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  “You’d never…” Dane let the words trail off, as if whatever he’d been about to say was somehow wrong.

  “No, I’d never do what Lorna did,” Annie said. “But then, I don’t have a family history of mental illness and I didn’t have to grow up with the memory of finding my mother’s body after she’d committed suicide.”

  “It was unfair of me to compare the two of you,” Dane told her.

  “Like comparing apples to oranges.”

  “Two Southern-bred women from similar backgrounds,” Dane said. “But nothing alike. No more alike than your ex-husband and I.”

  “I know I was wrong thinking you and Preston were two peas in a pod,” Annie admitted. “You’re far more than a gentleman, Dane Carmichael—you’re a good man.”

  Her arms opened of their own volition, in an invitation to come and find solace within her embrace. She noticed the indecision on his face, the uncertainty in his eyes.

  Annie held her breath and waited.

  Dane came forward, slowly, hesitantly, as if he were unsure of himself and of her. When he was only a couple of feet away from her, he stopped, and she somehow knew that he was trying to resist the lure of her comforting arms.

  Then suddenly, he reached for her, slipped his arm around her and tenderly eased her up against him. Leaning down, he nuzzled her neck. “You smell so good, honey.”

  She held him close, savoring his nearness, accepting the gift of his trust. “I need you, too,” she whispered, and gave herself over completely to the moment.

  He clung to her, breathing in the scent of her, taking strength from her as he’d never done from any other woman. Knowing that he was safe with Annie. He could find peace in the haven of her body. A passion that could soothe. A gentleness that could inflame.

  He kissed her neck, then moved lower to her chest, seeking her breast. He suckled her through the thin silk of her robe. Her nipple beaded instantly.

  “Dane,” she sighed.

  He backed her away from the windows, his hands fondling her, his mouth devouring hers. He jerked the towel from her head and tossed it to the floor. He speared his fingers through her damp hair. The minute the back of her legs encountered the side of the bed, Annie began undressing him. First, his shirt came off and floated to the floor. Then she reached for his belt. By the time she had him completely naked, he had stripped the red-and-gold robe away from her body and left her naked, too. She reached for him, trying to entice him back into her arms, but he would have none of it. Instead, he worshiped her with his touch, his lips and fingertips exploring her thoroughly.

  Outside the wind howled, swaying the trees, as lightning streaked the black sky with jagged illumination and earth-trembling thunder shattered the nighttime solitude. Perspiration glistened on Dane’s big, hard body, dampened his hair and blended with the moist glow on Annie’s skin as they tossed and turned on the bed.

  Annie lay on her belly, Dane straddling her. He rubbed her neck, her shoulders and her back, then eased his hands slowly downward to massage her hips. While his fingers worked their magic on her body, he kissed, licked and nipped her heated flesh from neck to heels. Every rational thought disappeared from his mind—the past, the present and the future—as he concentrated on Annie. She was the beginning and the end of his world.

  Their heated passion melted away the pain from Dane’s soul, releasing him from the past. Now, here, in Annie’s bed, making love with her and sharing the ultimate pleasure he had found with no other woman, Dane said farewell to his grief. Farewell to Lorna. Relief filled his mind and heart. He was free.

  When Annie writhed beneath him, moaning with the aching heat of longing boiling inside her, he turned her over onto her back and began a frontal assault. First her mouth and then her ears. Sweet, savage kisses. And all the while, his hands moved over her damp skin, caressing her breasts, tormenting her nipples, sliding between her thighs. He urged her legs apart just enough to seek and find the entrance and work two fingers inside her burning depths.

  Annie reached for him, wanting him to take her and end this glorious torture. But he eluded her grasp. When he licked a path from her navel to the apex between her thighs, she tensed like a coiled spring. The minute his tongue moved closer to its destination, she gave herself over to him completely, aware of the ecstasy to come.

  She melted into mindless pleasure as he made love to her with his mouth. Release came in a sudden blaze of fiery light that ignited inside her the same moment a lightning bolt hit the earth somewhere nearby. Her breathing quickened, her heartbeat accelerated and perspiration dotted her forehead and upper lip. She cried out. With her cry of fulfillment echoing inside him, Dane came to the brink of release.

  While ripples of continuing satisfaction danced along Annie’s nerve endings, Dane lifted her hips. But she jerked away from him and shoved him down on the bed. Surprised by her actions, he started to protest, but before he could complain, Annie circled his erection and caressed him intimately. He groaned as her hand pumped him with a slow, steady beat. But when she skimmed fervent kisses down his body and stopped to allow her mouth to replace her hand, Dane growled, forked his fingers through her hair and held her head in place. He urged her to love him as he had loved her.

  Mindless with pleasure, Dane moaned and grunted. Then he uttered a few incoherent words that indicated how thoroughly he was enjoying her ardent attention. His groans grew louder and his movements more fierce. He warned her that his completion was near, but she chose to continue, to carry this special loving to its conclusion.

  Dane exploded and splintered into shards of unparalleled satisfaction. When the spasm of intense release eased off to quivering aftershocks, he brought Annie up and over him and took her mouth in a hungry, appreciative kiss. He held her close, kissing her, telling her how wonderful she was and how much she had pleased him.

  They fell asleep in each other’s arms, while the stormy night was held at bay, as was the reality that tomorrow would bring.

  Chapter 12

  Annie lifted the bacon from the skillet, laid it on the paper towel to drain, then turned her attention to the scrambled eggs in another skillet. It had been a while since she’d prepared breakfast. She and her mother had become accustomed to Helen being around to take care of the meals and the housework on a daily basis. Of course, until the present situation was resolved, Helen would be helping Aunt Vera’s housekeeper. No one was safe in this house or anywhere Annie stayed. Not as long as someone was trying to kill her. She’d come to realize that the only thing that stood between her and death was Dane Carmichael.

  Before dawn, Dane had awakened her. She had opened her eyes drowsily and smiled at him, then opened her arms and welcomed him into her embrace and into her body. They’d made love slowly, maddeningly, driving each other to the breaking point, then retreated to form a new attack. When release had claimed them, they had absorbed every ounce of satisfaction and then fallen asleep again.

  Just remembering what she had shared with Dane, the passion and the pleasure, aroused Annie anew. She had never experienced anything like this, not with anyone. Certainly not with Preston. She couldn’t explain exactly what it was. A hunger. A desperate need. A madness. Whatever it was, it rode her hard, and the more of Dane she got, the more she wanted. She knew it was the same for him.

  Even though she wasn’t sure what it was—this wild, uncontrollable thing between Dane and her—she knew it really wasn’t love. She’d known him less than a week. It couldn’t be love. She’d never believed in love at first sight, even as a teenager and certainly not now that she was nearly thirty-five. No, it wasn’t love. Lust maybe. Lust! That was it. And unlike love, lust didn’t last. It burned itself out and left nothing but ashes.

  The doorbell rang. Annie tensed. Dane was upstairs in the shower. She felt safer in her mother’s house now that a security system had been installed, but whoever was at the door wasn’t trying to break in. Don’t go to the door, she warned herself. But you could go and see who it