To his shock, Rachael turned back, gingerly, carefully, and tunneled her fingers in his hair. “I don’t break, Rio. I could have said no to you. For a moment there, I was someone else too. I knew you intimately, belonged with you and had for a long time. I was so comfortable, so complete. I think I would have been very happy to be that other person, but my leg changed my mind for me. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“I frightened you.”

She tugged at his hair and the gesture was strangely familiar. “Did I seem frightened to you? I thought I was very cooperative. My leg hurts when I move, otherwise, I would have been all over you.”

He rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. “Why, Rachael? Are you afraid to say no to me?” He couldn’t quite get his breathing under control and his body was hard and painful and aching. More than anything he wanted to kiss her again, wanted her body to belong to him. Wanted her to belong to him. “I know you must feel vulnerable alone with me like this, especially injured, but I swear, I don’t force myself on women.”

“Rio, you’re being silly. We’re physically attracted to each other. I’ve been staring at your body for days now. How could I not be attracted? If you tried to force yourself on me and I wasn’t in the least receptive, I would have hit you over the head with something.” She grinned at him. “And you already know I’m perfectly capable of it. At the moment my leg is injured and you can’t tell, but I have had a bit of self-defense training. You were very vulnerable there for a time in your…er…aroused state. Bad leg or no, I could have managed to injure you.”

“When I’m with you…” Rio struggled to find the right words. “It’s as if I’ve always been with you, as if I’ve always known you, as if I’ve always made love to you. I swear sometimes it’s difficult for me to tell the difference between what’s real and my imagination. It’s crazy.”

He leaned into her, close, so that the tips of her breasts pushed against his chest. Immediately the feeling was familiar, perfect—a coming home. He sighed. “I’m not used to being around people for any length of time, it makes me uncomfortable, but with you, I can’t imagine you not being with me.” His hands framed her face. “I want you so bad I can taste you in my mouth. I know exactly what you’re going to feel like when I’m inside you.” His fingertips slipped down her neck, over her shoulders to trace the swell of her breasts. “I know your shape, every curve, as if I have a map in my mind.”