Heart of Gold by Tami Hoag Page B

listened to the strong, steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. Her fingertips memorized the marble-smooth planes of his back.
    For a long moment they just stood there, bathed in the amber glow of the small hurricane lamp on the nightstand. Faith felt as if she were drawing strength from Shane, even though he had to have precious little to spare. The past few days had worn her down to nothing. Between dealing with threats and intrusions and Lindy’s chicken pox and Shane’s fever, she had depleted every milliliter of energy she had. But standing there with Shane’s arm around her and her arms around him, she felt her power level rise.
    “I’ll be all right,” she said, managing a smile as she looked up at him.
    The impact of his gaze was like a physical blow that knocked the wind out of her lungs. His silver-gray eyes captured hers with a stare that was intense and predatory and possessive and so very basically male, everything feminine inside her responded. In that instant all the complications of their situation seemed to fall away, leaving just the two of them, just a man and a woman and a desire that was not to be denied.
    Shane’s mouth swooped down, trapping Faith’s, taking hers in a kiss that was surprisingly tender, but barely tame. She let herself be swept along on the tide of passion as his tongue swept against hers. His fingers tangled in her hair as he tilted her head, giving him a better angle so he could deepen the kiss even more.
    It was incredible how quickly and powerfully he could arouse the dormant woman inside her, Faith thought dimly, the woman her husband had never really wanted, the woman who had longed for love and passion. The needs of that woman caught fire like dry tinder touched to flame. Her body molded herself to his powerful frame, seeking total contact. Her breasts swelled against the steel of his chest. His good arm banded around her waist, lifting her and pulling her against his arousal.
    Desperation and desire swirled together inside Faith like a whirlpool. She had waited a lifetime to feel what she was feeling now with Shane Callan, but once the danger had passed, he would be gone, and she would be left with a lifetime to wish she’d never laid eyes on him.
    Shane was fighting his own inner battle. He knew to get too close to Faith Kincaid emotionally would be disastrous for both of them. Circumstances dictated that he offer her nothing but protection. Still, he had never known such a fierce desire to possess.
    “I want you,” he whispered against her lips, simplifying the problem to the lowest common denominator. The ache of his need was not going to lessen. Their circumstances were not going to change. The only solution was to draw a line—satisfy the physical desire, safe in the knowledge that neither would ask for anything more from the other.
    Faith didn’t have to hear the words to know what Shane was proposing. He wasn’t the kind of man to make empty promises. He wasn’t talking about love, but sex. For her there would be no separation of the two. As much as she wished she weren’t, she was in love with him. She wanted him, but she wanted his heart as well as his body. And while he stood nearly naked in the circle of her arms, more than ready to make good on his claim, she knew his body was all he was willing to give her.
    “I don’t know if I can deal with this,” she said, deciding to take the coward’s way out for the moment. She stepped out of his embrace, immediately feeling cold and alone. “You should go back to bed. You need your rest.”
    “That’s not my only need. What about you, Faith? A woman has needs too.”
    How true, she thought. She had physical needs, needs that had long been neglected, needs that seemed to double and triple when she was in the same room with him. At this very moment her whole body was throbbing with the need he aroused in her. Her breasts swelled for his touch. The feminine core of her ached with an emptiness she wanted