...He moved closer. Tara felt the heat of his body next to her. She closed her eyes, willing him to disappear. Instead his warm fingers brushed her curtain of hair away from her face. She opened her eye just the tiniest sliver and saw that his other arm had settled behind her. A strange yet familiar scent assailed her senses. She recognized the scent as the same one that clung to the plain blue cotton sheets of his bed. It wasn’t anything fashionable she could pin down. No designer fragrance or strong after-scent of shower soap. It was just…him.

“C’mere.” A low, soothing voice issued an order and she obeyed. The stress and exhaustion of the past few weeks left her weak and unwilling to do otherwise.

She sank into the warm embrace that surrounded her. There was a light pressure on the top of her head. Her stomach fluttered as she realized he had kissed her, the kind of gentle nuzzling kiss that signaled more than comfort.

And they were so close! Her back resting against his chest, his arms around her, holding her, his hands lightly stroking her bare arms. For the first time in what seemed like years she felt safe, secure. If only she were free to enjoy this, to enjoy him. For one moment she selfishly wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

As if to answer her, his lips moved from her head to her left ear. The sensation sent tiny shivers through her. What would happen if she turned her head and her lips met his? Could she afford the momentary luxury of enjoying a kiss? There was a second of hesitation before she felt the slight pressure of his finger under her chin, tilting her face toward him, guiding her mouth closer to his. She tasted the flavor of his breath, warm and minty, the slight pressure of his lips as they brushed hers. It was enough.

She kissed him back, catching his lower lip as he started to turn away. She lifted her gaze to find surprise etched on his face. Surprise tempered with longing, anxious with desire. She was taken by a sudden urge to hold him. She shifted in her seat so her arms could find their mark He responded by pressing her body against his. A small moan escaped his lips as Tara found her breasts gently crushed against him.

He was kissing her again. Deeply. His soft lips begged her for the tenderest mercy. She opened her mouth to grant him access, greedily accepting his invading tongue. She had coveted that sensual mouth last night. Now it was hers. His strong hands roamed leisurely across her back and through her hair.

She moaned in protest when he lifted his mouth from hers. “I want to touch you,” he whispered. “Everywhere…”

He nuzzled her ears through her hair. “Especially, your hair. It’s like liquid fire.”

Tara could only draw a ragged breath. Liquid fire was what he’d reduced her insides to. Her answer was to pull him closer.

He kissed her more possessively now, his hands sweeping around to caress her bottom through the denim barrier of her shorts. Then his warm, rough fingers slid along her bare legs.

“You’re just like I thought you would be,” he murmured. “Like warm, golden silk. You don’t know how much I wanted to climb into that back seat with you last night. Have you ever had a man in the back seat, Tara?”

Mutely, she shook her head. She knew instinctively what the next question would be. And worse, she knew how she would answer.

As if to stave off the inevitable, she kissed him again. This time it was her arms pressing him close. Her hands that wandered over the muscular bumps and bulges of his back and shoulders. Her curious fingers began to wander down the back of his T-shirt on a dangerous collision course with the temptation he’d so unwittingly displayed this morning.

She was aware that they were sharing a mutual need, a dual hunger that longed to be satisfied. Her soul embraced the idea of discovering desire again, to be wanted as a woman and to be with a man for no other reason than she wanted to. Oh, yes! She wanted this one. In the back seat, in the front seat. On top of the bar in Molly’s, if she thought they could get away with it. If only she were free to love. It could be pure heaven. If only…

A sliver of panic hedged its way into her heaven. A voice from hell rose to haunt her.