Dec swallowed hard. If that wasn’t a sign, then he didn’t know what was. He set the ice cream down on the railing, then cupped her cheek in his cool palm. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I do.” Rachel opened her mouth, but he put his thumb over her lips. “If you tell me that’s normal, I’m going to carry you down to the water and toss you in.”

Rachel giggled. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“Then what were you going to say?”

“Go ahead.”

Dec released a tightly held breath as he stood. Reaching down, he untied her robe with clumsy fingers, then pushed it aside. His lips came down on hers and he covered her mouth in a long, deep kiss, their tongues cold and sweet from the ice cream. She sank against him, running her fingers through his hair and opening herself to his gentle assault.

Skin met skin as Dec’s hands slipped around to her backside and pulled her closer. She was wonderfully soft and smooth and curvy, everything a woman ought to be. Dec reveled in the feel of her body pressed against his, her breasts rubbing against his naked chest.

She surrendered to every movement of his mouth, opening so that he could taste her more deeply, returning each gentle thrust of his tongue. Her lips invited him to take more, to indulge in something that was fast becoming addictive. Though Dec knew there had to be an end to the kiss, he wanted it to go on forever.

He didn’t wait for an invitation to take more. If Rachel didn’t want to proceed, then she’d have to stop him. Waves of desire washed over his body as she shoved his boxers lower on his hips, until he could feel her naked belly against his stiff cock.

Dec circled her waist with his hands and lifted her up on the porch railing, then stepped between her legs. Smoothing his fingertips along her shoulders, he brushed at the silk of her robe until it fell away, revealing the full beauty of her breasts.

Though the light was dim, Dec didn’t need to see details. Without any barriers, he took his time, enjoying the chance to learn more about her body by touch. “Tell me this is what you want,” he murmured.

Her voice trembled as she answered. “Yes. Don’t stop.”

His desire began to spiral out of control and he drew in a ragged breath and tried to focus. They had all the time in the world, the next few days to explore these feelings. It wouldn’t do to rush. He wrapped her legs around his hips and she moved against him, her feet resting on the back of his thighs. He’d need do nothing more than pull her forward and they’d be there, ready to get lost in each others’ bodies.

Rachel seemed caught up in the sensation of his touch, her head tipped back, her eyes closed, her breath coming in soft pants. He kissed her again, running his tongue along her lower lip, leaving it damp.

With any other woman, Dec would have known exactly what to do next. Seduction was seduction. There was a certain order to events and then it was over. But with Rachel, he sensed it wasn’t quite time for them to consummate this need. From the start, they hadn’t done things in the normal fashion and he didn’t want to start now.

“Why do I want you so much?” he asked, his voice raw. Suddenly, he wanted an explanation.

She opened her eyes and smiled. “I fit your profile,” she replied.

He gently bit her lower lip. “I don’t have a profile.”

“Yes, you do,” she said, running a finger from his chest to his waist and back again. Her hand accidentally brushed the tip of his penis and his breath caught in his throat. “From the moment you were born you began to absorb everything around you, holding on to the things you found pleasing, discarding those you didn’t. Sights, smells, sounds. Your mind cataloged them all until it created a perfect mate. And when you find the physical manifestation of those qualities, then you have no choice but to take up the chase.”

“And what about you?”

“If I didn’t find the qualities I wanted in you, then I wouldn’t have let you touch me.”

“So it’s all that simple?” he asked.

Rachel shook her head. “Actually, that part is pretty complicated. It’s the desire that’s simple.”

Dec slid his palm up to cup her breast, teasing at her nipple with his thumb. “Funny, this doesn’t seem simple.”

She sighed and tipped her head back. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. But what’s happening inside our bodies and inside our minds is.”

He dipped his head down and ran his tongue over her nipple. Rachel shuddered and then groaned softly. “So what do we do now?” he asked.

“We could have sex,” she suggested. “Or we could…”

“Or we could what? We could wait?”

“It’s often best to prolong the anticipation,” she said. “Find other things to occupy our bodies and our minds. Then, when it does happen, it will be much more intense and pleasurable.”

Dec nuzzled her breast, inhaling the scent of her skin, sweet and flowery. He straightened, then dropped a kiss on her mouth. “I’d be silly not to trust the expert, right?”

“Right,” she replied. He kissed her neck, sucking gently. “Or maybe not,” she added.

He grabbed her waist and set her back on her feet, then carefully retied her robe. Though it took every ounce of willpower Dec possessed to remove his hands from her body, he knew they’d made the right decision. When he made love to Rachel, it wouldn’t be just good, it would be incredible. And for that, he was willing to wait a little longer.

They walked hand in hand to her bedroom. Dec kissed her softly as they stood beside the bed, his fingers tangling in her hair. It would take so little to move beyond this, he mused. They could simply lie down and let their desire take over. As if she’d heard his thoughts, Rachel took his hand and pulled him down with her onto the bed.

He stretched out on top of her, his erection pressed between their bodies. She hadn’t touched him, at least not as openly as he’d touched her, and for that he was grateful. If she wrapped her fingers around his cock, he knew he’d be lost.

But he could do this, taking everything more slowly, prolonging the chase. It was like sex was brand new again, untarnished by his experiences in the past. He’d never wanted a woman more than he wanted Rachel, but then, he’d never had a better reason to wait.

As they continued to kiss, she pressed her hips against his, gently rubbing until they rocked in a slow, delicious rhythm. He hadn’t enjoyed such basic pleasure since he was a teenager, taking his very first steps into the world of sexual experience.

Reliving that first passion made this seem even more intense-and forbidden. He tried to hold back, unwilling to admit that his control was no better than that of a fourteen-year-old boy. But as she seduced his mouth with her lips and tongue, Dec gradually slipped into that place where he could no longer control what he felt.

And then, the world shifted and he could no longer hold back. His climax overwhelmed him and he came, spilling his pleasure onto the soft fabric of his boxer briefs. A groan slipped from his throat as the spasms continued and her body arched beneath his.

When he was spent, Dec pushed up on his hands and stared down at her. A tiny smile curled her lips. “You’re a very naughty girl,” he said.

Rachel nodded.

Dec let his arms collapse and nuzzled his face in the curve of her neck. Then he bit her gently, just enough so that she’d know what she’d done to him. The damp spot between them began to grow and he rolled off of her. His cock was still stiff but the ache to relieve himself was diminished. “The things you do to me,” he murmured.

“I figured we could take care of it together or you could take care of it on your own. Either way, you weren’t going to get back to sleep until it was taken care of.”

“Thank you for thinking of me.” He stood and walked to the door of her bedroom, then turned and looked at Rachel, now curled up on the bed hugging her pillow. “This better not be some sadistic game you’re playing just to screw with the bodyguard.”

“It’s not,” she said. “Trust me. It will be worth it.” Rachel smiled. “Besides, you always have a choice. You could choose to strip out of those boxers, walk across the room and have your way with me right now. And I wouldn’t stop you.”

“You wouldn’t?”

She shook her head and Dec groaned. This experiment in denial was intriguing, but it was also frustrating as hell. He’d done it all and then some with the women he’d bedded. But he’d never done this. Dec hadn’t even thought he was capable. And who knows where it might lead? If Rachel was right and the result between them was the best he’d ever had, then he was willing to wait.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Rachel said, her gaze dropping to the damp spot on the front of his boxers.

Dec chuckled softly as he walked out into the hall. This was a hell of a thing to happen between them. It wasn’t exactly normal, but it was damn interesting.

He turned and walked to the bathroom. As he cleaned up the remains of his orgasm, Dec caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He stopped and stared. This was different, he could feel it in his gut. And though he didn’t know where it was leading, Dec sensed that it was going somewhere important. Could he be falling in love with Rachel?

He cursed softly. Hell, twenty-four hours ago, she was dousing him with pepper spray. People didn’t fall in love that quickly. “Jaysus, Declan, this isn’t love,” he muttered. “It’s just a real bad case of lust.”

As he laid down in the narrow bunk, Dec’s mind was filled with images of Rachel, her hair brushing his chest, her mouth teasing at his cock, her naked body sitting astride his. It would all happen, and when it did, his feelings would be sorted out. But until then, he’d have to exist in this state of delicious torture-and annoying confusion-for just a little while longer.

RACHEL HAD BEEN UP FOR two hours by the time Dec wandered out of his bedroom. To her relief, he’d decided to put on jeans, rather than wear his boxers all day long. It was difficult enough being around him without having him always walking around half-dressed and completely aroused. Still, he’d neglected to button them up, or put underwear on beneath them, leaving her a tantalizing view of his belly and the dark shadow of hair beneath.

It was odd how they’d managed to be intimate, yet had done it in little fits and starts. She’d seen him naked, but only through the door of the bathroom. He’d seen her naked, but only in the faint light on the porch. She’d touched him intimately, but only with her foot. He’d come, with her help, but they’d both been dressed.

Rachel felt a warm flush color her cheeks at the thought of his hands on her body. He had a way of finding just the right spots on her skin, where the nerves seemed to tingle with anticipation. And when his lips followed his hands, Rachel forgot how to breathe.

“Morning,” she murmured, handing him a mug of coffee.

He set the coffee down and stretched his arms above his head, working the kinks out of his back. Her gaze dropped to his belly and then lower, and she wondered if he’d slept in the nude last night. An image of him, lying in bed, sated from his orgasm, the sheets twisted around his limbs, flashed in her mind. She grabbed her coffee and took a quick swallow.

Dec sighed as he leaned over the counter, bracing his arms on the butcher block top. “Did you sleep well last night?”

She nodded. “How about you?”

“Like the dead,” he said, a crooked grin playing on his lips. “What exactly happened between us last night? I mean, I know what happened in my boxers, but what happened before that?”

“Desire,” Rachel replied.

“I assume you know how that works?”

She nodded and boosted herself up on the counter to sit beside him. “It’s pretty straightforward.”

He reached over and ran a finger down the outside of her bare leg, then up the inside of her thigh. “Tell me. Why did I want you so much? Why did I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life? And how was it that I was able to stop?”

“You wanted me because of a combination of factors,” Rachel replied. “It started with the ice cream.”

“How is that?”

“You fed me and I accepted. In the animal world, that’s a cue that I’m willing to accept your advances.”

“I didn’t know that,” Dec said.

“You wouldn’t. It’s hardwired into your brain. Passed down from cavemen. It’s instinct at work. You just did it because it felt right.”

“So, if I meet a woman on the street and feed her ice cream, she’d want to sleep with me?”

“Not if there isn’t desire there in the first place. For us, the timing was right. You probably haven’t had a woman for a while and there was a physical need. And I haven’t been with a man for a long time, so I reciprocated. Then, there are things standing between us-your job, my job, our pasts, and the fact that we don’t really know each other well. Because of that, the need is more acute because it’s improper. There’s some mystery, which adds to the attraction and makes the chase more interesting. We do share some things in common and we’re comfortable with each other, so that adds to it. Finally, we each met the other’s profile for a potential lover. When all that adds up, you get desire.”