She had no idea how much time had passed since he’d slapped his hand on her door and barged in after her. It might have been minutes or hours, but it hardly mattered. Her life had been changed. Smiling to herself, she stroked a hand through his hair. He turned his head, just an inch, and pressed his lips to the underside of her jaw.

“I thought you were asleep,” she murmured.

“No. I wouldn’t fall asleep on top of you.” He lifted his head. She could see the gleam of his eyes, the hint of a smile. “There are so many more interesting things to do on top of you.”

She felt color rush to her cheeks and was grateful for the dark. “I was…” How could she ask? “It was all right, then?”

“No.” Even with his body pressed into hers, he could feel her quick retreat. “Sydney, I may not have so many good words as you, but I think ‘all right’ is a poor choice. A walk through the park is all right.”

“I only meant—” She shifted. Though he braced on his elbows to ease his weight from her, he made sure she couldn’t wiggle away.

“I think we’ll have a light now.”

“No, that’s not—” The bedside lamp clicked on. “Necessary.”

“I want to see you, because I think I will make love with you again in a minute. And I like to look at you.” Casually he brushed his lips over hers. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Tense your shoulders. I’d like to think you could relax with me.”

“I am relaxed,” she said, then blew out a long breath. No, she wasn’t. “It’s just that whenever I ask a direct question, you give evasions. I only wanted to know if you were, well, satisfied.”

She’d been sure before, but now, as the heat had faded to warmth, she wondered if she’d only wished.

“Ah.” Wrapping her close, he rolled over until she lay atop him. “This is like a quiz. Multiple choice. They were my favorite in school. You want to know, A, was it all right, B, was it very good or C, was it very wonderful.”

“Forget it.”

He clamped his arms around her when she tried to pull away. “I’m not finished with you, Hayward. I still have to answer the question, but I find there are not enough choices.” He nudged her down until her lips had no choice but to meet his. And the kiss was long and sweet. “Do you understand now?”

His eyes were dark, still heavy from the pleasure they’d shared. The look in them said more than hundreds of silky words. “Yes.”

“Good. Come back to me.” He nestled her head on his shoulder and began to rub his hand gently up and down her back. “This is nice?”