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  "Maybe I have and just wouldn't admit it to myself," she confessed, her face the perfect picture of bewilderment as she gazed up at Nick's. "But I would never have gone as far as you thought I would to try to please him. I would never have let you…"

  "You gave yourself because you had to and I had to take what you gave," he said softly, halting her words with a fingertip against her lips. His hands encircled her waist and he smiled almost sheepishly. "I've spent hours awake .every night for the last two weeks, remembering what we had together. And it wasn't just sex, Laine. I wasn't using you. I had to be with you and you had to be with me. It was necessary for us to share everything, even a bed, because we fell in love, Laine. At least, I did. Did you?"

  "Oh, Nick, yes," she whispered thickly, tears filling her eyes. After he gently kissed away a fat crystalline droplet that caught in the lower fringe of her lashes, she nuzzled her face against his brown neck, breathing in the beloved masculine lime scent of his skin. Her softly shaped lips explored strong contouring tendons as she repeated, "Yes, yes, yes, I fell in love too."

  "Then say it," he commanded hoarsely. "I want to hear you say it."

  "I love you," she obeyed eagerly. "So much, Nick."

  "And I love you. God, I need you," he groaned, burying his face in her scented hair. "I have to have you with me. At the beach house. In my bed. Laine, will you…"

  "Oh, Nick don't, please," she whispered brokenly. "I still can't live with you. I know you won't understand, but if I moved in with you, I just wouldn't feel right about it. It would make what we have together seem… oh, I don't know… cheap. I'm just too old-fashioned, I guess. Much as I love you and need you, I can't live with you."

  With an oddly secretive smile, he sat down on the edge of the bed and drew her down beside him. He clasped both her small hands between his, lifting them to brush gentle lips across her fingertips. "Laine, you misunderstand," he said. "I admit I was angry when you refused to move to the beach house, but only because I convinced myself you didn't want to leave your father. I've had time to think more clearly during the last two weeks and I couldn't forget how you responded to me. You were a virgin, and women don't remain virgins until they're twenty-four by accident. Other men must have wanted you as much as I do—as I've told you before, you're an intriguing mystery few men could resist. But you'd never had a lover until I made love to you. And your response wasn't pretense. I remembered how innocently eager you were, how giving."

  "I was eager because I love you. I've never really been in love before," she whispered, smiling tremulously. "Believe me, Nick, I hardly thought of Latham College or that ridiculous grant those two weeks we were together. All I thought of was you; nothing mattered except the two of us."

  "I began to hope you felt that way. And I started to realize that if you did love me, our living together wouldn't be enough for you. I made a mistake when I asked you to move in with me. It was a mistake I'm not repeating now."

  "What do you mean?" she whispered, hope rising in her, hope she was still afraid to have. "You just said…"

  "I said I need you in my life—in my house, in my bed… And I do," he reiterated softly, reaching back to pick up something from behind the lamp on the bedside stand. He turned around to her again, his expression serious, his dark eyes searching as they scanned her face. "This time, I'm asking you to marry me."

  As an oval diamond set in gold and platinum was slipped onto the proper finger of Laine's left hand, her heart seemed to stop for an instant then began a rapid thudding as a joy more intense than she had ever known surged through her. Her wide eyes darted from Nick's face to the ring then back to him again and she whispered rather disbelievingly, "But you're not the marrying kind; you said…"

  "Laine, what if I tell you that I've discovered my life is ridiculously empty without you?" he asked, spanning her waist with coaxing, caressing hands. "You're right—I had no desire to ever marry. My life can be very hectic; sometimes I receive threats because of the clients I represent. But I'm hoping you can adjust to all that. The law is very demanding, and I love it. I didn't think I could love any woman as much, but you've changed my mind. Laine, we belong together. Say you'll marry me, Laine, right away, the first of the week if possible. Say yes now."

  "How could I say no?" she murmured huskily, love she no longer had to hide glowing like warm embers in her eyes. "You've always been able to persuade me to do anything you want. And since I want nothing more than to be your wife…"

  "Tears again, Laine?" he questioned tenderly as her voice faltered. "I'd never seen you angry until today, and I'd never seen you cry."

  "I learned how to cry again last night," she confessed, brushing her hands over the broad expanse of his bare muscular chest. "Oh, Nick, I've been so lonely without you. I'd never been so lonely in my life."

  "Thank God you came here today," he said roughly, his impassioned gaze sweeping over her. "After last night when you let me leave with Regina without a word, I wasn't sure I'd been right to believe you cared."

  "And if I hadn't come today…"

  "I might have been forced to kidnap you some dark night," he teased, inexorably pulling her to him. His lips trailed fire over her cheeks. His breath was warm against creamy smooth skin. "How would you like to be kidnapped by me?"

  "I think I'd like it very much. As long as there's no ransom," she murmured. "I'd like to think you wouldn't take any amount of money for me…"

  "Because you're a priceless treasure to me, Laine," he finished for her. "You are, you know. You're real and warm and so giving. You give everything, Laine. And I love you too much to live without you now."

  Laine's lips parted for his kiss, the first of many. When thunder began rumbling in the sky and fat drops of rain fell on the asphalt outside the dimly lit room, she was enfolded tightly in strong secure arms and her mouth was an opening flower beneath the coaxing pressure of his. Their kisses lengthened, became more languorously intense but were not enough. While the rain showered down, Nick undid the tie that closed her dress. He took it off; he then removed the last remaining barriers of her clothing. His eyes adored her. His hands glided over every contouring sweep of her slender bare body as if he were reclaiming by touch what had always been his.

  After helping Nick undress completely, with a loving touch Laine lifted her arms to drape them across his shoulders. Her legs tangled with his, and as she felt the familiar roughness of his thighs against the smoother texture of hers, her soft breathless sigh signaled total surrender.

  Yet as Nick moved her beneath him, his hands beneath her hips to arch her upward to receive him, the merging of their bodies brought a keener satisfaction than it ever had before. This time was different; it was her first time knowing he truly loved her. This time, not only did she belong to him—he belonged to her. And she whispered his name as the loving and pleasure they gave each other made them inseparably one. His passionate love filled her, and hers surrounded him. He was right—they did belong together. In each other, both of them found home.