her pyjamas to cup her breasts. Then as their kiss deepened, with both their mouths opening hungrily to accommodate the other’s searching tongue, his fingers tugged on the aching steel buds of her nipples to inflame them even more. If Kit thought anything at all in those incendiary few seconds, it was about for how long and how passionately he would pleasure her. In turn, would she be able to repay him with equal pleasure?
She needn’t have worried. Proving he was as instinctive a lover as she could wish for, Hal’s fingers and thumbs started to ease her pyjama bottoms down over her svelte hips. As soon as he’d done so his hand returned to slide between her silken thighs and stroke over the sensitive bud at her moist centre.
Trembling with anticipation, Kit tore her lips away from his and dropped her head down onto his iron-hard shoulder. She’d had no idea that such staggering gratification was even possible until she’d fallen in love with this man. ‘Hal, please...’ she couldn’t help her voice breaking with need.
‘There’s no need to beg me for anything, baby,’ he responded huskily. ‘I know what you want and I know what you need. I know it because I feel the same. I want you so much that I think I’ll die if I can’t have you.’
He was kissing the smooth skin on her neck and nibbling it at the same time. Then in one smooth movement he lay back on the bed and, with his hands firmly on her hips, eased her body over his.
‘I don’t want you to die,’ Kit breathed, her hands fumbling at the fly of his jeans and tugging them down as carefully as she could over his strong, muscular thighs. Her blood palpably thrummed, because the need to feel his possession suddenly grew urgent.
Hal didn’t hesitate to oblige her. Shoving aside his black silk boxer shorts, he plunged his hardened silken shaft deep inside her and, lifting his hips, pressed upwards. Before, his persistent taps at her door had rendered her terrified, in case it was the precursor to a ghostly visitation, but now Kit’s full-throated cries of pleasure echoed uninhibitedly round the room instead, banishing any sense of sadness and regret that it might previously have held.
If their loving had anything to do with it, from now on she knew that it would be passion and joy that the bricks and mortar here were imbued with. And as heady desire enslaved them, guaranteeing they would be seductively preoccupied long into the night, the forceful storm of their loving shut out every memory of past hurt and disappointment that might have haunted them, ensuring the future was suddenly not half so fearful as they might once have imagined.
* * *
Just before the dawn broke Kit fell asleep in Hal’s arms. There was no question that she would do anything else. All self-doubt had fled. It had been replaced by calm, assured surrender to whatever came next. As long as they were together she knew she could face any adversity or sorrow and overcome it. That was what love did, she realised. It made you strong, not weak. All these years she’d been labouring under a cruel misconception. What was the point of living if you never experienced loving someone? If you were so afraid of being hurt that you never trusted the wisdom of your own heart? Searching for guarantees and trying to work it all out in your head, clearly wasn’t the answer. Decisions should be made out of love, not fear. From now on, Kit vowed, that would be her mantra.
When she woke a few hours later her eyes opened to find Hal examining her thoughtfully, casually resting back on his elbow as he gazed down at her. His arresting golden eyes, hard chiselled jaw and curling tousled hair was definitely a sight she would never tire of waking up to.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked, suddenly afraid that he might have needed her but had decided against disturbing her to let her know.
‘I’m fine. In fact I’m more than fine. I feel on top of the world. I’ve just been lying here wondering how on earth I’ve had the good fortune to attract someone as good and beautiful as you into my life.’
It wasn’t easy for Kit to keep her humour at bay. ‘Good fortune? Some people might think that the circumstances were a disaster. You broke your leg, remember? I suspect that had something to do with it.’
He scowled, gathered a coil of her russet hair between his fingers and for a few seconds examined it intently. ‘I confess I was expecting a much more romantic reply than that, sweetheart. It’s all well and good that one of your qualities is that you’re eminently sensible and pragmatic, but I’d like to know that you can be dreamy and romantic too.’
She hastened to reassure him. ‘I promise you I can. It’s just that it’s become rather a habit of mine to be sensible. In future one of the things I want to achieve is an ability to give myself permission to enjoy life more—to have fun and be silly if I want to and not worry about looking a fool.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. But you could never look like a fool, Kit. Talking of achieving things—do you remember when you came into my study and asked if there was anything else I’d like to achieve, other than all the business awards and sporting accolades displayed round the room?’
She nodded. ‘I do. As I recall, you said there were other things you’d like to achieve, and it did make me think.’
‘There’s not much you don’t remember, is there? I’ll have to watch out in the future if I dare forget your birthday or what kind of flowers you like. I’ll definitely be in the doghouse if I do.’ Grinning, Hal reached for her hand, then raised it to his lips and planted a kiss. ‘Well, to expand on that comment, the one thing I want to achieve above everything else is to find the woman of my dreams, marry her, then settle down to have a family.’
As Kit all but held her breath his golden-eyed gaze deepened meaningfully.
‘To that end, I’m asking you to marry me, Kit.’
She immediately sat up and stared at him. ‘You’re being serious?’
‘I most certainly am. And, trust me, this moment will be imprinted on my memory for many years to come.’ Disconcertingly, he chuckled. ‘Not just because it’s one of the most momentous occasions of my life, but because I won’t be able to forget what you were wearing when I proposed.’
‘What I’m wearing? But I’m—’ Stricken with embarrassment, Kit realised she was naked. Her sensible pyjamas had long been dispensed with during the night. She made a grab for the counterpane and held it firmly over her breasts.
‘Naked!’ Hal finished for her, unrepentantly wrenching the counterpane back and giving her a lascivious smile. ‘And that’s just the way I want you. Because when you’ve given me your answer—and I’m hoping it’s the one I want to hear...’ He paused to deliver a tantalising little kiss on her mouth and then teasingly caught her lip between his teeth for a moment. ‘I intend to shut out the world for the rest of the day...’ another sizzling kiss was dropped at the satin juncture of her neck and shoulder ‘...and make wild, passionate love to you.’
It was difficult for Kit to comment because she was so stunned. Shyly, she determinedly freed the silk counterpane from his grip and tugged it back up over her breasts. ‘I’m far from against the idea, but you’re not supposed to overdo things, remember? We’ve already been up most of the night and... Exactly how wildly passionate are you intending to be?’
‘That’s for me to know and you to find out, angel. Now, stop wasting time worrying about me overdoing things, shut up, and let me propose again...but properly this time.’
Kit lost any inclination to argue. Keeping quiet was suddenly not such a challenge after all.
Pushing back his
