Endearingly his mouth descended on her breasts, and he suckled as if a babe, kneading the sensitive tissue with his hands as his lips lured love from her nipples. His body was upon hers and she felt the bittersweet pain of his weight over her. The cold floorboards touched her back, and his warm, naked torso inflamed her soul, causing boiling currents of lava to course through her veins.

“Oh, Erin,” he called against her, and her pounding heart was triggered to a more passionate rhythm. He tore himself away from her and saw the disappointment in her eyes.

“I want to go to bed with you,” he breathed, “and I want to make love to you.”

“Are…are you asking me?” she gasped, drawing much needed air into her lungs.

“I’ve been asking you all night.” He levered himself over her and leaned on one elbow while one hand still massaged her breasts.

“I want to…” she murmured, closing her eyes and trying to think rationally. Would the ache subside? Would she really be able to make love to him? Would she be able to stop?

“But…” he prodded, his breath ghosting over her hair.

“But…” She breathed heavily. “But…I’m afraid.”

“Of what? Me?”

“No…”

“Then it must be that you’re afraid of your husband,” he guessed.

“Lee? How did you know about him?”

“A small surname discrepancy in your personnel file.”

“Oh,” she murmured, pulling her blouse over her breasts. Suddenly she felt conspicuously naked.

“He is the problem, isn’t he,” Kane asked gently, but there was a cold and calculating edge to his voice.

“No…Lee has nothing to do with us,” she managed, but her mercurial temperature had cooled.

“You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?” His eyes regarded her gently, and he pulled her closer to his body and rocked her.

“No…you’re wrong. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not in love with Lee. Sometimes I wonder if I ever really was.” His eyes followed hers to look out the window. “Oh, I thought I loved him, once, but some of the things that he did…that he said…” She still couldn’t talk about it without getting a catch in her throat.

“Erin, honey. It’s been a long time, and still he affects you. Are you sure that you’re not still emotionally involved with him?”

Tears began to flow from her eyes, and he brushed them away. She tried to look away from him, but he forced her head in his direction, softly cupping her chin in his fingers. His movements were gentle, but his thoughts were grim. Lee Sinclair, whoever the hell he was, had scarred Erin, and Kane meant to know all about him.

“Have you seen him recently?”

“No…he moved to Spokane about a year ago.” For some reason Erin couldn’t tell Kane about the phone calls and the fact that Lee was back in Seattle.

Kane continued to rock her in silence, only the thin line of his lips belying his calm and comforting actions. Slowly Erin composed herself. She wondered how she had ever let things get so out of hand. She felt an embarrassed burn on her cheeks as she realized that she was sitting half-naked on the floor of her apartment with her new boss, weeping like a teenager, nearly jumping into bed with him. It was frightening and confusing, completely out of character.