Slowly he touched her. With infinite care he explored and caressed while his lips pressed anxious kisses to her abdomen. She closed her eyes and the world seemed to swirl on a new and separate axis. He rimmed her navel with his tongue and she felt perspiration soak through her skin. She knew nothing more than the feel and smell of him. Closing her eyes, she gave in to the storm of desire sweeping through her, moved under the gentle tutelage of his fingers, cried out as the world spun out of control and the universe, stars and rainbows, collided behind her eyes.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered, as she quivered and his arms surrounded her. He kissed her gently on the stomach, then held her close.

Her mind reeling, she looked up into his gold eyes. “But”—she cleared her throat—“what about . . . what about . . . you?”

With a cynical smile, he drew her even closer, his nose pressed to the crook of her neck. “Another time, darlin’,” he promised, then kissed the side of her throat. “Another time.”

* * *

Despite the open windows, the air inside the house was airless and hot. Most of the tension was due to the fact that Brynnie had come over to make amends with her intended, but some of the frustration Bliss was feeling was because she hadn’t seen Mason in several days. She didn’t understand what had happened to them up on the ridge—why he hadn’t made love to her—and she hadn’t been able to think of much else.

“A curse, that’s what it is,” she told Oscar, and the dog, seated on a chair, his chin between his paws, wagged his tail. “Men. Who needs them?”

As for her father, John Cawthorne wasn’t ready to reconcile with Brynnie. He obviously felt betrayed and bamboozled and kept reminding the woman he supposedly loved that she was some kind of traitor.

“Oh, I give.” Bliss threw down her pencil and walked from the den toward the kitchen. As she passed the dining-room windows, she heard the sound of tires crunching against the gravel in the driveway.

For a split second she thought Mason might have come by the house and her heart did a stupid little leap, but she glanced out the window and spied Katie, all business, striding to the front door. Disappointment settled upon her, though she couldn’t explain why. Just because she hadn’t seen Mason in a few days was no reason to get a case of the blues. Oh, she was being such a ninny. What did she care about him? Who cared if she spent her nights sleeplessly remembering how he kissed her and caused her insides to tremble?