Nora by Diana Palmer Page A

could see his shirt jerkingwith the hard beat of his heart, and it thrilled her. She pressed her hands against the shirt, smoothing them over hard, warm muscle through the fabric. She loved the touch of him.
    He barely heard her for the thunder of his heart. He stopped pushing as he felt her breath on his mouth, teasing, tempting. The warmth of her body, the scent of her, made him so hungry that he could hardly stand straight. Would it be so terrible to give in to what he was feeling, just this once? He groaned as the need caught him up in its fervor. Her mouth was so soft, so sweet. He had to have it!
    â€œEleanor,” he whispered huskily, bending. “Oh, God, Eleanor…!”
    Even as he spoke her name, she pushed her lips upward against his firm mouth and made a tiny sound, deep in her throat.
    He groaned, lost to everything except the softness of her in his arms. He lifted her against him and riveted her slender body to his in an intimacy she’d never shared with anyone except him. The feel of his powerful body so close to hers made her reckless and she clung even closer, loving the experienced crush of his hard mouth over her soft lips.
    His head spun while he kissed her and kissed her in the silence of the barn. He kissed her until he felt her tremble like a leaf, and then his mouth was briefly cruel because of the fever she raised in him. But eventually she stiffened a little and moaned, and he realized that he was bruising her.
    He loosened his hold enough to let her feet touch the ground, but her mouth clung to his lips even then.
    â€œDon’t stop,” she pleaded, her legs shaking as she held to him to keep her balance. Her face hung just under his, yielded and worshipping, her swollen lips parted and faintly red.
    â€œDon’t tease,” he said unsteadily. “You know how dangerous it is.”
    â€œDo I?” she asked dazedly. “But I only want to kiss you,” she whispered. “Please, just a little while longer…”
    â€œEleanor, you must stop this!” He dragged her hands down from his neck and stood gasping for breath, fighting the specter of uncontrollable desire.
    â€œDon’t you want to kiss me?” she asked, confused.
    He ground his teeth together. How could he confess to her that he was dying to have her? That his body ached to bury itself in the warm innocence of hers, that his hands longed for the naked softness of her breasts and her belly and her legs!
    â€œYou try me too far,” he ground out. Perspiration beaded his broad forehead. He pressed her hands to the front of his shirt and held them there. “Eleanor, go back inside. This is not the hour for us to speak of personal matters. What would your aunt and uncle think if they saw us now, like this?”
    She was barely able to think at all. But it occurred to her at once that they would blame him, accuse him of trying to seduce her. He would suffer, notshe. No one would believe that she had deliberately tempted him.
    She managed to step back from him, her body hungry for the pleasure she had to deny it. “Oh, I am sorry,” she said miserably. “I didn’t stop to think. You were angry with me, and I wanted you to know that it was Aunt Helen who forbade me to dance with you.”
    He moved back a step as well, his tall body faintly unsteady as he realized how close to the edge they’d stepped. He’d never been quite so vulnerable before, and he was no novice. She certainly didn’t kiss like one, he thought. He was more curious about her experience than ever before.
    It was more than possible that she was playing with him, as she’d played with Greely. It might even be a game to her, seeing how far she could push him. After all, he knew that she was well aware of what she presumed was the difference in their social status. If she wasn’t just a tease, why was she permitting him these liberties when she knew her aunt and uncle would