes, traced the outline of her kiss-swollen lips with his thumb.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
She regarded him with obvious bewilderment. “Sorry? For what?”
“Because you’ve been trying so hard for weeks now to prove what a changed woman you are, and I obviously haven’t been paying attention. That’s what this seduction ritual is all about, isn’t it?”
She regarded him with feigned astonishment. “Well, hallelujah! I’m so glad something finally got through that incredibly thick skull of yours. What was it? The kiss? That certainly couldn’t have been it. You were definitely afraid I was about to have my wicked way with you.”
“Was not,” he said, unable to resist being drawn into the argument. The desire to laugh with sheer exhilaration shimmered just beneath the surface. Terrified of giving in to it, of succumbing to Zelda’s seductive ways, he choked back his amusement.
“Were, too,” she taunted right back. “I dare you to kiss me back.”
Mustering every bit of self-restraint he could, he gave her an impersonal peck on the cheek. A quick, hit-and-run kind of kiss. A meaningless kiss. So meaningless he almost couldn’t stop himself.
“Be careful what you ask for, you wicked little she-devil. You could get it,” he warned.
Zelda sighed so heavily it almost broke his heart. “Not me, Taylor,” she said in a way that expressed resigned acceptance rather than self-pity. “For some of us, nothing comes easy. They tell me it builds character.”
For Taylor, who’d learned all about struggling only after years of feeling blessed, the lesson had done just that. He was a stronger man today than he had been when he’d allowed his father to drive Zelda out of his life. Strong enough to say no to temptation. He couldn’t help thinking, though, that it was too bad that the lesson had come too late for the two of them.
“Be grateful you learned how to fight back at such an early age,” he told her.
“Zelda? Why are you doing this?”
“Just living up to expectations,” she replied innocently as she skimmed a finger across his mouth, tracing the outline of his lips.
“Expectations?” he echoed weakly.
“Sure. I’m still wicked, untamed Zelda Lane, right? Daughter of the town’s most eccentric lady.” She emphasized her words with a slow, deep kiss that left them both trembling. She nodded in satisfaction. This was working out rather nicely. She was enjoying herself. So was Taylor, if his dazed expression was anything to judge by. Just to make sure he didn’t get to thinking too hard about what was happening, she kissed him again, molding her mouth to his, teasing his lips with her tongue until the whole world tilted.
When she could finally manage to speak again, she added nonchalantly, “Might as well enjoy myself, right?”
As bemused as he was, as badly as his traitorous body ached for her, Taylor couldn’t ignore the sad, wistful note in her voice. There was a lot of hurt behind that jaunty comment, a hurt he didn’t begin to understand, but which touched him deeply just the same.
It also made him feel like a heel for allowing her to go on this way,
for enjoying it, damn it!
He admitted the latter to himself only after some deep and troublesome soul-searching. He was tempted, all right, tempted to play this scene straight through to the end.
Only the knowledge that they would both hate themselves in the morning—and Caitlin’s inconvenient presence in another part of the house—kept him from giving in to the wild sensations Zelda’s determined touches were arousing in him. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her away, putting a much needed inch or two of space between them. No more, he noticed ruefully. He could still feel the heat radiating from her, still catch a whiff of some subtle, exotic fragrance.
Ignoring the rebellious glint in her eyes, he smoothed her hair back from her face with one hand. He caressed the pale shadows under her eyes, traced the outline of her kiss-swollen lips with his thumb.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
She regarded him with obvious bewilderment. “Sorry? For what?”
“Because you’ve been trying so hard for weeks now to prove what a changed woman you are, and I obviously haven’t been paying attention. That’s what this seduction ritual is all about, isn’t it?”
She regarded him with feigned astonishment. “Well, hallelujah! I’m so glad something finally got through that incredibly thick skull of yours. What was it? The kiss? That certainly couldn’t have been it. You were definitely afraid I was about to have my wicked way with you.”
“Was not,” he said, unable to resist being drawn into the argument. The desire to laugh with sheer exhilaration shimmered just beneath the surface. Terrified of giving in to it, of succumbing to Zelda’s seductive ways, he choked back his amusement.
“Were, too,” she taunted right back. “I dare you to kiss me back.”
Mustering every bit of self-restraint he could, he gave her an impersonal peck on the cheek. A quick, hit-and-run kind of kiss. A meaningless kiss. So meaningless he almost couldn’t stop himself.
“Be careful what you ask for, you wicked little she-devil. You could get it,” he warned.
Zelda sighed so heavily it almost broke his heart. “Not me, Taylor,” she said in a way that expressed resigned acceptance rather than self-pity. “For some of us, nothing comes easy. They tell me it builds character.”
For Taylor, who’d learned all about struggling only after years of feeling blessed, the lesson had done just that. He was a stronger man today than he had been when he’d allowed his father to drive Zelda out of his life. Strong enough to say no to temptation. He couldn’t help thinking, though, that it was too bad that the lesson had come too late for the two of them.
“Be grateful you learned how to fight back at such an early age,” he told her.
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