Love Beyond Reason(38)

"Now?" he asked with lips that nibbled hers. "Now?"

She nodded and his plunging kiss was symbolic.

He raised himself above her and found the treasure he sought. He fit his strength into her softness and applied a gentle pressure. When he met the unexpected veil of resistance, he paused and looked down at her with a bewildered expression. The urgent hands on the back of his thighs and her arching hips entreated him not to linger in his purpose.

The initial pain vanished, and Katherine submitted to the thrill of the experience. She blocked out every conscious thought, anything that would dim the lightning fury of the sensations washing over her. It no longer mattered what his name was, or who he was related to, or that they came from different worlds. All that had import was that her body was one with his. It was not only a physical fusion, but one of the spirit as well. She belonged; it was right.

Even though he was the first, Katherine knew him to be expert. He encouraged her, praised her, adored her, made love to her with words as well as his body. He kissed, nibbled, licked, caressed, stroked, breathed her. It went beyond mere consummation.

When she felt herself slipping into some uncharted but seductive oblivion, she cried, "Jace! Jace!"

"Yes, darling, yes," he whispered in her ear. "Katherine, sweet Katherine, give in to it."

And she did.

* * *

"A virgin?" Jace asked in awe as they lay side by side, holding each other close. "I'm married to a twenty-seven-year-old virgin." He shook his head at the wonder of it all.

"Not anymore," sang Katherine as she snuggled closer to him, if that were possible.

"Hussy!" He slapped her naked bottom playfully. "Now I suppose you'll be wanting to do this all the time," he sighed in feigned resignation.

She giggled and supported herself on her elbows while covering his face with wet, smacking kisses. He began tickling her ribs until she fell backward, and moments later she collapsed helplessly under his weight. He looked down into her face and laughed softly before taking her mouth with his.

Locking her hands behind his neck, Katherine drew him closer to her, welcoming their return to passion. He stroked her neck and moved his questing fingers to her chest before settling them possessively on her breasts.

He drew back from his ardent kiss and gazed at her breasts even as his fingers traced a path of arousal. He watched as the nipples tautened under his manipulation. "Fascinating," he declared as he leaned down and kissed them gently.

His hand moved lower onto her flattened abdomen. Just then Katherine's stomach growled ominously. Jace chuckled, "Are you hungry?" He pulled away from her.

"Yes," Katherine groaned, straining toward him. The inches between them seemed to stretch into a gulf. "But not for food."

"Come on," he said getting up from the bed. "Let's eat." He pulled on a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt that covered only his shoulders and the top half of his chest, leaving his midriff bare. "I'll be offended if you don't do justice to my highly acclaimed spaghetti sauce."

"I'd rather stay in bed," whined Katherine.

"So would I, but from now on, Mrs. Manning, I'm going to make sure that you retain a high energy level. You expend it in such a marvelous way." He grabbed her arm and dragged her up to her knees on the side of the bed. He buried his face in her neck as he held her close, moving his hands up and down her back.

"Katherine?"

"Hmm?"

"Do me a favor?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wear that shirt you had on the first day I came here. Your painting shirt. Tie it up the way you had it then. Okay?"

She pulled away from him and looked into the glinting blue eyes. "That's the favor?" she asked.

"Not all of it," he admitted mischievously. "Don't wear anything else except bikini panties."

"Jace!" she huffed. "That's indecent."

"So? I'm not going to tell anybody. Are you?"

"You're incorri- gible," she whispered, planting a kiss in one of the dimples beside his mouth.

"And you love it," he answered husky- ly. Then he pushed her unceremoniously backward on the bed and said, "Hurry up. I'm hungry too."

When Katherine joined him in the kitchen wearing the prescribed outfit, he turned to face her and appraised her lecherously. He came to her, folded her in an encompassing embrace, and kissed her thoroughly.

"That's what I wanted to do that first day," he said.

"That's what you did that first day," she reminded him dryly.

"Oh, yeah. I did, didn't I? Well, good for me." He grinned.

While the spaghetti was boiling, Katherine tossed together a salad, and Jace spread thick slices of French bread with garlic butter and popped them into the oven.

With an alacrity born of practice, he opened a bottle of red wine that he had put in the refrigerator earlier to chill. Miraculously, everything was ready at the same time and they sat down to eat their late dinner.

Was the meal especially delicious, or was it Katherine's happiness that made it seem to be? They chatted continually. The meal stretched over two hours.

She learned that Jace would be thirty-three on his next birthday and what that date was. His middle name was Lawrence. They shared stories of their youth. Each learned the other's likes and dislikes, prejudices, political inclinations, and personal philosophies.