Jack threaded his fingers through her hair and slanted his mouth across hers with a sexy-sounding groan that made her quiver. She relaxed against him when his tongue glided into her mouth to lazily swipe against hers.

Her body reacted immediately to the press of his body on hers. She'd missed the feel of his hard chest against her, and the flex and bulge of his biceps under her hands where she held on to him.

He pulled her lower lip through his teeth, and Mira shivered in his arms. "If you think I don't want you anymore, you're wrong," he murmured. "Hell, I can't get enough of you. That's the problem.”

"But... I'm confused. What about that day in the basement? You just left me there without a word.”

"Because I wanted you to see that you didn't need me to spot you in order to use your magick. That's why I left." He paused. "I also left because I knew I couldn't trust myself alone with you.”

She bit her bottom lip for a moment. "But why do you feel a need to resist me, Jack?" she whispered.

He took a moment to answer. His warm breath stirred the fine hairs around her face. "I don't want to hurt you.”

She narrowed her eyes, feeling a flash of annoyance. "Do you think I'm made of porcelain or something? I'm not that fragile. I don't expect marriage or anything. I meant what I said in the airport. I'm through with serious stuff for a long time. I'm a big girl and can make my own decisions." She paused. "So why have you been avoiding me?”

Jack groaned and tightened his arms around her. "Because I want you," his voice shook almost imperceptibly. "I want you so much, and the only way to resist you is to not be near you.”

It left her speechless. Speechless with shock and the sudden press of questions in her mind.

He fell silent, and when he spoke next his voice was lower, a touch more feral sounding. "Then you show up in the middle of the night outside my room. Just steps away from my bed. How am I supposed to deal with that?”

Her breath came shallower and faster at his words. "I don't understand the problem. You want me. I definitely want you. I don't expect a commitment or anything, Jack. I don't want a commitment. If it's just about sex, that's—”

"Damn it, Mira." He slanted his mouth over hers and dragged her onto his lap. His hand found the opening of her robe and closed over her breast, making her gasp against his lips.

Her nipple hardened against his palm and he stroked it through the material of her nightgown, and then gently rolled it between his fingertips as his mouth worked on hers. She felt a little gush of moisture between her thighs.

Suddenly, she forgot what they'd been talking about.