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 Don t be sarcastic, he cautioned her grimly.  It s not a healthy way to deal with
the truth.
She wouldn t look at him, but he saw her swallow hard, her throat moving
nervously.  What are you saying?
 Ginny was right. He glanced away as he recalled all the running he d done, and
then turned back to Tamia with a sad half-smile.  I did a lot of running away when I was
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younger, because I was afraid to let anyone matter enough to hurt me. I thought I d be
better off alone. But being alone does something horrible to your soul, and makes you
afraid to even live. He looked into her mahogany eyes, and saw compassion flare.
Smiling softly, he murmured,  I m not afraid anymore. So why are you running?
She shot him a startled glance.  I m not running.
He squeezed her hand lightly.  Yeah, you are.
She cast him a wry, mysterious look as they neared the twenty-four-hour
shopping mall that was the Underground s entrance cover. Watching that smile curve on
Tamia s lips, Rick wondered what she was thinking. At the special elevator marked
 Private apartments - key required he inserted his access card and pressed his hand to
the ID plate.
A moment later, as they stepped off of the elevator, Tamia turned to smile at him
again, and his heart stumbled as his blood heated. "Thanks."
She turned to walk away, and his gut clenched in protest. She wasn t going to
leave him now, was she? He caught her arm. "Where are you going?"
"To my quarters."
"I'll walk you there."
She looked as if she might protest, then subsided with a sigh. "All right."
They walked silently down the corridor, side by side. Unconsciously, they fell
into step, and hands that brushed near one another soon joined. When they came to stand
before her door, Tamia disengaged her hand from his with a small smile. "Thanks
again."
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She leaned up to kiss him good-night, with all intentions of retreating into the
haven of her quarters ASAP. As soon as their lips met, however, she was again swamped
with the desire to stay there. She didn't pull away as she felt his arms enfold her, even
though her brain screamed at her to stop while she still could.
Too late, she thought as she wrapped her arms around him. She felt herself
pressed between the wall and his body as his tongue tangled with hers and familiar heat
poured through her. Something hard jabbed against her side then, and she heard the
swish of the door sliding open. Must've leaned on the door pad. Rick broke off their kiss
then, to murmur in her ear, "Are you going to let me come in?"
Tamia shivered pleasantly, deep inside, as the double meaning in that question
washed through her. The answer she should have given him was most definitely no, but
she couldn't. Her desire was greater than her reason; so she told herself that it wouldn't
get out of hand - she was in control of herself. Besides, even if it did, it was only for one
night, right?
They moved together, lost themselves in another kiss, even before the door slid
shut behind them. She felt his hands sliding up under her sweater and pushed closer with
a shiver of expectation, the memory of the feel of his mouth against her breasts tingling
through her. Her hands pulled his shirt out of his jeans, finding familiar, heated skin
beneath, even as his hands worked up under the band of her bra. She felt his fingers
against the sensitive skin of her breasts and the sensation shot through her like lightning.
She slipped her arms free of the sweater sleeves, then drew away from him and pulled it
over her head, letting it land in a heap on the floor.
Meeting Rick s eyes, she saw the heat flare there, turning cobalt to indigo as
hunger threaded through his gaze. Emboldened by his blatant appreciation, Tamia slowly
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slid her hands up her exposed flesh, and watched Rick swallow hard. His eyes glued to
her motion, he groaned.  Tamia& 
He reached out then, and she saw and felt the fine tremor in his hands as he placed
them over hers. Ever so slowly, he drew her hands away from her body, even as he
pulled her gently toward him. Then, still holding her wrists in a light grasp, he bent his
head to taste the sensitive skin at her collarbone.
Dizzying sensation danced along Tamia s every nerve, and she felt her control
unravelling quickly. The feeling terrified her, and she pulled away, her head screaming,
too fast! With a small smile, she kicked off her shoes and moved across the room to the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]