“So there are rules,” she persisted, her stomach settling as she deliberately provoked him.

“Well, sure. Even Jack and I have rules with living on the same property. It’s a matter of respect.”

“So no relationship has two men and one woman.”

“Not ours.” He was decisive.

“But there are some,” she persisted. “Because, you know, there might be some advantages . . .”

He held her at arm’s length, looking down at her upturned face. There was laughter in her dark eyes, the distress fading as she teased him. “That isn’t funny.” But it was impossible not to smile when she was smiling.

“You deserved it. You’re an idiot, you know that? Why do you keep thinking I want other men in my life? I don’t even like men. Well,” she corrected, “most men.”

“So you were teasing me just to get a rise out of me.”

“It was easy. You’re too easy.”

“That’s just wrong, Mari,” he said and bent to take possession of her mouth. She tasted of freedom, sweet and fresh like a summer rain. His arms locked her to him, and his mouth moved over hers, tugging at her lower lip, the one that was so full and sexy and drove him wild whenever he looked at her.

“I love looking at you.” He whispered it, but then switched to a much more intimate form of communication, his mind sliding against hers like the melding of one soul into the other. And touching your skin. You’re so soft, baby, and warm.

She couldn’t respond, because he was taking her breath right into his lungs, bringing her body to life with just his mouth and teeth and tongue. He could create a whirlwind that swept her away from her life and into another one filled with love and passion and family. All with a kiss. Ken, with his scars and hidden demons, with his vulnerability and intense heat, was an exciting blend of gentle and rough. How could she ever think to want another man?

Her arms slipped around his neck, and she pressed her body into his, wanting to share his skin, to relieve the fierce tension that always was beneath the calm surface. He made her feel as if she were the only woman in the world, the only one he ever saw or wanted or needed. She returned his kisses, letting his mouth guide hers.

She’d had many sexual encounters—but none of them good until Ken had come into her life, and she had no idea how to really kiss or love someone. She knew the mechanics better than most, but not how to love a man—and she wanted to love this man with everything in her. It was the only thing she had to give him—before she said good-bye.

“What’s wrong?” Ken’s hands framed her face. “Tell me.”

She couldn’t meet his concerned gaze. He’d just been driving her wild with kisses, and she was thinking that she wanted to make this the best time of his life, and yet—for her it would be the worst, knowing she couldn’t stay.

He bent to kiss her again, this time gently, feather-light, a mere brush of his lips against hers. That little rasp of his scar mixing with the softness of his mouth sent wings fluttering in the pit of her stomach. He hadn’t meant it as a sexual overture, she could tell, but whatever his intentions, he’d sent a surge of heat spreading through her body.

“Mari.” He gave her a little shake. “We have to do this together. I don’t want you hiding from me.”

“That’s impossible when you seem to know what I’m thinking all the time.”

“You need to talk to me.”

Mari pulled out of his arms and crossed to the window. “How am I supposed to tell you I feel completely inadequate at this? Especially when you’re kissing the sense out of me.”

To her shock he burst out laughing as he followed her, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her, drawing her back against him. His hands locked over her ribs, the backs of his hands brushing the undersides of her br**sts. She was immediately aware of his erection, thick and hard pressed tightly against her bu**ocks.

“Then we’re both feeling inadequate. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, other than trying my best to seduce you into wanting to stay with me. I don’t know any other way. I want to be good at a relationship, but look how I live.” He nodded toward the window. “I’m a loner. I always have been. Maybe my life was shaped that way out of necessity. I react violently when things go wrong, and it was always better to be in control of my environment. In point of fact, I’m not good at relationships.” He kissed the side of her neck, his mouth lingering there. “But it’s nice to know I can kiss the sense out of you.”

“That’s not true at all, Ken,” she protested. “You’re really good at this.”

“I’m good at sex, Mari—or I used to be—but I’ve never had sex when it really mattered. Not like this. I never knew a man could feel this way about a woman. I can’t imagine ever touching anyone else—or wanting them to touch me. But I’m not any better at relationships than you are. We’ll find our way together, even if we’re fumbling around in the dark for a while.”

“How could I have stayed there so long? There must have been ways for me to find out if Briony was safe.”

“Whitney controlled her just as he controlled you. He just gave her the illusion of freedom. In the end, when her parents stopped cooperating with his plans for her, he sent a couple of his supersoldiers to murder them. At any time during her childhood he could have snatched her back, and probably would have if you had managed to escape. You kept her safe.”

She leaned her head back against his chest. “At least I did that right.”

“Don’t stay for her, Mari. Stay for me.”

His tone was utterly without expression, but the words conveyed pain. There were so many nuances and she knew most people would never understand Ken. He presented one image to the world and dealt with his monsters alone. She knew what that was like and she didn’t want him to be alone any more than she wanted to be alone.

“I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want to see her desperately. She kept me going all those years. Everything I ever wanted, I dreamed she had. I want to get to know her and look into her eyes and know, not just hope, that’s she’s happy, but I came here for you.” She had. That much was true, but the thought of staying terrified her. She had skills, but none of them were needed here.

Ken wanted to believe her, and he wanted to believe she would stay for him as well, but he was beginning to know her and he could tell she was torn. He couldn’t blame her. He would never be able to step aside the way he did with Jack. He would stand in front of her, and she wanted him beside her. She wanted complete freedom, and he would never be able to give that to her.

At that moment she turned her head to look up at him. “You have shadows in your eyes, Ken. Isn’t it strange how Whitney thinks he’s controlling us with his pheromones, but neither of us would feel so vulnerable if it was just that? Somehow our emotions are involved, as if there really is destiny or a higher power and we were made for one another. No matter what he does with his experiments, he can’t factor that in.”

His hand slipped over her hair. “No, he can’t. He’s a very sad, lonely man. He’s driven by his madness, and his inability to figure out why humans react the way they do. He wants robots able to make decisions, but decisions he deems best. No matter how he inserts animal DNA and genetic capabilities, he’ll never find the perfection he seeks.”

“He thinks he’s perfect.”

“He wants to think that,” Ken corrected, “but he knows it isn’t true. The only decent thing he’s ever done in his life is to stay away from Lily. I hope he continues to do so, but he’s broken her heart.”

“He monitors her all the time. He does everyone. He has a file on you, on me, on your brother and Briony.”

“The one thing we have going for us with Whitney,” Ken said, “is that he wants you to have my baby and he wants Briony to have Jack’s. After the children are born, they’ll be high-risk, but until then, he may leave us alone to see what happens.”

She turned around and began to push up his shirt so she could burrow close to his skin. “I wouldn’t know any more about taking care of a baby than I would a husband.”

“Fortunately, we’re both fast learners.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“I don’t know, honey, you got the hang of making love very fast.”

Mari wanted him again, with every nerve ending suddenly alive and screaming for his body, but she pulled back to look at him—really look at him. Ken Norton could break her heart. Ken had somehow managed to creep into her heart—worse, he’d managed to find a way into her soul. Had her reaction to him stayed physical, she would have been all right, but he threatened her on an emotional level that was frightening.

Ken groaned softly. “I can’t let you think for very long or you lose your mind.” Without preamble he dragged her shirt over her head and tossed it aside, leaving her upper body bare to him. His mouth came down on hers, teeth forcing her to open to him, tongue sliding in to dominate and spread a now familiar heat. He didn’t give her a chance to think, but kissed her hungrily, demanding her response and receiving it.

Mari couldn’t prevent the moan of pleasure escaping as his hands cupped her br**sts, thumbs teasing her ni**les into hard peaks of desire. It amazed her how fast her body responded to him. He bent her backward, his mouth greedy as he kissed her over and over.

The taste of him filled her senses and set her on fire. His mouth teased hers, teeth tugging at her lower lip, tongue licking the ache away. Every flaming kiss added to the building of heat in her center, so that she became uncomfortable with the intensity of her arousal. Need built too fast, her muscles contracting painfully, her womb seizing with need. Each time she suckled his tongue, or his danced around hers, she felt the rush of heat spreading, growing, building, until she felt almost wild with need.

His hands tightened possessively on her br**sts, his restrained strength apparent as he massaged the creamy, aching flesh. He pushed her back until she was against the wall, trapped between his body and the hard surface, his thigh sliding between her legs to open her to him. The material of her jeans was too tight and heavy on her body. She wanted it gone.

At once his hands dropped to the zipper and tore it open. He dragged the offending material away from her body, allowing her to kick it aside, taking her panties as well, leaving her na**d while he was still dressed. She realized they had somehow connected, mind to mind. She was feeling his rising lust as strongly as he was feeling hers. They heightened each other’s arousal.

It was an amazingly intimate thing to be able to feel his desperate desire for her. Her body flushed at the things he was thinking, the erotic images in his mind. He pushed her against the wall again, his thigh sliding between her legs, the material rough on her spread thighs. She rubbed against him, the friction sending electrical currents through her womb, up to her br**sts. The heat was vicious, shocking her with its intensity.

“Take your clothes off, Ken.” His thumbs sent lightning streaking through her ni**les. She was going to see to it that this time together was as perfect as she could make it. She shoved aside her doubts and her sorrow and slid her hands under his shirt.

“Not yet. I want to see you this way, na**d and wanting me.” His voice was rough with raw desire. He needed to see her this way, so beautiful in her craving for him, her body soft and pliant, flushed with heat, ni**les erect, mouth swollen, and eyes glazed.

He held her helpless against the wall, his mouth sliding down her throat, his hands exploring her body. Pinned there, her body completely his, she made him feel invincible. Heady with lust and love for her, he was humbled and excited that she trusted him enough after everything that she’d been through to leave herself so vulnerable to him.