There was no way he could restrain himself now. He was beyond words, driven by savage need. He kept thrusting heavily into her, again and again, until with a hoarse groan of desperation, he exploded within her, embers bursting, white-hot with light. For an instant, all the darkness was banished from his soul.

Afterward it was she who held him. She felt the shudders ripple through him, felt the clenching and unclenching of his muscles, felt the pain-sharp breaths he dragged in.

When he tried to withdraw, Heather tightened her arms around him, despite his crushing weight, despite the ache between her thighs and in her heart.

She counted his heartbeats as they slowed to beat in rhythm with hers.

“Ah, damn…” His curse was quiet, raw.

For a long moment he was silent. When he shifted his weight, Heather winced.

“Are you all right?”

She couldn’t answer honestly; he wouldn’t want to hear the truth. She lay there, frightened and stunned by what she felt for this enigmatic man. She was not afraid of him. She was afraid of herself, her shameless response to him. She hadn’t expected that wild hunger in herself, that wanton need. With barely a touch, Sloan had ignited the same fierce passion that had blazed between them once before.

When she gave no reply, Sloan withdrew himself from her and rolled on his back, one arm covering his eyes.

“That was unforgivable,” he said, his voice low and rusty. “It won’t happen again, I swear it.” It was the best he could offer. A promise not to touch her again.

He had never acted so savagely with a woman, never lost control like that. His need had been blind, desperate.

He should never have taken her that way, with such raw, unbridled lust. He had fucked her on the floor, with no pretense at finesse, with no thought to her pleasure or inexperience. Hell, he would show a whore more respect.

Cursing himself for his weakness, Sloan drew a ragged breath. He should never have let himself get so near. He’d promised himself he would keep his distance. What had happened to him that he should lose himself in her arms? That he should turn into a savage animal? With Doe he had never lost command of himself—

Doe.

He squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to summon Doe’s face, but only succeeded in gaining a hazy, indistinct image. An empty ache throbbed in his chest. Why couldn’t he remember?

His anger at himself shifted to the woman lying beside him. His new bride.

Damn her, how had she made him forget his beloved wife, even for an instant?

Suddenly he was unreasonably angry with her. She didn’t belong here, and he didn’t want her here. Didn’t want her in his life. Didn’t want the savage reminders of the past she brought him.