CHAPTER TWO

      JAKE claimed her whole being with a passionate, sensual kiss that caused Olivia’s world to tilt on its axis. His mouth was warm and sensual and searching. Her lips parted of their own accord and she felt the true taste of him, she felt the energy, the longing, the need burning between them. . .

      No words were necessary. What was there to say? The electricity, the unexplainable certainty that this would happen, had been between them from the beginning. Since that first look, that first touch. . .

      His hands were impatient. Searching, moving sensually over the close-fitting dress, exploring every outline, every curve. She gasped as he dragged his mouth from her lips and began kissing the arched curve of her neck, pulling back her cardigan from her shoulders to reveal the covered zip of her dress.

      Olivia’s hands flew to his shirt, twisting, gripping the fabric. She felt as if she were drowning and only this man could save her. Trembling fingers slipped beneath the fabric and she felt for the first time the true power of his frame, the strength of pure muscle, the softness of tanned skin, the roughness of dark, curling hair. She felt, too, his reaction to her touch, the sharp breath, the increased pressure of his mouth on her lips.

      It was the swift intensity that affected her so deeply. She wanted, shockingly, to be free of the restriction of her clothes. She wanted, she ached to feel the roughness of his hands on her naked body. . .

      He knew. Men like Jake Savage always knew.

      She gasped as his fingers grazed her skin. Feelings Olivia didn’t even know she possessed spun wildly around inside her head as he began to unfasten her dress. This passion that had been there, lying between them from the beginning, needed assuaging, it needed to reach the ultimate climax. No time to talk, no time to get to know one another—that could come later. . .

      ‘My bedroom. . .upstairs.’ Her voice was a whisper. A great part of her could hardly believe she was daring to be so bold. Cool, prim Olivia Hamilton? ‘Frigid Olivia’, as Paul had once described her?

      ‘Has it a bed?’ His voice was deep and husky, his mouth warm and hungry against her skin.

      ‘Of course.’ She raised her head and kissed him passionately, pressing her body against his towering frame. ‘At least, I hope so. . .’

      ‘In that case. . .’ Jake swung her into his arms as if she weighed no more than a feather and carried her effortlessly up the narrow staircase.

      His tread sounded hollow on the bare boards and as he carried her in the darkness Olivia knew a fleeting moment of doubt.

      He dragged his mouth from hers, pausing on the top step, sensing the sudden rigidity of her slim frame. ‘You do want this. . .?’ Silvery moonlight shone through the landing window, illuminating the rugged planes of his face. ‘Olivia?’ His dark eyes were questioning.

      She looked up at him, her eyes scanning every angle, every contour of his face. She knew what she wanted. Rational thought tried to spoil the way she felt, but she thrust it away. Why should she follow her old rules? Why should she? She ached with wanting him. Never before had she experienced such passionate need, such desperate, intense longing.

      ‘Yes,’ she murmured unsteadily. ‘Yes, I do.’

      She clung to him as he caressed her body, gasping with pleasure as his powerful hands took control. Waiting for the right moment. . .wanting her first experience to mean something, to be special. . . All those months of rebuffing Paul’s impatient advances. . . it had all been justified. She had waited for this moment, this man for all of her life.

      He took sudden and full possession of her then and Olivia found herself crying aloud, tensing a little in spite of everything.

      ‘Olivia?’ She heard the ragged incredulity in his voice, the sharp intake of breath as Jake fought his own physical needs and desires. ‘You’re a—!’

      ‘Please!’ Olivia whispered imploringly, acutely aware that her world would fall apart if he rejected her now. ‘It’s all right.’ She gripped his body tightly, moved against him, pressed her lips against the bronzed skin of his shoulder, working to convince him anyway she knew how. ‘I want this!’

      There was a split-second of hesitation, then a faint groan as will-power vanished. ‘So do I,’ he confessed, his voice gruff with desire, ‘so do I. . .’

      He was a magnificent lover. Better than Olivia had imagined even in her wildest dreams; strong and powerful, ruthlessly in control, but with kisses that were tender as well as passionate, a touch that possessed silk as well as steel. . .

      Olivia found herself crying aloud many times, but there was no pain involved once that special moment had been passed. Only pleasure—pleasure for them both.

      It took some time for their desire to diminish; they made love, they kissed and touched and then they wanted each other again. The evening slipped into night and eventually their passion was satisfied.

      In the darkness Olivia could hear Jake’s ragged breathing. She felt replete, wonderful, oozing with a happiness that she didn’t wish to analyse.

      And Jake?

      Olivia moved to look at him. Her head had been resting on the firm, hard chest, but as she moved so did he, lifting her from him, slipping away from her, accompanied by a sharp, almost angry release of breath until there was no longer any physical contact.

      ‘Jake?’ Olivia’s voice was tentative, uncertain in the half-light. She reached across and cautiously touched the muscular hair-roughened arm that lay a distance from hers. ‘Jake?’

      ‘Yes?’ His tone was enigmatic, flat almost. Olivia felt the sharp stab of rejection, like a knife through her body. What had she expected? A declaration of love? Some word that would indicate he felt as moved as she?

      Destiny. The word reverberated in her mind. They were meant to be lovers. She knew it. She felt it with her whole being. This had not been a mistake. Knowing it filled her mind. The future stretched ahead, bright and full of meaning now that she had met this man.

      But she didn’t like this silence; it frightened her.

      A shaft of despair ran through Olivia’s body. Surely he wasn’t regretting all that had just taken place? Surely not. ‘It. . .it was OK, wasn’t it?’

      ‘Yes.’

      Olivia swallowed and closed her eyes. What was wrong? Why was he being so. . .so distant? She felt movement beside her and saw in the half-light that he had raised himself to a sitting position.

      ‘It was more than OK,’ he asserted roughly, as if the admission was being dragged out of him. ‘You know that.’

      ‘Do I?’ She sounded like a child; young and immensely vulnerable.

      ‘The seduction...’ There was a pause. She could feel him searching for words in the darkness. ‘It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t premeditated...’ His voice was deep, rough-edged. ‘I don’t want you to think that I wander the countryside seducing lone women! It took me as much by surprise