From the Heart by Nora Roberts

God, he wanted her. No woman had ever made him ache like this. Thedesire was in his blood, in his bones. She might have a choice, but she left him none.
    â€œI told you I loved you.” Kasey called out the last ounce of strength. “I didn’t tell you I would make love with you. You’ve got to leave me something, Jordan.”
    She couldn’t allow it to happen. She knew that once she shared herself with him, once she gave, she would tie herself to him completely. It wasn’t a simple matter of wanting to be touched or feel pleasure, it was a matter of needing to belong.
    Jordan studied her in silence, still holding her hand in his. She was defenseless again, as she had been when sleeping with the child. He wouldn’t hurt her; he swore to himself that he wouldn’t hurt her. But he couldn’t leave her. When he released her hand and rose to go to the door that adjoined Alison’s room, Kasey let out a quiet sigh. But he closed it and turned back to her. She sprang up, prepared to send him away.
    â€œKasey.” He crossed to her but kept his hands by his sides. “Let me love you tonight. I need you. It’s the first time in my life I’ve needed someone else.”
    There was no sending him away. She might have resisted a seduction. She would have refused a demand. She was powerless against a need. Kasey drew him into her arms.
    His mouth was instantly desperate, crushing down on hers until they were both reeling. He held her close—tightly, as though he feared she would spring away from him. But what she had offered she would never take back. He tugged the nightgown from her shoulders, anxious to feel her skin. He thought again how thin she was, how he had to take care lest he snap her in two. But his hands refused to be gentle.
    Kasey felt no pain, only rocketing pleasure. She could sense the urgency bursting from him. She wanted him to need her. For now, it was enough. She pulled him toward the bed.
    And he was on top of her. She wanted his weight; she was impatient with the clothes that separated them. Her mouth hungered. She poured herself into him through the kiss. It grew long, deep, totally involved until his hands stopped searching for her. It calmed them both.
    Slowly, with care, he began to undress her. There was no longer a pressing drive for quick release. He wanted to savor her. He took his lips to her throat, and her sigh of pleasurerippled through him. Still seeking but no longer desperate, he moved to her breast. Kasey pushed at his robe until she could feel his skin under her hands. She found the strength she wanted.
    She let him take her deeper, slowly, with not so much tenderness as thoroughness; neither of them looked for tenderness now. That was for later, perhaps, when the heat was less intense and the strength was sapped. He nibbled at her breast, experimenting with textures and flavors. She slipped the robe from his arms, and then he was as naked as she. He flicked his tongue over her nipple, then made a leisurely journey back to her neck. The flavor there was dark and heated, drawing him.
    She let her hands roam where they pleased, testing muscles, exploring the outline of ribs, skimming over hard, narrow hips. She was lost in the feel of him. He was everything she had wanted, and his lips on her neck were sending her into a delirium of pleasure. Wanting his taste again, she murmured to him so that he brought his mouth back to hers.
    A storm was building. She could feel it in the texture of the kiss. Her body was already answering, moving under him, agreeing, demanding. The breath moaned out of her lips and into his. He slid his hand over her breast, down to her hip. Her thighs were slim and strong. Her fingers gripped his shoulders, her body ached with passion. She opened for him, already shuddering.
    She was hot and moist. He wanted to see her without control. His own was ebbing quickly. Too quickly. He didn’t want to end it. He wanted to keep