He wasn’t gentle, though as a lover he’d never been rough before. He was too desperate to touch to realize that he might bruise something more fragile than he. The kiss grew savage. He knew he’d never be able to draw enough from her to satisfy him. More, and still more, he wanted, though her mouth was as crazed and demanding as his.

He was driving her mad. No one had ever shown her a need so great. Hunger fueled hunger until she ached with it. She knew it could consume her, perhaps both of them. With a fire so hot, they could burn each other out and be left with nothing. The thought made her moan again, and cling. She wanted more. Yet she feared to take more and find herself empty.

“No.” His lips at her throat were turning her knees to water. “No, this is crazy,” she managed.

He lifted his head. His eyes were nearly black now, and his breathing was unsteady. For the first time, Maggie felt a twinge of fear. What did she know of this man? “You called it madness,” he murmured. “You were right.”

Yes, she’d been right, and it had been him she’d thought of when she’d written the words. Yet she told herself it was sanity she needed. “It’s not what either of us should want.”

“No.” His control was threatening to snap completely. Deliberately, he ran a hand down her hair. “But it’s already too far along to stop. I want you, Maggie, whether I should or not.”

If he hadn’t used her name— Until then she hadn’t realized that he could say her name and make her weak. As needs welled up again, she dropped her head on his chest. It was that artless, unplanned gesture that cleared his frenzied thoughts and tugged at something other than desire.

This was the kind of woman who could get inside a man. Once she did, he’d never be free of her. Knowing that, he fought back the overwhelming need to hold her close again. He wanted her, and he intended to have her. That didn’t mean he’d get involved. They both knew that what had ignited between them would have to be consummated sooner or later. It was basic; it was simple. And they’d both walk away undamaged.

Whereas the arousal he’d felt hadn’t worried him, the tenderness he was feeling now did. They’d better get things back on the right road. He took her by the shoulders and drew her back.

“We want each other.” It sounded simple when he said it. Cliff was determined to believe it could be.

“Yes.” She nodded, almost composed again. “I’m sure you’ve learned, as I have, that you can’t have everything you want.”

“True enough. But there’s no reason for either of us not to have what we want this time.”

“I can think of a few. The first is that I barely know you.”

He frowned as he studied her face. “Does that matter to you?”