“But I’m so good with locks. You wouldn’t have stood a chance. Besides, you want this.” She chuckled. “You even warned me the other evening. I didn’t quite understand it at first, but then I put it together. I may not be your idea of exactly what you want in a woman, but you do want me. And all that other crap about not taking anything from me because I was some kind of victim was pretty lame. I went into that in detail later, but I think some of it still lingered.” She took off her sleep shirt and tossed it on the floor. “I may not be good at this yet, but I learn very fast and you’ll be surprised how quickly I’ll pick it up.”

“Are we talking about Maria again?”

“No.” She climbed on his lap, unbuttoned his shirt, and pressed her naked breasts against him. He inhaled sharply. “We’re talking about how I have trouble trusting, but I trust you. And how I like to touch you, and wish you’d stop pushing me away. It makes it difficult for me.” She tucked her head in the curve of his neck and whispered, “And we’re talking about how I’ve never felt anything like this for anyone else before and I keep getting confused. But it still feels right…”

“So damn right,” he said hoarsely as his arms tightened around her.

She stayed there for an instant longer and then got off his lap. “But maybe I’m wrong and I shouldn’t push myself on you. So I’m going to go lie in your bed over there, and I’d like it very much if you’d hold me all through the night. You don’t have to do anything else. But I think we might discover something good if you did. What do you think?”

“I think you’re killing me.” He watched her climb into the bed and push the covers down. Then he was on his feet and taking off the rest of his clothes. “And I think that you’ve started off right and that’s the way we’ll keep on for a while. I want to hold you. There’s no hurry, we’ll take it slow…” He was in bed now and drawing her against his body. “You feel so good. We’ll have the music and then the dazzle and then we’ll see what else is waiting for us out there…”

* * *

“It was all extraordinary.” Lara sat up straight in bed and then turned eagerly to face him. “At first, I thought the music was best. It was like Grieg or Debussy, all clear and gentle and beautiful. But then you brought in the dazzle and that was different and exciting. I could hardly breathe, but I didn’t want to breathe. I was on fire.” She bent down and kissed him exuberantly. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you.” He chuckled as he kissed her again. “You were a little absorbed in the process and you might not have noticed that I was fully engaged at all times.”