A Prince for Jenny by Peggy Webb Page A

need to protect her ... even from himself.
    His silence damned him.
    Jenny put her hands over her face, then balled them into fists and began to pace. He'd never seen this defiant side of Jenny, and he'd never loved her more. She was magnificent, stalking about in the moonlight with her filmy gown swirling around her lovely legs and defining her high, proud breasts.
    "I want truth and pain and real emotions. I want to sleep in the same bed with you, Daniel, and to know everything.'" Only inches away, she stood in front of him, tall and beautiful and so desirable that she took his breath away. Her chin came up and her eyes shot sparks. "I don't want to be treated like a retarded woman."
    Fierce and swift, he closed the space between them and pulled her hard against his chest. Pressed full against her, he felt every tempting curve and every sweet hollow in her body.
    "I never meant to do that, Jenny. Never."
    "Do you want to love me, Daniel, man to woman?"
    "More than you can possibly know."
    "I know, Daniel." To his astonishment and delight, she touched his rigid flesh. It was a fleeting touch, so butterfly soft, he might have imagined it. "Gwendolyn told me."
    Her eyes were so big and blue and innocent that a man could get lost in them.
    "Jenny..." He was determined to be strong, but her slender fingers touched him once more, moving on him as he'd seen them move over a canvas. She had no idea what she was doing to him ... nor what he could do to her. There she was, his beautiful guileless Jenny, imploring him for something he wanted to give her so badly, he hurt.
    "Did she tell you it's dangerous to touch a man there?" Gently he set her hand aside, but there was to be no easy relief for him. She'd set needs in motion that couldn't easily be conquered.
    "I want to be dangerous." Her jaw was set in stubborn lines as she challenged him. "I want a sweaty, tangled coupling, Daniel."
    The words were foreign on her innocent lips. Gwendolyn again, no doubt. Good Lord , he didn't know whether to thank the woman or to shoot her.
    He cupped Jenny's face and ripped it toward his. "Jenny, I want you more than any man has ever wanted a woman, but I was waiting because I wanted you to have everything in its proper order ... a courtship, an engagement, a wedding."
    "I don't want to wait. This is not a ... a whim, Daniel. It's a need. I need you here ... and here." She placed her spread hands over her breasts, then on her abdomen. Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating her lush body.
    Daniel felt as if all the treasure in the world had been laid at his feet. Jenny was freely offering him what he wanted to take. Still, he hesitated.
    Nobility. Honor. Protectiveness. Scruples. For weeks he'd told himself that was why he couldn't make love to her. There was only one reason left, and that was fear.
    With the insight that sometimes comes in the darkness when the day's worries are cast aside and the spirit is free, he realized that he'd postponed a physical union with Jenny because he was afraid. He'd failed too many people. He was terrified of failing Jenny, of not being wise enough and tender enough and strong enough to make the physical side of love special for a very special woman.
    She was waiting for his answer, standing before him with the innate dignity that had captured his imagination from the moment he'd seen her.
    "Daniel, teach me. Please."
    He put a finger over her his. He didn't want Jenny to beg. Not his Jenny.
    "I want to take you to my bed and love you in a way that will banish all your doubts. I want to kiss every inch of your exquisite body and explore all your sweet, secret places. I want to love you, Jenny, not as your teacher, but as an equal."
    Then his beautiful, artless Jenny stepped back and slid her gown from her shoulders. It cascaded to the floor in a silken heap, and she stood, revealed.
    "See?" she said, lifting her breasts. "You do this to me."
    "I want to do more, Jenny." He covered her breasts with his