Or ever would.

When the necklace fell intoTaylor's hand, she didn't turn and leave, but bent her head to look at something in the chain that had caught her interest. This time, he couldn't resist the urge. Leaning over, he put his hands lightly on her hips and pressed his lips to her nape.

A gasp of surprise. "Jackson?"

"Yes." Since she hadn't moved, he kissed her again, his hands pressing a little more firmly. Lord but she was soft. The urge to pull her tight against his straining arousal was almost irresistible.

"What are you doing?"

"Pleasuring you ... and me." Another kiss. His hands itched to rise up and cradle her breasts. He kept them still on her hips by force of will alone.

"Sexual pleasure?" It was barely a whisper.

His gut clenched with guilt. He drew back. "I am sorry, piccola , I should not have pushed. A kiss doesn't mean permission to ask for more."

She didn't look at him but shook her head. "Push."

He froze. "Taylor?"

"I'm tired of being afraid. I want to know what the fuss is all about." It was such a Taylor-like answer that he had no trouble believing her. "And I meant what I said to that odious creature. You're a good man. You'd never hurt me so I have no excuse for fear. Show me."

He bit back a grin, passion tempered by tenderness at her bravado. "Are you sure?"

She sent him a scowling look over her shoulder. "Yes." She reached out and threw the necklace onto a small table in one corner of his room. "Jackson, what if I can't ... finish this? What if I freeze?"

"Baby, the finish line can be wherever you want. It can end with a kiss or with me inside you. Your choice." He put his hands back on her hips. Aware that he could feast on her forever if he did this right, he caged his rampant desire. Tonight, he'd be the tender lover she needed, not the marauder he was.

"Just keep pushing until I say stop." Her words were flippant but her tone nervous.

He adored her. "I'm at your command." A sudden thought gave him pause. " Cara, are you protected?"

He didn't expect her to be. After all, she was a virgin. And, he'd ordered her not to guard against pregnancy.

"I know what we agreed,Jackson, but I don't think I could handle being pregnant with everything else that's happening. We need to use something." She sounded worried but resolute.

He kissed her neck again. "Okay, piccola . One step at a time." Though his Italian soul rebelled against his wife protecting herself from his seed, the civilized man knew that she was too fragile right now. First he'd seduce her until all worry left her. Then he'd make love to her so often that nothing would protect her. And then, he'd gently love her as she grew big with his child.

A sigh of relief from his beautiful wife. "Thank you. If ... we manage to do this, I'll organize a prescription for birth control when we return home. Have you...?"

"Yes." Despite his autocratic demands, he'd brought protection, wise enough to know that he couldn't push her too far, too soon."I am healthy, mia moglie ."He'd had himself tested after he'd discovered Bonnie's infidelities, his pride in shreds. "After you are on birth control, I want to be skin to skin with you." The image ofTaylor's body enclosing his in passionate heat momentarily blinded him with need, obliterating any painful memories.

Her neck flushed. "Yes. What..." He felt her swallow. "What does mia moglie mean?"

"My wife." He didn't bother to hide his simmering satisfaction at that fact.

He'd been gently stroking her hips the entire time they'd been talking. Now, he tugged her backward just a little, until their bodies touched along her entire length. He sucked in a breath at the lush feel of her against his erection. She didn't demur at the intimacy, so he moved one hand to lie flat on her stomach, while the other ran up the smooth skin of her arm. She gasped but let him do as he would.Jackson wondered if she'd be a passive lover. The thought didn't appeal.Taylor's fire was one of the reasons he found her so sexually compelling.

"Jackson?" Her tone was pure female temptation.

"Yes?" His voice was becoming hoarse as desire took a stranglehold on him.

"Can I touch you, too?" Fingers settled hesitantly on his arm, as gentle as butterfly wings.

"Anywhere," he managed to answer, his body taut with memories of her stroking the night before.

"Oh, good." A sigh of relief. "You've probably noticed that I can't control myself around your body."

He couldn't help it. Chuckling, he hugged her around her middle and buried his face against her warm neck, breathing in the tart scent that was indisputablyTaylor.

"What's so funny?" Leaning back into him, she clasped slim hands over the hand he had on her stomach.

"I was thinking that I am the same where you are concerned, piccola ." He kissed his way up her throat.

She tasted like woman. Soft, delectable, welcoming woman. Her body melted for him, accommodating the hard angles of his own body with such sweetness that he was undone.

"Jackson," she murmured, when he moved to the other side of her neck, pushing her hair aside. Her voice was slumberous, pleasured,as sultry as the tropical night.

"Mmm?" He placed both palms flat against her stomach, accustoming her to the feel of him.Taylorwasn't petite  -  her head reached his shoulder, but she had a feminine build that made her very vulnerable to his obvious strength. His shoulders were twice the width of hers. If Bonnie had called him brutish before he'd really started pumping weights, what wouldTaylorthink?

A hint of worry stirred but he fought it.Taylorwasn't Bonnie. She would never deliberately hurt him with cruel barbs. But, given her experience with the more brutal members of his sex, he wondered if she might find his body too big and bulky when he wasn't lying down on the floor, as he'd been when she'd touched him. Possessive, demanding and adoring as hewas, rejection from her might kill him.

Taylorinterrupted his shadowy musings. "You know how you have your shirt half unbuttoned?"

"Yes." He nibbled on her. She shivered and angled her head to give him easier access. He smiled and sucked her skin into his mouth.

Breathily, she asked, "Can I undo it all the way?"

It took a few moments for the soft question to penetrate his dazed brain. "When?"

"Now?" Not so confident a response.

He knew he could seduce her to a point where his body wouldn't matter. But she might wake with disgust in her eyes, and he couldn't bear that. He turned her in his arms, preparing himself to accept any reaction. She immediately started unbuttoning his shirt. Relieved more than he wanted to acknowledge at her continued fascination with his body, he kissed whatever part of her he could reach.

Until she pushed at him.

He moved back a step. Another push on his chest, small hands warm on his skin. Another step back.

Sable lashes lifted and dark blue eyes met his. He wondered what she was doing. Then the bed hit the back of his legs.

"Sit." An order made palatable by her smile of anticipation, as if she couldn't wait to touch him.

He sat and was glad he'd obeyed when she moved into the V of his legs. Unable to resist temptation, he placed his hands on her back, just above her sweetly curved bottom. A sexy smile flirting with her lips, she ran her fingers down the sides of his face to his neck. Her gaze lowered. She licked her lips. His erection grew to impossible proportions. Bending, she pushed the now open shirt off his shoulders, fingers lingering on his skin as if she were indulging her sense of touch. Her breasts were so close that it was torture for him to remain still.

"Move your hands." A husky command. "Please,Jackson. I'm trying to be brave because I have to know if I can beat this fear, but ...well, maybe I'm not so very brave."

He was hers. Completely. How could any man deny helping this woman find her way through the world of the most intimate sensuality?

He obeyed and helped her get rid of his shirt. When he would've returned his hands to their former position, she shook her head and stepped back. Nervous courage and determination were stamped on her features. Facing him, their gazes locked in an intimate embrace that went far beyond thesexual, she reached up and released the diamante clasps on each shoulder.

Breath lost,Jacksonwatched the material slither to her feet. Stepping out of the pool of shimmering blue, she returned to him. Dressed only in black lace-topped stockings that reached midthigh, lacy black panties and a garter belt, TaylorSantorini had a body that drove her husband insane with lust and hunger.

He fixed his gaze on her face, knowing that if he looked at her bare breasts he'd devour her.

"Jackson?" She was back between his legs. When he looked up, she sat down on one thigh, arm around his neck and legs primly together between his own legs, the backs of her knees and calves touching his leg on one side.

"Yes?" One of his hands was resting flat on her lower back. Now, he placed the other on her knee.

"You have to take over now." Her big eyes were solemn. "I don't know what to do."

He didn't answer her in words, didn't think he could speak. Instead, holding that gaze, woman and girl combined, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her mouth opened for him at once and she invited him in. He knew she liked kissing, so he kissed her with tender heat, teasing and inviting and tantalizing.

He began to move the hand on her back, while he slid the other one to her thigh, just above the lace of her stocking. Almost at once, her body began to stiffen. WhileTaylortrusted him, she'd been afraid for too long to give in without fear. He remembered the look in her eyes as she'd stripped so sensuously for him, and wondered about the best way to seduce his wife. Utterly and completely. Until she was whimpering. And cajoling. And demanding.

When he drew back, her gaze fixed warily on him. "What comes next?"

"Whatever you like," he whispered, moving his thumb along the top edge of her stocking.