Her hands curled around his arms—whether in protest or for support, she wasn’t certain. Now, she thought, now perhaps she’d reached that edge where she had to make a stand, no matter how unsteady the ground under her feet. “My life and the way I live it are my business, Hunter.”

“Not anymore.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” She threw back her head, the better to meet his eyes. “This argument doesn’t even have a point.”

Something was building inside him so quickly he didn’t have a chance to fight it or reason it through. “You’re wrong.”

She was beginning to tremble without knowing why. Along with the anger came the quick panic she recognized too well. “I don’t know what you want.”

“You.” She was crushed against him before she understood her own reaction. “All of you.”

His mouth closed over hers with none of the gentle patience he usually showed. Lee felt a lick of fear that was almost immediately swallowed by raging need.

He’d made her feel passion before, but not so swiftly. Desire had burst inside her before, but not so painfully. Everything was as it always was whenever he touched her, and yet everything was so different.

Was it anger she felt from him? Frustration? Passion? She only knew that the control he mastered so finely was gone. Something strained inside him, something more primitive than he’d let free before. This time, they both knew it could break loose. Her blood swam with the panicked excitement of anticipation.

Then they were on the ground, with the scent of sun-warmed leaves and cool water. She felt his beard scrape over her cheek before he buried his mouth in her throat. Whatever drove him left her no choice but to race with him to the end that waited for both of them.

He didn’t question his own desperation. He couldn’t. If she held off sharing certain pieces of herself with him, she still shared her body willingly. He wanted more, all, though he told himself it wasn’t reasonable. Even now, as he felt her body heat and melt for him, he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied. When would she give her feelings to him as freely? For the first time in his life, he wanted too much.

He struggled back to the edge of reason, resisting the wave after wave of need that raged through him. This wasn’t the time, the place or the way. In his mind, he knew it, but emotion battled to betray him. Still holding her close, he buried his face in her hair and waited for the madness to pass.

Stunned, as much by his outburst of passion as by her unquestioning response, Lee lay still. Instinctively, she stroked a hand down his back to soothe. She knew him well enough to understand that his temper was rarely unguarded. Now she knew why.