Reckless Passion by Stephanie James Page B

my arms last night. I'll never forget it, honey, even if the surroundings weren't what they should have been for the occasion...."
    "No!" But the protest was issued as a small squeak of dismay which died beneath the onslaught of Yale's kiss.
    Almost instantly, it seemed, his caress re-created the seductive aura of the dream-filled state in which he had made love to her last night. His mouth was firm and moved invitingly, coaxingly on hers. She heard his stifled groan of need as he urged her tips apart with his tongue, and when her mouth opened to him of its own volition her senses were throbbing.
    It was hopeless, Dara thought dazedly. In his arms, she was too vulnerable and her love was far too exposed. Did he know the effect he had on her? How she longed to unbutton his shirt and lace her fingers through the amber hair of his chest? How her body pulsed with memories of the pleasure it had known last night and with the need to satisfy the man who had given rise to that strange pleasure? Did he know how very much in love she was?
    When at last he lifted his head to smile crookedly down into her bemused eyes, Dara wanted to beg him to continue his lovemaking. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was reading her state of mind in her wide, gray-green eyes. The crooked smile broadened.
    "I'll take you out to dinner tonight," he promised caressingly, his hand stroking the length of her back to the base of her spine. "We'll do it properly this time, I swear..."
    "That's...that's impossible," she finally got out with some semblance of haughtiness. She was not going to let this man treat her so shabbily again! Regardless of what her heart was willing to forgive, her mind still functioned and was in control! "I have a date this evening."
    "Break it," he ordered gently.
    “Why should I? His account might be even larger than yours!" That hadn't been particularly wise, but Dara was feeling driven. Nevertheless, as his hands tightened with sudden warning on her, she wished she'd found another insult.
    “ Dara , you ought to have learned something from last night," Yale growled thickly. "If nothing else, you should know by now that it's not wise to push me too far. Either break your date for this evening or take the consequences!"
    "What consequences?"
    "Honey, if you flaunt someone else in my face now that you're mine, I swear I'll take him apart," he gritted in such a flat, deadly voice she believed him.
    "Another example of your good manners?" she scoffed, trying to hide her shock. "Is this the kind of behavior I can expect now that you've announced your intention to treat me as I deserve?"
    The amber lashes flickered closed for an instant and Dara could feel Yale putting a rein on his temper. It was more than a little unnerving to be so close to the source of a potential explosion. When he opened his eyes again, the lenses of the horn-rimmed glasses couldn't hide the degree of control he was exercising.
    "I'm doing my best to be patient with you, Dara ," he said stiffly. "I know you've been through a lot in the past several hours. Much more than you bargained for...."
    "You can say that again! I wasn't even planning on transacting business when I went to that party last night. Goes to show how life is just full of little surprises!"
    "You know, I could cheerfully take a belt to you this morning!"
    "Really? Is that how you treat your women?"
    "You seem bent on finding out for yourself!" he rasped, shaking his head in quick exasperation. "And if you aren't waiting very meekly at the door for me this evening, I may treat you to a firsthand demonstration of my techniques! In you go, Dara . I'll pick you up at six. And don't wear your jeans. We're not going to any of your favorite nightclubs!"
    Several hours later, after a lot of furious heart-searching and grim lectures to herself, Dara paced the floor of her apartment, for all the world like a restless cat. A tabby cat. She knew she was waiting for the sophisticated roar of the Alfa