Love in Bloom by Karen Rose Smith Page A

that, Clay shook his head.  "Paige, do you know how absolutely enchanting you are?"  He reached for the lapel of his robe and straightened it carefully.
    She cleared her throat.  "It's a little big."
    He slid his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face.  "I've been trying not to touch you."
    She wished he'd run his fingers through her hair again; it felt so good.  But she tried to concentrate on their conversation.  "Why?"
    "Because I know I shouldn't kiss you."
    Her throat tightened.  "Would it be so terrible?"
    He exhaled a huge sigh.  "No."
    "Clay..."
    "When you look at me like that--"  He tilted her head up and bent his.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    The touch of Paige's lips broke Clay's control.  His arms slipped from her face to her back and pulled her closer.  Her kiss was tentative, and for a moment he thought about stopping.  Then she sighed and the idea of his tongue touching hers swept restraint to a back corner of his mind.
    When she raised her arms and threaded her fingers through his hair, he thrust into her mouth, demanding she respond.  Her tongue slid over his then danced around it, inciting fires he'd thought would never burn again.
    The inside of her mouth was seductive satin, the taste of her was as sweet as summer-ripe fruit, the feel of her in his arms created loneliness so deep, he sought to assuage it any way he could.
    He'd intended to kiss her once, lightly, and let her go.  Yes, it would have teased him.  But he knew his own boundaries.  He could tell when easy desire escalated into hungry passion.  And he knew he could stop before the passion took over.
    Before he could have stopped.  Before Paige.  As her tongue feverishly stroked his, the desire flared into passion, and then blazed into a ferocious elemental need.  Clay lowered his hands to her waist, and as their bodies met, even with the barrier of clothes, the universe exploded.  Paige's response changed, becoming almost frantic.  Her fingers massaged his scalp and caressed his neck as she arched toward him.  Could she possibly know what she was doing to him?
    The world tilted.  Reality went berserk.  His mind spun as fast as all his senses.  He was caught between needing and knowing he shouldn't.  There was a threshold he shouldn't cross--one that led to intimacy and truth and heartache.
    Clay knew he'd shut off this kind of passion.  He'd shut off the hunger and yearning in order to make himself an emotionally comfortable life.  Paige had wiped the comfort away.  She'd shaken up his space and he was still trying to put a lid on the effects.  So what the hell was he doing kissing her?
    The kiss was more than it should have been, less than he wished it could be.  Red-hot need laced his body until the desire surging through him aroused him to a height he'd never experienced.  What about Paige reached down inside him, took hold, and wouldn't let go?  She was just a woman.
    Just a woman?  No.  A special woman.  Too vulnerable.  Too caring.  Too...dangerous.  He could lose the simplicity he held on to with both hands.  He could lose himself.  He couldn't take that chance.
    He ended the kiss and lowered his arms.  If he kept holding her, he'd want to hold her forever.  Control wasn't so hard to maintain.  Physical distance led to emotional distance.
    Paige's expression was bemused.  His robe gaped at her breasts and the creamy flesh made his fingers itch.  He longed to touch her.  He backed up.  Physical distance was all he needed.
    "Clay?"
    "What?"  He regretted the sharpness of the question, but he couldn't be tender now, not if he was to keep from kissing her again.
    "Tell me how you feel."
    So honest.  How could he be just as honest and not hurt her?  "I'm sorry I let that happen."
    She looked deflated, disappointed.  "I see."
    No, she didn't, but this is the way it had to be.  "Your clothes should be dry by now.  I'll get them."  He started toward the basement door,