The Lady and the Lion by Kay Hooper Page A

pulsing movements of his biceps, then his shoulders, and finally his face. He was looking down at the bubbles that hid the body he was touching, his expression taut and eyes narrowed. She loved that look. It was fierce and hard, primitive in a way that touched some cord deep inside her.
    Maybe that was it indeed, she thought dimly. The reason. He was unlike any other man she'd ever known, and the vitality in him, the intensity was so strong and honest, it touched a part of her no one else had even come close to. When he was like this, his hands on her, it was as if her whole body understood an immutable truth that her mind was accepting only now. She was his. She was connected to him, belonged to him, on some instinctive, ancient level where language was only emotion.
    Erin made a soft, almost inaudible sound, and his hands stilled as he looked at her face. Then, without a word, he reached for the bar of soap lying on a ledge near the faucet. She hadn't been aware of the passage of time, but realized now that the bubbles had begun dissolving and that the water had cooled to lukewarm. She didn't want to move. Her skin tingled warmly from the heat of the bath and his touch, and though she thought she should probably protest his obvious intention to bathe her because it didn't seem quite right that he should do it, she couldn't summon the energy.
    Keith flipped the lever that would slowly drain the water from the tub, then worked up a lather in his hands and set the soap aside. Beginning with her slender feet, he slowly worked his way up her legs, caressing and massaging more than anything else. He had meant this interlude to be relaxing, but should have known, he acknowledged silently, that he couldn't have his hands on her without going crazy.
    A tall woman, she was so perfectly proportioned that her body was almost delicate. And she was revealed to him slowly as the water around her drained away, her golden flesh glistening in the soft light. He couldn't take his eyes off her, and his hands were reveling in the slippery exploration. He stroked the slick lather from her feet to her chin, moving so slowly that he was torturing himself. He saw her breathing quicken, watched her nipples tighten as his hands swirled the soapy foam around them, felt her stomach quiver and contract beneath his touch.
    His heart was pounding so heavily that his chest ached, and when she made a soft little sound as his fingers slid between her legs, his own desire ran like fire through his body. He felt as if he was being taken apart, cell by cell, and wouldn't be whole again until he lost himself in her, surrounded himself with the warmth of her. He retained just enough control to reach for the hand-held shower attachment and turn it on, waiting seconds for the water to reach the right temperature. Then he began rinsing the soap off her rosy body.
    He heard her murmur his name, her sweet voice husky with desire, and wondered dimly how such a simple sound could affect him so powerfully. It was like being touched by a live wire, an electrical current shooting through him. He wondered it he really was going out of his mind.
    He didn't care.
    The instant the last of the soap swirled down the drain, he turned the water off and lifted her out of the tub, setting her on her feet on the mat and reaching for a towel. He dried her warm body blindly, because his mouth was on hers, and he probably missed a few spots because he was in a hurry, but she didn't utter a word of complaint as he carried her to their bed.
    Erin opened her eyes slowly, reluctant to abandon a very pleasant dream but nagged by the internal clock that told her she had overslept. She was curled up against Keith's hard body with her cheek resting on his chest, and both his arms were around her. She liked that. A lot. Sunlight flooded into the room through the large window, and the covers were drawn up around them snugly. Only the soft hum of the air conditioning disturbed the peaceful