gentle circle over the center of her stomach.

“You’re shaking.” Leslie drew away, searching Dev’s face anxiously, her heart

clenching at the agony in Dev’s dark eyes. “Oh, God, Dev, what’s wrong?”

“I thought I could be friends. Spend time with you, like friends.”

Dev’s voice cracked, and she swallowed hard. “I can’t. Not now.” She edged

away on the seat but it wasn’t far enough. Two hundred miles hadn’t been far

enough to stop wanting her. Two thousand wouldn’t be.

“I’ll need to pass on dinner.”

“Hilton,” the cabbie grunted as he rocketed the cab into the turnaround and

slammed to a halt.

Leslie ignored him, her eyes on Dev. “I’m coming up with you.

We’ll just talk. Please, Dev.”

Leslie was hurting, Dev could hear it. And she thought if she had to watch the

cab drive away with Leslie inside, she’d end up howling like an animal with its

leg caught in a trap. She couldn’t let her go and she couldn’t be near her without

dying by inches. But given the choice between two miseries, she’d choose the

one thing she’d always craved.

Leslie.

Wordlessly, Dev nodded and got out of the cab. While Leslie paid the

cabdriver, Dev walked around and opened Leslie’s door, then extended her

hand. Leslie’s Þ ngers closed around hers, and the charge of ß esh on ß esh

almost rocked her back on her heels.

How could she say no? She could more easily stop her own heart from beating.


CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Dev glanced over her shoulder impatiently while the hotel receptionist ran her

credit card and programmed her room key. Leslie was still there, waiting in the

lounge area adjacent to the front desk. Leslie seemed perfectly composed,

sitting with her shapely legs crossed, one arm resting along the curved edge of

the upholstered armchair, upper body angled so that she faced in Dev’s

direction. Dev was anything but composed. She needed something to settle her

down—

a cigarette, a drink, something—but she didn’t smoke and rarely drank more

than a glass or two of wine and the something that she needed was Leslie. God,

she needed her.

“Here you are,” the receptionist said with a smile. “Enjoy your stay, Dr.

Weber.”

“Thanks,” Dev said, waving off the bellman as she stuffed the paperwork into

her jacket pocket. With the plastic key card in one hand and her overnighter in

the other, she strode over to Leslie. “All set. I can take my things upstairs and

be down in Þ ve minutes if you want to wait here. We can go out to dinner right

away, if you’re hungry.”

Leslie stood, shaking her head. She slid the key card from Dev’s hand and

slipped her palm into its place. “Let’s go upstairs.”

“Okay.”

It was a mistake, Dev knew it. But she couldn’t imagine sitting across from

Leslie in a restaurant, pretending she was hungry or trying to make casual

conversation. At least in her hotel room she would be spared the social charade.

They rode upstairs to the tenth ß oor in silence, their shoulders touching as they

made room for other guests. Leslie kept her hand in Dev’s the entire ride, their

Þ ngers loosely entwined.


Dev found the room, set her luggage down, and held out her hand for the key

card Leslie still carried. “Okay?”

“Yes. Very,” Leslie murmured, thinking that if Dev didn’t open the door and get

them inside soon, she wouldn’t be responsible for what happened out in the hall.

Dev looked so worried, so unsure, and Leslie hated to see her that way. It was

her fault, she knew it. Dev had always been there for her, always clear about

what she felt, always waiting for Leslie to understand. And now Dev didn’t trust

her.

Leslie was struck with a sudden stab of fear that maybe Dev had Þ nally

stopped waiting and moved on. Maybe her reluctance in the cab hadn’t been

because she didn’t trust Leslie’s feelings, but because she was no longer

available. Leslie panicked, unable to imagine what she would do if she lost Dev

now. “Hurry, Dev.”

Surprised by the urgency in Leslie’s voice, Dev sliced the card through the lock

slot, cranked the handle, and shoved the door open with her shoulder. She

kicked her overnighter into the room while holding the door for Leslie to enter.

She ß ipped the wall switch just inside the door, lighting a small bedside lamp

that suffused the room with muted light. The heavy ß oral drapes on the window

were closed.

Besides the king-size bed and entertainment console opposite it, there was a

small sitting area with a sofa, coffee table, and desk.

Dev took it all in at a glance as the door swung closed behind her, leaving her to

face Leslie, who waited a few feet away. Leslie took one step toward her, the

expression on her face one that Dev had never seen before. Her lips, shining and

moist with pale gloss, were slightly parted and curved tenderly at each corner.

Her blue eyes, shimmering like lake water in the sunlight, were Þ xed intently on

Dev’s. A rush of heat swept through Dev so quickly she caught her breath and

backed up a step, as if she could escape. Her back hit the door and she lifted

her hands, palms up, helplessly.

“Don’t, Les.”

“Why not?” Leslie murmured, running a Þ ngertip along the edge of Dev’s

jacket.

“I can’t take it,” Dev whispered. “I miss you so much, and I want you so

badly.”

Leslie slipped both hands beneath Dev’s jacket and traced the ridges of Dev’s

collarbones, leaning her lower body lightly into Dev.

Dev’s body was rigid, but still Leslie sensed the barely restrained


hunger, and she wanted it. God, how she wanted Dev to still want her in the

delirious, boundless way she had before. She wanted it like nothing else in her

life. “I miss you too. Terribly. Kiss me, Dev. Please.”

“You’ll break me,” Dev warned hoarsely. “If I kiss you, I won’t stop. Not this

time. I can’t.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” Leslie caressed one hand up the side of Dev’s neck

and behind her head, curling her Þ ngers into Dev’s hair.

She pulled slowly, easing Dev’s head back as she pressed her lips to Dev’s

throat. “I don’t want you to stop until you’re inside of me where you belong.”

Dev made a sound that was part groan, part sob, her hands ß at against the

door, Þ ngers ß exed against the metal. If she let go, if she touched her, she was

afraid of what she might do. She wanted her, had wanted her since she was old

enough to recognize her desire for a woman. And all the years of denial had

honed her craving until it ran dangerously close to the wild part of her that

functioned from primal memory, when mating dictated survival, not pleasure.

She wanted Leslie beyond civilized reason, because without her, some essential

part of her would die. She understood then why the great beasts tore and

slashed their mates in the frenzy of joining. The same need scorched through her

with unrelenting ß ame and fury. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

Laughing, eyes bright with exultation, Leslie pressed hard against her. Her full

breasts tensed with arousal. Her hips rolled in a slow rhythm of invitation. She

tightened her Þ ngers in Dev’s hair and slid her other hand around to Dev’s

back. She set her nails into ß esh through the thin fabric of Dev’s shirt, claiming

her. “You won’t. You can’t. I love you. I want you to take what’s yours.”

Leslie punctuated each word with her teeth on Dev’s neck, leaving marks, not

caring. She hadn’t known. All these years she hadn’t known what passion was,

what desire was, what belonging meant. She was liquid with desire, her need

simmering like lava buried for millennia and Þ nally streaking a path to freedom.

“I need you so much, Dev, please, please. God, come to bed with me.”

Dev couldn’t breathe. Leslie was all over her, stroking her, exciting her, reaching

inside and throwing open the bars on the passion she’d kept caged all her life.

She hurt. Her body quivered. A terrible pressure Þ lled her chest and belly,

threatening to explode. “Rachel…

what about—”


“Gone.” Leslie wrapped both arms tightly around Dev, her hands raking Dev’s

back. “I left her. I had to.” She tilted her head back, face suffused with need,

eyes pleading. “I want you. Help me, Dev. Touch me.”

Dev drew a breath, and another, each sweeter than the last. The painful

pressure eased, replaced by pleasure. The beast was free, still Þ erce, but no

longer hunted. No longer haunted. For the Þ rst time, she welcomed her

passion.

“I love you,” Dev whispered, cradling Leslie’s face as gently as if she were

holding a newborn bird. She brushed her mouth over Leslie’s, soft as a feather.

“I’ve always loved you.”

Eyes closed, Leslie offered her throat. “Forgive me.”

Dev kissed her throat, the hollow at the base of her neck, the V

bared by the open collar of her blouse. “There’s no need. Not now.

Not then.” She opened Leslie’s blouse, one button at a time, her hands shaking.

Carefully, she teased the bottom from beneath the waistband of Leslie’s skirt

until Leslie’s abdomen was bare and the satin cups of her bra exposed. Dev

splayed her hands over Leslie’s breasts and Leslie sagged against her.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” Dev murmured, teasing Leslie’s nipples into erection.

“I’m going to touch you everywhere.”

“I’ve never been this excited,” Leslie warned her breathlessly. “I feel like I’ll

come right away.”

“It’s okay if you have to. The Þ rst time.” Dev skimmed her tongue over the

surface of Leslie’s lower lip, then sucked gently. “I’m going to make love to you

all night.”

“I need you to.”

Dev kissed her again, tugging her nipples as she danced her tongue over the

warm inner recesses of her mouth. Leslie’s breasts seemed to swell and Þ ll her

hands, stretching the sheer fabric tightly over her tense nipples.

“Ready for bed?” Dev whispered, her mouth against Leslie’s ear. Dev’s thighs

and abdomen ached from holding back, from going slow. The sounds Leslie

made, the way she shivered as Dev plucked on her nipples, the insistent rocking

of her hips against Dev’s crotch were making Dev crazy. She wasn’t sure she

could hold out until Leslie touched her.


Leslie moaned and pressed her forehead to Dev’s shoulder. “Yes.

Please, now.”

Hands linked, mouths searching for quick kisses, they stumbled to the foot of

the bed. Arms entwined, they freed buttons and lowered zippers and shed shoes

and clothes until they were nearly nude.

“Let me,” Dev said as Leslie reached to unhook her own bra.

Leslie let her hands fall to her sides, clad only in her bra and pale silk bikinis.

Her stomach was ß uttering with arousal, her breasts almost painfully engorged.

Her breath had ß ed at the Þ rst brush of Dev’s hands on her skin, and she’d

never recaptured it. “Oh, yes.”

Dev, naked except for her briefs, slid her Þ ngertips beneath the thin straps of

Leslie’s bra and eased them down over her shoulders. She dipped her head and

kissed Leslie’s breasts, Þ rst one, then the other, moving down the smooth

curves as she lowered the bra, millimeter by millimeter, until Leslie’s nipples

were exposed. Rapidly opening the clasp, Dev freed Leslie’s breasts completely

and sucked a nipple into her mouth. Leslie cried out, her knees buckling.

“I’m so excited, Dev,” Leslie moaned, clutching Dev’s shoulders.

“I feel like I might come.”

“Let it happen,” Dev whispered around the hard nub, refusing to release her.

She pressed one hand ß at against Leslie’s stomach, sweeping her Þ ngers in a

slow steady arc, tightening inside as Leslie’s hips thrust in the air. Keeping one