For the Love of Sami by Fayrene Preston

asked. He had learned that if he pressed too hard, she simply withdrew from him.
    "Yes, part of the day I was at the workshop." She had already told him that there was a studio she frequented, pursuing different crafts. "I’m trying to learn to work with clay."
    "Is there a problem?"
    "No, not really. It’s just that most people recommend starting with something simple"—she picked up a pillow perfectly centered on the couch and hugged it to her middle—"like a bowl. But I decided to start with a teapot."
    "I’d like to see it."
    She threw him a rueful smile. "I don’t think so. Not yet, at any rate. At this point it resembles an elephant more than it does a teapot."
    "In size or in shape?"
    "Both." Sami replaced the pillow slightly off center and glanced at the clock. "I always believe in starting big anyway, and before I knew it, I had an elephant. It’s a baby elephant, but nevertheless an elephant." Wandering over to the fireplace, she balanced herself with a hand on the mantle and ran her toes through the thick fur of the rug. "I guess I could always have the tea pour out of his trunk . . . or maybe make a music box out of it. It could play ‘Born Free.’"
    Daniel chuckled. "I’d still like to see it."
    She shrugged. "Maybe."
    He watched her for a few minutes more. Then, strolling across the room toward her, Daniel passed the couch, and as he did, he automatically stretched out his arm and recentered the pillow. Reaching her, he folded her to him.
    Sami rubbed her fingers against his shirt, feeling the coarse hairs beneath the fine cloth. Her eyes twinkled with mirth as she leaned her head back to look up into his face. "You’re getting better."
    "Good." He bent his head and kissed her with an insistently gentle passion. He lifted his head. "By the way, what am I getting better at?"
    "You waited almost five minutes before you put that pillow back in its place. When I first came here, you would replace things immediately."
    "Why you little . . ." He laughed. "You did that on purpose? You actually timed me!"
    "I just couldn’t resist," Sami teased, giggling. "I’m so-o-o impressed with your perfection."
    "You are, huh? Well, my golden beauty, you’re going to pay for that." He ran his hands down to her ribs and began tickling her.
    "Oh, don’t!" She shrieked with laughter. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry."
    "My perfection, huh?" Without letting up on his relentless tickling, he asked, "Why couldn’t you be so-o-o impressed with my prowess as a lover instead?"
    "Oh, I am, I am," Sami assured him, collapsing onto the floor in gales of laughter, and Daniel followed her down. "You’re the most wonderful lover in the whole wide world!"
    All the laughter died out of Daniel. "Believe it, because you’ll never get a chance to find out any differently. Not as long as I have a breath in my body."
    At the wildly hot look in Daniel’s navy eyes, a new exhilaration replaced Sami’s breathless hilarity. His hand went to the tie holding the skirt around her, and the skirt fell away, leaving only a pair of thin lace panties on her body.
    "Dear Lord!" He groaned and cupped his hand under her breast, just looking at it for a moment. The nipple tightened under his gaze, and Sami’s lips parted on a ragged breath of expectation. Lowering his head, Daniel nibbled around it, producing tingles of fire that rayed out from the area until she writhed beneath his mouth, little whimpering cries of passion coming from deep in her throat. Finally, and at last, his mouth moved over the tip. Taking it between his teeth, he picked gently at the nipple until it stood rigid and hard.
    Sami’s stomach contracted, and she sighed. "Oh, Daniel, kiss me."
    His tongue licked over to the division between her breasts and up her chest to the column of her throat, leaving behind wet, scorching streaks. "You taste so good, so sweet," he muttered hoarsely, taking occasional bites of her as he went.
    "Daniel, kiss me!"
    He did, at once fierce and soft,