She crossed the short distance between them in two quick steps. He felt frozen, unable to move, to dodge. On some buried level he knew he didn’t want to dodge, he wanted to stay right there and just luxuriate in that smile. He wanted to carry that smile in his mind forever, until he took his last breath.

She reached up and brushed her fingers over his jawline, making him wish he’d shaved. But she didn’t seem to mind.

“Mandy.” It was all he could get out, then regretted it because that was her father’s nickname for her, and only her father.

Even as he thought it she said slowly, “I think I’ll allow you that name.”

He stared at her, tried to swallow, couldn’t, which told him just how tight his throat was. In his mind he swore harshly, but he couldn’t think of a damned thing to say out loud.

“It’s not adrenaline, Adam,” she whispered. “This never has been. Not from the first time I saw you.”

And then she leaned up and into him. And kissed him. Again. And it was even more than the first time, because his blood, his body and every nerve in it was prepped and waiting. He still stifled a gasp at the hot shock of it, but didn’t manage to stifle a groan as she deepened it, tasted him, probed, until he could no more resist than he could fly.

He not only couldn’t resist, he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her back, with all the hunger he’d buried since the first time. Her lips were hot beneath his, soft and tempting and he was helpless to resist. And when she nipped very lightly at his lower lip he thought he would lose it completely. He pushed deeper, tasting, his tongue sliding along the even curve of her teeth. And he groaned again as her tongue teased his, danced over it, and sent a renewed burst of fire through his veins.

He wanted to taste more, not just her mouth, he wanted to trace every inch of her skin with his tongue. And when he realized his hand had slid up and was cupping the soft curve of her breast, he wanted nothing more than to taste her there, wanted to tease that nipple into a tightness that would make her gasp, make her feel at least something of what he was feeling right now.

He wanted her pressed against him head to toe, naked skin to naked skin more, much more than he wanted his next breath. He wanted her mouth on him as much as he wanted his on her. He wanted—

She was gone.

She had broken the kiss, that sweet, sweet kiss, and pulled away. He felt himself sway a little, like a building that had suddenly lost a crucial support.